Disney CEO Bob Iger has cited Thunderbolts* as “the first and best example” of Marvel’s new focus on quality over quantity.
The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has declined since its 2019 peak, something many have put down to ‘superhero fatigue’ as well as too many releases. The MCU’s most prolific year was 2021, with four cinema releases and four TV releases within the superhero universe.
That rate has now slowed, with three films planned for 2025 and two for next year. In a conference call to investors, (via The Hollywood Reporter), Iger discussed the new strategy and admitted they crowded the market in the past.
“We all know that in our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, that we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more,” he said. “We’ve also learned over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality”.
He continued: “Frankly, we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much, and … by consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe that will result in better quality. And I think the first and best example is Thunderbolts*. I feel very good about that”.
Thunderbolts* opened at number one in the United States box office, making $74million (£55million) domestically and $160million (£119.8million) worldwide. It also currently stands at an 88% ‘fresh’ critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than Avengers: Infinity War and the first Captain America film.
NME’s four-star review argues the antiheroes “make Marvel fun again”, saying: “Thunderbolts* doesn’t so much reinvent the wheel as remember what put the wheels on this bandwagon in the first place: an epic blend of thrills, spills and psychological ills. It’s the most fun the MCU’s been in years”.
There has been some controversy, however, as Marvel opted to change the title of the film to reflect the movie’s end twist. This sparked some debate among fans about spoilers, given the movie had only been in cinemas for a few days.