
Can Marvel and DC Save Their Movies From ‘Superhero Fatigue’?
By Movieguide® Contributor
This year’s box office numbers are proving that audiences are definitely feeling “superhero fatigue,” but Marvel and DC have high hopes for their 2025 movies.
“Superhero movies used to be an indispensable revenue driver for the film industry,” Variety reported. “In 2018 and 2019, the average global gross for superhero fare was more than $1 billion. This year, it’s half that.”
From DC’s THE FLASH and JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX to Marvel’s THE MARVELS and ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTAMANIA to Sony’s MADAME WEB and MORBIUS — superhero movies have been flopping at the box office in a major way.
READ MORE: JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX CONTINUES ITS HISTORIC BOX OFFICE BOMB
“Is audience rejection of superhero cinema this past year really as simple a problem as ‘too many of the movies were mid, and the top brand (Marvel) put out too much stuff?’” film critic Mark Hughes wrote in an op-ed for Forbes. “Yes, it is. And that’s not a shocking conclusion, nor is it a surprise — folks have been saying the movies need to be better to regain audience interest, and that there was too much of it.”
It’s also been noted that superhero movies that feature a clear “good defeats evil” plot line do the best at the box office. JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX and THE SUICIDE SQUAD faltered at the box office due to their focus on villains — and their excessive language and content. Movies like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 and SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, however, made millions at the box office, thanks to their redemptive storylines.
READ MORE: SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME REACHES $1 BILLION BOX OFFICE
“There are no slam dunks here,” Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock told Variety. “There’s still a lot of goodwill for Marvel. It’s still the biggest show in town. But to think that these are going to do DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE business — I just don’t see that for any of these films.”
DC Studios also faces an uphill battle. They plan to release SUPERMAN next year, and its performance could make or break the studio.
“I don’t think you can stress enough how important SUPERMAN is for the entire DC Universe,” Bock explained. “This probably has to open with $100 million [domestically], something DC hasn’t been able to pull off in quite a long time. Warner Bros. and DC films are really going to be at a turning point if SUPERMAN does not succeed. They will have to make some big decisions.”
While the box office numbers have been steadily declining, Bock noted that there is no genre stepping up to replace comic book movies.
“There still isn’t anything to replace superheroes at the box office in terms of films with the potential to make that amount of money,” he said. “Until we see some other genre take over, they’re going to continue to invest in it.”
Studios are trying to be more strategic about those investments, though. Disney CEO Bob Iger said earlier this year that he is “working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality” when it comes to Marvel content.
“I’m mindful of the fact that our performance, from a quality perspective, wasn’t up to the standards we set for ourselves,” Iger admitted, emphasizing that the studio will focus on quality over quantity in the coming months.
READ MORE: BOB IGER PLANS TO CUT BACK ON STAR WARS AND MARVEL STREAMING CONTENT IN 2023