Why the Mighty Marvel Movies Are Starting to Fall
By Movieguide® Staff
Several factors recently resulted in one of the most expensive movie cancellations in cinematic history—Warner Bros.’s $90 million project, BATGIRL—one of which was a woke ideology and inclusive representation.
The canceled DC comic book adaptation would have included the first transgender character in any superhero movie.
While Marvel Cinematic Universe has fared far better than DC over the past decades, Disney’s insistence on pushing an LGBTQ+ agenda in their content is already hurting the comic book movie’s latest installations.
A new survey by Morning Consult found that Marvel fans’ interest in superhero movies dropped from 87% in November 2021 to 82% by July 2022. While not a steep drop, the numbers reflect a growing trend downwards in an otherwise surefire box office formula for Disney.
However, since 2008, Marvel’s formula for a successful superhero movie has stayed relatively the same: moral, uplifting movies about heroes sacrificing themselves for humanity.
However, the most recent slate of MCU movies—after AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Marvel’s most successful movie of all time—have either included off-brand sexual content or woke idealogical sub-plots not found in the first 22 MCU movies.
Out of the list of recent Marvel movies, only one did not contain a “woke” message or LGBTQ+ agenda: SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME—which established itself as the second highest grossing MCU movie of all time with gross lifetime earnings of $804,793,477.
Other recent installations over the past two years include ETERNALS which earned $164,870,234, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, which earned $411,327,261, and THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER, which earned $316,170,072.
ETERNALS introduced fans to the MCU’s first gay character. DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS contained two lesbian “moms” and a central gay character, America Chavez. THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER also includes a character who mentions his “two dads.”
Disney’s motives are clear, but the box office numbers prove that woke superheroes do not spell long-term success for anyone—even Disney and Marvel.
For complete reviews of MCU’s latest movies, visit Movieguide.org or click the links below:
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
