By Gavin Boyle
As Marvel enters a new stage of the Avengers and DC launches its new cinematic universe, the success of these franchises this summer will be very telling for the future of the superhero movie genre.
“We don’t want these characters to die out,” James Gunn, the architect of the new DC Universe, said in February. “We want to bring new stories and new life, we want to introduce these characters to new generations. And I think we are doing that, slowly but surely.”
His desire to onboard a new generation of fans bit by bit may be in response to Marvel’s strategy of releasing as much content as possible for years. Though Disney has since stated this was a mistake, the decision to flood the market has left a lasting impact on the superhero genre, causing many to move on from it — including studios who have shifted to video game franchises as their newest obsession.
“In our zeal to basically grow our content significantly and serve our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people, in terms of their time and their focus, way beyond where they have been,” Iger said in the summer of 2023. “Marvel is a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series for Disney+.”
Since many people have given up on superhero movies, the success of the flicks that come out this summer may decide where Disney takes Marvel and where Warner Bros. takes DC. The outlook already seems grim, though, as Marvel’s THUNDERBOLTS*, which released in May, was a box office disappointment only grossing $358 million worldwide despite being heralded as the best Marvel movie in years.
Perhaps because of this disappointing showing, Marvel recently pushed back the release of AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY with it now slated for December 2026 rather than May of that year. Nonetheless, the franchise will have another go at things this summer with the release of THE FANTASTIC FOUR: THE FIRST STEPS on July 25. While the reception of THUNDERBOLTS* makes its success seem unlikely, it could also go the way of last year’s DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE which grossed over $1.3 billion and ended the year as the second most popular movie at the box office.
Meanwhile, DC is hoping that there is enough interest left in the superhero genre that audiences will be willing to give another franchise a shot. Even if they are fatigued with Marvel, the relative lack of DC content could have fans eager for more.
Only time will tell what will happen. Will summer 2025 be the start of a superhero revival or will it serve as the final gasp of a dying genre that dominated for over a decade?
Related: Quality Over Quantity: Disney CEO Bob Iger Reveals Plan To Cut Costs
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