Marvel Studios movies have been consistent blockbuster hits with audiences ever since Iron Man was released in 2008 and the first Avengers movie was released in 2012 — but are fans starting to get too much Marvel? Even though the streaming service Disney+ has released series like Loki, Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, What If…?, and Hawkeye — not to mention the movies Black Widow (2021) and Eternals, which only just premiered on Disney+ last week — Marvel viewership has apparently seen a drastic decrease on the streaming platform.
Yes, it’s true that Marvel movies are big theatrical moneymakers whenever one is released, and that almost every Marvel fan will at least watch some of any new Marvel TV show or movie due to their interest in previous Marvel superheroes. But, as impossible as it might have seemed back in the early days of the Avengers franchise, now Marvel fans might be getting a bit tired of all the Marvel content.
Marvel has definitely tried to expand its offerings by making some new releases slightly different in style, with quirky settings and self-aware tones that attempt to differentiate series like Hawkeye, Wandavision, and Loki from previous Marvel staples like the Avengers. The praise for tongue-in-cheek jokes from movies like Deadpool (2016), which directly mocks cliches from the Marvel Cinematic Universe like superhero landings or epic entrances, also makes it clear that Marvel fans have become a bit too familiar with the tropes that fill many a Marvel film.
Marvel fans might not just be bored, though; they might also be overwhelmed. With a consistent stream of new Marvel heroes, backstories, enemies, plot twists, and revisions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming in, it’s easy to see why even the most ardent Marvel fan might feel a bit fatigued. Previous Disney CEO Bob Iger saw fatigue like this as a problem when the Star Wars franchise released what he thought was “a little bit too much in the marketplace too fast”, and now it seems like Marvel Studios might also be facing the challenge of a saturated market.
With a Netflix subscription now being more expensive than a Disney+ subscription, the success of Marvel movies on the streaming service is threatened a bit less, but fans’ possible superhero fatigue and fatigue with the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains. Several Marvel movies have had their release dates pushed back further and further since last year, so perhaps fans will get the break from new content that they need! Are you still excited about each new Marvel movie or series? Which upcoming movie are you more excited about: Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, The Marvels (starring Captain Marvel played by Brie Larson), or perhaps the Broadway musical starring Captain America?
