The MCU‘s Phase Five has had successful projects so far, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Loki, What If…?, and Echo. However, critics panned Secret Invasion and The Marvels bombed at the box office. Despite the MCU’s bad luck, Avengers: Endgame‘s The Russo Brothers give their explanation on why they don’t believe superhero fatigue is the cause.
Not only did critics love Avengers: Endgame, but its box office was set to surpass Avatar. It became the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 to March 2021. With no similarly successful Marvel movie since then, are audiences growing tired of the superhero genre? Anthony Russo spoke to GamesRadar+ that the problems Marvel is facing have nothing to do with superhero fatigue.
“I think it’s fatigue in general. The superhero fatigue question was around long before the work we were doing,” said Russo. “So, it’s sort of an eternal complaint, like we always used to cite this back in our early days with superhero work. People used to complain about westerns in the same way, but they lasted for decades and decades and decades. They were continually reinvented and brought to new heights as they went on.”
Anthony Russo may have a point. People might not be growing tired of superhero movies. It’s about waiting for these stories to evolve. Joe Russo has his own theory:
“The new generation are ‘I want it now, I want to process it now’, then moving onto the next thing, which they process whilst doing two other things at the same time. You know, it’s a very different moment in time than it’s ever been. And so I think everyone, including Marvel, is experiencing the same thing, this transition. And I think that really is probably what’s at play more than anything else.”
Upcoming Marvel Projects To Look Forward To
This year for Marvel movies, Deadpool & Wolverine will have Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds share the big screen again. This July 26th theatrical release will be a big reunion for their characters ever since 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
As for TV shows, Disney+ will release the miniseries Agatha based on WandaVision‘s character Agatha Harkness. Two animated series will also make their way to Disney+ like Eyes of Wakanda and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man later this year. With Deadpool, Wolverine, WandaVision, Black Panther, and Spider-Man being successful superhero characters, I have no doubt they’ll bring success again and remove the notion of superhero fatigue.