Bob Chapek is out at Disney, replaced by former CEO Bob Iger, who led the company through its greatest period of growth. While folks are celebrating his return, Marvel fans may want to hold their cheers. Iger's return could be less glorious for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least as it unfolds on Disney+.
Disney+ was one of Iger's brainchildren, like so many of Disney's major initiatives over the past 15 years. In fact, after he announced his retirement, he extended his stay with the company until the end of the fiscal year in 2021. So even though Chapek's tenure ran a little over two years, for more than half of it Iger was "helping" him as Executive Chairman. Yet neither Iger nor Chapek were actually involved in the creative process; rather, they set the priorities for the company and let creative executives get to work making that vision a reality. Kathleen Kennedy turned Lucasfilm's attention to TV as the Star Wars films have stagnated. Marvel Studios may have the exact opposite problem -- and Iger may pivot focus back to Marvel's movies.
Disney's Bob Iger Has to Course-Correct After Bob Chapek
Disney isn't in a situation like Warner Bros. Discovery gutting HBO Max. Iger believes in Disney+ and it's been successful by any reasonable metric. Yet when he left Disney, Marvel Studios was on an unprecedented run of critical and box office success. The Disney+ series, conversely, faced the kind of criticism that no MCU story faced since Thor: The Dark World. MCU films are still leading at the box office, but not like they used to; per Box Office Mojo, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever dropped 63 percent in its second week of theatrical release.
This could be because Disney+ changed how fans view the MCU. Rather than a big movie theater experience, the streamer put the MCU in viewers' living rooms. In the last two years, Marvel has released more new projects for Disney+ than theaters. Iger could pull the emergency brake on the MCU hype train, telling Marvel to focus less on TV series and more on owning the big screen. And Iger may want more vertical integration with Disney's other platforms like Hulu or ABC. Marvel Studios makes wonderful, cinematic series, but can they do so on a network TV budget or with a network TV tie-in? Iger could make big changes to the MCU's business plan.
Disney's Bob Iger Could Just Stay Out of Kevin Feige's Way
What value a CEO actually provides to a company is an open question. However, if Iger has any special skills, it's that he knows how to handle creative talent -- and Disney is a company built on the foundation of creative talent. There is no question the endgame for any of these mega studios is to make "all the money." However, WarnerMedia and Disney's all-in-on-streaming strategy during the pandemic showed their cards too early. While it provided a safe option for immunocompromised folks to see new movies, others in the industry saw it as an underhanded way to starve the movie theaters at their most desperate hour.
Feige later emphasized the importance of seeing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in theaters (per Screen Rant) in an attempt to bolster 2021's box office with MCU might. The film went on to be the most profitable release in Labor Day Weekend history, according to Box Office Mojo, and made more than $430 million. Given that's still pretty impressive and Iger has a reputation for being a talent-friendly executive, it's also possible that he puts his trust in Feige to keep leading the MCU as he sees fit.
Iger will undoubtedly make changes to how Disney does business. He has to if he hopes to remedy the disasters of the short-lived Chapek era. That might mean the MCU gets its purse strings tightened or regroups to focus more on its big-screen projects -- taking away some of its strengths. But it could also mean Marvel gets back to what made it a box office behemoth.