Marvel Studios President and Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige revealed the secret behind preventing superhero fatigue.
In an interview on The Movie Business Podcast, Feige was asked how he tackles the issue of "superhero fatigue" among moviegoers. The last 10 years have seen a surge in the number of superhero films and television shows hitting the big and small screens, with more than a dozen of them released in 2022 alone. Feige, however, has heard concerns about superhero fatigue before.
"I've been at Marvel Studios for 22 years now, over 22 years, and most of us here at Marvel Studios have been around a decade or longer together," he said. "And from probably my 2nd year at Marvel people were asking, 'Well, how long is this going to last? Is this fad of comic book movies going to end?' And I didn't really understand the question. Because to me it was akin to saying after Gone With The Wind, 'Well how many more movies can be made off of novels? Do you think the audience will sour on movies being adapted from books?'"
Are Fans Feeling Franchise Fatigue?
Phase 4 of the MCU saw the release of seven feature films as well as a number of Disney+ shows, all of them introducing new heroes and villains beyond the title characters. As of December 2022, a study found that 36% of Marvel fans were fatigued by the number of releases per year, while 20% of DC fans felt that way. Feige, however, went on to say that just like books, comics can tell a plethora of different stories, ultimately keeping the superhero genre fresh and new. "There're 80 years of the most interesting, emotional, groundbreaking stories that have been told in the Marvel comics and it is our great privilege to be able to take what we and adapt them," he said.
In the same interview, Feige was similarly asked if there was a "secret formula" to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to which he replied, "The truth is, there isn’t one." However, the Marvel boss added that adapting comics into different genres is another way to keep superhero stories exciting. "I found that if we tell the story right, and we adapt them in a way that the audience still, knock on wood so far, is falling us along 22-plus years later with, that we can tell any types of movies that share two things," he said.
Phase 4 came to an end in November 2022 with the release of both Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in theaters and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+. Phase 5 will kick off with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on Feb. 17, 2023. The majority of MCU projects are currently available to stream on Disney+, with the Black Panther sequel to hit the service on Feb. 1.
Source: The Movie Business Podcast, via The Direct