Kevin Feige Believes Superhero Fatigue Isn't Real After Superman
He also talks about fewer Marvel offerings and rebooting the MCU
Kevin Feige recently gave an interview with several news outlets, and during this discussion, he mentioned that perhaps Marvel has made too much content, but “superhero fatigue” isn’t real.
Yes, “Superman” has done fairly well globally. But DC isn’t cranking out countless films and shows. DC’s “Superman” also focused on story and character over narrative.
Unfortunately, Feige, whose job relies on making more Marvel content, has the takeaway that less is more and audiences aren’t sick of Marvel superheroes.
Two things can be true simultaneously.
People might still have room for non-Marvel superheroes and have superhero fatigue towards Marvel ones.
What did Feige say?
According to Variety, he said,
“Look at ‘Superman. It’s clearly not superhero fatigue, right?
“I liked it a lot. I love you just jump right into it. You don’t know who Mister Terrific is? Tough, you’ll figure it out. This is a fully fleshed out world.”
But at the same time he admitted that Marvel has too much content,
“We produced 50 hours of stories between 2007 and 2019, but in the six years since “Avengers: Endgame” concluded the Infinity Saga, “we’ve had well over 100 hours of stories — in half the time. That’s too much.”…
…“I’ve always thought if you take success and don’t experiment with it and don’t risk with it, then it’s not worth it,” he said. “What we also ended up focusing on because of Disney+ was expansion — and it’s that expansion that I think led people to say, ‘It used to be fun, but now do I have to know everything about all of these?’”…
…“For the first time ever, quantity trumped quality. We spent 12 years working on the Infinity Saga saying that’s never going to happen to us. We always had more characters than we could possibly make because we weren’t going to make a movie a month. Suddenly, there’s a mandate to make more. And we go, ‘Well, we do have more.’”
Feige admits that they have put quality second to quantity at the MCU. Something audiences and “haters on YouTube” have been saying for a while. That is superhero fatigue. Too much, too soon, and it’s subpar.
Also, the push for more on Disney+ has backfired. Not everyone has the streaming service, and recent films have relied heavily on people watching Disney+ Marvel shows to know what is going on.
For example, “Captain America: Brave New World” needs one to have watched “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” to understand who some of the characters are.
Thunderbolts* requires people to have watched the same show, “Black Widow,” and “Ant-Man” to understand who the characters are.
Feige has noticed the public’s thought process and admits it while simultaneously saying it didn’t matter,
“‘Thunderbolts*’ I thought was a very, very good movie. But nobody knew that title and many of those characters were from a show. Some were still feeling that notion of, ‘I guess I had to have seen these other shows to understand who this is.’ If you actually saw the movie, that wouldn’t be the case, and we make the movie so that’s not the case. But I think we still have to make sure the audience understands that.”
It doesn’t matter. If people feel there is a barrier to entry, they will likely avoid it.
When people talk about “superhero” fatigue, they are usually referring to Marvel specifically.
“Superman” doing well doesn’t mean Marvel can make fewer films and shows and hit the same success.
DC has also rested for a bit as James Gunn took over and started it again. Even before that, we were not seeing the overwhelming number of interconnected films and shows that Marvel soured fans on.
Damage can be reversed, but not with the same constant slate of shows and films. There needs to be a break.
Feige’s plan moving forward
It seems his plan is to make fewer shows, and allow them to be self-contained stories that aren’t seen as something one needs to watch before the films. He even cited examples like “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,“ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” and “Agent Carter.” All of which were done under the canceled Marvel Entertainment arm and before he became the Chief Creative Officer of Marvel in 2019.
He is also going to reboot the MCU after “Avengers: Secret Wars” which was a long-standing rumor.
According to Variety,
“Avengers: Secret Wars” will not only conclude the Multiverse Saga, but provide a “reset” for the entire MCU — including a new cast for the “X-Men” films.
If people reject character changes now, I hope they at least put back the characters as they were, even with new actors.
It’s a mess.
But the notion that “superhero fatigue” is gone because “Superman” did well seems short-sighted and tone deaf.
Marvel is why people mostly use the term. Less is better, but I don’t know if this is enough to change people’s minds.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!