Summary
WithThe Marvelssuffering an abysmal box office opening that undercut even the most conservative estimates pre-release, the film has received an unexpected white knight in the form of prolific author Stephen King stepping in to scold those reveling in the bad news.
The Marvelshad a lot to live up to, serving as a sequel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2019 blockbusterCaptain Marvel,which enjoyed box office success to the tune of more than a billion dollars and tied into the most successful film in the franchise,Avengers: Endgame. Despite the unique premise and star power,The Marvels' first trailer was the MCU’s most dislikedon YouTube, foreshadowing a less-than-stellar reception forCaptain Marvel 2.
Unfortunately,The Marvelsbox office numbers set a new record-low for the MCUwith an abysmal opening that saw the $200 million budget film rake in only about $47 million domestically and just over $100 million overall, leading to a flurry of online engagement discussing it. Taking to his account onX, best-selling author King had some scathing words for those seemingly gloating about the failure. The post reads, “I don’t go to MCU movies, don’t care for them, but I find this barely masked gloating over the low box office for THE MARVELS very unpleasant. Why gloat over failure?” This pushback received mixed responses, with some agreeing and others dissenting, but notably, even the most vocal dissidents not disrespecting King himself.
The majority agreed with King, with some going further and diagnosing the cause of the seemingly outsized revelry in theThe Marvels' failure as rooted in racism, sexism, and misogyny. These responses point out that in addition to its female-led cast, the film was also helmed by a woman of color in Nia DaCosta, who also noted such attitudes to her work in varying ways leading up to the film, includingweird notes fromThe Marvelstest screeningsthat seemed more hostile than helpful. The film was also clearly meant for a female demographic in a mainly male-dominated consumer pool, possibly inciting some of the supposed discrimination.
The criticism from King is valid, and there’s assuredly some truth to the issues raised by supporters in his replies, albeit with a significant deviation from the spirit of the original message. The problem of discriminatory attitudes is not new to Disney-owned projects, and it isn’t one that the company seems equipped to handle well, as seen withhow Disney failedStar Wars' John Boyega amid racismduring his time playing Finn in the sequel trilogy. How much ofThe Marvels' woes were caused by this, and what portion can be attributed to the general superhero fatigue, Disney Plus homework requirement, lack of promotion, dynamic release dates, and more is anyone’s guess.
It’s been said thatThe Marvelscould be the last traditional Marvel movie, and its opening performance has made that possibility inevitable. While the rework ofDaredevil: Born Againwas the precursor for the franchise’s Disney Plus shows getting more conventional structuring (including the first MCU showrunner), it seemsThe Marvelshas become an expensive signal for the franchise’s big-budget films to follow the same path. Fans and shareholders can only wait to see how a new approach works.
The Marvelsis now playing in theaters.
The Marvels
Carol Danvers teams up with Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan in The Marvels. As the three heroes find their powers entangled, they must work together to stop Dar-Benn from enacting her evil plan.
