Back In two thousand and eight, the first Iron Man movie starring Robert Downey Jr. was released, and it was a massive hit. Comic book fans loved the movie, and even those who did not grow up reading Iron Man or barely knew of him loved the film. It was also the start of a great redemption arc for Robert Downey Jr. and his life and career, as the story of Tony Stark and Robert Downey Jr. had many similarities, and many would point it out as life imitating art or vice versa.
Later, Iron Man would serve as the first of many comic book movies to come, and the cinemas would be filled with moviegoers eagerly waiting to see Captain America fight off some Nazis or Thor use Mjlonir to summon lightning and strike down his foes.
As time went on, more comic book movies followed, and audiences would go to the theater year after year to watch these beloved heroes save the day. We would go to the theater to be introduced to new superheroes many had never heard of but saw that it was another Marvel Comic Book movie and rush to the theater to see the new film. Moviegoers went to watch the talented yet arrogant Stephen Strange go from having everything to losing it all and becoming the new protector of the universe. Audiences went to go see a kid from Queens become the Amazing Spider-Man, and audiences went to go see T'Challa, played by the late great Chadwick Boseman, save his kingdom and pledge to help the world with Wakanda's resources.
It was the Golden Age of the Super Hero Comic Book Movie, and for a time, it was glorious.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. After many comic book movies that were building up to a crescendo event, Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame Audiences saw many of our beloved heroes give their lives to save the world; others retired from saving the world to build a life with the girl of their dreams. The story was over. The bad guy was defeated, the heroes ultimately won the day, and the world was safe.
Disney Marvel, on the other hand, did not see it that way.
Shortly after Endgame, we got another Spider-Man movie, and then we got the new Disney Plus MCU shows like Wandavision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki. It was clear that the Marvel pipeline of shows and movies was not slowing down, and while that was all well and good for some of the movie-going audience, others soon got bored. New release after new release became a drag for many of the MCU fandom, both comic book aficionado and normal MCU fan that loved the movies but never read the comics. Part of the reason was because it was clear that after the show was over and the dust settled, the quality of the show or movie was really nothing to write home about. Wandavision was an interesting take on a superhero show where each episode was based off of a decade of television, but the story ultimately fell flat and left many of the viewing audience not quite understanding what the point of all of what they had just spent weeks watching was.
Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the same issue, with many quickly identifying the lethal weapon-like dynamic between Sam and Bucky (Falcon and the Winter Soldier), but found the comedy falling flat and the overall messaging of the show to be incredibly heavy-handed and obnoxious.
You can imagine the reception for the rest of the shows.
Not a single one of the MCU TV shows was a big hit, and in fact, as the shows kept dropping, the viewership kept declining. The crown for the lowest-viewed MCU show was Ms. Marvel, but it was recently de-crowned by Secret Invasion as not only having the lowest views but also being the lowest-rated show of the MCU.
So while the MCU was declining in quality and popularity, what was the DC cinematic universe up to?
Well, they jumped the gun on trying to make their team-up movie "Suicide Squad" (not to be confused with "The Suicide Squad"). DC rushed in and tried to make their big cinematic take on Avengers with a movie based around a cast of characters hardly anybody knew in a world no one knew anything about in the name of chasing that big MCU like Dollar. DC is still struggling to get their own profitable yet exciting cinematic universe off the ground, but only time will tell whether or not it will work now that James Gunn is over there.
Leaving aside all these issues that have arisen in Phase 4 to Phase 5 of the MCU and the DCEU not getting the ball rolling and enjoying that MCU like a dollar, where did this fatigue come from?
Let's ignore the quality of these movies and shows and instead focus on the overall habit that grew in the comic book movie audience. The comic book movie audience, whenever they learned that another MCU project was on the way, would get excited and plan their days accordingly to go watch the new MCU movie. Each movie felt like an event in its own right, and based on what Kevin Feige and others had said in interviews, the audience was going to watch another chapter in an overall larger story that was being told through each film. The audience simply did not go watch Benedict Cumberbatch be a wizard only because it was Benedict Cumberbatch; it was also because what happened in that movie was going to have an effect on the rest of the established MCU. In doing so, these movies almost appropriately became like comic books in their own right. You read comic books not just because it was fun to read about your favorite superheroes or potentially new superheroes fighting crime or saving the world, but also because it was also to read a grand story being told. Much like how you would read a series of books like The Series of Unfortunate Events or Harry Potter, you read comic books in an almost similar fashion.
All of this is to say that once this decade-long story was finally finished, so was the audience.
For the last ten years, the audience has watched each and every movie, either by going to the theater, waiting for the blu-ray release, or watching the movies via streaming in order to keep up with the story, and in doing so, they have spent a lot of money. When the audience saw there was more, naturally, the reaction was very dry and worn down after a decade of comic book movies.
This, in my mind, was always going to happen. Regardless of the quality of the MCU projects after Avengers: Endgame, the audience was always going to get tired of going to all the latest MCU releases and even avoid subscribing to Disney Plus to try and watch the plethora of MCU TV shows. Because now, watching these movies and TV shows to be kept in the loop of the cinematic universe is now homework. The audience knew that you needed to watch the previous movies in order to be up-to-date on the story and be able to understand who was who and what was what, but after the audience had done that for ten years, Disney/Marvel expected another ten years of audiences watching every movie and every TV show.
Superhero fatigue is a real concept, and the audience is experiencing it. Film studios can no longer bank on adapting well-known or underrated comic book heroes for the big screen or streaming. Either they learn and realize they need to put more effort into creative and original ideas or they are condemned to lose millions of dollars on big-budget CGI superhero films.
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