2023 was one of the weaker years for superhero and comic book genre in modern memory as multiple Marvel Studios and DC releases falling short at the box office, with critics and audiences, or both. This led many in the industry and on social media to suggest superhero fatigue may finally be setting in, but the Russo brothers have a different take on the recent rough patch the genre has gone through.
The directing duo were on hand for the Sands: International Film Festival in Scotland when they were asked about the state of the MCU, the genre as a whole, and the possibility of genre fatigue. Joe Russo told GamesRadar that, while others think its fatigue, he felt the recent issues and shortcomings is reflective of the changing audiences and Hollywood more than anything.
“I think it's a reflection of the current state of everything,” Russo said. “It's difficult right now, it's an interesting time. I think we're in a transitional period and people don't know quite yet how they're going to receive stories moving forward, or what kinds of stories they're going to want.”
He specifically pointed to the viewing habits of older audiences versus the younger generation's methods of consuming media.
“There's a big generational divide about how you consume media,” Russo said. “There's a generation that's used to appointment viewing and going to a theater on a certain date to see something, but it's ageing out. Meanwhile the new generation are ‘I want it now, I want to process it now’, then moving onto the next thing, which they process whilst doing two other things at the same time.”
Anthony Russo added that the pair didn't believe in superhero fatigue, but rather general fatigue and how this is reflected in film history. He used the popularity of Westerns from the 1940s through the mid-1970s and similar complaints of Western fatigue at the time, but they instead “lasted for decades and decades and decades” and “were continually reinvented and brought to new heights” in the years that followed.
Big Things on the Horizon
Whether it is superhero fatigue or changing audiences, both Marvel and DC both appear to be taking a breath before picking things back up again with a glut of releases scheduled for 2025.
The only Marvel Studios theatrical release set for 2024 is Deadpool and Wolverine, which marks the official MCU debuts for the pair since Disney completed its purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019. Trailers have teased the pair fighting through the End of Time, which was first scene in the Disney Plus series Loki as the TVA's proverbial dumping ground, and several cameos have been teased for characters from 20th Century Fox's library of Marvel films.
Things will pick up in 2025, though, with Marvel Studios set to release Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, The Fantastic Four, and Blade in theaters. While things are quieter on the DC front, James Gunn and Peter Safran are looking to make a big splash with the release of Superman to kick off the new cinematic DC Universe.
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