The MCU"s New Release Strategy Makes It Harder To Repeat The Franchise"s Biggest Surprise Hits

Summary

• The MCU may not take as many big risks going forward, potentially missing out on surprise hits like Guardians of the Galaxy.
• Disney CEO Bob Iger wants to focus on established characters and franchises.
• Shifting the focus to sequels more focally could make it harder for the MCU to find breakout hits and limit its potential for success.

The MCU will be moving in a different direction according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, which could complicate how well the franchise is able to repeat its biggest past successes. In Disney's latest earnings call (via The Wrap), Iger discussed how the MCU could get its momentum back, following some lower box office results and lower streaming numbers with a number of Disney+ Marvel shows. Though there is a positive side to the direction Disney might be taking based on these comments, it also raises some concerns about what the MCU timeline might miss out on going forward.
Iger's comments seem to suggest that the MCU won't be taking as many big risks as they have in the past. While certain risks like Eternals weren't huge financial successes, it is important to remember that Marvel has found a lot of success in surprising corners of the MCU. The MCU itself owes its existence to an at-the-time slightly less popular character - Iron Man - due to Marvel's rights issues. If Iger's plan goes through, upcoming Marvel movies might not be able to replicate surprise hits like Guardians of the Galaxy.
Related Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Ranked Worst To Best Over 15 years and 33 movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have redefined blockbuster cinema. But how do all the films stack up? The MCU's New Release Strategy Will Bank On Established Characters During Disney's most recent earnings call, Iger stressed the importance of falling back on known quantities like Captain America and The Fantastic Four for the MCU. This raised concerns online about other current projects like Marvel's Thunderbolts and Blade, which weren't mentioned in the call. While these films are still scheduled to be released, Iger's proposed strategy will likely have a big effect on the MCU down the line.
Iger said he wants to shift the company's focus to sequels and franchises. This would likely be similar to the earlier MCU phases where there would be sequels for the main heroes like Captain America or Thor, with an Avengers movie at the end of the phase. It does seem like Iger is open to the idea of new characters like The Fantastic Four and X-Men as long as they are recognizable franchises. Though this could mean seeing the X-Men in the MCU sooner, this new strategy isn't all good.
Focusing On Sequels Means The MCU Will Have A Harder Time Finding Surprise Breakout Hits While Iger's strategy is an understandable move for the company, it ignores some of the biggest surprise hits Marvel has had over the years. In fact, the entire MCU was basically founded on a surprise hit. It might be hard to remember now, but Iron Man wasn't as much of a popular Marvel hero before the MCU started. This is arguably why Marvel still owned the rights to him in 2008, as he wasn't as easy to sell as Spider-Man or the X-Men. Marvel took a risk on the character, which paid off and launched the MCU.
The MCU continued to find great success with lesser-known properties like Guardians of the Galaxy and Shang-Chi. If anything, the success of Guardians of the Galaxy proved that obscure characters like Rocket Raccoon and Groot could be elevated to household names off the back of a well-made movie. Shang-Chi and Guardians of the Galaxy both out-performed The Marvels at the box office, which was a sequel to the very successful Captain Marvel. Though Marvel has certainly had huge success with their established franchises as well, it would be smart not to limit the MCU's potential to create breakout hits.


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