The waning moments of “Avengers: Endgame” featured a girl-power nod so cringe-worthy even woke web sites cried foul.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been downhill ever since.
The saga no longer crushes the box office competition like it did during the Iron Man/Thor/Captain America heyday. Now, movies like “Black Widow,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Eternals” draw smaller crowds than their predecessors.
After reports that Marvel is considering bringing back the original Avengers cast, and #Blade was turned into a female "life lessons" movie, Kevin Feige and Bob Iger are claiming they've been lied to and are dialing things WAY back. https://t.co/bbgRJIUuWQ #MCU #Marvel #woke
— Bleeding Fool (@BleedingFool) November 3, 2023
The franchise is better known for its woke storytelling than breakout hits these days, with only the recent “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. III” living up to expectations.
It’s why box office forecasts for “The Marvels” are so gloomy.
Experts predict the film could make anywhere from $45 to $75 million, a far cry from the MCU glory days. It’s also a dizzying step down from what “Captain Marvel” made in 2018 – $156 million in its opening frame.
Disney, which owns the MCU, called in the reinforcements.
Iron Man. Captain America.
No, those MCU favorites don’t appear in “The Marvels,” featuring a trio of female heroes led by Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel.
They do pop up in the just-released trailer meant to reverse the bad buzz surrounding the project. It’s odd to see a trailer released the day before a film opens, but Team MCU is in trouble.
Send in Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans, the actors who played Iron Man and Captain America during the MCU heyday.
So much for girl power.
The trailer flashes back to the male heroes along with a time when the MCU could do no wrong. The hope? Connecting the classic MCU tales to “The Marvels” will coax some movie goers into theaters this weekend.
Up until recently, the marketing message behind “The Marvels” focused on three heroes with limited appeal. Larson’s Captain Marvel lacks the charisma of her predecessor.
Iman Vellani’s Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel” failed to draw a crowd on the streaming service. Teyonah Parris, introduced on Disney+’s “WandaVision,” completes the new film’s trio but lacks the name recognition of Thor, The Hulk or Spider-Man.
It’s crunch time for Marvel and Disney, and even a super woke company realizes its fans miss the days when Shell Head led the charge against foes like Loki and Thanos.
We’ll see if audiences want that ol’ MCU magic badly enough to rally behind “The Marvels” this weekend.
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