The Marvels, which had a disappointing opening on Friday with a reported box office gross of $27.5 million, continues to fall short of expectations. It is now on course to have the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe debut ever.
Disney had low expectations for the film, predicting it would gross around $55-60 million before its release. Now, box office projections are down to $47-52 after its first night.
Disney was scrambling to gain positive coverage for The Marvels after popular reviewers such as Nerdrotic called the film “god awful.” Rotten Tomatoes had an advance rating of 56%, but that number jumped to 62% when some less trustworthy access media reviewed the film. As of this writing, the Top Critics, the audience’s most trusted critics, have rated the film at a dismal 42 percent.
About The Marvels#TheMarvels pic.twitter.com/Ny39EycS3B
— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) November 9, 2023
It’s easy to see why the MCU has failed. Disney has been doing everything it can to destroy the MCU in the past couple of years, creating what critics online call an M-She U, which replaces beloved characters such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor with females and minority knock-offs that don’t encourage audiences to go to the movies.
The combination of diverse castings and writers and directors who don’t understand the superhero genre is a recipe for disaster. Disney has seen a series of failures ever since critics decried the first Captain Marvel film. Marvel’s reputation from Avengers: Endgame had been strong enough to boost the film to over $1 billion in gross. But those days are gone as moviegoers no longer trust Disney Marvel.
The access media will continue to make excuses for Disney. We’re already seeing different outlets use the same playbook to say it’s just “superhero exhaustion” or call critics of this film “misogynists” if they dislike it. One Screen Rant critic tweeted that men were to blame for the lack of success of the film, suggesting the women’s casting made them unobjective.
It’s really interesting to me that it’s all men who very are actively hating on The Marvels. 🤷♀️
The movie isn’t perfect (read my review for my thoughts) but it doesn’t deserve the hate many (men) are giving it. pic.twitter.com/DrRkJWeFVn
— Tessa Smith – Mama’s Geeky (@MamasGeeky) November 8, 2023
Truthfully, audiences are tired of forced diversity knockoffs that co-opt the intellectual properties that they love. South Park made a mocking special called “Joining The Panderverse”, where they mocked Disney’s recent diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies. The show mocked Disney executive Kathleen Kennedy and called her writing lame multiple times. This has since led to a viral meme “Put in a chick and make it gay and lame!”
Kevin Feige has landed with a special message to Marvel fans! #TheMarvels pic.twitter.com/Wf4SW99TAp
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) November 8, 2023
Disney’s attention to the online teasing from fans will be evident. The Marvels’ box-office failure is still a wake-up for the producers of these films, which cost them hundreds of millions. Disney could go bankrupt if they don’t stop their identity politics and get their act together.