After Disney’s ambitious attempt at revamping the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) brought highly underwhelming performance reviews, panelists suspected that Marvel Studios’ fate lies in jeopardy. As Brian Elliot of Vanity Fair Magazine said, “At first, we all thought Disney was throwing caution to the wind with their plans for this billion-dollar franchise. Little did we know, that was the beginning of the end.”
After a string of box-office disasters, Thor: Love and Thunder, Ms. Marvel, and Moon Knight, which were dubbed “lukewarm CGI fests,” only added more concerns to the equation, critics were already foaming at the mouth to get a piece of the action. Even the slated Marvel projects of November 2026 – The Incredible Hulk: Under Siege, Blade, Deadpool 3, Captain Marvel 2, X-Men: Messiah Complex, Ant-Man, and The Wasp: Quantic Panic – seemed too ambitious and half-cocked to be financially viable to Disney. Gabe Toro of the Hollywood Reporter noted that these titles in itself were a precursor of Disney’s rather weakened state at the moment. The margins were wide, and so was the divide for a movie-goer to give them a second look.
However, February 2023 saw some interest in both stockbrokers and critics as Disney CEO Bob Iger addressed the state of the Disney machine altogether. In an earnings call, Iger said, “We have to be better at curating Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars, of it all. And, of course, reduce costs on everything that we make. While we are extremely proud of what we put out on the screen, it’s gotten to a point where it’s not affordable, and we have to look at what they cost us,” Iger explained, which left the masses scratching their heads in confusion. Even Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige addressed the financial pressure the leadership team was going through and there were indications of letting go of “luxuries” like highly visible actors, elaborate stunts, and state-of-the-art CGI – factors that played a vital role in the previous Marvel movies.
Almost three years since the impending doom of the supervillain defeating money pits Disney started to take a different shape under the table. By changing Marvel Studios’ way of approach to the line set forth by the Disney executives, there were hopes that the problems could be contained. However, without the audience at the discussion, there’s no plausible way to understand if the moves could cater to the betterment of Marvel Studios, with or without their beneficiary intentions being met.
These attempts towards righting the franchise’s sinking ship have failed to appease Mark Ruffalo, the actor portraying Bruce Banner/Hulk, and an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mark had an interview with GQ’s Olivia Ovenden, to discuss the future of the MCU. He also brought in his new movie, Stillwater, directed by Thomas McCarthy, and penned by Gre’s boldly divergent screenplay.
Upon being questioned on what all the actors thought about the future of the Marvel content, Ruffalo said, “There’s this Avengers jet and we’re going into the hyper-reality of the story and then emerging into the real-world stakes of what we’re telling here.” He then ruminated on the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it and added, “I think the expansion into streaming was really exciting, but the thing about Marvel movies is that Marvel had this ordeal that made us wait three years for the next one. And that created a mystique.”
However, even with the series of course corrections Disney, to bear some fruit, there were minor reservations that the scheme could work wonders for MCU. Mark said, “These corrections could be really positive things. Will it be what it was? I don’t know”. There’s already the first potential preview of the coordinated team-ups that Disney had promised to kickstart their reboot – Daredevil: Born Again. But, fans and analysts are not holding their breath for it to be more than mere media hype.
An exciting second wave of superstars brought out all the Avengers to battle it out. The first-of-its-kind experience that Marvel gave didn’t really go according to plan. Throwing in some star power, style, mind-bending effects, and cutting-edge storytelling gave the MCU a complex mystique, and an already intriguing storyline in the upcoming flick Captain America: Brave New World keeps the viewers glued and waiting for February 14, 2025. Ruffalo admits that he remains proud of the first Avengers and subsequent renditions thus far.
“Will the Hulk solo movie ever happen? I have no way of knowing it right now. These movies are incredibly expensive. I think that’s why they use the Hulk sparingly,” Ruffalo acclaims when asked about the near future of his character. “I still said yes,” “And I’m really proud of it.” Ruffalo seems hopeful and proud that whatever happens, it won’t be tainted by corporate greed and help green-ify a tunneled series.
