Disney began a restructuring process across its entire content division. When reviewing financial statements, there is caution regarding the pace of production of products with high costs. This summary includes several aspects of the business. Among them is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that will see fewer premieres. It is bad news? Probably no.
Most of the entertainment industry these days is driven by providing more and more content to fans of the franchise. He Marvel Cinematic Universe is the clearest example of this: from now until 2026, many productions are planned. His followers know that this story is constantly fueled. The flip side of this is that it may come as no surprise to those new to the game that they have to watch so many movies and series until they get to the current narrative.
For a couple of years, it has been upgraded in relation to Marvel Cinematic Universethat its volume of content saturates its own narrative. It feels like while many viewers haven’t seen the latest movie yet, there are two more series that are also on the agenda. A very simplistic example describes a part of the reality where entertainment options compete for consumer attention.
That’s why the reduction in release volume in the Marvel Cinematic Universe can’t be bad news. We explain it.
Disney, Marvel Cinematic Universe and premiere cuts
February 17, Hollywood Reporter announced the formation of a new directive at Disney, focused on estimating production costs. It is an executive body that will study various aspects related to the company’s projects with the intention of “stop using meaningless money”.
What is the main goal? Cut costs. Disney CEO, Bob Iger, summed it up in one sentence: “We want quality on screen, but we have to look at what it costs us.” The proposal raises some questions because, in the entertainment industry, investment is usually the key to competition. So the question is how it is distributed.
In this context, the following projects were approved for this year, after the premiere Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania:
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Part 3scheduled for May 5th.
- covert invasion: This series does not yet have a premiere date, but it will be in 2023.
- Loki (season 2): the same happens as with the previous series, there is no specific release date.
Other projects that were on the agenda at some point this year were the first season. threw outcharacter featured in HawkeyeThe second part What happens if…? And iron heart.
threw out And What happens if…? were postponed to 2024, and iron heart It still does not have a specific year of release, although it is likely that it will also be left for next year.
In short, almost half of the premieres scheduled or linked at some point to 2023 will no longer be presented. This takes the discussion to the next level: project curation.
Cinematic Universe Formula.
Marvel
One of the biggest criticisms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the repetition of the formula. The characters and contexts change, but in many cases the development of the productions is the same. There is an unfortunate circumstance that is not resolved very convincingly, usually represented by a dramatic transformation of the main characters or the addition of alliances without a clear rationale.
Although it’s about superhero movies, and the above is also found in some comics, the main theme is repetition. What’s happened? The fictitious contract supposed between the viewer and the franchise is exhausted if no options are offered in this regard. It may not be about such sophisticated stakes, author’s cinema. But maybe a lot of viewers think it’s good for the good guys to lose once in a while.
Avengers: Infinity War it was so important because it represented a serious loss for the Avengers. The heroes who, individually and as a group, managed to face almost any threat and come out victorious, in this case began to face setbacks and various stages of grief: half of the life in the universe was gone, and they could not avoid it. .
While the above example is one of the key episodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it serves to describe the following: a franchise may need to have its resolution unpredictable in order to renew part of this fictional pact. This is one aspect that the decision to reduce the frequency of content can affect: to be able to better curate them, both in the production and in the stories that make them up. According to Bob Iger, this would be a way to maintain quality and perhaps take care of the investment.
What about content saturation?
It could also be reduced. Before the pandemic COVID-19the entertainment industry was not on the platforms streaming a key option in his strategy. This is a change. Shortly before 2020, companies began to pay attention to these spaces and during the quarantine they bet on them as a way to reach an audience that could not leave the house.
What is currently happening? Now this audience can leave the house. This means that their leisure and entertainment options have become diversified or returned to normality, in contrast to a context in which the screen was one of the main alternatives.. In this context, it’s normal to think that you don’t want to spend so much time binge-watching TV series anymore, because, for example, you can visit friends.
Therefore, keeping the viewer captive becomes an increasingly difficult task. If before he could claim new content, now he may not be so interested. That’s why reducing the frequency of releases in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the long run can be a positive thing. This would allow each story to settle, and for viewers who follow those stories out of the corner of their eye to do so at a different pace than usual. fandom. Add to that the possibility of improving the arguments and development of the series and films, and it seems like a win for both Disney and viewers.
Source: Hiper Textual
