After Avengers: Endgame, it appears the fall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has begun. Why, you may wonder, do I make such a claim? First, Black Widow, the movie that was meant to be an exciting kick off to the next phase of Marvel movies after the completion of the main story arc, had a disappointing turn out in the box office. Steven Zeitchik, a reporter focused on the entertainment industry for The Washington Post, reveals, “Disney’s highly anticipated Marvel film ‘Black Widow’ suffered a brutal blow at the box office this weekend, falling 67 percent compared to its opening weekend and dashing hopes at the company for a July hit.” He continues, “Its second-weekend plunge, it turns out, is the biggest of any Disney-released Marvel film, which generally play well for weeks.” This movie became one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies, resulting Disney expert Josh Spiegel to conclude people are becoming tired of Marvel’s films. In my personal experience after leaving the theater from watching the Black Widow movie, my friend and I had the same reaction: “It was okay.” It didn’t blow me away. It didn’t cause my creative gears to turn. It didn’t make me feel excited or emotional. All it did was make me, well, not care. I didn’t care about how the movie was going to end, nor what would come after. A movie should not make you apathetic, especially not a Marvel movie fans have been waiting years to see. Unfortunately, Black Widow isn’t the only “just okay” movie or project Marvel has recently produced. According to the Insider, the opening of the movie Eternals led to Marvel’s worst debut in six years at seventy-one million dollars total in America’s box office. James Hanton, a reporter for The Guardian, explains, “For the first time since 2014, no MCU release has broken into the top six highest-grossing films of the year globally, with No Time to Die, Fast & Furious 9, and Godzilla vs. Kong sitting comfortably above them.” Even Marvel’s most recent streaming series on Disney+, Hawkeye, has the lowest rated viewership compared to Marvel’s other television shows. But what caused this descent of Marvel’s popularity? The only blame can be placed on Marvel itself. These movies, stories, and characters, all had the potential to be something more; to be something great. Marvel, however, has quit trying. Marvel has stopped inventing. Instead of making something new that sparks wonder in the eyes of the beholder, Marvel feeds us the same thing over and over again. This isn’t to say any of the recent movies are necessarily bad, but they are definitely not more than okay, and as a fan, that hurts. It’s no surprise, therefore, that many have stopped going to see Marvel movies because not only has it stopped producing quality content, but also excuses the lack of ingenuity due to its well-established fan base. As the audience, we feel as if we are being used instead of prioritized. And the only way to end such a toxic relationship is to end the relationship itself; thus, many have said their goodbyes to Marvel.
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