Why The Marvels Bombed At The Box Office

The year 2023 continues to be a disappointing one for Marvel Studios. 

Following the two-billion-dollar success that was "Avengers: Endgame," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was on top of the world. "Endgame," which wrapped up the decade-in-the-making "Infinity Saga," broke box office records, cementing him as Hollywood's most successful producer. But just four years later, his empire seems big enough to fail. 

Amidst a series of controversies regarding poor VFX working conditions, general apathy and indifference for the franchise's slate of Disney+ programs, coupled with a string of uninteresting cinematic releases, Marvel Studios is no longer the surefire bet it was once treated as, and the disappointment of "The Marvels" at the box office cements this. Deadline has the film coming in anywhere between $47 to $52 million, a damning debut for a project with a reported budget north of $200 million. With such a disappointing debut, "The Marvels" is on track to have the lowest opening weekend for any MCU film ever, making less than the $55 million start "The Incredible Hulk" had in 2008. To make things worse, it's also projected to make less this weekend than the $55 million debut of "The Flash" — one of the biggest box office bombs in recent memory. 

Fans who did decide to show up for Brie Larson's latest didn't particularly care for the "Captain Marvel" sequel. The film, directed by Nia DaCosta, received a B CinemaScore, on par with this year's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which broke the internet thanks to its disjointed narrative beats and less-than-stellar visual effects. With mediocre box office receipts and generally middling reception, "The Marvels" has already cemented itself as one of the biggest misfires in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, emerging as a rare box office bomb for the once triumphant franchise.

There's no doubt about it: "The Marvels" is an absolute disaster for Marvel Studios, which hasn't had a billion-dollar grossing hit since 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Negative audience perception of the brand continues to grow and the receipts for the studio's latest confirms that the party could be over. To understand just how much of a blow the debut of "The Marvels" is, it's important to take a trip back to the whopping financial haul that "Captain Marvel" brought in. The 2019 flick debuted to $153 million in early March, just over a month before "Avengers: Endgame" hit cinemas. The Brie Larson-led feature expertly capitalized on the post-"Infinity War" hype and managed to post over $1.1 billion in global receipts. Internationally, the film brought home a whopping $702 million, thanks in part to a stellar showing from China. 

"The Marvels," however, comes at a time when there's no momentum for the long-running franchise. The vibes have no doubt shifted, and "The Marvels" will more than likely struggle to make over $400 million at the global box office. Superhero fatigue has taken over Hollywood and "The Marvels" is just the latest sign that it's time for the superhero machine to slow things down. Consider how this year's extremely well-reviewed "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" couldn't even trump the receipts of its predecessor. Now, Disney is moving beyond diminishing returns and entering uncharted territory. The failure of "The Marvels" confirms that it's time for the ever-expanding franchise to reassess and truly understand its missteps. 

"The Marvels" is the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's more films than the "James Bond" franchise has produced in over six decades. At a certain point, the latest flick just no longer becomes essential, and "The Marvels" definitely doesn't have an aura of necessity. While the stakes have been mostly low after "Avengers: Endgame," Marvel Studios has done a decent enough job pitching Kang (Jonathan Majors) as its next big bad. The problem is, that the marketing for "The Marvels" failed to pitch Nia DaCosta's latest as key, essential viewing, failing to tie it into other recent, relevant projects, like "Guardians of the Galaxy" or even "Loki" Season 2. 

But would that have even mattered? With so many Marvel projects, both in cinemas and on television, it's easy for over-saturation to lead to indifference. And this weekend's box office confirmed one thing: audiences won't just show up for anything Marvel-related. The general audience is more than aware of Marvel's shtick, realizing that most films follow the same template, with each project ending with a tease that won't really manifest into something substantial until years down the line.

It also doesn't help that critics were mostly mixed on the picture. While Looper critic Reuben Baron gave the film a 7/10, they couldn't help but point out that it lacks a sense of urgency or consequentialism, writing, "It's entertaining enough that you can't be too bothered that it's barely about anything and that it can't find the focus to really commit to the things it's almost about." In short: "The Marvels" is basic Marvel fare, but that's not enough to light up the box office anymore. 

"The Marvels" no doubt had baggage from the get-go. However, it's important to remember that the film wasn't allowed to win prospective viewers over. While hardcore Marvel Studios fans showed up to support Carol Danvers' (Larson) sophomore cinematic outing as Captain Marvel, "The Marvels" just wasn't on the radar for most members of the general audience. Yes, "The Marvels" has a multi-million dollar marketing budget, which means it was afforded considerable ad space, allowing its trailer to air in front of major releases, or have the faces of the trio plastered on billboards around the world. But what money couldn't buy was admiration from the public. 

Thanks to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, which didn't permit actors to work on or promote any projects, the infectious cast of "The Marvels" simply weren't allowed to gush over their film. While "The Marvels" isn't perfect, one thing critics can unanimously agree on is the energy and chemistry that the three leads share. Due to the limitations of the strike, Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani couldn't do the typical press rounds prior to the film's release, such as late-night talk show appearances. And, of course, no press junkets. 

While promotional appearances do little to compel hardcore fans to show up, they're the perfect gateway to entice casual viewers, especially those who haven't been keeping up with Monica Rambeau or Kamala Khan's television exploits. The lack of promotion is certainly defeating as one can only imagine the amount of clips that would have gone viral featuring Larson and Vellani riffing with one another. What's worse: the SAG-AFTRA strike came to an end on the eve of the film's release, but the damage was done.

One benefit of having the trio market the film prior to its release would have been their ability to quell, or at least minimize, the toxic social media chatter that "The Marvels" has found itself in the middle of. Shortly after the first look at the picture debuted, the usual suspects began to rally against the film, which happens to feature three female leads. All the way back in April, Rolling Stone was reporting on toxic fan discourse surrounding the film. While this sort of online toxicity is par for the course for Marvel films, it's interesting how a general sentiment of hatred or distaste began to penetrate mainstream channels. 

Prior to the film's release, the general conversation surrounding the film was largely focused on how it would underperform, a result that's obviously manifested. Just like "Morbius," which was turned into a meme, "The Marvels" has suffered the same sort of fate. Coupled with (since debunked) negative reports that director Nia DaCosta left the film during post-production, it's fair to say that "The Marvels" has been dealing with negative vibes since it unveiled itself. Wrapped up in toxicity, the public's perception of the film was definitely low, which didn't compel prospective viewers to show up on opening weekend. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, which is disappointing, considering "The Marvels" is one of the most diverse films Marvel Studios has ever made. 

In January 2023, while appearing on "The Movie Business Podcast" (via Variety), Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige candidly dismissed the idea of superhero fatigue, comparing comic book films to novel adaptations. "You would never ask that because there's an inherent understanding among most people that a book can be anything," Feige said confidently. A month later, in February, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" debuted to sour reviews (it boasts a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes — the lowest rating in the entire series), poor fan reception, and a below-average box office run, bowing out at $463 million worldwide, some $160 million below its 2018 predecessor. 

While the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Marvel Studios' box office potential, it's worth considering that "Spider-Man: No Way Home" managed to rake in over $1.9 billion in late 2021. Since then, Marvel hasn't been able to penetrate the $1 billion barrier, with almost all of their films post-Spidey failing to reach previously accessible heights. Superhero fatigue has definitely hit Marvel Studios, and "The Marvels" is just the latest casualty of growing audience indifference. 

Projects like "Thor: Love and Thunder" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" both failed to reach the heights of their predecessors and now the same thing is about to happen to "The Marvels," a film that has little to no chance of even hitting the $1 billion haul of "Captain Marvel." This isn't just a Marvel issue — even DC's recent cinematic fare is having trouble at the box office. 

Simply put, "The Marvels" has debuted in an era where the genre just isn't as prosperous as it once was, and it remains to be seen if it ever will be.