The threat of “superhero fatigue” has been looming over Marvel Studios since 2011 when they brazenly doubled their output from 1 film a year to 2 films a year. In the decade since, critics of comic book films have taken to social media to warn us all of the impending end of the genre due to the lack of interest of fans. As they continue to bang that drum, Marvel Studios, under the leadership of Kevin Feige, is wrapping up a year in which they will have launched their first 4 live-action streaming series on Disney Plus, streamed their first in-universe animated series and will release four films for the first time in their history. At a global press event for Hawkeye, Feige was asked by our own Charles Villanueva to think about what they learned about putting so much content on streaming as they head into year 2 of Disney Plus. After talking about how positively the audiences have responded, Feige talked about one big takeaway from year one, saying:
That it doesn’t seem like an overabundance of this. I have always said, nobody will get bored before we at Marvel Studios will of these projects. And going 20 plus years, I’m not anywhere near bored yet. Because we’re allowed to do within the sub-genre, so many different types of things.
This is encouraging news for fans of Marvel Studios on a couple of levels. Feige has always indicated that he’d be willing to make as many projects per year as exist good scripts. With nearly a dozen films and at least a dozen streaming series (both live-action and animated) at different stages of development and headed to consumers over the next 3 years, it seems like Marvel Studios has found a sweet spot in script development. Additionally, there’s been unfounded concern over the past couple of years that Feige was looking to move on: a DC rumor here, a Star Wars rumor there. Knowing that he’s not ready to let go of the reigns at Marvel Studios, especially with the MCU versions of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men on the horizon, gives fans confidence that the same care for the characters and stories to which they’ve grown accustomed will be given to those characters as they enter the shared universe. Superhero fatigue looks like it’ll continue to be a fictional construct engineered by critics of the genre while fans continue to consume any and everything superhero-related.
