Did Thunderbolts set a new bar for Marvel Studios? Disney CEO Bob Iger reveals how the latest sleeper hit reflects a change in strategy.
Marvel Studios has take a reputational hit over the past few years. While absolutely no production house has looked good over the past few years, sans A24, there’s maybe only one or two that have faced more scrutiny than Disney. Between a decline quality of Disney Plus originals and controversial feature programming, the House of Mouse can’t seem to find a win.
And it seems Disney itself is aware of the reputational damage the company has suffered over the past few years. Following the release of Thunderbolts, which has proven to be a surprise critical and commercial hit, CEO Bob Iger reflected on how Marvel Studios has been perceived over the last few years. He claims the cause was an approach of “quantity over quality”.
“We all know that in our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, that we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more,” Iger explained to Variety. “We’ve also learned over over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality. And frankly, we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much. “
Marvel Studios’ Bold New Strategy
Bob Iger continues on by explaining that Disney will be taking a new approach when it comes to Marvel Studios. Or, rather, going back to the earlier approach of putting the film franchises first. As the CEO tells it, Thunderbolts is the first example of this new ethos, which will hopefully result in better quality moving forward.
“By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe that will result in better quality. I think the first and best example is Thunderbolts*. I feel very good about that.”
Of course, Thunderbolts is just a testing ground. Bob Iger, Marvel Studios, and everyone else at Disney knows that the true test of returning a standard of quality to the big screen is Avengers: Doomsday. Though with the clock ticking down on their March release date and filming only just now picking up, there’s no certainty to the film’s ability to wow audiences.
Thunderbolts is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
