Credit: ITMBob Iger’s return to the Walt Disney Company last year ignited a massive wave of change for the brand, but how are his changes affected the entertainment side of the Disney name? The CEO recently made some statements regarding the company’s most successful franchises that could either be a breath of fresh air or the tightening of a noose.
Star Wars and Marvel are two of the biggest franchises under the Disney banner, and much of the company’s cinematic success can be attributed to both parties. However, audiences are starting to grow fatigued as they suffer from sequel-itis.
Iger isn’t the only Disney exec to promise a return to Disney’s storytelling roots with their upcoming projects. Still, his direction of limiting franchise entries might cause some alarm. This course of action is likely due to the audience response to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but could it also spell out trouble ahead for Marvel as a whole?
In a recent interview, Iger stated,
“There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand, I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we’re mining. If you look at the trajectory of Marvel in the next five years, there will be a lot of newness. We’re going to turn back to the Avengers franchise with a whole new set of Avengers, for example.”
Iger also questioned the need for multiple sequels for a single batch of characters, which might be a common thread shared by a multitude of fans. However, is this necessarily a bad thing. The idea here is control, not cancellation.
Many hardcore Marvel buffs will agree that there’s a sort of superhero fatigue going around, which might be linked to the lukewarm responses to recent sequels. With Iger’s promise of a return to the Avengers franchise, it might be the case that a back to basics approach is the best way to honor Disney’s storytelling methods.
It should also be noted that Marvel isn’t the only franchise under Iger’s microscope, as the galaxy far, far away might be facing something bigger than one of Vader’s star destroyers. While audiences might be looking at a new movie from Taika Waititi in the near future, it won’t be without Disney looming in the background.
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While the previous statements might sound daunting and ominous, Bob Iger has also made efforts to reassure them that they are in the best of hands. The CEO mentioned,
“I think a lot of all of them — they’re all my babies, in a way…”
If things pan out the way Disney is expecting, we could be looking at a back-to-the-classics approach to some of our favorite franchises. Hopefully, Iger’s plans will bring Disney’s superhero and sci-fi epics back to the way things used to be.
Do you think Iger will deliver on his promises? Tell us at Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!