Credit: Marvel StudiosIt’s no secret that Phase 4 was arguably the most troublesome for Marvel. It was stated that the media giant would focus on “quality over quantity” with Phases 5 and 6. The switch to quality is reportedly already occurring as the MCU pivots to pulling in more expensive writers.
Related: Studio Enters Age of “Disney Fatigue”
There had been plenty of worry on the MCU front, especially when Bob Iger returned to the CEO role. He was not too impressed with how audiences had perceived all the titles Marvel offered. Thor: Love and Thunder still holds a 63% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the lowest rated in franchise history. Even the beginning of Phase 5, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania did not fare better. It currently has a 47% rating. Even Eternals has 47%, making all three mentioned movies the bottom of the barrel for the MCU.
This led to plenty of panic, though the box office draw for most poorly-rated films was still sufficient. Still, to have three movies below 70% in terms of critic and audience approval is something that no one expected to happen, especially not Disney.
Now, there has been an influx of writer changes, which points to how seriously Marvel is taking this issue.
Marvel Brings in Heavy-hitters
Industry insider Jeff Sneider revealed the strategy is now being enacted, so the mistakes of Phase 4 and the beginning of Phase 5 will not be replicated.
According to Sneider, “If you have been paying attention in the last few weeks or months, you would notice that Marvel has been spending a lot more money on writers. Just today, we saw the news that Nic Pizzolatto, they brought in as the new writer on ‘Blade.’ Just like Josh Friedman, the expensive ‘Sarah Connor Chronicles’ writer, he’s a big-name writer in this town. They got him for ‘Fantastic Four.’ Lee Sung Jin, the ‘Beef’ creator, they just hired [for ‘Thunderbolts’].”
One of the most significant indications that Marvel is not fooling around on rethinking its strategy is hiring Nick Pizzolatto for Blade. The movie is stuck in developmental hell, but adding Pizzolatto has garnered more excitement for the long-delayed film. Pizzolatto famously wrote the True Detective series, which could be why he has been tasked with bringing horror and drama into this new-look Blade venture.
Lee Sung Jin is also celebrating plenty because of how huge his Beef series on Netflix has been, leading him to land a coveted role writing the Thunderbolts script.
Sneider also indicated that Kevin Feige would no longer give rookie writers their chance at writing these big MCU stories, which has been echoed in the MCU wanting directors too. Experience is now the name of the game.
Related: Marvel’s Blade Reboot Reportedly Finally Moving Forward
The bottom line is that Marvel recognizes a widespread problem with its current titles. This change to bring in more expensive writers will benefit everyone. Fans have complained plenty about this dreaded “superhero fatigue” problem in the world of superheroes, which could be directly correlated to the stories offered as of late.
Do you think Marvel movies will be better moving forward? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!