Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel has been struggling with its content for the last year. After releasing almost a dozen series on Disney+ over two years and moving from a decent Phase Four to a disappointing Phase Five, complaints of superhero fatigue have gotten louder and fans have started to wonder if Marvel has reached its peak.
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Phase Five was kicked off earlier this year with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is Marvel’s worst-performing release to date. Fans complained about the VFX and disjointed plot of the film, and it was eventually revealed that the VFX artists were overworked and underpaid during the project. It was the start of a series of complaints about where the MCU was headed, which was only temporarily abated by the success of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
After the disappointment of Quantumania, Marvel started announcing several delays for upcoming projects, including most of the planned Disney+ series. Secret Invasion, Loki, Agatha, and Echo were all delayed, with the last two pushed indefinitely to sometime next year. Even The Marvels, the Captain Marvel sequel, was bumped from a summer release to November of this year. As the Hollywood strikes started, even more projects have been delayed indefinitely, effectively throwing Marvel off its entire plan.
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Disney CEO Bob Iger also had some strong words for the studio, claiming it had no business in television in response to the complaints about She-Hulk and Secret Invasion, when it was finally released this summer. It seems as though the MCU is quickly losing support from the inside, as a major actor has apparently jumped ship.
Secret Invasion followed in Quantumania’s footsteps in that it became a major failure for the studio. The worst-reviewed Marvel series yet, the show faced backlash for everything from using AI art to unnecessary and confusing plot points to twists that had major effects on previous movies. Fans weren’t happy with the show, and the ratings proved it, although they did have nothing but praise for Samuel L. Jackson’s return as Nick Fury.
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The show followed Fury as he worked with a group of Skrulls (first introduced in Captain Marvel (2019)) in order to prevent a world-wide invasion. It featured the return of Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill and introduced Emilia Clarke as G’iah.
Although fans took no issue with Jackson, it seems as though the actor has had enough of Marvel for now, as he sets his sights on an upcoming independent film, The Beast. The project is currently in pre-production, but has been granted a special interim agreement by SAG-AFTRA to be allowed to film while the Hollywood strikes continue.
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According to Deadline, the indie action movie is described as
“When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S., the president (Jackson) uncovers the extent of The Beast’s [the presidential limousine] highly classified offensive capabilities. Separated from his wife, the president must learn to control The Beast — and the monster inside himself — in order to save his life, the life of Secret Service agent Taft (Joel Kinnaman) and America.”
As stated, the project is still is pre-production, and no official casting announcement has been made yet. While another action movie for Jackson, it would be a drastic difference for him to star in an indie action film instead of the Marvel blockbusters he’s been doing for the last almost two decades. As the MCU fights to regain favor and popularity among audiences and shifts towards a new era of Avengers, it could be time for Jackson to hang up his duster and eye patch for good.
What do you think of Samuel L. Jackson’s possible next project? Let us know in the comments below!