The Marvels marked a chapter to forget for top Marvel executives, with poor marketing letting the movie down and making it one of the worst MCU movies.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fall from grace is nothing short of monumental. The franchise which had the world in awe just half a decade back, found itself at its worst stage in 2023, with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels failing to do justice to Marvel’s reputation, bringing in a paltry $532 million amongst themselves. Even out of these, The Marvels drew the shorter end of the straw, going on to bag just $206 million at the Box Office. And Daniel Richtman weighs in on what went wrong for the Teyonah Parris starrer.

The Marvels was a let down for the MCU

The Marvels was set to serve as a sequel to Brie Larson‘s Captain Marvel, a movie which gave us our first peek into the Kree-Skrull war, and hinted at the latter’s importance to the MCU. The movie was a commercial success, roping in a whopping $1.13 billion at the Box Office on a budget of approx $160 million.

Some success.

No wonder many would raise question marks over its sequel’s dismal performance. Yes, it had not hit the theatres between the release of two blockbuster Avengers movies. Yes, Brie Larson had managed to stoke a fair degree of animosity in the hearts of fans with her interviews. But Industry Insider Daniel Richtman says that those aren’t the only factors responsible.

Poor marketing and Disney’s woes stunted The Marvels growth

What went wrong with The Marvels is a popular question on social media circles. Sharing his two cents on a similar question on X, Richtman wrote, “In my opinion – Bad marketing + Disney+ baggage.”

Not many would say that he was amiss with his analysis.

The Iman Vellani starrer was released without giving it the marketing it deserved. The lacuna meant that not many would flock to the theatre. Moreover, the movie made its way to theatres at a time the Industry was reeling from the SAG-AFTRA strikes. And Disney couldn’t help but feel the heat. The result? You had a project that no one was really hyped up for.

The Marvels should serve as a reminder to Marvel Studios

It wouldn’t be wrong to insinuate the commercial failure of The Marvels to horrendous planning on the part of Disney. Even fans of the MCU couldn’t wrap their heads around the project, with some going as far as to suggest that the title itself was a great let down.

If only they had managed to get their heads together a little. Keeping the movie’s commercial woes aside, it wasn’t a hit among critics as well, with a dismal rating of 5.5 on IMDb and 62% on Rotten Tomatoes. It really was a low for the MCU. While they must be fancying their chances of bouncing back from the setback, the path ahead has only become complicated.

While Majors’ exit was a must, RDJ’s return has opened a Pandora’s Box. All we can expect is that Marvel and Disney keep themselves grounded.