Following it announced that Bob Iger will stay with Disney through 2026, in a follow-up interview, Iger confirms he is pulling back on both Marvel and Star Wars and that they will be not only spending less but making less.
In the interview (watch below), Iger says that the problems with Marvel and Star Wars have been expanding the properties, primarily on Disney+, and notes that Marvel ” is a great example” of growing “content significantly” where Marvel “had not been in the TV business at any significant level.”
“In our zeal to basically grow our content significantly and to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people, way beyond, in terms of their time and their focus, way beyond where they had been,” Iger said. “Marvel is a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series and frankly it diluted focus and attention. I think you are seeing that is more the cause than anything else.”
Regarding the pullback on Marvel and Star Wars, later in the interview, the interviewer for CNBC notes, “Marvel and Star Wars, too much? You almost indicated it’s been a little much. Do you pull back in a way?”
Iger interjected, “Yes.”
“You do?” questioned CNBC.
“Yeah,” confirmed Iger. “Yeah, you pull back not just the focus but it’s part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make and making less.”
Iger’s comments follow what he recently said back in March following the failure of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania about taking a careful look at both Marvel and Star Wars. Not only was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania a disappointment, but the Marvel shows on Disney Plus haven’t done all that well including Ms. Marvel which is the least-watched MCU show on the streamer. Star Wars also hasn’t had a movie out in years and recently saw Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm bomb with Indiana Jones 5.
Watch the video:
