Summary
- Disney CEO Bob Iger confirms there is no superhero fatigue and that weak projects have been killed
- The idea of superhero fatigue was created by media outlets making excuses for Hollywood’s failures
- Iger says the key to success is killing projects that are no longer believed in and striving for perfection in the films they do make
Exactly as I have been telling you all along, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirms there is no such thing as superhero fatigue. That’s not all as Iger also confirms Disney has killed weak projects, which they have yet to make public.
As I said, the notion of superhero fatigue came about because the shill sites like Deadline and THR (owed by the same company) spun excuses for the Hollywood industry.
Massive misfires
Kevin Feige’s approach to Phase 4 and beyond has been a massive misfire as films like Black Widow, Eternals, Shang-Chi, Thor: Love and Thunder, Quantumania, and The Marvels all failed to deliver. Likewise, Disney+ hasn’t had any success with the MCU spending billions on projects nobody liked or watched. Ditto for other Disney+ shows including Lucasfilm’s Willow, Destin Daniel Cretton’s American Born Chinese, and the dozens of shows Disney yanked in order to not have to pay residuals (again, because no one is watching).
It’s the same for DC, as The Flash was a mega bomb, as was Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Things at Sony Marvel are even worse and more laughable as Madame Web absolutely tanked at the box office and with critics and fans alike to the extent Dakota Johnson recently came out and said she is done with comic book movies.
So with all the above content being comic book related – “superhero fatigue” was born, but it wasn’t born out of audiences being tired of watching their favorite superheroes on screen, it was born because Hollywood had to come up with an excuse why they have been failing miserably. They had to come up with something to blame – not themselves – but of course the fans. A Disney exec just blasted fans for the failures of both Star Wars and The Marvels and didn’t take any blame for the projects simply being shitty.
“You have to kill things you no longer believe”
Well, that same Disney exec said Bob Iger is also making a big pivot, and now Iger, himself, comes out and offers big changes are in store.
“We’re doing a lot. When we talk about improving our film, slate, there are really three approaches. One is you have to kill things you no longer believe. And that’s not easy in this business. Because either you’ve gotten started, you have some … costs. It’s a relationship with either your employees or with a creative community. And it’s not an easy thing. But you got to make those tough calls,” Iger said during an investor conference Q&A (via Deadline).
He added, “We’ve actually made those tough calls. We’ve not been that public about it.”
Iger continued, “You have to look at everything you’re making, that you do believe in. And you have to take a position that good is not good enough. You have to basically strive for perfection.”
“It’s not audience fatigue. They want great films.”
Regarding superhero fatigue, Iger says it doesn’t exist and that what is really going on is that fans are really tired of being fed garbage (and being lectured).
“A lot of people think it’s audience [superhero] fatigue. It’s not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come,” he said, noting that Disney has made nearly $30 billion from 33 films. “We got to return to something akin to that. And I actually am confident that we will.
“As a studio, that was number one at the box office for seven out of eight years, that was not an accident,” said Iger. “That’s a combination of both, obviously, the IP that we have, but also the execution — both the management execution, the execution from the creative side.”
Deadline notes Iger said the fix “basically means spending a lot of time with the creators, watching these films, giving detailed notes … engaging in a respectful process that results in improvement. And actually, when I talked about being relentless, it’s not letting certain things get in the way of making something great. Whether it’s more resources … or more time.”
He added, “You have to put into the pipeline things you really do believe in. And we know we’re working on that as well.”
Iger didn’t mention which projects that Disney killed.
