Summary
- Disney CEO Bob Iger discusses plans to reinvigorate the Marvel brand during quarterly earnings call
- Disney is shifting focus to quality over quantity, reducing output of Marvel TV shows and MCU movies per year
- Iger expresses confidence in upcoming studio slate and excitement for future Avengers movies, but Disney’s stock has dipped following release of quarterly earnings report
In Disney’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Bob Iger fielded a question from an investor about reinvigorating the Marvel brand.
In the call, Iger again confirmed Disney is pulling back on Marvel, something he has said at least two times in the past.
Iger did offer he feels good about Disney’s upcoming studio slate which includes Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and said he “feels great” about Deadpool & Wolverine coming in July.
Iger doubles down on quality over quantity
“I’ve been working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality, that’s particularly true with Marvel,” said Iger.
The investor also mentioned Marvel TV shows which saw Iger respond they are limiting Marvel TV on Disney+ to two shows a year, instead of four, and also that Disney is cutting back on MCU movies released per year to two or a max of three.
“I know you mentioned television shows. Some of what is coming up is a vestige, basically a desire in the past to increase volume, we’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four, and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two to the maximum three,” Iger added.
Excited for Avengers
Iger did say Disney is really excited about more Avengers movies, as Avengers 5 is on the slate for May 1, 2026 followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.
“And we’re working hard on what that path is, we’ve got a couple of good films in ’25 and then we’re heading to more Avengers, which we’re extremely excited about,” said Iger.
“I feel really good about what’s coming out”
Iger added he feels confident about what Disney has in the pipeline.
“Overall, I feel great about the slate, it’s something, as you know, that I’ve committed to spending more and more time on, the team is, I think, one that I have tremendous confidence in, and the IP that we’re mining, including all the sequels that we’re doing is second to none,” he continued. “I feel really good about what’s coming out.”
Disney stock dips
Following the earnings call and release of the quarterly earnings report, Disney’s stock is currently down over 10%.
The quarterly earnings report did see a dip in revenue from Entertainment, which Disney attributes in part to:
- Lower theatrical distribution results as there were no significant titles released in the current quarter compared to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in the prior-year quarter. The prior year quarter also included the benefit of the ongoing performance of Avatar: The Way of Water, which was released in December 2022.
- Higher film cost impairments in the current quarter
It’s Parks Division did see a big 10% jump but there was also a higher operating cost.
The report also says, “Disney+ Core subscribers increased by more than 6 million in the second quarter, and Disney+ Core ARPU increased sequentially by 44 cents.”
