Not long ago, superhero films were the kings of the box office. Marvel Studios, especially, seemed unstoppable — dropping hits like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, and Endgame within just a couple of years, effortlessly crossing the billion-dollar mark each time.
But fast forward to recent years, and the picture looks very different. Take The Marvels (2023), for example: it cost over $300 million to make but barely scraped together $206 million at the box office. And it’s not the only stumble. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals also underperformed, signaling that the once-golden superhero formula is starting to crack.
Now, let’s be clear: superhero films aren’t dead. Blockbusters like Deadpool & Wolverine and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever still rake in huge numbers. But the sense of guaranteed success — that near-religious cultural dominance — has undeniably slipped.
Many blame this downturn on what’s often called “superhero fatigue.” It’s not just the sheer number of movies; it’s the kind of movies. Marvel built its empire on the thrill that every film, no matter how small, would tie into something bigger. That idea paid off spectacularly with the original Avengers (2012) and reached its climax with Avengers: Endgame (2019) after 21 films and nearly 50 hours of interconnected storytelling.
But once Endgame wrapped, Marvel asked audiences to gear up for another multi-year journey — except this time, it felt different. After watching half the universe get dusted and then magically restored, fans realized: none of this really matters. The stakes no longer feel real. Why should they bother watching Shang-Chi or The Marvels if it’s all just setup for another far-off payoff?
The hard truth is that many Marvel films now feel like they’re treading water, with little consequence or growth. For two hours, nothing major happens — until the post-credits tease tells you the next film is what really matters. Audiences have wised up to this rinse-and-repeat cycle.
Of course, big franchises have always been corporate-driven. Comics and movies alike are commercial products. But once upon a time, they still told great stories. Lately, Marvel seems less interested in storytelling and more focused on selling merchandise, filling theme parks, and slapping characters onto lunchboxes. Viewers aren’t willing to sit through thinly disguised ads anymore.
Marvel’s recent announcement at Comic-Con — that Robert Downey Jr. will return as Dr. Doom in Avengers: Doomsday — feels like a Hail Mary pass. Kang, once positioned as the next Thanos-level villain, was quietly scrapped after the Jonathan Majors controversy, leaving Marvel scrambling. Bringing Downey back isn’t a creative move; it’s a desperate one.
On the other side, you might expect DC to take advantage of Marvel’s slump. But the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) struggled with its own messy identity for years, especially after the 2017 Justice League debacle. Internal chaos at Warner Bros. made the headlines more than the movies themselves.
Now, with James Gunn stepping in to lead the new DC Studios, there’s fresh hope. Gunn promises a “quality-first” approach, where only scripts he personally believes in will move forward. “It’s not about superheroes,” Gunn told Rolling Stone. “It’s about the kind of stories we’re telling. Without real, grounded characters, it all becomes noise.”
His upcoming Superman reboot is already generating massive buzz — its trailer hit 250 million views in a single day, the biggest in Warner Bros. history. Still, Gunn’s ambitious plans for a new DC Universe (DCU) include at least 17 announced projects, plus unannounced ones, spanning films, TV, and games. Before even proving itself, the DCU risks becoming just another sprawling, corporate juggernaut.
Interestingly, some of the best superhero stories today aren’t part of massive shared universes. Matt Reeves’ gritty, standalone The Batman (2022) carved out its own space, offering a noir detective story that tackled issues like class inequality with surprising depth. Reeves has actively resisted studio pressure to fold Robert Pattinson’s Batman into a larger cinematic web. His HBO spin-off The Penguin didn’t feel like a spin-off at all — it was a tightly written, compelling story on its own.
Amazon’s animated Invincible is another standout. Despite having its share of merch and tie-ins, its main priority is always the story. Beneath the alien invasions, clones, and multiverse chaos is a deeply human tale about Mark Grayson’s struggle to define what it means to be a hero.
Sure, many fans — myself included — will still line up for Superman or Fantastic Four: First Steps. But DC and Marvel need more than die-hard loyalists to survive. If they want to keep their place in the cultural spotlight, they have to stop treating audiences like passive consumers and start delivering stories that genuinely respect their time, intelligence, and emotional investment.
