Summary

Disney CEO Bob Iger aims to reduce Marvel output to two films and two TV series a year for better quality.
Iger believes in balancing sequels with original content, leaning more towards known properties like
Toy Story
.
Recent struggles with Marvel releases have prompted Disney to focus on quality over quantity moving forward.

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with very few hiccups, in recent years the MCU has had to deal with criticisms regarding an over-saturated market. Between the films and TV series that debuted on Disney+, following along became more of a job for fans and some believed that the quality of the productions began to suffer because of the quantity of product being released to the masses. Disney CEO Bob Iger has been keenly aware of this, and now he’s revealing that the company will begin limiting its Marvel output.

During a conference call via Deadline, Iger revealed that they plan on limiting the Marvel output to “two good films a year” with three being the maximum number for the theatrical footprint. This would bring it down from their average of four film releases a year and, in terms of their TV series, the Marvel shows will come down to two a year instead of four. The CEO spoke on the output by calling it “a vestige of basically a desire in the past to increase volume. We stemmed from a desire in the past to increase volume. We are slowly going to decrease volume.”

Bob Iger Wants to Focus on Quality over Quantity

Iger went on to say that he’s “working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality” while Disney will also more broadly balance sequels with original content. That’s not to say that Iger is against sequels. In fact, the CEO says “There’s a lot of value in sequels” because the properties are well-known to the public and don’t require as much marketing. Iger said, “We had gone through a period where our original films in animation were dominating. We are now swinging back a bit to lean on sequels.” The CEO pointed to Toy Story 5 and Inside Out 2 as examples, but when referencing Marvel specifically, he mentioned Thunderbolts, Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, and the upcoming Avengers films.

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The approach to reducing Marvel content can already be seen this year. So far, Echo has been the only MCU Disney+ series released, and it was marketed as being a show one could watch without any prior MCU knowledge. Due in large part to new scheduling because of the WGA and SAG strikes, Deadpool & Wolverine found itself being the only film release on the schedule with the hopes that the movie can win back some lapsed MCU viewers that could have been turned off by the recent output. Given the record-breaking views for the trailers, the move could prove to be just right for Disney and Marvel.

Disney and Marvel are trying to recover from significant losses from their Marvel releases last year. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 proved to be their only hit in 2023 that generated a profit, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantaumania and The Marvels, both of which carried astronomical budgets that didn’t include marketing costs, saw the company suffer a mighty blow. Despite grossing $476.1 million worldwide, Quantumania had a production budget of $326.6 million, making it one of the few MCU films not to break even theatrically. As for The Marvels, which took in $206 million globally against a $274.8 million budget, the film became the lowest-grossing film in the MCU and another title that failed to break even.

All previous MCU content can be found streaming on Disney+.
Deadpool & Wolverine
hits cinemas on July 26.