Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige seems to be in a mess as many of the MCU entries this year have been negatively received by critics and audiences alike. The studio’s last two efforts have got disastrous results, with the Disney Plus series Secret Invasion being one of the franchise’s worst-rated media and The Marvels being a box office bomb.
Feige’s creative decisions have come under fire due to the failure of films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Hence, the MCU mastermind is said to have placed his bets on the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-starrer Deadpool 3 to pull the franchise out of its misery. The film is rumored to be the only Marvel film set to release next year.
Kevin Feige’s Marvel-Shaped Problem
The Marvel Cinematic Universe was at its peak when the ultimate team-up film Avengers: Endgame became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. The film was the culmination of all ten years of the superhero franchise which began with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. The team that was set up by present Marvel President Kevin Feige had not come to an end.
After Endgame, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been facing a steady decline. While there were some hits in the form of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3, the franchise has been seeing new lows due to its increased quantity of films and other media, with less focus on quality.
The problem finally came to the forefront when this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was one of the weakest-reviewed films of the franchise. The film reportedly was also a box-office disappointment. The decision-making skills of the executives came under fire as the studio reportedly believed that they had a sure-shot winner with the Paul Rudd starrer.
The negative reviews received by the Disney Plus series Secret Invasion prompted Kevin Feige to fire the head writers of the upcoming series Daredevil: Born Again and perform a creative overhaul, despite having filmed more than half of the show. Coupled with Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles, MCU seems to be at rock bottom.
Kevin Feige Is Placing All Bets On Deadpool 3
The MCU seems to be in a bad place with its media rarely working well critically or commercially. Its recent release, the Brie Larson starrer The Marvels was also a box office bomb, earning only $169 million against a $274 million budget. This was the third Marvel film of the year and was the second flop, which puts the studio in a tricky place.
Hence, according to the X user Daniel Richtman, Kevin Feige has decided to place all bets on the upcoming Ryan Reynolds starrer Deadpool 3. The film is the MCU debut of Deadpool, who joins the franchise after Disney, Marvel’s parent company, bought Fox Studios. The film also sees the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, after he claimed to retire after Logan.
According to Richtman, Kevin Feige has decided to release only Deadpool 3 in the upcoming year. Following a release date shuffle after the SAG-AFTRA strikes were lifted, other MCU films such as Captain America: Brave New World have been postponed until 2025.
With a popular character, an in-demand star, and a legendary star returning to an iconic character part of the film’s USP, Marvel studios are reportedly expecting Deadpool 3 to be a sure-shot winner and be the one that would bring back the franchise to its former glory. However, according to reports, the studio was confident about Quantumania as well. Only the film’s July 26 release date can tell whether Feige is right or wrong.
Also read: Only One Actor’s Forever Stuck In Kevin Feige’s Blacklist, May Never Appear In MCU
