'Fantastic Four' Box Office Dive Is a Bad Omen for Marvel's Future - The MCU’s appeal beyond its most hardcore fans is in question after its second-weekend “First Steps” drop
'Fantastic Four' Box Office Dive Is a Bad Omen for Marvel's Future
Fantastic Four have never been a very profitable property
20th Century Fox kinda destroyed any hype for new Fantastic Four movies.
This is true. Sure they’re Marvel’s “First Family” but even before the MCU or any of the fox movies they were less popular than The Avengers, who were less popular than the X-men.
Also, putting the movie up against Superman, who is DC’s #1 or #2 character, was a bad call.
I thought the movie was great though.
I mean I really wanted to see it but I wanted to see Superman a lot more
I watched both and liked both as lot. Fantastic Four is probably the better movie. It's more polished, more visually impressive, better story, etc. But I enjoyed Superman more.
I do think they should have delayed Fantastic Four until at least mid August if not later. Maybe even save it for 2026.
2023 had three MCU films, 2024 had just one MCU film, 2025 was back to three, 2026 will have just two. There was plenty of space for this film, to put it right after Superman was probably a mistake.
Haven't seen Four yet but really enjoyed Superman.
Fantastic Four was way better, it's not even close. The only thing that didn't feel forced in Superman was the fight scenes.
I fell asleep during Fantastic Four. It was boring as hell.
Didn't see Superman though so I can't compare it.
Another thing not explored in this article is the 100 days to streaming rollout that we've seen.
A film comes out, ~60 days later it hits Premium VOD, ~30 days later a physical release, shortly after it hits Disney+.
A lot of people are willing to wait for a number of different reasons, economic, hype, quality, etc
For me it’s health related reasons. Even if I wanted to, I can’t go to a cinema to watch a movie.
That’s why I don’t mind paying for premium VODs (that’s the closest I can get to real cinema) but it’s just cruel that in this COVID-era of ours films are still released cinema first with a huge delay until the digital release.
Just let me watch it at home same day it releases for everyone else, I’m willing to pay for it.
Bit off topic but I wanted to watch a YT video about James Bond and like 30 seconds in the guy launches into spoilers for the new Mission Impossible movie. Had to close that tab real fast like; shit like this could be prevented.
This drop-off tracks with the brand. I say this as someone who likes the F4, they just don't have a broad appeal with general audiences that other comic brands have. They're a property that only comic nerds care about and always have been.
Edit: They also had to complete with Superman. The F4 have never been able to compete with Superman.
I'm already two movies behind and yeah, I opted for Superman as well with zero regrets.
I know I'll see Fantastic Four on Disney+ eventually, and that's Disney's main problem.
You'll see Superman on HBO in the same time frame.
This honestly is also how I feel. For decades I hear comic books fans rave about how great F4 is, but me being a tangential fan (only read DC growing up) I can name many of Marvel’s storylines from the comic books, but I can’t really name a storyline from the the Fantastic Four books. I know there’s something about a future foundation, but I never knew what it was.
Future Foundation is pretty much the definitive modern F4 story. Hickmens run as a whole is peak.
A problem with the F4 is that their golden age of stories was back in the Silver Age of Comic Books. They were a cornerstone a lot of the early world-building of the Marvel Universe. Their lasting legacy has been the characters and ideas these stories introduced to the Marvel universe: Dr Doom, Galactus, The Silver Surfer, Black Panther, The Negative Zone, ect. Marvel has long struggled to adapt the team to the modern era.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but IMO the best F4 stories are ones where they aren't so much a team of super heroes, but rather a team of scientist and explorers with super powers. They are better suited to telling sci-fi stories rather then traditional superhero stories.
Interesting article. I'd say one fact it misses the importance of is that Fantastic Four is the 37th film in the MCU in 17 years. The MCU a huge sprawling and bloated mess, and it's not surprising mainstream cinema goers have disengaged from it. That actually could hold a movie back - it's not see as a "fantastic four" reboot, it's seen as MCU installment 37 even if it tries not to be that.
Add to that, 17 years is a long time. Frankly a lot of the original audience have "grown out" of watching these movies, and younger cinema goers are not watching MCU movies so they're not replacing their audience. Plus streaming took off in that time and people who are now in their 30s and 40s are not going to the cinema anywhere near as much.
For me, none of fhis is surprising. If anything I'm impressed they stayed at the top for as long as they did. But it had to end eventually - tastes change, people grow up and move on. Super Hero movies aren't gone, but they're not automatic mega hits anymore - things are just going back to "normal". There isn't anything much wrong with the MCU to fix, audiences just aren't as interested in what it offers now.
Marvel/Disney will keep making them just as they do with Star Wars because they're in the business of franchises, but it's beyond it's peak and that's pretty normal in entertainment. Nothing dominates forever.
I just saw FF tonight and I thought it was great. But I suspected interest must be off- I was in a cinema with only 12 other people.
I sqw Superman at 8 pm on the Friday it opened snd the theater was only about half full.
I've always been a huge MCU fan. I was always day 1 in cinema to see the next movie. But with what is happening in the US, and all the threat the US have been making to my country (and the world), I don't feel like buying and consumming any american product right now.
You're not missing much.
1000%. There are quiet discussions on taxation of digital services here atm, I think adding a 20% import on movies parented by companis in America would bring the EU closer as our movies would be comparatively cheaper and the new revenues could go to grants for our own industry.
I am so over the MCU
Basically, yeah, but with everything.
Regurgitated rehashes of rehashes of rehashes. Ai slop has been our reality since before Ai slop. The only time I even get remotely surprised, it's usually an indie thriller or horror film.
It's no wonder Invincible is popular. It's no wonder Severance is popular. Yeah, they're good, but they're also fresh to the general public. They're innately interesting and new.
Marvel doesn't do "interesting and new". They're a nostalgia factory.
i think that they closed the first avengers phase too early. Specially iron man, i would like to see another iron man movie
I would’ve liked to see more movies where they’re actually working as a team. All we got was the first half of Age of Ultron before the cracks appeared.
My favourite part of the movie was when Thing got home and announced "Daddy needs to get his rocks off!"
Wait, really.
Yes. Then he yelled, “it’s sandblasting time!” The camera cut to a wall where a stream of sand was hitting it and it pooling on the floor.
Of fucking course that wasn’t said. 🤦♂️
Every Fantastic Four movie is so bad... I don't understand why they keep trying.
Now its to setup the following movies. Good or bad all these movies will be released
I just don't enjoy going to a movie theater that much. I'll watch it on Disney+ soon enough.
Yup, digital releases are within 3 months, high seas within the next few hours. Nothing enticing about a movie theater anymore.
Fantastic four is better suited for cartoons and comics. It never was popular.
Can I say the casting really killed any little desire I had of watching it? The Bleached Woman and the Hu-meh Torch in particular. In that regard, the 2005 movie was spot-on, IMO.
The 2005 movie that turned Doom into a ceo? Really? Where Reed Richards was a dumb shit?
If you noticed I was talking about the casting.
Bring Ezra Miller back, their crazy bullshit will get butts in seats for sure
The world is on fire, and the home country of these IPs is falling into a dictatorship. No one is stress watching movies, its not fun. Also, we're broke and we're about to sink into another recession.
This is, IMHO, why Superman is doing so well. It's the type of unapologetically wholesome shit I didn't know my soul was so desperate for.
EDIT: My wife just called it "hope porn" and I think it fits.
I've been burnt out on superhero stuff for a bit, and had zero interest in checking out Superman as the DC stuff has been of no interest to me since the Nolan Batman movies.
I put it on the other night for background noise, but it got my attention right from the start, and I really enjoyed it.
The biggest thing for me was when he saved that squirrel mid-fight. The guy has everyone trying to kill him and the city, and he loves everything about Earth so much he can't see any living thing suffer.
There is so much unspoken collateral damage in all these action movies, and Superman wouldn't even let a squirrel suffer for actions linked to him.
I want someone to look out for me, dang it. Where's our Superman?
It is a little hard to watch a movie where the hero saves the day from evil when you have a villain in the white house.
Yeah, they might do good making a new punisher who saves the Whitehouse violently. Everyone loves an underdog revenge movie.