Joanna Robinson writer of MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios reveals Kevin Feige has a plan to reboot the MCU with Avengers: Secret Wars.
In the new book, authors Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards tell the story of how Marvel, once a struggling comic book company, turned into a highly successful movie-making powerhouse. However, Marvel is not in the same place it was during the huge success of Avengers: Endgame in 2019. While trying to make shows for Disney+, the quality of Marvel’s productions has become less reliable. Some recent movies didn’t do as well at the box office either. Both movie critics and experts are now seriously considering “superhero fatigue,” suggesting that people might be getting tired of superhero movies.
Robinson writes that Feige is planning a soft reboot strategy. The upcoming movie Avengers: Secret Wars is to be used as a means to streamline and refresh the MCU. They aim to eliminate elements that aren’t resonating with audience and bring back characters previously thought to be gone for good.
“We have a quote from Kevin Feige sort of implying… that like Secret Wars will serve as a soft reboot in which they can prune everything. That’s not to use a Loki-ism. Prune everything that’s not working and just keep what is [working], or bring back people you thought were gone forever.”
There’s a growing question about whether Marvel has reached its peak in terms of critical acclaim and cultural power. Robinson, in an interview with LA Times, acknowledges the term “superhero fatigue,” a phrase that has been circulating for more than five years.
“I’m disinclined to count Marvel out, because I think a lot of people have made that mistake in the past. One of the favorite phrases of 2023 is ‘superhero fatigue.’ But also we’ve been hearing the phrase for, I would say, five-plus years now, right? So I used to roll my eyes. In the past, it just seemed like critics were trying to will something into existence. This year, I’m taking it a little bit more seriously. I don’t know if we’ll ever see “Endgame” happen again. But that has almost more to do with the larger way we ingest stories or the monoculture in general.”
