“If we tell the story right”: Kevin Feige still thinks superhero fatigue can’t kill Marvel

Even though 2022 wasn’t dominated by superhero movies, Marvel boss Kevin Feige still thinks that Marvel could turn things around in 2023. As Phase 4 tried to increase the number of MCU projects within a short span of time, it faced problems like quantity over quality and superhero fatigue, which caught up with viewers to a certain extent.

With Marvel studios launching a total of 18 projects within a span of 2 years, the viewership numbers were always bound to drop. That could be considered one form of fatigue, given that Marvel and other studios launching superhero projects were all facing the same problem.

However, Marvel's head producer doesn't believe there is reason to worry about superhero fatigue just yet. Kevin Feige addressed this during a conversation with The Movie Business Podcast, saying:

"I found that if we tell the story right, and we adapt them in a way that the audience still — knock on wood so far — is following us along 22-plus years later… we can [make] any types of movies that share two things: the Marvel Studios logo above the title and a seed of an idea from our publishing history."

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Why Kevin Feige thinks Marvel will never fall victim to superhero fatigue

Kevin Feige at Comic-Con (Image via Marvel)

During a recent conversation on The Movie Business Podcast, Kevin Feige was asked about superhero fatigue catching up with the MCU. In response, he said that years of build-ups and pay-offs on beloved stories will always work.

Kevin Feige further explained:

"I've been at Marvel Studios for over 22 years, and most of us here at Marvel Studios have been around a decade or longer together. From probably my second year at Marvel, people were asking, 'Well, how long is this going to last? Is this fad of comic book movies going to end?' I didn't really understand the question. Because to me, it was akin to saying after 'Gone With the Wind,' 'Well, how many more movies can be made off of novels?'"

He continued:

"'Do you think the audience will sour on movies being adapted from books?' You would never ask that because there's an inherent understanding among most people that a book can be anything. A novel can have any type of story whatsoever. So it all depends on what story you're translating. Non-comic readers don't understand that it's the same thing in comics."

As per Feige, this enduring popularity of comics is the reason why superhero movies will always be prevalent as long as they are fresh and unique.

Kevin Feige at Black Widow's premiere (Image via Marvel)

The producer added:

"There's 80 years of the most interesting, emotional, groundbreaking stories that have been told in the Marvel comics, and it is our great privilege to be able to take what we have and adapt them. Another way to do that is adapting them into different genres, and what types of movies we want to make."

If Kevin Feige is right, then one can assume that viewers will see Marvel’s rise once again from 2023.

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Why there’s still hope for Phases 5 and 6

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Image via Sportskeeda)

Phase 4 showed signs of fatigue, but there’s still hope for the next two phases of MCU because they are expected to pay off and build upon the groundwork already laid by the previous phases. It must be noted that a dip in popularity was expected after Avengers: Endgame because Marvel had to rebuild things once again.

MCU’s Phase 1 didn’t always produce billion-dollar successes, it is still considered a success story as a whole, given the foundation that it laid for future Marvel films. So, Phase 4 should also be considered in a similar space as all of its projects have replicated Phase 1 levels of success at the very least.

Now, with the beginning of Phase 5 via Ant-Man 3, the anticipation is back, and that can be proven by Quantumania’s opening projections, which range between $96 million and $131 million.

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives on February 17, 2023.