Disney's Bob Iger Admits Marvel Studios Has "Lost Focus"; Will Lean Into "Sequels & Franchises" Going Forward

Disney's Bob Iger Admits Marvel Studios Has "Lost Focus"; Will Lean Into "Sequels & Franchises" Going Forward

Bob Iger has once again addressed the current status of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, confirming that there will be less focus on streaming content and more on "stronger franchises" in the future.

News
By MarkCassidy - Feb 08, 2024 07:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Studios

Last year, trade reports claimed that Disney intended to scale back on Marvel Studios content (both on Disney+ and the big screen) and implement more of a "quality over quality" approach going forward.

Disney CEO Bob Iger pretty much confirmed this during a conference call last March, and has now reiterated that there will be a "reduced volume" of content, with renewed focus on the studio's "stronger franchises."

“I’d say we’re leaning a little bit more into sequels and franchises," Iger said during Disney's latest earnings call. "I think given the environment and given what it takes to get people out of their homes to see a film. Leaning on franchises that are familiar is actually a smart thing. In our zeal to greatly increase volume partially tied to this wanting to chase more global subs for our streaming platform, some of our studios lost a little focus. So the first step that we’ve taken is that we’ve reduced volume, we reduced output, particularly in Marvel."

This would certainly seem like a smart move, but will it be enough to renew audience interest in the MCU, or has the damage been done? The studio's most recent movie, The Marvels, was a sequel to a film that took in over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and ended up becoming the lowest-grossing MCU entry yet.

Elsewhere on the call, Iger listed some of the movies on Disney's 2025 slate, but left out a couple of MCU projects.

"Looking to our 2025 theatrical slate, we're excited to bring audiences Captain America: Brave New World and Fantastic Four for Marvel, Pixar has Zootopia 2, and then there's Avatar 3. And we're already looking forward to 2026 and beyond with Frozen 3, the first Toy Story movie since 2019, and a new Star Wars movie that brings The Mandalorian and Grogu to the big screen for the very first time."

Some have taken this as an indication that both Thunderbolts and Blade have been delayed or removed from the schedule entirely, and while that's certainly a possibility, we wouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet - Iger may simply have forgotten to mention those particular films!

What do you make of Iger's comments? Do you think shifting focus back to the franchises that have proven to be most successful for Marvel Studios is the right move, or would you rather see more chances taken on new characters? Be sure to share your thoughts down below.

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Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 7:54 AM
...but the two biggest bombs were sequels.

Unless you think people don't know about ant man or captain marvel.

This is clearly a case of missing the forest for the trees.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 2/8/2024, 8:12 AM
@Origame - yea it’s about investing in the right franchises that demand sequels, not just having them for the sake of it.
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 2/8/2024, 8:33 AM
@Origame - That's not what he was talking about. He was talking about focusing on the franchises and characters that work and sell. Not making every single character into a movie or a show.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 2/8/2024, 8:33 AM
@Origame - do you guys think that they discuss in board meetings the dei/woke claims? The press release is always "losing focus" or "quality over quantity" so it makes me wonder how much attention they are putting to the actual problem
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 8:36 AM
@GhostDog - honestly I think it's a complex problem beyond just the right franchises. They need to bring back the creative committee in some way to keep feige in check, they need appropriate budgets (ant man shouldn't cost as much as an avengers movie), they need to stop focusing on pandering, and they need to respect the source material they're using.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 8:37 AM
@SonOfAGif - captain marvel made a billion, yet the sequel bombed hard.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 8:39 AM
@vectorsigma - they basically can't because if they do their biggest investor Blackrock will up and leave.

Granted now that the company is crumbling they're gonna have to make the hard choices.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 9:03 AM
@Origame - ESG financial products could care less about how diverse Disney's film slate is. That's not how they are mandated. This is just a tin foil hat conspiracy theory that has never made any sense. Plus the majority of Blackrock's vehicles aren't ESG so they wouldn't even lose Blackrock as an investor anyway.

People don't understand Institutional investing.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 9:12 AM
@Itwasme - dude, the s in esg stands for social.

Here's a website dedicated to calculating esg scores. And would you look right there, under social is DEI.

Suck it, you disney simp.

https://www.erm.com/service/digital-services/esg-fusion/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ESG_Fusion_Corporates&gclid=CjwKCAiAlJKuBhAdEiwAnZb7lRTaJj2VfaVNbiREyLnLkoLDprn5b5uZOpHEWpjCkArNlP6oVFxneBoCRm8QAvD_BwE

Oh yeah, and here's what the ceo of Blackrock has to say on the subject

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmcgowan/2023/06/05/conservative-outrage-over-esg-and-dei-fueled-by-2017-blackrock-ceo-video/
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 9:24 AM
@Origame - DEI is an employee driven factor, what films they put out has nothing to do with it.

It just goes to show that you don't know anything about Institutional investing to think Finks comments make a difference. Each fund has mandated areas of focus. They have to stick within those mandates by law. Blackrock's largest fund is their iShares Core S&P 500 fund. If that started acting like an ESG fund then they'd be breaking the law.

You clearly do not know what you are talking about and are projecting false information being pumped out by people who have an agenda.

And I'd defend WB just as much as Disney or any other company. For whatever reason the
Right chose to focus on Disney when WB is far more liberal, but that's just the way it is. And it's not like you're ever going to question it.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 9:38 AM
@Itwasme - dude, I caught you in a lie. And of course those comments have to do with how they invest. There's also nothing illegal about taking your investment money elsewhere if a company isn't maintaining what you want. It's actually a pretty basic concept of investing.

Oh and of course you gotta make this right vs left as opposed to people wanting good movies vs an ideology invading the entertainment industry.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 9:52 AM
@Origame - what lie lol.

2.5% of Blackrocks assets are ESG... so Disney isn't at all that much risk.

https://esgclarity.com/blackrock-and-its-esg-woes/

You don't seem to know enough about this topic to discuss it, especially given how much of Blackrock is passive.

And DEI has nothing to do with the film output. I sold institutional products back from 2005-2011. Back then it was all about Emerging Markets, but ESG took over because of its performance. And I'm not even getting into how Institutional investors allocate their funds. That alone speaks to how little risk Disney or any company has.

ESG is just another false flag thrown out by the media in a long line of them. Before this it was CRT, an advanced legal theory only taught in the highest level of law schools, but that didn't stop the sheep from misunderstanding that too.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 10:02 AM
@Itwasme - 1)...the lie that esg has nothing to do with DEI when DEI is literally part of esg scores. But of course, we gotta trust you to be dishonest.

2) dude, it also says that Blackrock is the largest esg investor on the planet.

It's also one of the biggest investors of disney.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/102715/top-5-disney-shareholders.asp

3) so the fact disney has been making films about diversity and specifically hiring people in all areas based on skin color, gender, and sexual orientation has nothing to do with DEI? Do I seriously need to remind you it stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity, everything disney has been preaching in their recent films?

4) dude, CRT has been pushed at schools. This is from a teacher. And I can tell you it is about teaching kids they live in a racist world and you're racist for being white.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 10:03 AM
@mountainman- yeah, remember what we were talking about with people denying DEI and blackrock? Well here's one.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 2/8/2024, 10:32 AM
@Origame - CRT is about teaching the history of institutionalized racism, which is absolutely a thing. From Harriet Tubman all the way to modern day practices like dumping industrial waste in neighborhoods that are primarily made up of people of color. For a teacher you seem pretty ignorant.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 10:38 AM
@UncleHarm1 - no, that is what they claim it is.

Here's some flashcards used in actual schools for teaching this stuff.

https://quizlet.com/35296488/critical-race-theory-flash-cards/
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 10:40 AM
@Origame - I never said DEI is not a part of ESG, I said what movies they put out is not really a part of a DEI strategy. They could still be a DEI company and solely put out movies about straight white men.

Yes, but one doesn't equal the other. Blackrock are the largest investor in the world period, but the vast majority of their products are passive - 75% in fact (Statestreet is similar). ESG is a tiny asset class, but one where companies drive a lot of alpha, so its talked about often. Blackrock could shut down their ESG finds and they would still be Disney's largest shareholder.

They are making films with more diversity to attract a broader audience - Iger literally says so in this announcement. That's Capitalism. As stated before Disney's could still qualify for ESG funds without doing so and even still its a small percentage of their shareholders.

And no, CRT is an advanced legal concept taught in only the highest level of law schools.

And CRT very explicitly says you aren't racist for being white... where do you get your definitions from?

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/civil-rights-reimagining-policing/a-lesson-on-critical-race-theory/
mountainman
mountainman - 2/8/2024, 10:59 AM
@Origame - While I disagree with @ItWasMe, we already had an in depth back and forth on the Carano article yesterday and it was exhausting.

I can’t contribute to this one, even though ESG/DEI are incredibly destructive.

You all have fun.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 2/8/2024, 11:19 AM
@Origame - Those are the exception not the rule. Iger is actually correct. 9/10 of the highest grossing films last year were based on sequels/franchises.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:26 AM
@Itwasme - 1) it may be possible, but it's without a doubt easier to get a higher score through diversity than it is through changing your carbon footprint, for example.

2) but they won't because they're ideologs by admission.

3) yet not only are they not getting that broader audience, because of their writing choices and behavior to the fans they're actively losing the audience they already had. You just don't want to admit it because you're also an ideolog who buys into this wholesale despite the clear problems it poses.

4) dude, I literally showed you how critical race theory is being taught in schools. But also, the theory poses that this country is inherently racist to minorities because the laws were crafted by white people for white people.

Hell, the article you provided is full of nonsense like it's "not bound by any one definition" and "is more a verb than a noun", giving them free reign to change the meaning of it whenever they see fit.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:27 AM
@mountainman - sorry. Just wanted someone to laugh at the mental gymnastics with me.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:27 AM
@Nightwing1015 - the point I'm making is he isn't seeing the actual problem.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 2/8/2024, 11:31 AM
@Origame - "A movement by a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power. They try to understand our social situation and how society organizes itself along racial lines and hierarchies and how to transform it for the better."

Yep, seems pretty toxic🙄
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 11:34 AM
@Origame - your second point just shows you don't know enough about this topic.

Blackrock's passive funds will invest how they do regardless of their ideologies. And their ESG portfolio is only 2.5% of AUM. These are facts. You can't argue a passive product is going to be actively manages - that makes it not a passive product.

And that's what we are talking about here. The very basic flaws in your logic.
mountainman
mountainman - 2/8/2024, 11:35 AM
@Origame - You’re good. I’m just not in the mood for the debate right now. Not sure how anyone can defend Black Rock - the largest financial institution on Earth that manipulates corporations and is buying up single family homes. Seems like a weird entity to be on the side of unless you are financially benefitting from them.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 11:37 AM
@UncleHarm1 - it's insane to take what you just wrote and then make it about how being white automatically makes you racist. Such an absurd leap, I have no idea how people fall for this stuff.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:39 AM
@UncleHarm1 - well how do you think they're going about doing so?

Especially when their definition for racism literally only applies to the race in power, meaning white people, and it directly says under "a unique voice of color" that white people don't understand.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:40 AM
@UncleHarm1 - also, a movement by activists with the goal of transforming society is literally propaganda. And regardless of what you feel about it holds no place in schools beyond "this is what this group thinks", which isn't how it's taught.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:43 AM
@Itwasme - ...and you know nothing of the situation.

And you're just another drone to the ideology if you can't see it.

Ffs, you claimed wb was worse. Still waiting for wb to go out claiming people are racist for not liking their movies.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:43 AM
@mountainman - no problem.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 11:46 AM
@Origame - will you admit that

1) blackrocks ESG funds is a small part of their AUM
2) the vast majority if Blackrock's Funds will continue to invest regardless of what their feel about ESG

Lets start with some basics since it's so difficult for you to understand this.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 11:50 AM
@Itwasme - I'm gonna acknowledge neither. Because they're still one of the largest investors in disney and openly admitted to forcing companies into the exact kind of behaviors they currently are exhibiting.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 2/8/2024, 11:52 AM
@Origame - so willfully ignorant. Presented with facts you chose to ignore them. That's a nice tin foil hat you've got on there.
supermanrex
supermanrex - 2/8/2024, 12:21 PM
@vectorsigma - nope dawg. looks like DEI tinfoil crowd has to deal with more black, brown, female and gay characters and stories. sucks to be the DEI clowns i guess. poor boo boos
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 2:24 PM
@Itwasme - willfully ignorant sums you up perfectly.

And I presented YOU the facts.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 2:27 PM
@supermanrex - so are you at "this isn't happening" or "it's not so bad"?
Variant
Variant - 2/8/2024, 3:20 PM
@Origame - Another thread where you're getting worked by the crowd. Then you tag someone for backup because you're losing ground fast. And yes, what @itwasme said is quite correct. You have no idea what you're talking about. This is standard practice for you. Which is why I've seen quite a few people here question you being a teacher. I definitely think you're lying about that. A substitute teacher with no real education at best.

At any rate, you really need to stop trolling every damn Disney article with your whining.
Origame
Origame - 2/8/2024, 3:24 PM
@Variant - you saying someone else is correct is like anti credibility. Thanks.

Also, goes to show how much you know about the education system. Because even a substitute teacher requires a bachelor's degree as a minimum. Same as a regular teacher.

And dude, block me already if my comments bother you so much. Still never commented you directly, so the only troll here is you.
Variant
Variant - 2/9/2024, 8:11 AM
@Origame - Clearly not anti credibility since my side of the argument is validated. You're the one that loses every argument they start.

Oh right. So you maybe have a degree, maybe not have a degree but still probably not an actual teacher.
Origame
Origame - 2/9/2024, 8:17 AM
@Variant - 1) ad populum. Look it up.

2) well by law I must have a bachelor's degree in order to just be a substitute as you claimed.

Admit you just don't know what you're talking about.
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