Disney CEO Bob Iger Says THUNDERBOLTS* Is The "First And Best Example" Of Marvel Studios' New Movie Strategy

Disney CEO Bob Iger Says THUNDERBOLTS* Is The "First And Best Example" Of Marvel Studios' New Movie Strategy

Disney CEO Bob Iger has praised Thunderbolts*, calling it the "first and best example" of a Marvel Studios that's focusing on quality instead of quantity. Ms Marvel's Iman Vellani also has some thoughts...

By JoshWilding - May 07, 2025 11:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Thunderbolts
Source: Variety

When Bob Chapek took over as Disney CEO, he immediately prioritised adding as much content to Disney+ as possible. On an almost weekly basis, new films and TV shows debuted on the platform, adding to an already huge amount of classic content from the studio's library.

It was good value for subscribers, but spending money to make money didn't exactly pay off for the House of Mouse. Chapek was subsequently pushed out of the company, and Bob Iger made his surprise return as CEO. 

He immediately set about righting the ship, taking Walt Disney Studios, Disney Animation, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios to task. In the latter's case, Kevin Feige was happy to get back to quality over quantity, and we've seen the positive results from that with Daredevil: Born Again and Thunderbolts*

During a conference call with Wall Street analysts today (discussing Disney's better-than-expected results in the fiscal second quarter), Iger made a point of highlighting what a win Thunderbolts* has been for the MCU. 

"We all know that in our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, that we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more," Iger said (via Variety). "We’ve also learned over over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality."

"And frankly, we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much. By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe that will result in better quality. I think the first and best example is 'Thunderbolts*.' I feel very good about that," he concluded.

Referring to movies like Lilo & StitchZootopia 2, The Fantastic Four: The First StepsAvatar: Fire and AshThe Mandalorian and GroguAvengers: Doomsday, and Toy Story 5, Iger said, "I have a lot of confidence that are upcoming slate. That’s quite a lineup. [It's] as strong as any slate that I’ve seen in a long time."

The Disney CEO isn't the only one to heap praise on Thunderbolts*, as Ms. Marvel and The Marvels star Iman Vellani has taken to Letterboxd to praise Marvel Studios' latest effort. 

"Five emotionally constipated misfits are forced into trauma bonding under the watchful eye of a morally bankrupt authority figure and—oh, um, hey, so this is the breakfast club in tactical gear. I live," she wrote on the site

There's good news for Thunderbolts* (*The New Avengers) at the box office as the movie grossed $7.4 million yesterday, a +48% increase from its Monday haul. Marketing that title reveal might just be working. 

THUNDERBOLTS* Spoilers: 5 Ways *THE NEW AVENGERS Sets Up The MCU's Future
Related:

THUNDERBOLTS* Spoilers: 5 Ways *THE NEW AVENGERS Sets Up The MCU's Future

Has THE NEW AVENGERS Rebrand Paid Off? THUNDERBOLTS* Jumps 49% For Strong $7.5M Tuesday
Recommended For You:

Has THE NEW AVENGERS Rebrand Paid Off? THUNDERBOLTS* Jumps 49% For Strong $7.5M Tuesday

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2 3
Lisa89
Lisa89 - 5/7/2025, 11:27 AM
I loved the film and I’m seeing it again on Friday, but please give this wacky marketing stunt a rest for 5 fuсking minutes.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 11:34 AM
@Lisa89 -
It's fun. They are having fun with it. Most of us saw through it anyway. All the marketing gimicks in the world won't put butts in seats. WOM and positive reviews will.
Superheromoviefan
Superheromoviefan - 5/7/2025, 11:27 AM
come on dude, i like him but its obvious strategy wasnt involved
Blergh
Blergh - 5/7/2025, 12:33 PM
@Superheromoviefan - a CEO sure has a say over his biggest branches. Chapek pushed for streaming, that led to the decision to push content out. With Iger coming back I’m sure he had to sign off on marvel getting to pull the brakes
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 5/7/2025, 7:01 PM
@Superheromoviefan -

Of course strategy was involved.

A bunch of communist clowns got together and decided to spread woke Marxist ideology throughout Disney like a cancer.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 5/7/2025, 7:03 PM
@Blergh -

Iger didn't try to pull the brakes.

He fully supported Disney making tons of woke propaganda.
abd00bie
abd00bie - 5/7/2025, 11:30 AM
Yes, yes you just want money. What's new?
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/7/2025, 1:10 PM
@abd00bie - That's the only reason any corporation does anything, to make money for it's shareholders.
ShellHead
ShellHead - 5/7/2025, 11:32 AM
I think an important lesson here is to not fly off the handle every time something makes the news. What I mean is, when the Marvels flopped, and other setbacks hit Marvel and Star Wars, people on this site and others were declaring the death of cinema and Disney all together.

But people with any sense understand long term trends. Disney was also "dead" in the 80s, right before they hit their Renaissance and created the childhood reference points for an entire generation.

They just had a good win with Thunderbolts, they have Andor getting more praise than anything ever made in the Star Wars verse, and they have the F4 and Doomsday and Starfighter on deck, not to mention their whole animated slate. This isn't just true for Disney either. WB has Sinners kicking ass, and Dune Part 3, Superman, and The Odyssey coming up.

The point is - don't listen to YouTube grifters that don't know what the [frick] they're talking about when it comes to culture and art. They have neither. That's why professionals run these studios, not stupid assholes that want to make you perpetually pissed off.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 5/7/2025, 11:40 AM
@ShellHead - People critiquing their films got them to rethink their strategy though. If you don’t say anything if someone serves you a crappy film, you’re going to keep getting crappy films.
Kozmik
Kozmik - 5/7/2025, 11:42 AM
@ShellHead - Yeah, but what does @MakeAmericaGrea do to pass the time if they're not trolling and promising doom?
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 11:45 AM
@ShellHead -
They learned lessons. Endgame came out in 2019 and the Pandemic hit in January of 2020 and changed everything. They had D+ and did thier best to try a bunch of stuff to see what worked. They took the interconnectedness too far and, like Feige said, it became homework and not entertainment. They also made a ton of movies that shouldn't have been made, became enamoured with addressing different subsets of society and fringe audiences. There were a few wins in there but not enough to make up for the shite that was quickly shoveled onto our screens.

So what did they do?
- They pulled back on the TV and brought on DD as regular episodic TV rather than a 5 hour movie split into pieces
- They cancelled a bunch of fringey shit that was going to hit the big screen and small screen as well
- Canned a bunch of the box checkers who had missions other than making entertainment that appealed to the mass audience

It's a good thing. Making mistakes is not the worst thing in the world if you learn from them. Let's hope Gunn has taken those lessons as well and by all accounts he has. Not putting anything on the schedule before they have a good script and making things as self contained as they can.


So what did they do once they discovered that things weren't working.
CaptainAwkward
CaptainAwkward - 5/7/2025, 12:10 PM
@ShellHead - exactly. Well said.
Ironnick
Ironnick - 5/7/2025, 12:11 PM
@Goldboink - @Goldboink - What are you talking about? I can get the whole quality over quantity thing, but what’s with the fringe society crap? Are you trying to say people got fatigued of the MCU because of WOKE? If so, you’re weird as hell and seem to be pushing your own hateful mission.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 12:28 PM
@Ironnick -
I am the loosest lefty liberal you will ever meet. That said they made shows and movies that were not focused on the widest audience and had an agenda beyond just making good movies. Call it woke or whatever you want but it's real.
Blergh
Blergh - 5/7/2025, 12:35 PM
@ShellHead - Disney will outlive all of us, they might have better and worse times as a company but their appeal is always going to be more towards the younger generation. Marvel and Star Wars are more outliers than the rule. They’re more teenage skewing but Disney will always remain a kids company. Parks, movies, merch.
Vigor
Vigor - 5/7/2025, 1:00 PM
@ShellHead - spot on. Those youtubers PROFIT off pissing people off. People don't realize how much of followers they are

Take talking points from youtubers? You're a follower
Your opinion on matters sway with what the TikTok algorithm does that day? Follower
You wear a red hat with words idolizing a red blooded human man? Follower

Vigor
Vigor - 5/7/2025, 1:01 PM
@soberchimera - he's talking about people saying disney is dead. Not that people are critiquing
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/7/2025, 1:16 PM
@Goldboink - "I am the loosest lefty liberal you will ever meet."

User Comment Image

If you're complaining about the woke agenda, I can guarantee you folks have met a looser lefty liberal.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 5/7/2025, 1:29 PM
@ShellHead - a bit of revisionism on Andor being the most praised piece of SW ever there bud but hyperbole is fun (despite the irony of such at the behest of your thesis here). But the whole "ignore youtube listen to the studio professionals for real culture" take is quite nauseating. Their are grifters everywhere, Disney suites included. Youtube can be a cess pool but without the mass feedback train reaching the right ears, you continue to get the piss poor slop from this studio you were getting pre Thunderbolts. The people will always speak and despite the opinion police stating otherwise, YES....it's a good thing. And sometimes those grifters are a necessary evil, believe it or not.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 5/7/2025, 1:40 PM
@Vigor - They were saying Disney is dead because their movies were bad, deeming a movie good or bad is this amazing process known as ‘critiquing’
User Comment Image
krayzeman
krayzeman - 5/7/2025, 1:53 PM
@soberchimera - Dont be fooled. The critiquing isnt what made them rethink their strategy it was the money NOT being made by the output. Dollars count way more than criticism...
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 2:02 PM
@ClintthaManster -
I don't generally use the word Woke, because it has been hijacked. I have no issues with representation and fully support it. That said it can be seamlessly integrated into creative endeavors without making it about that. In comics it's different. You can make a Ms Marvel for a specific segment, with a young female muslim protagonist but that may not appeal to a mainstream audience. You can make indy films about all kinds of subject matter but if your mission is to make the most profitable properties and distribute them to the widest audience it may not work out. If the goal is to change minds that is not necessariliy in the best interest of Disney as a whole.

Just being real.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 5/7/2025, 3:00 PM
@krayzeman - They usually go hand in hand, or do you typically lay down your dollars to go see poorly received films?
krayzeman
krayzeman - 5/7/2025, 3:08 PM
@soberchimera - a "bad" film is subjective. People spend money all the time on films that get bad reviews
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 5/7/2025, 3:09 PM
@Goldboink

It’s not called “woke” it’s called bad writing. Amazing this site still doesn’t know the difference.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 3:12 PM
@regularmovieguy -
Thank you!
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/7/2025, 4:04 PM
@Goldboink - Outside of a few Oscar bait films (Crash and Green Book come to mind, along with any movie Kevin Sorbo's been in for the last decade or so) I can't think of a whole lot of movies that suffered BECAUSE they were trying too hard to convey a message. There have been movies with diverse casts and progressive themes that were bad, and there have been movies with diverse casts and progressive themes that were good.

I genuinely think that the whole "sacrificed the story for the agenda" trope is a myth. There are films that are bad AND "woke," but maybe not so many that are bad BECAUSE "woke."
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/7/2025, 4:06 PM
@Goldboink - I think we're mostly on the same page. I just don't think there's much use in entertaining the reactionary concepts that circulate around here.
Vigor
Vigor - 5/7/2025, 4:11 PM
@soberchimera - saying something is dead is critiquing. But critiquing doesnt mean you're saying something is dead. I critiqued secret invasion but I never said disney is dead lol. That's the extreme

That's like me saying you (a human) are an animal. But all animals are not humans

Understand the nuance?
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 4:33 PM
@ClintthaManster -
I generally agree. If message takes precedence over story for something like a CBM you have the kinds of problems that you have with Eternals. I don't use the word Woke but there were people behind the scenes at Marvel/Disney who had agendas to push and that took precedence over story IMHO.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 4:43 PM
@ClintthaManster -
It's hard to give an honest assessment of the errors without dipping a toe in that water.
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/7/2025, 5:00 PM
@Goldboink - See, from my perspective, the problems with the Eternals were that it was over-long, over-serious, tried to introduce too many characters and concepts, and had a dull, visually indistinct villain. How would you say the "agenda" harmed the film?
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 5:06 PM
@ClintthaManster -
Yea, all of that. The focus seemed to be on this one being gay and this one being this and that. They got so diverse that they lost track of what makes a movie entertaining and I think it was made specifically to have all those diverse characters and not to entertain.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 5/7/2025, 5:15 PM
@ClintthaManster -
One more thing. Considering the vast library of properties at their disposal why choose Eternals? Not popular or very accessible. Somewhat convoluted to begin with and little to no connection to anything else going on. I think they picked that as a vehicle to demonstrate their diversity bona fides rather than choosing a property that may have more appeal to wider audiences. It was a bizarre choice and resulted in what you just said. I think Bob Iger is asking more simple and direct questions such as "why are we making this movie/show".
ClintthaManster
ClintthaManster - 5/7/2025, 7:48 PM
@Goldboink - "The focus seemed to be on this one being gay and this one being this and that."

So there was one ~5 minute sequence at Phastos' house. Is that what you mean?
Ironnick
Ironnick - 5/7/2025, 11:27 PM
@Goldboink - literally give me examples, please. Until then, I have no idea what you are talking about. What agenda?
Oberlin4Prez
Oberlin4Prez - 5/7/2025, 11:39 AM
Lol. Anthony Mackie in the background like, “WTH”!
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 5/7/2025, 7:05 PM
@Oberlin4Prez -

Ha.

Iger and Feige screwed Mackie over.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 5/7/2025, 11:41 AM
I know people have their opinions on the Multiverse Saga so far but it’s kind of a miracle imo that aside from Chapek’s D+ mandate , they also had to deal with a worldwide pandemic , 2 strikes and a creative pivot due to Majors sentencing which could have made things work out far less then they did imo…

Granted I say this as someone who has enjoyed this post EG era moreso then some but it’s truly a wonder that more projects during that tumultuous time didn’t fall flat on their face as could have.

I know there are still some holdovers left from that time such as Ironheart and I think Wonder Man aswell but both Born Again and Thunderbolts are solid indicators imo of Marvel getting back on track so to speak.
1 2 3

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

View Recorder