Marvel Studios
Image from the film “Iron Man”, known as “Iron Man”, in Portuguese.
Even though films are losing steam, the popularity of video games and comics suggests that superheroes still make a lot of money.
Superheroes are passing by a turbulent time. Marvel, creator of Spider-Man and Captain America, is suffering from a series of disappointing releases, such as “The Marvels” (2023) and “Fantastic Four: First Steps” (2025). This forced Disney, which owns Marvel, to completely rethink its strategy for the Marvel universe, just before the new Spider-Man and Avengers films debut in theaters later this year.
DC Comics, creator of Batman and Superman, is trying relaunch your own film franchisebut leaving a lot to be desired, judging by public opinion. This calls into question the success of the next Supergirl film.
And Sony, which still owns the rights to Marvel’s Spider-Man (the situation can be a little confusing), is also revamping its cinematic universe after a long string of box office failures.
All of this creates the perception of “superhero fatigue“, with complaints of “same plots, same villains.” Consumers seem tired of superhero content and want to move on after a 20-year romance.
However, the superhero genre is known for its incredible survival skills. After all, DC is already 92 years old and Marvel isn’t far behind at 87. So, is superhero fatigue really real?
What is really happening?
First, let’s look at the evidence. While Marvel’s films have underperformed, their video games are a huge success. For example, the Marvel’s Spider-Man PlayStation trilogy (2018-2023) was released to critical acclaim and sold tens of millions of copies.
And Marvel Rivals, an online game based on Marvel’s vast cast of comic book characters, achieved 40 million players in just two months after its release in late 2024. This means that superheroes are still very much loved by the same people who are now uninterested in superhero movies.
In a different context, Penguin surprised the world in 2022 by launch a selection of comics of Marvel as part of its prestigious Classics collection, making Marvel part of the global literary canon alongside Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy.
The series reprints the origin stories of select Marvel characters and, according to Penguin, “serves as a testament to the Marvel’s transformative impactThis gives superhero entertainment broad cultural legitimacy and attracts new audiences.
Finally, while the traditional comic book publishing model may currently be in decline, longer formats are experiencing a major resurgence. For example, the graphic novel market has recently reached the unprecedented mark of 1.57 billion dollars.
The resonance factor
The big change began after 2019, when Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame became the highest grossing film ever. This means that global audiences are now “used to” long-form superhero entertainment and want to see more (or at least the same amount) of this type of content.
Therefore, we can safely say that superhero fatigue is not a real phenomenon. In fact, consumers may simply be reacting (overreacting) to a long streak of bad launches which failed to inspire to the same extent as Marvel in its heyday from 2008 to 2019.
At the same time, there is another factor about superhero franchises that Marvel and DC must take into account: the resonance.
It is common to assume that superheroes are popular because of the light and even cheap entertainment they provide. Renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese famously disdained superhero films, stating in a New York Times article that were not cinema and comparing them to theme parks.
However, Marvel and DC fans reveal an entirely different scenario: audiences delight in Incisive sociocultural commentary that superhero archetypes can offer.
For many fans, the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2008-2019) offered relevant commentary on some of the biggest issues facing society today.
For example, Black Panther (2018) was revolutionary in bringing to light issues of racism and post-colonialism to the summer blockbuster movie genre. And the Iron Man trilogy (2008-2013) addressed global terrorism just as the Islamic State (ISIS) became a feared and household name. It’s this current lack of social and cultural commentary that participants pointed to as the reason behind Marvel and DC’s recent troubles.
This view is consistent with the entire history of superhero entertainment. The original superhero boom of the 1930s offered a much needed hope in the midst of the Great Depressionthe decade-long economic crisis that began with the crash of the New York Stock Exchange in 1929.
Marvel’s meteoric rise in the 1960s and 1970s is often associated with nuances contraculturais e “hippies” which subtly conveyed in the midst of the Vietnam War and the general political instability of that time. And, more recently, the entire concept of the superhero experienced a renaissance shortly after the events of 9/11.
This coincides with the success of other more niche superhero franchises, such as Amazon Prime’s The Boys, which recently aired its final episode.
With a dark, dystopian and subversive vision of the superhero archetypeThe Boys offers a timely and much-needed perspective on major political shifts toward populism and nationalism, exploring questions of responsibility for those in power, continuing the tradition started by Marvel and DC nearly a century ago.
Superhero archetypes need to connect with audiences to stay relevant. And while DC and Marvel are failing in this regard these days, their niche competitors do it more successfully.
In other words, the superheroes are here to stay. It’s just a question of whether Marvel and DC, the two biggest names in superhero entertainment, will be able to find ways to reinvent characters that connect with the world – as they have successfully done in the past.
