It's not 'toxic' to point out that Marvel is in a mess – if anything, it should be pointed out.
Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with people liking a movie, even a financially unsuccessful one. As somebody who ranks Eternals on their all-time list (for MCU movies), I can attest to that. But what I won't do is pretend that it wasn't a failure, or that said failure was not one of the several marks against Marvel over the last two years that has resulted in The Marvels being on track to gross less than Morbius. What I liked about Eternals largely came down to things that ironically got it rejected by the general public, such as the philosophical premise or the more intimate storytelling. Maybe a sequel can find the right promise, but therein lies the problem – the chances of there being one are slim, and perhaps rightfully so.
A common debate within the pro wrestling fandom is whether statistics like TV ratings, merchandise sales or live show attendance should matter to us as consumers, given that we're unlikely to have a financial stake involved. I'm not bothered by how other people feel, but my rationale is yes: if businesses lose money (in this case, nearly a billion compared to Captain Marvel's gross, again another movie in my top five), they just might stop producing some of the things I like. For example, Wonder Man could be scrapped, and in its place we get a rushed Doom introduction so that he can replace Kang for Secret Wars. That's just an example.
I've also seen this sub make a number of excuses for the film's dismal performance. The COVID-inflated budget makes it look worse. The cast couldn't promote the movie. Andrew Tate personally delivered misogynistic leaflets to doors. Matthew Perry died the other week. Swifties hacked the ticket machines to only show Eras screenings. People were scrolling X for CM Punk updates. David Cameron returned to government.
I promise you, most moviegoers still don't give a shit about Jimmy Fallon appearances or rage-bait YouTubers (in fact, that didn't stop Disney from partnering with influencers or marketing the absolute fuck out of the movie everywhere else they could). The reality is that they spent their money on Mario, Spider-Verse and Barbenheimer in the summer and called it a year, because with ticket prices still rising it really isn't worth spending the limited disposable income you have on an afternoon outing that might be 'fun'. The MCU used to be must-watch (of the current roster, I'd say only Spider-Man and Deadpool still are), but that novelty waned once they started churning out half-baked shlock during the theatrical gaps for Disney+.
In terms of more direct competition, FNAF and Hunger Games fans were hungry and then by all accounts fed. Last year, Top Gun: Maverick had a marathon run because people simply enjoyed it. It resonated deeply with its target audience, white men, but...
...nearly half of its audience was female, too. Meanwhile:
Other diagnostics on The Marvels: 65% male leaning, with 45% men over 25, 22% women over 25 (giving it the best grades at 82%), men under 25 at 20%, and women under 25 at 14%. Biggest demo was 25-34 at 33%.
https://deadline.com/2023/11/box-office-the-marvels-1235599363/
That's as of Sunday, and I think it's US-only. I believe the 'identity politics' arguments are absolute BS, but people can see through faux marketing. Barbenheimer succeeded not by explicitly luring women and men respectively, but rather by making good movies that happened to be particularly popular with one gender each (or were otherwise differentiable), which frankly is a far better way to go about the important issue of role-modelling for impressionable young kids (if you consider Barbie as a feminist movie). Both films had talented creatives behind the camera who worked their magic with charismatic leads such as Margot Robbie, Cillian Murphy and Ryan Gosling. In fact, assuming that this source's figures remained consistent, men would have contributed 487m to Barbie's cause while women made Universal 279m for Oppenheimer. The Barbie figure is more than Eternals and Quantumania's total grosses, while Oppenheimer's will be more than that for The Marvels. While that doesn't account for the effects of the Barbenheimer phenomenon in itself, which might have encouraged some viewers to broaden their tastes, the main takeaway should be that its 'disposable' viewers were hungrier than The Marvels's target audience, young women. But the solution doesn't have to be making the third movie (if there is one) another Barbie – just make it something that everybody wants to see, like No Way Home did.
Maybe Iman is right about Marvel listening to feedback. I hope so, because she's fucking awesome. But fans have the right to be concerned now when the studio announces major reshoots for its projects. It's on Feige et al. to change that perception.
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