Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito look back on Marvel’s catastrophic 2023, a few weeks before the release of Deadpool & Wolverine.
2023 was a pivotal year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Indeed, between the belly ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($200 million budget for 214 million domestic revenue, according to JP Box office) and disaster The Marvelsquite simply the biggest cinema flop of the year 2023 (220 million budget, for 194 million worldwide receipts, according to JP Box office): 2023 has pushed Marvel to change its strategy to survive in Hollywood.
Soon the return of the MCU?
Deadpool 3: surviving after 2023
In 2024, only one MCU feature film will be released in theaters, Deadpool & Wolverine, directed by Shawn Levy. A turbulent period for Marvel, even though Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito, the co-presidents of the superheroic giant, remain confident about the future of the franchise. In any case, this is what they recently made clear, during an interview for Empire. Kevin Feige:
“I’m much more comfortable being the underdog. I prefer to be able to surprise and exceed expectations. So last year, which was not ideal, prepared us well for that.” Louis D’Esposito completes: “It was a difficult time. But if we had stayed at the top, it would have been the worst thing that could have happened to us. We took a little hit, but we will come back strong.”
When you look at the 2023 results
This intervention by Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito comes shortly after that of Disney boss Bob Iger, who confirmed that Marvel would no longer release more than two or three films and one or two series per year. Louis D’Esposito admits: “Maybe when you do too much, you spread yourself a little bit. We’re not going to do that anymore. We learn from our mistakes.” As a reminder, the next MCU film, Deadpool & Wolverinewill arrive in our French cinemas on July 24.
