The Marvels: Bob Iger thinks he knows why the film flopped at the box office

The Marvels has stumbled at the box office; Perhaps that’s putting it mildly, as the movie had the lowest opening of any film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But fear not, Disney CEO Bob Iger believes he knows the reason behind the failure of The Marvels.

While speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit 2023 (per The Verge), Bob Iger placed the blame for The Marvels underperforming on… not enough executives on set. The Disney chief said that the increased number of Marvel projects has made it challenging to maintain quality, adding that “The Marvels was shot during Covid, and there wasn’t enough supervision on set” from executives. That’s one way to look at it.

Disney has had a rough year, with a string of movies underperforming at the box office, but Bob Iger was quick to defend the studio’s track record. “I’m not sure another studio will ever achieve some of the numbers that we achieved,” Iger said. “I mean, we got to the point where if a film didn’t do a billion dollars in global box office, we were disappointed. That’s an unbelievably high standard.“

“In Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence,” reads the official synopsis. “But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.” In addition to Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, The Marvels stars Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan, Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

The film has received somewhat mixed reviews, with our own Alex Maidy calling the film “fun, but ultimately disposable.” Maidy had plenty of praise for Iman Vellani’s performance as Kamala Khan and said Brie Larson is just as good as ever, but added that the film “never quite comes together satisfactorily and instead relies on some significant teases at the end to justify audiences checking it out on the big screen. Aside from those unrelated moments, this sequel underwhelms in every way and is yet another mediocre offering from the formerly top-tier Marvel Cinematic Universe.” You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review right here.