Sooner or later, theMCUis going to have its first failure.Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania has gotten poor reviews(thefirst-time screenwriter says these reviews are wrong, by the way), and had a significant drop-off at the box office, but that makes it a flop, not a failure.DChas an array of movies that actively cause the company to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, but forMarvelit’s a matter of smaller profits. However, patience is running out, and all signs point to it being The Marvels that takes the hit. We need to adopt the brace position for the ice cold takes about wokeness run amok.
‘Go Woke, Go Broke’ is a phrase that has proven to be meaningless. It was used for Black Panther and Captain Marvel, which grossed $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion respectively. I wish I was that broke. WhenThe Mandaloriancut ties with Gina Carano, it was thrown around too. Mando is still going strong, and its star Pedro Pascal is raking in millions from both that role and the lead in The Last of Us. Carano meanwhile has appeared in a direct-to-streaming Breitbart movie where she is a government official whose hair is sniffed by Joe Biden.
Related:So, Are We Actually Going To Cast Brie Larson As Samus Aran Or What?
Still, it refuses to die. Any time any product that a few influential reactionaries somewhere decide is woke, that same old song plays from the piano again. If the product in question succeeds, then just keep on whistling and wait for the next thing. If it does, because of a variety of other factors, indeed go broke, then it’s chalked up as a win while all contradictions are ignored.Netflix cancels a queer animated series? Go woke, go broke!Netflix’smost successful show (Stranger Things) features prominent queer characters? Lalalalala I can’t hear you!
Those ‘variety of other factors’ could well spell danger for The Marvels, however. Firstly, Marvel fatigue is eventually going to kick in, and these past few months have been draining. I have faith that Jonathan Majors can ground the next few phases as the Big Bad, but less faith Marvel can give him a platform for that - especially when the writer of Ant-Man 3 is also penning the next Avengers movie.
That fatigue is retroactive too though. While the point of the television arc was to offer more ways to immerse yourself in the world, people have mostly dipped in and out of the TV universe. I keep up with them for work, but it does kind offeellike work at this point. My wife comes with me to each movie, and has an enjoyable enough time, but the only show she’s stuck with was WandaVision. To understand The Marvels though, you not only need to remember a tertiary character in WandaVision (Maria Rambeau), but also recall Captain Marvel’s own movie (a big ask when Marvel throws four of them at you a year), as well as a completely different show, Ms. Marvel.
Linking up one movie set in the ‘90s with two TV shows set in the present day, while also introducing mutants to the world, following on from the last world saving event, setting up the next world saving event, and creating a compelling story in its own right is a major ask for The Marvels. To do it when audiences are growing tired of the episodic feel of your movies is box office suicide.
I don’t expect ‘wokeness’ itself to play a part, but I do expect it to be blamed. With Brie Larson especially, there seems to always be swirling controversy concocted out of nothing. She’s a pretty white nerd who plays video games. It’s staggering to me that she has become public enemy number one for the chuds, but it’s been shown in the past that people will make noise for her. I don’t expect this alone will tank it, but The Marvels will likely struggle for traction as it feels so separate from the wider story and given recent history, we’re unlikely to give it the benefit of the doubt. With audiences blasé, a major talking point could end up beingthat weird corner of the internet that hates Brie Larson.
Then there’s the fact the other two cast members are women of colour, and neither have box office leading pedigree. It’s extremely easy to see where the loudest voices will point their fingers, and depressing to think they might be listened to. It will not be on Teyonah Parris nor Iman Vellani if The Marvels flops, but they will be blamed and I fear it will cause a Marvel rethink that won’t mean slowing down, getting back to character driven stories, or making phases major events rather than constantly keeping the ball rolling endlessly towards them - it will be to stop taking chances on women of colour.
I like director Nia DeCosta’s previous work well enough, I’m a fan ofBrie Larson even if I wish she stretched herself more, and both Parris and Vellani have turned in solid Marvel performances already. But it might not be enough. We’re growing bored of the MCU, The Marvels is a silly name for a Marvel movie, and there’s a lot of extra-curricular reading required. This might be the first one to fail. If it does, let’s be honest about why.
