Disney CEO Bob Iger says Marvel will continue its “less is more” strategy, with two TV series released per year and a maximum of three films in cinemas.
Disney head honcho Bob Iger has said in the past that he wants the companies under his banner to operate on a quality-rather-than-quantity basis. It’s something he’s iterated again in a quarterly earnings call with investors, specifying that he wants Marvel Studios to release no more than two or three films a year. It’ll take a similarly restrained approach with its TV output, he’s said.
“We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three,” Iger said in quotes shared by Variety. “And we’re working hard on what that path is.”
This approach could have an impact on the Marvel Studios slate as it currently stands. There are four movies due for release from Marvel in 2025 at present: Captain America: Brave New World, already delayed from 2024, Suicide Squad-esque team-up movie Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, and Blade. Going by Iger’s comments, it’s likely that at least one of these will be pushed back to 2026.
During the same call, Iger said Marvel has “a couple of good films in 25 and then we’re heading into Avengers, which we’re extremely excited about.”
He’s referring there to what was once Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, a project thrown through a loop by the ousting of actor Jonathan Majors, who once played the title villain. It’s currently scheduled for release in 2026.
Note that Iger said Marvel only has “a couple of good films” coming out in 2025; that surely means that the slate as it stands will soon change, or he’s accidentally admitting that he doesn’t like two of Marvel’s upcoming releases, which would be quite a Ratner moment.
Interestingly, Iger specifically said that Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World are coming out in 2025, but was less specific about Blade and Fantastic Four. Time will tell whether there’s any significance to that.
Iger has also reiterated his plans for Disney as a whole to concentrate more on sequels rather than original stories, with the CEO pointing to Toy Story 5 and Inside Out 2 as likely hits thanks to name recognition alone.
Disney and Marvel’s big release for 2024 is this July’s Deadpool & Wolverine. With its R-rating and self-referential humour, its success (or otherwise) could have a massive bearing on Marvel’s strategy in the coming years.
More on all this as we get it.
