Amid the decline of interest in superhero movies, 'Avengers: Endgame' directors Joe and Anthony Russo believe Marvel's recent box office woes are due to a generational divide, not superhero fatigue.
- Apr 30, 2024
AceShowbiz - Filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo have shared their thoughts on the ongoing debate about "superhero fatigue." As the directors behind some of Marvel's biggest successes, including "Avengers: Infinity War" ($2.052 billion worldwide) and "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.799 billion worldwide), their insights carry significant weight.
However, despite the Russo Brothers' success, Marvel has experienced recent box office setbacks, leading to speculation about "superhero fatigue." Anthony Russo sees this as a continuation of a long-standing complaint, comparing it to the previous criticism leveled at Western movies, "I think it's fatigue in general. The superhero fatigue question was around long before the work we were doing... So, it's sort of an eternal complaint, like we always used to cite this back in our early days with superhero work. People used to complain about westerns in the same way but they lasted for decades and decades and decades. They were continually reinvented and brought to new heights as they went on."
Since "Avengers: Endgame", only "Spider-Man: No Way Home" has replicated the success of the Russo Brothers' Avengers films. While other Marvel movies have performed well, their box office numbers have fallen short of previous expectations.
However, Joe Russo argues that the industry-wide decline in movie attendance cannot be solely attributed to superhero fatigue, "I think it's a reflection of the current state of everything. It's difficult right now, it's an interesting time. I think we're in a transitional period and people don't know quite yet how they're going to receive stories moving forward, or what kinds of stories they're going to want."
He further suggests that the "generational divide" in media consumption is a significant factor, "There's a big generational divide about how you consume media. There's a generation that's used to appointment viewing and going to a theater on a certain date to see something, but it's ageing out. Meanwhile the new generation are 'I want it now, I want to process it now,' then moving onto the next thing, which they process whilst doing two other things at the same time."
The Russo Brothers also highlight the impact of technology and social media on attention spans and media consumption, "We have never collectively, globally, processed our conversation so intimately and quickly as we do now. I think that creates problems, where we over-process and don't care about context anymore."
In summary, the Russo Brothers believe that the challenges facing Marvel and Hollywood at large are more complex than "superhero fatigue." They emphasize the generational divide, the changing ways in which audiences consume media, and the need for innovation in storytelling.
