Where do you stand with Marvel?

Iron Man. Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.

Robert Downey Jr. early on believed in portraying “Iron Man” in a live-action adaptation so much that he ignored the warnings of his then agent that if he accepted the role it would stop him from making a full comeback in Hollywood and that no one would want to see him as “Iron Man” and other negativity based out of ignorance. Thank God, Robert Downey Jr. did not listen to his then-agent and went forward with it because he is the reason why the MCU got the jumpstart it needed, got the attention of the entertainment industry, and became the actor that Marvel had to have as a brand to put them on the map in Hollywood.

It’s a little-known fact: everything was bet on “Iron Man” (2008) becoming a box office hit, or else the studio would have gone under, meaning bankrupt. Luckily, the world was ready for “Iron Man” (2008), and this was the shake-up needed in movies, and as a result, Marvel would have a movie studio of their own in Marvel Studios, and the rest, as they say, is history. Yeah, I’ve got to go with the classic one-liner as an ender! Haha….

Let’s be honest here, especially for anyone who was there in the beginning with Iron Man (2008): did any of us expect them to last this long in churning out movies? How many of us know the capacity, the inventory, the resourcefulness, and so on that the then nonexistent Marvel Studios had, if not for a handful of determined, optimistic, brave souls who went against everyone who told them that comic book-based movies would no longer work with moviegoers anymore?

Which, to me, only means they were mentally absent or in another world of their own for the last 8 years before Iron Man was released. So it is a matter of listening to the right people and the ones who know what they are talking about. At times, it’s hard to believe that in 2025, Marvel Studios is still alive, because they have outlasted other studios who suddenly cashed in on the comic book movie-based craze almost 20 years ago, but the difference with them is this simple. They are Marvel!

The foundation has been there since 1941, and they have had a deep influence on countless creative minds, filmmakers, artists, etc. They are very much part of the fabric of popular culture, and I believe they helped kickstart it to a large degree. The credit that goes to the pillars of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, is endless, because without them, none of our favorite Marvel comic book characters would exist, and we would not know of them.

And without the pillars of Marvel Comics, there would be no Marvel Studios and no MCU. Everything is because of them, whom I consider, as millions of others do, as the forefathers of everything to do with Marvel. The same way Walt Disney is to Disney, the same way Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are to Marvel.

Indeed, everything started because of them, and in the entertainment industry aspect of it, specifically, in Hollywood with their movies, they (Marvel Studios) are trying to live up to that legacy. Because it’s more than the token cameo of Stan Lee in almost every movie out of the MCU when he was still alive, acknowledging that without trailblazers like him and Jack Kirby, there would not be the superhero movie genre as we know it.

So the fact that Marvel Studios exists even after their passing was always going to happen, regardless, because there is so much legacy there to extract from. And for me, I will always view it that way: as long as Marvel Studios continues to create movies, then that is all the undeniable proof that their efforts (Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) did not go in vain. Call me poetic or sympathetic or whatever it is, but I know where my heart is and why I continue to believe in Marvel Studios and the MCU because of it, and I understand that these are merely the sub-branches of everything that falls under Marvel as a brand.

The fact is that there has always been a strategy behind everything that Marvel Studios releases, particularly with the selection of movies released in order per phase. For instance, we are in Phase 5, and the “Thunderbolts*” was meant to be a smaller-scale production because what follows is “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which will be much bigger in scope and significance for the entirety of the MCU moving forward.

This is strategically planned out because if you compare all the past phases, there have always been what I would call “warm-up movies” before the big finale, and in this case, with Phase 5, it is no different, but even more obvious regarding what comes out first and what comes out last.

In that respect, there is an order to the madness; upon first glance, each time the official lineup per phase is made public, it can be a bit overwhelming and quite shocking, for lack of a better word, especially considering that they can manage to release them all as scheduled throughout a couple of years. Of course, more importantly, I refer to the combination of exclusive streaming programs and full-length movies.

Lately, however, sadly, almost all their newest content choices seem more like “losers” than winners because the truth is clear as day: they are running out of comic book characters to adapt and bring to life, and that is a growing concern, naturally, not only for all kinds of fans but also for investors and stakeholders in the corporate structure of Marvel Studios. While Kevin Feige may be the president, many people depend on his leadership to ensure that Marvel Studios remains not only afloat but also profitable for many more years to come.

They still have a lot of believers because there were many years when it was common for a movie they released to cross over a billion dollars in total box office revenue due to ticket sales. But nowadays, this has become increasingly rare, except for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ which reminded everyone, including detractors, bashers, and haters, that with the right kind of comic book-based properties, they can be extremely profitable. And that is only possible if they do justice to their movies and fulfill the long-held wishes of devoted fans with these Marvel comic book characters, leading to global record-breaking returns, which is, of course, what they always aspire to achieve.

Truth be told, the position they are in now is very different compared to, let’s say, 2012. And then in 2019, those were key years because what came before that, in between, and after are three glaringly different results beginning post-2019. Pre-2012, they were established as the MCU. Anything that transpired up to 2019 was practically a win. Now, where we are feels like they are running on fumes, relying on bottom-of-the-barrel properties and recycling their older actors to keep portraying their most popular comic book counterparts.

It does not feel the same at all because the times have changed, the people have changed, and the landscape of cinemas has also changed. Unfortunately, I believe they are trying to figure these things out, map things ahead of schedule, and move forward with whatever has worked thus far for them, which has become fewer in number. The problems they are experiencing now are not entirely because of them, per se, but more because of external factors that are noisy, annoying, and demoralizing. What am I talking about exactly?

I am talking about these shady people online, whether they are YouTubers, streamers, content creators, etc. They love to hate anything to do with Marvel; they want them to fail and do everything within their influence to ensure that moviegoers or fans in general do not feel any excitement to watch any of the upcoming movie releases. Why do they do that? Only they know. But I have ruled out morality because these are some of the most miserable, hateful, and First Amendment abusers in existence.

What surprises me is that if you analyze what the underlying message behind their content is based on, it is all about bashing, which, for me, immediately rules them out for any valid, credible, and believable opinion. To me, if you abuse “freedom of expression” and use that as a loophole to get away with all the bashing, then you throw in ridiculing, and lastly, personal insults they do, then that makes them not even human beings in my eyes because who in their right mind would want a movie studio that spends on average at least 200 million per movie to fail despite the studio giving them practically everything they want in terms of onscreen characters, plotlines, and so on?

I mean, these are the same idiots who predicted and insisted that “Deadpool & Wolverine” would flop and that the “Thunderbolts*” would not have lasted this long in cinemas. If you are as baffled as I am, then that is good; it means you are not as uninformed as they are. You are not as moronic as they are and do not belong in their same frame of mind.

Well, anyway, there’s no point at all in dwelling on the madness or stupidity of others, but understanding what is happening now in Marvel Studios is a matter of survival for them because the odds have been stacked against them, and without the fans (casual and longtime ones), comic book readers (young and old), collectors (beginners and veterans), and moviegoers (everyone), they would not last long. The grim reality is, when Marvel Studios fails, so goes the MCU.

Now, let me ask you, where do you stand with Marvel?