San Diego Comic-Con crowds made clear this year that comic book and space-opera franchises face a more skeptical audience than in years past — though the picture is more mixed than uniformly bad, especially for Marvel.
Fans interviewed by Variety at the convention described a post-“Endgame” era in which Marvel is struggling with relative box office duds, while DC saw “Supergirl” underperform in June after last year’s successful “Superman” launch, and “Star Wars” returned to theaters after a six-year hiatus only to a lukewarm reception.
“I think the new ’Supergirl’ sucks,” one DC fan, a 39-year-old Oklahoma City native named John, said bluntly, adding that the studio has tried too hard to imitate Marvel instead of forging its own identity.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” opens this weekend tracking for one of the five biggest domestic debuts of all time, with independent forecasters projecting $250 million to $300 million domestically and a global opening as high as $465 million, according to Gold Derby, which noted the film is “certified fresh” with a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
DC’s numbers tell part of the story. “Supergirl” opened to $38 million domestically against a reported $170 million budget and earned a B- CinemaScore. Demographically, 59% of the opening weekend audience was male and 65% was over the age of 25 — TheWrap characterized this as the film having “completely whiffed on drawing in its target audience,” given “Supergirl” was built around 26-year-old star Milly Alcock to draw young women. Some Comic-Con attendees weren’t ready to give up on studio co-chief James Gunn’s vision, however. One fan said he’d been skeptical when Mr. Gunn took over but came away impressed after seeing “Superman” for himself.
“Star Wars” fared little better commercially. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” opened to a franchise-low $81 million domestically in May and is on track to finish with a worldwide gross of roughly $345 million — short of “Solo: A Star Wars Story’s” $392.9 million and the lowest total for a live-action Disney-era entry, according to a ScreenRant report tracking the film’s box office performance. Comic-Con fans pointed to Disney+ oversaturation as part of the problem; one attendee argued the franchise needs a “methodical, theatrical-minded approach” rather than treating movies like extended streaming episodes.
Kevin Feige’s Saturday Hall H panel unveiled Ryan Gosling as the new Ghost Rider, a reveal that gathered massive applause in Hall H and positive chatter on social media, and confirmed David Jonsson would join “Black Panther 3” as T’Challa’s son alongside returning director Ryan Coogler — the announcement that elicited the most positive reaction from the audience that night, according to TheWrap. But skepticism lingered about the franchise’s television-heavy strategy.
“The oversaturation of Marvel TV shows, too much IP everywhere for Marvel… it’s just too much,” one 21-year-old attendee told TheWrap.
An industry insider was blunter still, telling the outlet the MCU “no longer commands the cultural dominance it enjoyed for over a decade.”
“Avengers: Doomsday,” Marvel’s December crossover event uniting X-Men and Avengers characters, is widely seen as the next test of that thesis. Some Comic-Con fans voiced frustration that the ensemble cast skews heavily male, while others worried the film is leaning on recognizable stars rather than a cohesive plan.
Through it all, one Comic-Con veteran captured the mixed mood best.
“That’s pretty good. They did put on a show,” said Ruby, a San Francisco construction worker, of Marvel’s panel — before adding the line that doubles as a verdict on the industry’s broader credibility problem: “I’m still waiting for ’Blade.’”
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
