Avengers 4 director: There is no such thing as superhero fatigue

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) seems to have hit some rough patches recently. The latest film Captain Marvel 2 had the lowest box office performance in the series' history, and the TV series Secret Invasion released last year was also poorly received by critics and audiences, hitting new lows on both Rotten Tomatoes and Popcorn Index.

What’s causing this trend? Have audiences’ tastes changed? Has the quality of Marvel movies and TV series fallen to a new low? Is this related to Hollywood’s most popular keyword right now: “Superhero fatigue”?

Last week at the Sands International Film Festival in St. Andrews, Scotland, directors the Russo brothers were interviewed about their thoughts on the current state of the MCU, as it seems that the MCU has never been the same since they directed the climax of the series, Avengers 4: Endgame.

Joe Russo said that he believes that the problems Marvel is currently facing are all due to changes in audience tastes, and the reason behind this is the change in the way people consume media. The impact of this shift is not limited to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but other works in Hollywood have also been affected, as he emphasized: "I think it reflects the current state of everything. It's a challenging time, but it's also very interesting. I think we're in a transition period, and people are not sure how they will receive future stories, or what kind of stories they want."

"There's a huge generational divide in how media is consumed. You have a generation that's used to watching shows at set times and going to the theaters on set days, but that generation is aging. At the same time, you have a new generation that has an attitude of 'I want it now, I want it now, I want it now, and I want to move on to the next one,' and they're even consuming it while they're doing two other things at the same time. You know, it's very different than it's ever been. So I think everyone, including Marvel, is going through the same transition. I think that's more important than anything else."

Russell went on to point out that this isn't just a problem facing the film and television industry, but the world at large. "Globally, we've never collectively processed our conversations as quickly and closely as we do now. I think that's problematic, we're overprocessing information and we're no longer concerned with context. We communicate through memes and headlines, and no one reads more than two sentences, so everything has become 100 characters or less - or 10-second videos on social media that you can just swipe through. I think this two-hour format, the structure of making movies, has been around for over a century, and everything has been shifting. So, something's happening now, and it's become repetitive. But it's hard to reinvent that format, and I think a new generation is finding ways to tell their own stories that cater to their own collective attention deficit disorder."

The Russo brothers also agreed that they don't believe in the idea of ​​"superhero fatigue." Anthony Russo pointed out that even if there is a problem, it's nothing new to cinema. As he explained, "I think it's a universal fatigue. The issue of 'superhero fatigue' existed before we did this work. So, it's a timeless complaint, just like we used to mention it in the early days of doing superhero work. People used to complain about Westerns in the same way, but Westerns have lasted for decades. They're constantly being reinvented and pushed to new heights as they go along."

In addition to this, artificial intelligence is another issue that the industry is currently facing, with many questioning what role it will play in the future. For example, the horror movie "The Devil's Late Night Show" used AI to create some of the movie's images, which caused controversy. This is just one of the growing examples.

So what do the Russo brothers think of Hollywood's current use of AI? And how do they see it developing in the future? Joe Russo thinks it all depends on who is using it, as he explains: "We're always afraid of change, but we'll get through it eventually - you can't stop AI. It's already here, and it's happening in weeks, not months or years. We had a discussion about AI when we were at the festival last year, and there was some controversy, but there weren't any real stories about GPT and so on, and there wasn't Sora. So it's going to develop at an exponential rate."

“It’s critical that we get ahead of AI and not be afraid of it, but understand it and control it. Because if we lose control of the narrative, there will be companies that care less about the role of artists in the future of media than artists, and it’s up to artists to stand up and defend themselves. I think that’s the most important line to draw, and let’s let the humans who control these things move on.”

Anthony Russo echoed his brother, adding that he views AI in a similar way to other new technologies in the past. He concluded: "Our whole approach to it is - 'How can this be used as a creative tool?' Just like the iPhone is used as a creative tool. That was a brand new technology that allowed people to communicate in ways that they had never been able to before. Steven Soderbergh shot an entire movie with it [2018's Unsane]. It's the same with CG or Avid or anything else. So, that's where we intersect with AI."

The Russo brothers' opinions offer some potential explanations for the recent slump in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They believe that changes in audience tastes and shifts in media consumption are the main factors behind this phenomenon. In addition, they also say that the emergence of new technologies such as AI may also have a significant impact on the film and television industry.

It remains to be seen how the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will pan out. However, the comments from the Russo brothers suggest that the franchise may need to make some major adjustments to adapt to the changing audience and media landscape.