No one in the Chinese market watched Marvel blockbusters. They did not conform to the aesthetic and cultural values ​​of the Chinese people.

In February, Marvel's superhero movies "Black Panther 2" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness" were released in mainland China. However, the performance of the two movies was not satisfactory. "Black Panther 2" was criticized for its simple plot and boring scenes, with a Douban score of 5.1. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness" was not much better.

The Marvel Universe is currently divided into six different phases. Endgame brought the first three phases to a successful conclusion. In the fourth phase, all new films except Black Panther 2 were absent from the mainland market. Eternals was even called the worst Marvel movie, with a Douban score of 5.8 and a Rotten Tomatoes score below 60%, while Endgame and Iron Man 1 both had Rotten Tomatoes scores of 94%.

The decline of superhero movies is closely related to the fact that Disney (in 2015, Marvel was fully merged into Disney) only focused on developing IP and ignored characters and plots. After 2019, in order to make up for the losses of offline movies, Disney worked hard to expand the Marvel Universe and continuously launched new characters, trying to use new characters to attract money. In just two years, it launched seven movies.

However, due to the fast pace, there was no time to polish the characters and plots, resulting in the plots of several movies being fragmented and childish, and the characters not being as rich and colorful as before, and the audience can only be attracted by the accumulation of "easter eggs". One UP host said that the protagonists of today's "superhero" movies are more like a mold produced on an assembly line. They are tools to promote the plot and build the multiverse, but they do not have a real story core.

In the past three years, our movie-watching environment and mentality have changed a lot. People find it difficult to get together with their families and friends for various reasons. When watching movies, they no longer pursue big scenes and impact, but are attracted by the warmth in life. In this environment, the types of superheroes recognized by Chinese audiences are also changing. Marvel, under the banner of civilizational diversity and cultural integration, still exports American values, which is difficult for audiences outside North America to buy into.

The Spring Festival movie "The Wandering Earth 2" created our heroes. This is different from the personal hero stories of "Captain America" ​​and "Avengers", where one or a few people save the world. It is a grand narrative about tens of millions of ordinary people. China's soil culture is giving birth to its own superheroes, and they are by no means alone. And "The Wandering Earth 2" also proves that we have top special effects that are not inferior to the Hollywood film industry.

The rise of Chinese stories that are closer to Chinese aesthetic habits and cultural customs will undoubtedly have an impact on the "re-entry" of the Marvel Universe. The era of superheroes should be renewed.