Kevin Feige Discusses How To Avoid Superhero Fatigue, Says Marvel Doesn’t Have A ‘Secret Formula’

With Marvel Studios dominating the box office in recent years, there has been talk among fans about superhero movie fatigue and when it might kick in. As Marvel prepares to launch Phase 5 with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum ManiaI think we’re looking at some superhero movie fatigue. I’m even starting to feel it myself!

President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige he recently sat down with The Movie Business Podcast for an interview and during the show, he explained how they’re trying to avoid superhero movie fatigue. He explained:

“[A] the way to do that is to adapt them to different genres and what kinds of movies we want to make. And me, sitting at USC […] and sitting in Cinema 101 and being exposed to so many different types of films that I said, ‘I want to do all of these.’ I don’t want to make just one type of film, I want to make all types of films.’ And I’ve found that if we tell the story right, and we tailor it so that audiences keep knocking on the wood, so far it’s following us over 22 years later, that we can tell any kind of movie that shares two things: the Marvel Studios logo above the title and a seed of an idea from our publishing history.”

Well, it certainly gives the right answer here! That’s exactly how you avoid it. Telling a great story is the most important thing. The problem is, Marvel has dropped the ball on those stories, and that’s why I’m starting to feel that tiredness. I’m starting to think Marvel has hit their pinnacle with great storytelling with the Infinity Saga.

Phase 4 felt like it was all over the place, but Phase 5 will hopefully wrap it up and get it back on track. We’ll just have to wait and see. Feige was also asked about Marvel’s “secret formula” for making movies, and he explains they don’t have one:

“The honest truth, which isn’t that exciting, but get the inside scoop on this podcast and I’m going to give it to you. There are no secrets. There are secrets in terms of story lines and spoilers and stuff like that, but what if there was a formula , because people have been asking for a long time, “What’s the formula?” and the truth is, there isn’t any.

“The secret that is shared between successful organizations, storytellers, and filmmakers is just an enormous amount of hard work, and the only thing that can fuel that hard work is passion. And thankfully that’s what we have at Marvel Studios.” plenty. I always say if we weren’t here making movies we’d be the first to buy tickets in advance, or I’d say wait in line around the block to go see them.”

That’s what passion and hard work are all about… those are great qualities to have, but those things don’t make a great film! Sure, it can help, but even bad movies have cast and crew who are passionate hard workers. The secret formula for any successful film and franchise is to bring in the kind of talent that can tell a great story.