Marvel Risks Being Consumed By Disney’s Obsession With Nostalgia

The theme of last weekend’s D23 presentation was nostalgia. With a few exceptions, Walt DisneyDIS
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is now mostly about reminding you of stuff you previously loved (Inside Out and The Little Mermaid). It’s also about assuring specific demographics that the films and shows they grew up with (Willow, Enchanted, Hocus Pocus, etc.) are still the fairest of them all. Most of the nostalgia-skewing Star Wars shows now occur either between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope or right after Return of the Jedi. The once-dismissed prequel trilogy has become a prime focal point for Star Wars continuity. Disney isn’t remotely the only offender, as Top Gun: Maverick currently sits with $1.46 billion worldwide while Jurassic World Dominion inches closer to $1 billion. However, it’s even impacted the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed $1.91 billion worldwide, partially due to generational nostalgia from the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man trilogy and the Marc Webb-directed Amazing Spider-Man duology. The latter was considered enough of a whiff ($1.47 billion global but on a combined $490 million budget with mixed reviews and declining buzz) that Sony ended up sharing Peter Parker with Disney and Marvel. Of note, Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Films’ The Flash will highlight the return of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman 31 years after Batman Returns. The audience reception to Batman Returns was so divisive that Joel Schumacher replaced Tim Burton for a more kid-friendly Batman Forever. Nostalgia wasn’t enough to save Batgirl, which featured Keaton as Wayne and current generational nostalgia champion Brendan Fraser as Firefly, but I digress.

To the extent that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was an exception to the industry-wide rule, constantly introducing new heroes and villains, their big D23 presentation was primarily rooted in the familiar and the comforting over the unknown. The entire 2022 and 2023 theatrical line-up will be sequel-centric, with follow-ups to Doctor Strange, Thor, Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. The only ‘new’ movies on the horizon are redos of Blade and Fantastic Four, with all parties waiting with bated breath for X-Men and/or the inclusion of Doctor Doom. Covid delays notwithstanding, Shang-Chi was the only breakout newbie to get their own solo movie between 2019 (Captain Marvel) and, uh, at least early 2026 (after three complete phases and an entire Multiverse Saga).

Yes, Disney+ is introducing new heroes on the small screen. However, the next batch of new, young and more inclusive heroes are grafted onto existing superheroes. America Chavez was a MacGuffin in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Yelena Belova is Natasha Romanoffv’s adoptive sister. Stature and The Wasp are tied explicitly to Ant-Man. Ironheart is being set up as a new Iron Man-ish hero. Sam Wilson is ‘the next Captain America.’ Jessica Walters is Bruce Banner’s cousin. Kate Bishop is being positioned as a replacement for Clint Barton/Hawkeye. Meanwhile, while Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad had a mix of new and old villains from all across the DC universe, The Thunderbolts is mainly compromised of characters from Black Widow and the Captain America mythology.

In a vacuum, that makes sense. The Avengers was about bringing previously established heroes together. It also points to a pattern. Even Wakanda Forever will (presumably) partially be about who takes up the mantle of the Black Panther, although that gets a pass for obvious reasons. This is less ‘existential problem’ and more ‘something to consider.’ Feige and friends are at least attempting to make the next generation into fan favorites, an entire generation of (in Star Wars terms) Rey, Poe and Finn-like newbies who can (commercially) stand on their own with or without their (mostly) white guy elders. Nonetheless, Marvel has almost stopped doing what made them Hollywood’s most prominent brand: crafting stand-alone, singular origin story/introductory superhero movies featuring altogether new (to the MCU) characters.

Yes, Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel (featuring a protagonist who was herself a hardcore MCU fan) were Disney+ shows about new heroes. However, the news discussed on Saturday was about returning cast members (Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders in Secret Invasion), direct sequels (Captain America: New World Order and Daredevil: Born Again) and hybrid sequels like The Marvels team Carol Danvers with Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan and WandaVision’s Monica Rambeau. Save for new versions of familiar heroes like Blade, the Fantastic Four and (eventually) the X-Men, Shang-Chi could be the only successful newbie solo movie for nearly a decade. Let’s hope that Multiverse of Madness, where Stephen Strange hands the metaphorical knife to Ms. Chavez because he can’t save the day his way, will be a template as we advance.