After the three-year "cooling-off period", do Chinese audiences no longer love Marvel?

For super commercial blockbusters, audiences demand more than just "qualified".

Last month, Marvel Studios' official Weibo announced that two new films "Black Panther 2" and "Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantum Frenzia" (hereinafter referred to as "Ant-Man 3") were finalized in Chinese mainland. The news instantly exploded and ranked first in the hot search.

At this time, three and a half years have passed since the last introduced Marvel movie "Spider-Man: Far From Home", and the significance of "breaking the ice" is extraordinary.

However, the popularity on social networks did not translate into real money at the box office. After this weekend, the box office of "Black Panther 2", which was released for 13 days, barely exceeded 100 million, and the gas will run out; "Ant-Man 3" has a box office of more than 100 million yuan in three days, and the final box office is expected to be nearly 300 million yuan, which is also lower than the previous industry expectations. Recalling the national frenzy during the "Avengers 4" period, the gap is embarrassing.

As of press time, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania" and "Black Panther 2" have a real-time box office. Screenshot from Lighthouse Pro

What's the problem? Is it that Marvel's heroes are no longer attractive, and Marvel's movies are out of the "law of true fragrance"? Is it that domestic audiences have begun to lose interest in Marvel and even various Hollywood popcorn blockbusters?

In the opinion of the senior Marvel blogger @ Fall in the Marvel Pit that after a three-year breakup "cooling-off period", domestic Marvel fans have indeed lost a lot, but he is not without confidence in the future development of Marvel.

Break the ice

In November 2022, Disney's board of directors announced the replacement of CEO Bob Chapek and the recall of Robert Iger, who was a veteran of Disney for 47 years and is now in his 70s, which is considered to be Disney's decision to stop losses in time and save the decline in performance. From 2005 to 2020, it was during Robert Iger as CEO that Disney completed the acquisition of Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios, which soared Disney's market value from $48 billion to $200 billion, and Iger can be said to be the behind-the-scenes hero who pushed Disney to the superhero overlord and the number one player in the movie market.

Robert Iger was also very optimistic about the Chinese market, believing that Shanghai is one of the most dynamic cities in the world, which led the establishment of Shanghai Disneyland. During the Iger era, Disney and China had a fairly long "honeymoon period."

After the start of the pandemic, Disney encountered major challenges, with park revenue taking a heavy hit and streaming subscription growth falling into a period of weakness. According to the first quarter of 2023 financial report, Disney's revenue was $23.5 billion, up from last year and analysts' expectations, but the stock price is still at the "waist cut" level compared with the 2021 high. Recently, Disney announced that it would cut 7,000 jobs to cut costs by $5.5 billion. In foreign media reports, many Hollywood executives have expressed hope that Iger can repair relations with China so that more Hollywood blockbusters can be released in Chinese theaters.

Disney needs to put out fires and generate revenue. On the other hand, the Chinese film market, which has just been unblocked, also needs to be opened up and needs a strong shot.

"Avatar" caused a sensation in China more than a decade ago, and it is fitting that its sequel, "Avatar: The Way of Water", will rekindle the post-pandemic film market. With the "change of coach" of China's film authorities, Disney and China have each exchanged old acquaintances, and the theme of the two new Marvel films is also relatively public, and there is basically no risk of public opinion controversy, which makes it possible to continue the frontier with Marvel.

As expected, soon "Black Panther 2" and "Ant-Man 3" were officially announced at the same time. At this time, "Black Panther 2" has been launched on streaming media (the launch time has been postponed, and it is speculated whether to wait for the release in China), which has limited traction for theatrical ends, and its release is more like some kind of "buy one get one free" packaging behavior. "Ant-Man 3" is more significant, not only means that Marvel and the Chinese market officially break the ice, but also re-realize the simultaneous release of Hollywood blockbusters in China and the United States, and the publicity window set a month in advance has also returned to the pre-epidemic state.

The two movies were finalized at the same time, "Marvel" instantly ranked first in the hot search, and the topic square was brushed by the amazement of fans and passers-by. Although the two films are not so important in the MCU, die-hard fans have shown a high level of enthusiasm for Marvel's return.

"Although it has been launched in overseas streaming media in advance, I have been waiting until February 7, the day of the mainland release, to watch "Black Panther 2" in the cinema, so as to welcome Marvel's return to the mainland big screen in the best way to watch movies. I watched "Ant-Man 3" at the Chinese premiere, and I went to the theater again on the first day of release.

What made me most memorable was that the attendance of "Black Panther 2" on the day of its release was not high, and the end credits were lit up as soon as they came out of the screening hall. However, almost everyone waits until the film is completely over before leaving, which makes people feel a little ritual sense of Marvel fans, whether for Easter eggs or for other reasons. Veteran Marvel blogger @Fall in the Marvel Pit told Entertainment Studios.

Like "Ah Keng", many fans are trying to regain their former happiness through "Ant-Man 3". Fan Luca said that the last time he went to the cinema to see the zero point field was five years ago, "Although I don't have high expectations for "Ant-Man 3", I also know that staying up late for more than three hours and paying a high parking fee is not worth it. But apart from Marvel, I can't think of any other movie that will make me feel this carnival atmosphere again. I miss the ritual sense of brushing the zero point field together with a few good friends in the past, and now everyone doesn't like to watch movies very much. ”

On Weibo, Akeng will update Marvel fan charters across the country from time to time. Some theaters and fan groups also planned a nearly five-hour marathon screening of "Black Panther 2" + "Ant-Man 3", presented posters, lottery interactions, and witnessed the official handover of the fourth and fifth phases of Marvel.

For example, the Phantom Red Subtitle Group, which is famous for dubbing Marvel dramas, jointly held a screening event with fan groups in Beijing and Shenzhen, and the independent organizer of Nanjing's private viewing @Dousen was really cute and played a "warm celebration of Marvel's return to the mainland after 1320 days!" "Fans charter the movie for non-commercial activities, so pay more attention to the movie-watching atmosphere experience, welcome screams, applause and cheers!" According to the convention, there are also material exchange sessions spontaneously formed by moviegoers" and other fan slogans, relaying the flame of Marvel in the hearts of fans.

A Marvel charter event organized by Wanda Studios in a certain place

cooling

However, the heat after breaking the ice did not last long. On the second day of its release, "Ant-Man 3" still had the advantage in arrangement, and the box office proportion fell from more than 41% on the first day to 30%. In contrast, "The Wandering Earth 2" and "Manjiang Red", which have been released for a month, can still play.

The market expectations of several box office forecasting agencies before the screening for "Ant-Man 3" are similar to those of "Ant-Man 1" in 2015 (670 million yuan), but from the current box office performance, the box office of "Ant-Man 3" in Chinese mainland may not eventually exceed 300 million yuan.

"Considering the release schedule, film quality, brand influence and other comprehensive factors, the box office performance of the two new Marvel films in the mainland is not very good, which is also expected. After all, the enthusiasm of fans is not what it used to be, and the three-year 'cooling-off period' has lost a large number of active fans, and even core fans can feel that the excitement is not as good as before. @掉在漫威坑里 said.

In the memory of Entertainment Studio, the pomp and circumstance of the zero point field of "Avengers 4" in 2019 is still vividly remembered. At that time, Marvel fans across the country were counting down in excitement and apprehension to wait for the arrival of the zero point field, and they would become the first people in the world to learn the final ending of the original Avengers Six, and they could no longer be bothered by the slightest spoiler, and some companies even informed that if the ending was too tragic, employees could not come to work the next day.

All Marvel-related merchandise, co-branded merchandise, restaurants and hotels near the theater have been swept away by fans. At that time, the Avengers Zero Point Field was also called a "dance of demons", and many people dressed up as various heroes came to the cinema, all of them were enthusiastic "social cows". When the screening ended, the first wave of audiences who walked out of the theater also showed all kinds of human beings, including many emotional collapses and cryers...

At that time, the seven main creators of "Avengers 4" parachuted into Shanghai, and the red carpet ticket was fried by scalpers to 10,000 yuan, director Russell said at the scene: "The first country where "Avengers 4" was released was China, and without Chinese fans, there would be no Marvel today. ”

Compared with the hot memories of those years, the Black Panther, who died in the previous work, and the Ant-Man, who has never been very popular, are indeed a little interesting. "Avengers 4" won 188 million yuan at the box office, breaking the box office record in Chinese film history and exceeding the total box office of the first weekend of "Ant-Man 3".

Of course, it's not fair to compare a solo movie with Avengers. But in the hearts of most people, any one of the original sixes is also the "white moonlight in the heart" that Ant-Man and others can never replace.

The cold of "Ant-Man 3" in the Chinese market, in addition to the limited commercial value of the IP itself and the reason why Marvel is in the stage of alternating new and old heroes and not connecting young and yellow, is also related to the mediocre and boring and conservative routine of this movie creation. On a domestic scoring platform, a short comment that was liked to the highest position was: "The screenwriter wrote the script in ChatGPT, right?" ”

"Ant-Man 3" is still about superheroes helping local indigenous leaders to resist dictatorship, and the film's portrayal of the protagonist and villain, and the description of the relationship between children and parents in the adolescent rebellious period are more conventional. In particular, Kang the Conqueror hung the audience's appetite too high in the early publicity, and the audience thought that he would be a villain who was stronger than Thanos, very innovative and creative, but found that his debut was just a war scumbag that could be killed by the ant army, which inevitably disappointed some people.

To say that the biggest highlight of this movie, one is the visual spectacle of the quantum field, with brilliant scenes like CG special effects explosions, strange cosmic creatures in the shadows of various sci-fi films such as "Star Wars", "Avatar", "Star Agent" and so on, and the other is the two Easter eggs at the end of the film, pointing out the direction of the story of the fifth phase of Marvel and the return of a popular character.

In North America and China, the reputation of "Ant-Man 3" is relatively average, and it is at the downstream level in the Marvel Universe.

The Rotten Tomatoes freshness index of all MCU film and television dramas so far, "Ant-Man 3" is only 48%, only slightly higher than "Eternals"

Another point that annoyed a small number of fans and audiences is the issue of the version of "Ant-Man 3" released in China. Previously, there were rumors on the Internet that "Ant-Man 2" was filmed in 2D and converted to 3D later, while only a 3D version was released in China, which was suspected of forcibly promoting "fake 3D" in order to sell more box office. After the release, it was confirmed to be a rumor, and many theaters with 2D versions can be found in China, but there are indeed some audiences who are dissuaded because they cannot find 2D films.

However, in the eyes of many Marvel fans, although "Ant-Man 3" is not very outstanding, it is definitely a qualified popcorn entertainment film.

"Personally, I think Ant-Man 3 is better than expected, and the overall look and feel is pleasant. This is obviously not a good work, and it is by no means a bad movie for nothing, it is more like a passed, long-lost Marvel popcorn cool movie. The story is complete, the rhythm is tight, the light and humorous, there are some warm moments, and the final Easter egg is even more surprising. I believe that most people will not expect to be moved or sad to cry in the "Ant-Man" movie, and everyone is not happy to watch the Ant-Man movie. Some viewers will think that the story of the film is old-fashioned and not new, but in terms of the entertainment function of the film continuing the series, it did. @掉在漫威坑里 said to Entertainment Studios.

Fan Luca also feels that now in some film critic circles in North America and on the domestic Internet, the crusade against Marvel movies has become a kind of "political correctness" that everyone else likes: "If you say that Marvel movies are good, others will think that your vision is not good and too vulgar." But do you say that other commercial films are really better than Marvel? I don't think so, Marvel is always above the standard, you don't have to worry about seeing a bad movie. Many memes in "Ant-Man 3", such as the Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and the return and changes of Darren, will make Marvel fans very moved, at least I am very satisfied. ”

Emojis from the web. Martin Scorsese once bombarded Marvel as not a movie, causing a lot of verbal wars

future

As a hero who has truly saved the world, Ant-Man's status in the MCU is being raised.

Kevin Feige once said that Ant-Man would be "the most underestimated hero." Marvel's arrangement of "Ant-Man 3" as the opening of the fifth phase must also have far-reaching considerations. In particular, Kang's official appearance will bring the story to a new chapter in the multiverse, and Scott Long's daughter Cathy Long is also expected to inherit her father's mantle, and a new generation of Avengers will gradually grow up.

Will the future Marvel be able to get out of the quagmire and regain its strength?

@掉在漫威坑里 believes that the future of Marvel is still full of expectations. Judging from some of Disney's actions after Iger took office, Marvel seriously summarized and reflected on some problems in the fourth phase and prepared for the fifth stage.

"If the fourth stage is to explore some of the problems left over from the post-extinction era of the 'Infinity Legend', then from the fifth stage, we must face the biggest threat of the 'Multiverse Legend' - Kang the Conqueror. This main line will continue into "Avengers 5: Kan's Dynasty" and culminate in "Avengers 6: Secret War". The future of the MCU has a lot to unlock, not only the new generation of Avengers, but also mutants, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, etc., which are very worth looking forward to.

I think the introduction of "Black Panther 2" is more significant than box office revenue; The simultaneous introduction of "Ant-Man 3" seems to have given fans the hope of Marvel's full return.

In addition, Marvel's recent announcement that it will suspend the pace of continued high production and focus more on improving the quality of each film and television work is also a positive sign. In any case, if Marvel wants to rebuild its brand appeal on the mainland, it will not only take time, but also need to operate harder. ”

Kang the Conqueror played Jonathan Meyers

Since 2008's "Iron Man", Marvel has created a global box office myth of $30 billion+ and Chinese mainland $20 billion+. But just like the situation faced by Scott Lang in "Ant-Man 3", glory belongs only to the past, and the future is still unknown.

Marvel once frantically increased production in the fourth stage, and the film dramas were parallel, trying to win in theaters and streaming media platforms with a quantitative advantage, at the cost of a visible decline in the quality and influence of the work. In particular, none of the fourth phase movies have been successfully introduced Chinese mainland, resulting in a serious loss of Marvel audiences in China.

The score distribution of Marvel's four-stage movies on a scoring platform in China, and the fourth stage is obviously crotch-pulling

The global box office champion in 2022 is "Avatar 2" and the runner-up is "Top Gun 2". Recently, "Mission Impossible 7" has begun internal trial screening, publicity and publicity, Tom's life-giving motorcycle leap has once again flooded social networks, and his personal gold-absorbing strength is not afraid of any super hero. As blogger @Cinema Movie Database believes, when the audience is tired of watching green screen superheroes, real-life hero movies will definitely get better market feedback.

Under this situation, Marvel cannot be without a sense of crisis. Iger has said that Disney will pay more attention to the quality and cost of IP content in the future, so the pace of Disney's new works may slow down significantly in the future.

Even Marvel has begun to talk about "improving quality and reducing quantity", which may be a good sign for the recovery of film creation in the post-epidemic era.

As Du Qifeng said two days ago, movies in the world are now poor - then Disney and Marvel, as commercial giants, naturally have certain leadership responsibilities. I hope that next time Marvel can rely on the quality of truly excellent works to win back the hearts of Chinese audiences. For super commercial blockbusters, audiences demand more than just "qualified".