With the return of Bob Iger as CEO of Disney, we’ve started to see some major changes to the company, with a restructuring of its entertainment and distribution.  One big shift is that Disney is trying to make over $5 billion in cost cutting measure and following the issues with the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we are going to see a drastic slow down in the number of Disney+ series being released and more focus on quality.

During a recent Q&A session at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference,  Disney CEO Bob Iger explained what’s going on with Marvel right now

Marvel, there were there are 7,000 characters, there are a lot more stories to tell. I think what we have to look at Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel storytelling but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters. Do you need — sequels typically work well for us. Do you need a third and a fourth for instance, or is it time to turn to other characters. So, there’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we’re mining.   And if you look at the trajectory of Marvel over the next five years, you’ll see a lot of newness. Now, we’re going to turn back to the Avengers franchise but with a whole set of different Avengers as an example.

These comments from Bob Iger hint at a few different things, first off, in what might be a dig at the lackluster box office results for the third “Ant-Man” film, but more importantly, about introducing new characters (maybe hinting at X-Men, Fantastic Four, Blade etc, which are coming soon) plus indicating that the next wave of Avenger films will have a different team, which makes sense considering half the original team, Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow, aren’t active characters.

I always felt the Multiverse was a tricky overall theme for the general public to understand and with the huge wave of new Disney+ shows and new characters, plus films that haven’t quite hit the same level as previous phases, I’m not sure if new characters are exactly what is needed, fans have a connection with them, but with characters like Deadpool, Wolverine, Thing and Blade still due to be introduced to the MCU, there is plenty of options for Disney.  Also trimming down the number of series being released on Disney+ will save money, plus give them longer to do visual effects and improve them.

What do you think of Bob Iger’s plans for Marvel?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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