‘Avengers’ Directors Dismiss Notion of Superhero Fatigue: “The New Generation Are ‘I Want It Now, I Want to Process It Now’”

According to many MCU fans, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ was the last great movie in the series before things started going downhill. After its release, the studio faced both critical and commercial failures, leading some to blame superhero fatigue.

This idea makes sense because there were already so many superhero movies from both the MCU and DCEU, but they weren’t improving in quality.

In the past year, both the MCU and DCEU suffered major failures, with many of their movies barely making a profit. ‘The Marvels’ was particularly disappointing, marking the lowest box office performance for an MCU film yet and failing to reach the $100 million mark domestically for the first time.

In an interview with GamesRadar, the Russo brothers, known for their remarkable superhero films, shared their thoughts on superhero fatigue, expressing their belief that it’s not a real phenomenon. They argue that it’s more about how younger generations consume media.

There’s a big generational divide about how you consume media. here’s a generation that’s used to appointment viewing and going to a theater on a certain date to see something, but it’s aging out. Meanwhile, the new generation are ‘I want it now, I want to process it now’, then moving onto the next thing, which they process whilst doing two other things at the same time. You know, it’s a very different moment in time than it’s ever been. And so I think everyone, including Marvel, is experiencing the same thing, this transition. And I think that really is probably what’s at play more than anything else.

Regardless of age, you’ve likely observed that modern media often prioritizes shock value and immediacy. With attention spans dwindling, our capacity to digest information beyond a few words diminishes. If you find yourself merely skimming headlines without delving into the content, it may seem efficient, but it ultimately hampers your ability to fully comprehend the material.

But that’s a topic for another discussion. Right now, let’s focus on superhero movies. Regardless of personal opinion, the Russo brothers’ insight is accurate, and cinema must adapt, much like other media forms. Joe Russo pointed out the communication habits of today’s moviegoers, emphasizing their preference for short, easy-to-consume content like memes, headlines, and social media videos. He highlighted the short attention spans prevalent today, with many people skimming content and rarely engaging with anything longer than a couple of sentences or 100 characters.

I think that the two-hour format, the structure that goes into making a movie, it’s over a century old now and everything always transitions. So, there is something happening again and that form is repetitive. But it’s hard to reinvent that form and I think this next generation is looking for ways to tell their own stories that service their own sort of collective ADHD.

I, for one, can’t accept that people are tired of superheroes altogether. Rather, it seems they’re weary of how these stories are presented. The prevalent complaint is about the declining quality of storytelling: many find them lacking in depth, originality, and sincerity, often driven by a particular agenda. People are gradually becoming more aware of this, and the days of formulaic, mass-produced content may be numbered.

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