The Future of Movies Is Marvel
Minutes before the Marvel Studios team—headed by the company’s president, Kevin Feige—took the stage at San Diego’s Comic-Con on July 20, an official release went out to the press reaffirming its cultural dominance. Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of 22 movies over 11 years featuring Marvel superheroes, was officially going to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Its $2.79 billion gross has inched it past Avatar on the worldwide chart, unadjusted for inflation. As Feige prepared to announce Marvel’s slate over the next two years, which will include five films and five streaming TV shows, he was essentially laying claim to the company’s continued cultural ubiquity.
Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, the first project he announced—a gambit based on a lesser-known comic book without brand-name heroes, but with a title that almost sounds like a threat. For more than a decade, the Marvel movie universe has rolled out success after success, building to the record-breaking smash of . As Hollywood frets over a serious ticket-sales slump , three of 2019’s top-five movies . Will Feige’s moviemaking enterprise actually prove eternal?
