Avengers: Endgame directors slam notion of “superhero fatigue”

Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo recently refuted the notion of “superhero fatigue” and its impact on Marvel.

The Russo brothers arguably made some of the best MCU movies of all, but since Avengers: Endgame, audiences’ interest in superhero movies has experienced a noticeable decline. However, the brothers do not believe the dip has anything to do with the idea of “superhero fatigue.”

Audiences have coined the concept of “superhero fatigue” as the reason they don’t want to sit through another DC or Marvel movie, as both brands have consistently pumped over projects since 2008.

However, the Russo brothers do not believe in this idea at all. They recently explained that the concept is not just a superhero-related issue—it’s something Hollywood as a whole is experiencing.

“I think it’s fatigue in general. The superhero fatigue question was around long before the work we were doing,” Anthony Russo told Games Radar.

“So, it’s sort of an eternal complaint, like we always used to cite this back in our early days with superhero work. People used to complain about westerns in the same way but they lasted for decades and decades and decades. They were continually reinvented and brought to new heights as they went on.”

Joe Russo actually had another explanation for why movies like The Marvels suffered terrible audience scores, and it has to do with how people are currently consuming media.

“There’s a big generational divide about how you consume media,” Russo explained.

“There’s a generation that’s used to appointment viewing and going to a theater on a certain date to see something, but it’s ageing 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.”

He continued, “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.”

While the idea of how people prefer to consume content is an interesting point to explore, many Marvel fans have cited the studio’s lack of exciting ideas and breaks between projects as a reason why they’ve turned away from the MCU.

However, things may be on the mend for the superhero genre as audiences are excited to see how Deadpool & Wolverine will revamp the universe with its abundance of Easter eggs. And Marvel Studios has a ton of upcoming movies and shows people have been waiting years for.

If you want to know more about Marvel’s future, you can check out our guide to The Fantastic Four, keep updated on all things Thunderbolts, and read about the new Spider-Man 4 news.