Iger Touts Marvel's Quality-First Strategy with Thunderbolts*

Disney CEO Bob Iger has acknowledged that Marvel Studios' prior strategy of producing a high volume of content, especially for Disney+, led to brand dilution and declining quality. Iger now highlights Thunderbolts* as the 'first and best example' of a renewed focus on quality, debuting at number one at the box office with strong critical acclaim. This change follows inconsistent results for Marvel, including critical and financial underperformance from films like The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Marvel is now consolidating its efforts to prioritize theatrical releases over numerous streaming series, aiming for fewer but higher-quality films. Thunderbolts* is positioned as the start of this new era, with upcoming projects such as The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Secret Wars expected to continue the quality-first approach. Iger describes the upcoming film slate as Marvel's strongest since 2019's Avengers: Endgame.