A recent story in the magazine Variety reported that Disney is now actively looking for new IPs to attract men or boys. Why? They own what could arguably be the two biggest in history yet THOSE are no longer the moneymakers they once were.
Many things have hurt the male oriented brands of Marvel and Stars Wars that Disney now have in their mousey grip. Announcements of projects that have never happened. At least two trilogies and a Jabba the Hutt movie by Guillermo Del Toro have been stated as being made but never happened. What was the last update the public got about Daisy Ridle’s return as Rey Skywalker?
The MCU is not catering to the fans which made the movies possible. There’s a strong fanbase that wants Wesley Snipes as Blade (whose movies saved Marvel Comics at the time) for just one more go round yet a Blade movie has been stuck in development hell for quite some time as they try to come up with a take for Mahershala Ali to star in though nobody seems to be clamoring for that.
But all those are nothing in comparison to those connected to the House of Mouse pushing away if not openly disliking the very demographic that they have now realized they need to pursue by purchasing new IPs and that is the one of men and young boys. Kathleen Kennedy and Kevin Fiege under their respective leaderships with the seeming approval of the heads of Disney have done harm to the brands they helm that were once like printing money.
They made female characters strong by making the male characters weak or unnecessary to the story and drove away the male demographic. That’s not to say you can’t have strong female characters in Star Wars or Marvel, but they need to be strong and rival the males and not strong in comparison to the men. The male characters as often all too often these days are weaker and significantly less capable than their female counterparts. In Captain Marvel it felt like Nick Fury was a boob in comparison to the title character. I remember watching the Moon Knight series which I had waited 40+ years for since becoming a fan of the character and Moon Knight often took a backseat to the female Scarlet Scarab even though it was his show. Worse, the assorted aspects of the character couldn’t handle anything by themselves.
Star Wars and Marvel Comics both had a high number of men that contributed to them. Such was the nature of the comics and movie business in the era both were birthed. It gave them a distinctly male energy. George Lucas reportedly said that Star Wars was for 12-year-old boys. I would say the same goes for comic book movies like Marvel.
Disney decided to take two properties which appeal to men and young boys and in an effort to engage in diversity turned them away from their target audience as exemplified with slogans like “The Force is female”. The problem isn’t that they need new IPs. The problem at least in part is that they became hostile to the very demographics they are now searching out. They were told they weren’t needed or wanted. Their heroes were turned into said empty shells and husks of what they once were.
Heroes that could be looked up to and maybe even at times emulated were destroyed or just made to look terrible. They even gave up on life. Luke Skywalker who said he saw the good in his father even though dad caused the death of billions during his time as Darth Vader decided to kill his nephew because his nephew had a bad dream. Indiana Jones gave up on life and lived in a New York City apartment angry that his best days were behind him while wallowing in bitterness and self-pity.
These heroes were flawed and imperfect yet stepped up to the challenge but because they were perceived as not measuring up or there was a need for more female representation they were swapped out for what could be viewed as female power fantasies. The new heroes they decided to replace them with were perfect and merely had to decide to be awesome rather than overcoming a struggle of any kind. Helena Shaw way more capable than Indy. She ran circles around the man often. Rey weirdly declared herself part of the Skywalker family because.
When male fans complained about a change to a character or a character being replaced they embraced since their childhood (however long ago that might have been) they were called racists or misogynists or sexiest or any number of things. Their emotional investment which would guarantee the studio money was seen as a negative and not a positive.
Tell somebody they are the problem often enough and they will go away. That’s what happened here. Most people will not take that for very long if at all and go elsewhere where they feel welcomed. Star Wars fans stating their feelings on The Acolyte were told it was not for them then and to go away. They did making the series one of the first projects to be stated as cancelled by Disney.
An often unspoken truth is that men and women are different. Men are predisposed to like certain things and women are predisposed to like other things. There is crossover here and there. There are plenty of women who like good action movies are there plenty of men who like chick flicks. This crossing over occurs though when those properties are true to what they are and do not try to become something they never were. Barbie did banger numbers because it understood the assignment and remained true.
The lesson is don’t try to turn away from your fanbase and make yourself into something that you’re not. Be true to yourself and you will draw the core that has kept you going for years but others will see the movie and on some level get that it’s trying to not trying to be something it isn’t. Star Wars and Indiana Jones and so much of Marvel is trying to be something it isn’t these days. They put message overstory. You need a good story before you can get your message across. Andor for example
Star Wars shows haven’t exactly been doing banger numbers. Success is no longer a given from a property that was once all but capable of printing money. The Acolyte is perhaps the best known example of their poor storytelling and resulting poor reception. It did so poorly that they actually announced they were not making any more rather than let it quietly disappear.
The male demographic is drawn by a male energy for lack of a better word. Star Wars and Marvel Comics were that but people in positions of authority have decided to be almost antithetical to male energy. Characters get gender swapped for a lesser, known or original female versions. While there was a female version of the Silver Surfer in I believe just one story in Marvel that was the one they chose for The Fantastic Four: First Steps over the better known male version.
Disney was once viewed as exclusively a girl brand and that worked well for them. They had certainly skewed more to the young girl demographic to the point that they had to start things like Touchstone in order to release things that were definitely not for women. Nothing wrong with that. But they realized then to become bigger they needed to attract a male demographic and proceeded to buy two male skewed brands that they then proceeded to skew towards females.
The problem isn’t the IPs they currently have. The problem is their handling. Unless their culture changes, Disney can own everything and none of it will make money for very long.
Warren Watched A Movie 