Phase Four may have drawn to an end following the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but that hasn’t stopped fans from weighing up the pros and cons from what’s proven to comfortably the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s most divisive stage yet.
With new movies and Disney Plus shows arriving at regular intervals, there’s a real danger of over-saturation setting in, especially when the MCU is 30 feature films and almost 15 years deep. Sure enough, a new study conducted by Fandom has offered data that proves even the staunchest of superhero supporters are starting to grow weary.
The outlet polled 5000 entertainment and gaming enthusiasts between the ages of 13 and 54, as well as insights from its own 300 million monthly users split across 250,000 wikis. Just to add a little more nitty gritty to the findings, the findings were split into four subcategories to offer a wider spread of data.
The Advocates are the hardcore fans, The Intentionalists are influenced by marketing, creative talent, and IP, The Culturists are drawn in by buzz and hype, while The Flirts are the casuals who dip in and out on a project-by-project basis. As per Fandom, a worrying 36 percent of MCU fans are fatigued with the constant swarm of content, compared to 20 percent who stan DC.
Not only that, but Marvel mainstays are a whopping 84 percent more likely to grow weary with their franchise of choice’s overwhelming volume of film and TV titles than DC diehards, which tells its own story. Nothing lasts forever, but that doesn’t mean there might be an alarm bell or two ringing at HQ should even the most discerning customers begin to turn their backs on the MCU when it starts banging out new projects every 3-4 months.
