The single biggest, most popular, and highest-grossing film and television franchise in the history of the industry has been accused of falling on hard times ever since the Multiverse Saga started, and it’s hard to argue after the Secret Invasion finale.
The final stand for Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the face of a Skrull infiltration isn’t just the worst-rated TV series in MCU history and one of its lowest-reviewed projects ever on Rotten Tomatoes, but the finale immediately snagged the unwanted distinction of being its most widely-panned piece of content ever.
As if things couldn’t possibly get any worse, Secret Invasion‘s sixth installment has dropped so drastically on the aggregation site that it’s tied with Halle Berry’s Catwoman and Helen Slater’s Supergirl as the second worst-reviewed comic book adaptation there’s ever been, with only Son of the Mask underneath.
To put that into perspective, the 2005 sequel to the 1994 Jim Carrey classic earned less than $60 million at the box office on an estimated budget of $100 million, secured eight Razzie nominations, “won” five trophies at the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, and is a regular fixture on almost every list that tries to designate the feature films so irredeemably they can be named among the worst that have ever existed since the advent of the moving image.
And yet, a $212 million Marvel Studios show packed full of major stars, Academy Award winners, seasoned professionals, and deep ties to a canon that’s hauled in tens of billions is on the very cusp of being deemed just as bad. If that isn’t a damning indictment, then nothing is.
