Plenty of theories have been bandied around as to why Secret Invasion hasn’t been the all-conquering success the Marvel Cinematic Universe hoped and dreamed it would be, but it doesn’t really matter when the cold, hard truth is that it hasn’t been a hit by any quantifiable metrics.
The viewership numbers have been lagging behind almost all of the franchise’s Disney Plus exclusives, a current Rotten Tomatoes rating of 61 percent makes it one of the worst-reviewed film or television projects Kevin Feige’s outfit has ever lent its name to, and there just doesn’t seem to be much in the way of positive buzz whatsoever.
And yet, it turns out that Secret Invasion is one of the most expensive MCU titles there’s ever been, with Disney revealing (per Forbes) that it cost a whopping $212 million to produce. For comparison, that’s more than 22 of the 32 features to have been released to date, so the list of things more expensive that Nick Fury’s solo series is a lot shorter than the ones to have come cheaper.
The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Infinity War, Endgame, Eternals, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are the only movies to have set the studio back more in budgetary terms than a TV show, which is ludicrous.
Not only that, but it’s not even a successful TV show, which makes it all the more concerning when Marvel is burning so much cash on something so uninspiring.