By Aidan O’Connor | Radio Broadcaster
Over the last two decades, Disney has overseen some of the biggest franchises in the movie industry and proceeded to run them into the ground. Whether it be Marvel or “Pirates of the Caribbean,” every franchise has suffered, and if something doesn’t change soon, the future of these properties looks bleak.
There should be two key changes in how these franchises are operated: at the creative level and in the caliber of the storylines. The issues stem from a decline in storytelling quality or from franchise oversaturation, leading to fatigue.
The best example of decline in quality is the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. While these movies aren’t meant to be complex art, they came out of the gate strong with the first film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” receiving a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. That was the apex, though, after the first movie, the franchise steadily declined in critical reception until it hit rock bottom with the fifth entry of the series “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” receiving only 30% positive critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
While the box office remained strong for these movies despite their storytelling flaws, the plots failed due to a priority of quantity over quality. Knowing the franchise was profitable, Disney sat back and found itself in a state where, rather than innovate, it remained formulaic for the sake of profit, tarnishing the critical reputation of later movies and, by extension, the series as a whole.
Even though Marvel has experienced issues similar to those of other film companies, such as declining audience reception for long-running projects, the main concern is the fatigue felt by fans due to oversaturation. Ever since “Avengers: Endgame,” there has been a mass influx of Marvel TV shows and movies, which have caused frustration among audiences. It doesn’t matter whether the story is good or not; people can only handle so much of one thing at a time.
Superhero movies, especially those from Marvel, were once a guaranteed box office hit and a cultural phenomenon, but now Marvel movies are struggling to find success. For example, “The Marvels” lost an estimated $237 million at the box office despite positive reviews.
Disney must change how it handles franchises moving forward by prioritizing quality over quantity. The lack of high-level storytelling is lazy, and while sequels like “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” generate revenue, they tarnish the rest of the series.
These issues, if not addressed now by Disney, will continue to infect every franchise under its leadership until the only things left are memories of what they used to be before Disney ruined them.
