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Did Disney actually kill the MCU? DC Universe architect James Gunn clarifies his thoughts on the current state of Marvel Studios after a recent comment went viral.
It’s no secret that Marvel Studios has become public enemy number #1 over the past few years. From controversial projects, putting out the highest grossing film of all time, and losing James Gunn to the DC Universe, the franchise has been suffering blow after blow as the culture turns counter to what was once so beloved. This means everyone and their mother has been putting out their own commentary about what “killed” the MCU.
This includes James Gunm, who recently spoke with the Rolling Stone to help promote the DC Universe’s freshman outing: Superman. During the chat, the former MCU director remarked that the massive push for streaming at the turn of the decade killed Marvel Studios. These comments quickly went viral, being spread all across the internet for people on all sides to use as “proof” of their personal beliefs about the industry.
“[Marvel executive producer] Louis [D’Esposito] said [they put out too much stuff] privately to me. I don’t even know if it’s really their fault. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. And it killed them. We have to treat every project as if we’re lucky. We don’t have the mandate to have a certain amount of movies and TV shows every year.”
“So we’re going to put out everything that we think is of the highest quality. We’re obviously going to do some good things and some not-so-good things, but hopefully on average everything will be as high-quality as possible.”
Did Streaming Kill The MCU?
Of course, given how he’s acted with the DC Universe thus far, James Gunn didn’t let internet misconceptions stand for long. The director took to Threads to clarify his viral comments about the current state of Marvel Studios. Gunn reiterated that the MCU isn’t literally dead, but rather the massive uptick in output due to the streaming gold rush hurt the franchise more than it helped.
“To be clear – & as IS clear in the context of the interview- I didn’t say ‘it killed them’ like they’re over but they were screwed by the situation they had no control over. They’re on the other side of that now, which is good.”
“The sacrifice-everything-for-streaming craze killed many good things by forcing a demand for “content” that couldn’t possibly be met, putting movies on TV before they had a proper theatrical run & much more. The insanity has died down & balanced out everywhere. Thank God.”
While it’s certain that there are still some fans out there who think James Gunn has declared the MCU is over just in time for the DC Universe to rise, it seems as though there are now more nuanced discussions going on about the negative impacts of streaming on the industry. And while the industry is certainly far from healthy, it seems as though Marvel Studios is at least going to be sticking around for a few more years.
Superman is currently scheduled to hit theaters on July 11, 2025. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the DC Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
