Bob Iger isn’t holding back, he believes Thunderbolts is the movie that’s about to drag the Marvel Cinematic Universe out of its recent slump.
The Disney CEO just called Thunderbolts the “first and best example” of Marvel’s new strategy, making it clear this isn’t just another superhero flick, it’s Marvel’s shot at redemption.
During a recent investor call, Iger reflected on the MCU’s downfall post-Endgame, admitting Disney pushed Marvel to crank out content for Disney+ at the cost of quality. “We turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel,” he said, but added that they learned the hard way that more isn’t always better. “Quantity does not necessarily beget quality.”
After years of mediocre releases and fan fatigue, Thunderbolts is supposed to be Marvel’s fresh start. And Iger sounds pretty damn confident about it. “We’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much. By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe that will result in better quality,” he said. For Iger, Thunderbolts is the new blueprint.
The film stars Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but it’s Pugh’s Yelena Belova who might just steal the show. She’s already become a fan-favorite after Black Widow, and Florence recently opened up about what makes her character work. She loves that Yelena is messy, emotional, and real. “It’s so important,” she said. “You’ve got to allow these characters to be human. You’ve got to allow them to feel.”
Pugh also pointed out that Yelena’s connection to Natasha Romanoff is still very much part of the character’s emotional core. Natasha, played by Scarlett Johansson, was Yelena’s big sister and role model. Florence said that without getting to explore that loss and vulnerability in Thunderbolts, “I would’ve been p***** off.”
Another key dynamic in the movie is the relationship between Yelena and David Harbour’s Red Guardian. According to Florence, their scenes together are built on real emotion and tension, and she’s proud that Thunderbolts doesn’t forget where these characters came from. “Even though we want to make a movie where people don’t have to see all the previous movies… we can’t let the audience think they’re stupid,” she said.
So, while Marvel might be trimming the fat and pulling back from the streaming overload, Thunderbolts is looking like the first real test of whether this new, quality-over-quantity strategy will work. Bob Iger is betting big on it, and so is the future of the MCU.
