Marvel Studios
Disney CEO Bob Iger has seemingly identified why there’s been such a positive reaction to the latest Marvel Studios film Thunderbolts*: they actually tried to make a good movie.
While that isn’t what Bob Iger literally said, it’s certainly the implication of his comments, as he acknowledged that Disney became too focused on volume rather than quality in recent years.
Speaking on an investor call earlier this week, Iger acknowledged that Marvel has been “focusing more” on their films and that Thunderbolts* is the first movie to come from that project — just a generally hilarious admission from Iger and a window into how genuinely short-sighted Hollywood can be at types.
“We’ve learned over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality. Frankly, 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 it will result in better quality. I think the first and best example of that is Thunderbolts*,” Iger said.
Iger’s comments are certainly apt, though, as they largely mirrored my initial thoughts when seeing the film, as I concluded my review by saying: “Simple, solid, relatively slop free superhero entertainment that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but simply takes the time to just make a good sturdy wheel — who knew?!?”
It’s taken a few years, but it seems the Mouse House might have finally remembered that, too.
Marvel Studios looks like it could be in a position to put up back-to-back major wins for a first time as a while, as its next film will be the highly-anticipated The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which releases in movie theaters in the United States on Friday, July 25, 2025.
You can check out the official trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps below.