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- Maybe Marvel should’ve never done TV.
Maybe Marvel should’ve never done TV.
(And no, superhero fatigue isn’t the problem.)
There was a time when Marvel shows felt like events.
Remember the time after WandaVision’s finale? The internet was filled with theories about Mephisto, alternate realities, and the multiverse. Loki’s first season sparked conversations about timelines, Kang, and the TVA’s role in the bigger MCU on all social media. These were cultural phenomena to say the least. They felt important. They shaped the Marvel universe, set up films, and gave fans something to speculate about every week.
Today most Marvel shows feel like a half-hearted attempt to wow the audience but end up disappointing them.
There are no heated Reddit threads and forget about giant YouTube breakdowns. We just see a couple of headlines on release day… then silence. The once-anticipated Marvel Disney+ lineup has turned into a background buzz, noticed by few, discussed by fewer.
What happened?
Let’s start with the numbers.
The fall in viewership is undeniable.
Take Secret Invasion. It had all the ingredients of a major hit, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury in the lead, the return of Skrulls, and the promise of a grounded political thriller. Its debut pulled decent attention, but the show quickly lost momentum. By the end of its run, its Nielsen streaming numbers added up to about 1.7 billion minutes watched across all episodes. Not disastrous, but far below expectations for a series positioned as “essential viewing.”
Compare that with Loki Season 1, which clocked in over 5 billion minutes viewed during its run. The follow-up, Loki Season 2, had a solid but smaller number: 3.4 billion minutes. That’s nearly a 32% drop, despite featuring the same lead character and building on a beloved narrative.
It gets worse with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Ms. Marvel. Both shows never even broke 400 million minutes during their premiere weeks, disappointing for entries that were supposed to introduce major new characters to the franchise.
Then came Echo.
Billed as the MCU’s first “TV-MA” entry and part of the gritty street-level storytelling, it had a unique opportunity to stand out. But its performance was abysmal, only 146 million minutes viewed per episode during its debut week, making it one of Marvel’s worst-performing live-action series ever. Even Agatha All Along, with built-in fan curiosity from WandaVision, struggled to gain traction, pulling in fewer premiere views than even Secret Invasion.
And the final nail? Daredevil: Born Again didn’t even crack Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming chart, a first for any live-action Marvel show. That’s a major collapse.
Clearly, this isn’t about one bad show. It’s a trend. And it’s not just about superhero fatigue.
So what really went wrong?
Let’s address the most common excuse: superhero fatigue.
It's true that audiences have been bombarded with capes and cowls for over a decade. But that alone doesn't explain the dip. After all, people still show up for superhero movies, when they’re done right.
Look at Spider-Man: No Way Home. It grossed $1.9 billion globally and was one of the most talked-about films in recent years. Across the Spider-Verse didn’t just win praise, it became a touchstone for animation, storytelling, and representation. Even in 2024, Deadpool & Wolverine became one of the biggest box-office hits of the year.
The problem isn’t the genre.
The problem is execution.
Marvel’s TV outings often feel rushed, messy, or half-baked. There’s no consistent tone. Shows promise huge consequences but end with safe, underwhelming finales. Characters are introduced and forgotten. Arcs start and stall. And most damning of all, there’s little connection to the rest of the universe.
When WandaVision ended, we were told it would directly lead into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Did it? Barely.
When Moon Knight dropped, it was hailed as a standalone epic, but now it feels stranded with no clear path forward.
The shows made promises, then forgot about them.
Marvel started treating TV like filler. And the audience noticed.
Back in the Infinity Saga, each installment, whether film or post-credit scene, felt like a building block toward something greater. You had to watch, or you'd fall behind.
But Phase 4 and beyond has felt like a scattershot mess. Shows pop up with no clear purpose. Some are glorified character intros (Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye), others are tonal experiments (She-Hulk, What If...?), and a few are simply spinning wheels with no destination (Secret Invasion).
Fans stopped caring because the shows stopped mattering.
If you can skip five or six series and still understand the next Avengers film… what’s the point?
Oversaturation killed the magic.
Let’s not ignore the pace either.
In just three years, Marvel released over 15 different shows on Disney+, spanning live-action and animation. That’s on top of the films. No matter how loyal a fan you are, that’s a huge amount of content to keep up with, especially when the payoff isn’t worth the hours spent.
This kind of release schedule didn’t give writers or directors time to craft tight stories. And it certainly didn’t give fans time to breathe between projects. The result was burnout. It did not come from many superheroes, but from too many half-baked ones.
Audiences aren’t asking for less Marvel. They’re asking for better Marvel.
So where does Marvel go from here?
The solution isn’t rocket science.
Slow down.
Not every character needs a solo show. Not every arc deserves six episodes. Tell fewer stories, but tell them well.Make shows essential again.
Tie them meaningfully to the films. Not with a single Easter egg, but with real stakes and consequences.Bring back vision.
The Infinity Saga had Kevin Feige steering the ship with a clear destination in mind. Lately, it feels like everyone’s rowing in different directions.Stop chasing algorithms.
Many shows feel like they were greenlit because someone somewhere needed “X hours of Marvel content per quarter.” That’s not storytelling. That’s scheduling and it does not work for a long time.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s time to experiment with new universes.
Marvel isn’t the only game in town anymore.
In a world where The Boys, Invincible, Peacemaker, and even Gen V are grabbing both headlines and critical acclaim, Marvel's brand dominance is no longer guaranteed. These shows thrive by doing something Marvel hasn’t done in a while: surprise us.
Marvel’s formula isn’t dead, but it’s tired. And audiences are looking elsewhere for fresh, bold storytelling. It doesn’t help that newer franchises are willing to take risks Marvel won’t, leaning into satire, violence, or uncomfortable truths that push the genre forward.
In the end, maybe Marvel shouldn’t have done TV. Or at least not like this.
What started with promise, deep character arcs, longer-form storytelling, and space to breathe, ended up bloated and burdened. It lost the urgency. It lost the magic. And in doing so, it lost the audience.
But the door isn’t closed forever.
Marvel is still one of the most powerful storytelling engines on the planet. But to earn back trust, they’ll need to prove that their shows matter again, not just as content but as experiences.
And maybe, just maybe, the next great superhero story won’t come from Marvel at all.
At this point, most fans would welcome that.
Until next time,
Vipul Agarwal | Leeds1888
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