‘Aquaman’ enters rough waters. Why superhero movies have had a no-good, very bad year

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” has yet to open, and the DC sequel could face potentially rough waters to rival its predecessor. Whatever the results for that film, however, nothing has been more jarring for major studios in 2023 than the no-good, very-bad year superhero movies have experienced, collectively underperforming in a manner as abrupt as Superman being confronted with a big chunk of Kryptonite.

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” has yet to open, and the DC sequel could face potentially rough waters to rival its predecessor. Whatever the results for that film, however, nothing has been more jarring for major studios in 2023 than the no-good, very-bad year superhero movies have experienced, collectively underperforming in a manner as abrupt as Superman being confronted with a large chunk of Kryptonite. In hindsight, the disappointing results for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” way back in February turned out to be the canary in the coalmine, representing an unexpected crack in Marvel’s armor. Since then, DC adaptations from Warner Bros. (like CNN, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery) “The Flash” and “Blue Beetle” fell far short of expectations, leaving behind more red ink than a red blur. The real shocker, though, came in November with the complete collapse of “The Marvels,” a sequel to the 2019 hit “Captain Marvel” that has generated a mere $84 million at the North American box office, less than a fifth of what its predecessor mustered, and the first Marvel title to fall short of $100 million in domestic release. For Marvel and DC, only the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie clearly bucked the trend, grossing nearly $850 million worldwide, with an honorable mention to the animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” What happened? As is so often the case with such developments, a combination of factors appear responsible, although the sudden nature of the way viewers stopped venturing to the multiplex mirrored the proverbial speeding locomotive. In addition, because these movies take a long time to make and can’t be produced (yet, anyway) on the cheap due to the reliance of digital effects, any attempted fix will take time and amounts to trying to redirect an ocean liner that’s already well out to sea. The coronavirus pandemic, obviously, made a percentage of movie-goers more reluctant to see films in theaters, and more accustomed to and comfortable with consuming them at home, never mind questions of spoilers or fear of missing out.