Where Disney’s Hollywood Empire Went Wrong

These have been dark times for two of the brightest corners of the Magic Kingdom. Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm — respectively, the biggest blockbuster factory in the history of moviedom, and the powerhouse IP star chamber behind Star Wars — loom large as the twin Disney studio divisions behind so much of cinema’s most eye-popping sci-fi action but also as cinematic-universe builders. Each studio division has taken the process of sequelizing films further and broader than any of its competitors: Marvel with interlocking movie and TV plotlines and characters that jump between franchises in service of an overarching superhero metanarrative; Lucasfilm with a trio of Galaxy Far, Far Away trilogies begun in 1977 that remain unmatched in duration or cultural influence. All that to the tune of tens of billions of dollars in worldwide grosses and an iron grip on the fanboy imagination.

Until last weekend with the release of the 34th Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, Deadpool & Wolverine, however, Marvel had been on a creative and commercial cold streak. Films like 2021’s Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the franchise low-watermark The Marvels fizzled at the box office, disappointing MCU diehards while spurring discussion of superhero fatigue. And while Lucasfilm has marshaled most of its resources in recent years toward a crop of mostly forgettable Disney+ streaming series — with The Mandalorian standing as a rare, bona fide monocultural hit — the division has not released a movie in five years since 2019’s universally reviled Star Wars: Episode IV — The Rise of Skywalker.

On this week’s episode of Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma, we delve down into the corporate missteps that compelled the House of Mouse to prioritize business decisions over creative ones, damaging its “crown jewels of Hollywood IP” in the process. We talk to Shawn Levy, director of Deadpool & Wolverine who just might end up pulling double duty as both Marvel messiah and Jedi Jesus, now in active development on a new Star Wars movie. And we examine what it will take for Marvel and Lucasfilm to get out of their slumps.

Listen to episode-four below (or wherever you prefer tuning into podcasts). And if you missed the first three eps, you can subscribe to catch up. Upcoming episodes will focus on Disney’s monolithic CEO, Bob Iger — who, since 2005, has zipped around the entertainment-industry galaxy snapping up other other studios including Pixar and Fox like Infinity Stones — as well as Disney’s future prospects as a tech company piggybacking on its success in theme parks, terrestrial TV, consumer merch, and, of course, streaming and movies. But for now, strap in for a trip across Disney’s cinematic universe.

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