Marvel Studios’ latest MCU flick The Marvels, starring Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani, has been making headlines as of late for being the lowest-earning movie of the franchise in regards to its box office opening.
However, the movie itself has still been fairly received by both critics and those who have actually watched it so far, with it also gaining a 7 here at Coveredgeekly as well as an 83% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes (as of November 19).
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Historically speaking, Marvel Studios has typically dominated the box office, and as for The Marvels’ box office numbers – horror legend Stephen King who’s known for classic stories such as It and The Shining has some thoughts as to why it performed less than usual.
Stephen King’s ‘The Marvels’ Theory
In a recent tweet made by the author, he theorised as to why The Marvels may be suffering at the worldwide box office – one of which being due to “adolescent fanboy hate”.
King also provided his thoughts on how he feels about people “gloating” over the movie’s “low box office” numbers.
“I don’t go to MCU movies, don’t care for them, but I find this barely masked gloating over the low box office for The Marvels very unpleasant,” the author wrote, “Why gloat over failure?” he asked.
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In a follow-up tweet, the author continued to add his theory as to why the movie performed lowly at the box office in the first place.
“Some of the rejection of The Marvels may be adolescent fanboy hate,” the author added.
He continues, “You know, ‘Yuck! GIRLS!”.
Directly calling out fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe who may not be as supportive toward its female characters as compared to its male characters, an issue that has become increasingly more apparent throughout the franchise’s history.
The movie primarily focuses on three MCU female superheroes, Captain Marvel played by Brie Larson, Monica Rambeau played by Teyonah Parris, and Ms. Marvel played by Iman Vellani.
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Larson previously starred in her own solo movie entitled Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, Parris in the MCU series WandaVision, and Vellani in her own titular series entitled Ms. Marvel.
Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel was also prone to online hate, even prior to the film’s theatrical release.
Although King may be on to something, it should also be noted that Disney and Marvel Studios have had their fair share of box office failures these past few years – relative to the earlier years of the MCU franchise.
With mature-rated MCU projects such as Daredevil: Born Again, Echo, and Deadpool 3 being in the MCU pipeline, it could mean that the studio may be heading toward a more R-rated/mature future for the franchise to keep the fans happy.
The Marvels is currently playing in theatres worldwide.
