What’s the Current State of Marvel and Star Wars?

Marvel fans are the new Star Wars fans. They’re just never happy about anything.

Yes, I know I just alienated two loudly opinionated groups with one sweeping indictment.

Y’all know it’s true, though. The most passionate fans of anything are often the most annoying.

So, let’s try to have a calm, reasonable evaluation of two incredibly incendiary topics.

What’s the current state of Marvel and Star Wars?

Let’s Start with Star Wars

In hindsight, I should have known something was wrong during the Super Bowl.

I thought, “Oh, that was a really clever Star Wars commercial!” And that’s always bad news.

There’s a running joke among my ‘ohana that whenever I praise Star Wars, the franchise is in a world of hurt.

Sure enough, this happened. Fans online absolutely crushed Disney for the commercial.

The tongue-in-cheek Western vibe mirrored classic Super Bowl ads for trucks.

Disney’s new ad guru, Asad Ayaz, took a big swing with his first attempt in his new gig.

Let’s just say that he came up empty, even though I admire the idea and liked the ad.

At this point, Star Wars fans enter Freakout Mode at the drop of a hat. So, Ayaz miscalculated.

He swung for the fences when he should have tried just to get on base in his first at-bat.

This is a learning moment for a very smart individual, but it speaks to the challenge of his new gig.

All Disney marketing falls on Ayaz’s desk now, and his initial Super Bowl ad bombed.

That’s not a great way for Disney to spend a few million dollars from its ad budget.

I’m focusing on the positive, though. What little we saw of the next Star Wars movie seemed delightful.

The Mandalorian & Grogu is selling a very simple product: Baby Yoda.

As long as director Jon Favreau gets that part right, fans should be delighted.

Star Wars in 2026

As things stand, Star Wars groupies are already feeling good in early 2026.

Kathleen Kennedy finally retired from the job, which is cause for celebration in many circles.

To her critics, Kennedy embodies the Disney era of Star Wars management.

Disney purchased Lucasfilm from creator George Lucas in 2012.

Since then, Disney has delivered an absolute blockbuster with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Alas, the eighth film in the franchise (and my favorite of the trilogy), Star Wars: The Last Jedi, alienated many.

Disney executives fall into that category, as they chased off Rian Johnson and brought back JJ Abrams.

That move proved fatal, as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker failed to appeal to either group.

After the failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, my favorite Star Wars film ever, Disney stopped making these films.

At that point, the company pivoted to Disney+ content, albeit to mixed results.

You won’t find a Star Wars fan who will speak ill of Andor, which is the high-water mark for the franchise.

Okay, it’s the best thing Star Wars has done since Empire Strikes Back. I think we can all agree to that.

Similarly, The Mandalorian proved such a huge hit that it’s getting a big-screen story.

I’d argue that The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka all performed as intended, too.

Alas, the same cannot be said of The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew, which both bombed.

Honestly, Ahsoka has proven divisive among fans, too. So, the Disney+ stories have been a mixed bag.

Before leaving, Kennedy suggested that several Star Wars movies are in pre-production/production.

For those to have a chance, The Mandalorian & Grogu needs to hit it big in theaters, though.

I expect that to happen, but I also liked the Super Bowl commercial.

Disney’s Marvel Problem

Star Wars had struggled for years before Disney pivoted to streaming service content.

Meanwhile, the company had planned to utilize a multi-platform approach with Marvel.

We all know how that went.

To be fair, the pandemic absolutely wrecked many of Disney’s plans and created other problems, too.

Marvel had hired several less experienced directors to create the next wave of stories.

Even Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao was only working on her fourth film with Eternals.

The combination of first-time tentpole directors and disruptive health issues on set proved nightmarish.

People involved with some of these shoots have confessed they didn’t know which actors would be cleared to film on some days.

Nobody can work effectively in such circumstances, and it’s a miracle those films are as good as they are.

The same cannot be said about several of the television series, especially Secret Invasion.

Simply stated, Disney threw money at the problem, figuring that would solve everything.

Fate wasn’t kind, either, as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s original plot hit too close to home in the pandemic.

The reshoots muddled the plot during the final few episodes, which brings up another point.

Marvel head Kevin Feige went from focusing on a couple of movies at a time to…this.

Suddenly, he had his fingers in far too many pies, which proved disastrous for Disney.

In the worst examples, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World weren’t up to snuff.

Had Feige hired someone to run the Disney+ side of the business, things may have been different.

We ended up with several Marvel shows of varying quality and some clunker movies.

Marvel Fluctuates Wildly

Heading into 2025, I stated Marvel’s plan for the MCU, most of which I found smart.

Everyone knew that Captain Marvel: Brave New World wasn’t very good. It was a sunk cost.

However, Marvel and Disney alike expressed confidence in the next two films.

Thunderbolts* was supposed to be the palate cleanser and hard reset for the MCU.

Then, The Fantastic Four: First Steps would remind people of how much they love Marvel.

Alas, those plans fell apart as the marketing team did too good a job with Brave New World.

A larger-than-expected number of fans checked it out on opening weekend.

Afterward, they went on social media and ranted that Deadpool & Wolverine had been an exception.

The MCU was still in dire straits, with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds only temporarily slowing its dissent.

Then, the big gamble on the twist in Thunderbolts* failed to pay dividends.

The New Avengers struggled mightily after its opening weekend, and Fantastic Four never had a chance.

While that film is technically Marvel’s most successful of the year, it’s still an underperformer.

On the television side, Marvel expressed complete confidence in Daredevil, as they should.

The show’s first season was a masterpiece, but fans paid it no mind.

Similarly, the oft-delayed Ironheart failed to strike a chord with viewers despite its interesting final twist.

Entering 2026, Marvel was in the downward spiral, but Wonder Man has changed that.

While the boon may prove temporary, fans have fallen in love with this series.

Sir Ben Kingsley has turned in the performance of his career…and he’s an Academy Award-winning actor!

Wonder Man is that good, and it’s given Marvel a sorely needed batch of positive headlines.

But We All Know the Deal

All these other MCU titles on Disney+ and in movie theaters are lesser ones, though.

The real prize is Avengers: Doomsday, which will debut in theaters this December.

That’s the prized Avatar part of the annual calendar, which sounds good in theory.

For no particular reason, I’ll now mention that Avatar: Fire and Ash has finished its theatrical run.

Avatar 3 earned $1.444 billion, which sounds good until I tell you it’s about $900 million less than Avatar 2.

That December release date isn’t the end-all, be-all if fans aren’t into the film.

That’s what happened to Avatar in 2025, and it’s the doomsday scenario for Marvel, no pun intended.

There’s a reason why Disney started the marketing campaign for Avengers: Doomsday in December.

Disney wants and needs 12 months of hype to remind people they love these characters.

So, realistically, the MCU is at low tide right now despite the positivity of Wonder Man.

Whether Marvel enters an upswing phase depends entirely on Avengers: Doomsday.

Note that this isn’t a first for Marvel, though. The same statement applied to Deadpool & Wolverine.

On a personal note, I’m relieved to hear that Kevin Feige is working exclusively on Avengers right now.

His being stretched too thin is much of the reason why Marvel found itself in this position.

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Feature Photo: Marvel/LucasFilm