Marvel Just Confirmed Its Screwing Up The MCU’s Chance To Beat Superhero Fatigue

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Superhero movies are now a genre of their own, and for the last ten years, Marvel films have successfully blended action, adventure, comedy, and thrills. However, their new show, *Marvel Zombies*, highlights a missed opportunity: fully embracing horror. Previous Marvel projects with horror elements have been popular, and the horror genre itself is currently very successful at the box office. Considering recent Marvel movies like *Thunderbolts* and *Fantastic Four: First Steps* haven’t performed as well as expected, it’s time for Marvel to listen to its audience and explore more horror-driven stories.

Marvel Zombies Is the Latest Horror MCU Show Embraced by Fans

Last month, Disney+ released *Marvel Zombies*, a four-episode series starring Kamala Khan (voiced by Iman Vellani). The show follows a group of Marvel heroes as they journey through a world overrun by a zombie virus, desperately seeking safety even amongst their former friends and colleagues. What sets *Marvel Zombies* apart from most Marvel projects is its dark and uncertain ending – it doesn’t offer a typical heroic victory. Despite this unusually bleak conclusion, fans have praised the series as a clever and mature horror story, and many are hoping to see more content like it in the future.

I’ve always felt Marvel had a knack for horror, but they haven’t really explored it as much as fans like me have wanted. That *Werewolf by Night* special in 2022 was amazing – it really captured the feel of classic monster movies and the Jack Russell comics I grew up with. When they announced Mahershala Ali would be playing Blade, everyone was so hyped! But now, it’s frustrating because we haven’t heard anything about when Jack Russell might show up again, and *Blade* has been delayed indefinitely. It’s a bit of a letdown after all the initial excitement.

Is Marvel Causing its Own Franchise Fatigue?

Marvel Studios seems hesitant to fully embrace darker genres like horror, prioritizing broad appeal, especially for younger viewers. Even with talented horror directors like Scott Derrickson and Sam Raimi at the helm of *Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness*, the film ended up feeling like a typical, complicated action movie instead of a truly scary and mind-bending experience. Similarly, the *Moon Knight* series on Disney+ could have been more impactful if it hadn’t focused so much on a fantastical adventure and leaned into its horror potential. While *Agatha All Along* was fun, it felt more like fantasy than true horror. Ultimately, trying to control the tone of their projects isn’t helping Marvel maintain its audience; it’s actually making everything feel too similar.

I’m really excited about the direction James Gunn is taking the new DCU. It seems like he’s learned from what Marvel did – or didn’t do – and is really opening things up to different kinds of stories. One of the first projects he’s announced is a horror movie based on Clayface, which is a fantastic idea! Horror is *crushing* it right now, both with audiences and critics. Think about Jordan Peele’s *Get Out* – that won an Oscar with a small budget! And just this year, movies like *Sinners, Weapons* and the latest *Conjuring* film have made over $250 million worldwide, all on budgets way lower than your average superhero blockbuster. It’s smart to explore those genres; it’s a win-win!

The comics offer a wealth of frightening stories Marvel could adapt. The *Marvel Zombies* series is just one example, and characters like Blade, Moon Knight, and Werewolf by Night have extensive horror-themed storylines. A dedicated horror sub-universe within the MCU could be both successful and well-received, given recent box office trends. However, Marvel and Disney’s tendency to avoid risks and cater to the broadest audience seems to have held the MCU back from exploring genuinely thrilling or scary content on a large scale.

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2025-10-07 04:10