Turbulent days for two mega franchises, Marvel and DC have not gone unnoticed. Amidst their tough time, the co-creator of the superhero comic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman opined upon the recent dominance of the mega franchises at the box office. While Eastman appreciated the previous performances of the Marvel Universe, he also pointed out the loosening supremacy of the superhero franchise.
Eastman also emphasized that since the two mega superhero franchises have been witnessing a decline for quite a while, it’s time for other franchises to take up the rein.
Kevin Eastman opined on the current situation of the superhero franchise Marvel
Over time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded its franchise in various ways. The MCU is not just limited to comic books and superhero films as it has also released TV series, video games, and merchandise. However, despite, its popularity, the franchise has been dealing with a downfall at the box office.
It’s no secret that the recent releases of the Marvel Universe failed to meet the fans’ expectations. Since the franchise is a renowned one, no big news about it can be hidden. Similarly, its current decline has also been witnessed by all its competitors.
Recently, during an interview (via NME), co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman, opined on the downfall of the MCU franchise. When he was asked if Marvel had been losing its spark, Eastman replied by saying, “To a certain extent, yes.” While reminiscing about the good old days of Marvel, he said,
“They’ve done it so well for so long. I remember when Captain America: The First Avenger came out [in 2011]… It was perfectly done with Chris Evans as the Captain and it was done in a very sincere and serious [way], recognizing the importance of the [comics] fanbase… right up through to Avengers: Endgame [in 2019] and some of the TV series. They’ve hit the big marks and made all of us original fans happy.”
Considering the recent no-so-booming releases of the Marvel franchise, the TMNT comic book artist further insisted that now it’s the time for other comic book franchises to take up the lead. He said,
“So I think it’s now off to other territories to come up with interesting stories… there’s lots of room for other kinds of comic book movies, you know… I’m curious to see where it all goes, for sure.”
This isn’t the first time, someone has pointed out the crises the MCU has been facing at the box office. Recently during an interview, Canadian actor and comedian Seth Rogen said that he isn’t interested in working with Marvel or DCEU.
Why does Seth Rogen not want to work with Marvel or DC?
Appearing in mega superhero franchises like Marvel or DC is still the dream of many actors. However, actor-comedian Seth Rogen is not one among them. During an interview with the Polygon, when the actor was asked why hasn’t he ever shown any interest in joining the Marvel or DC franchise, the actor replied by saying,
“Honestly, probably fear. We really have a pretty specific way we work; me and Evan [Goldberg] have been writers for 20 years at this point. It’s a fear of the process, honestly. And I say that knowing nothing about the process.
There are a lot of Marvel things I love. It’s mostly a fear of how would we plug into the system they have in place, which seems like a very good system, and a system that serves them very well. But is it a system that we would ultimately get really frustrated with?”
While the actor claimed that the lack of creative control may make him frustrated during work, he also emphasized the creative freedom he had while working on Mutant Mayhem since he is the co-producer of the film.