Tom Holland Says MCU Is “The Only Studio That’s Working in Unison With the Fan Groups,” But What About ‘The Marvels’ and ‘She-Hulk’?

MCU is in the last few years in a bit of a crisis. Some major projects have flopped at the box office, and the Disney+ series have generally unsatisfactory results. This is why Bob Iger announced somewhat decreased creative output limiting the amount of content that’s going to get released in the next few years.

The backlash is primarily due to the perceived lack of quality with Phase 4 and Phase 5 projects and the perceived wokeness of the shows and movies. Fans have noticed that MCU has started prioritizing DEI according to some claims, ignoring the actual stories and logical progress in favor of shoehorning as many ideologies as possible in their products.

Projects have been review-bombed, and actors and showrunners have been allegedly harassed, the most notable examples of this being ‘She-Hulk’ and ‘The Marvels.’ Projects that no one asked for but were still released even though it was painfully obvious that they were going to flop. Both due to having female leads (which is wrong) and due to being bad (fair).

Fans have increasingly become loud regarding what they want to see and how they want to see it, and MCU leadership is often criticized for not taking that feedback into account. This is not an issue related only to Marvel Studios, as several other big franchises are suffering the same results as well.

Not everyone is aware of this, however. MCU star Tom Holland recently sat down with Rich Roll and talked about what separates MCU from similar universes. The actor claims that Marvel Studios is the only studio that works in unison with the fans…. and many would agree that this is not the case at all:

I think firstly what sets it apart from anything else is the community and the sense of ownership over the characters from the fans to the studio. I feel like it’s the only studio that is working in unison with the fan group. 

The actor also mentioned fan service, and this part is true enough. Marvel is big on fan service and sometimes it pays off, like in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ and ‘Spider-Man 3’ and sometimes they completely miss the mark, like in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’

You know, fan service is a really big thing at Marvel, and you have to walk this delicate balance between fan service and moving the story forward in new and different ways. What’s so beautiful about the entire thing as an entity is its community. 

Source: Rich Roll

The fact remains that the first part of his statement is heluva hot take. Especially when you take into account recent rumors that Disney franchises will no longer look for feedback in the community. They will turn to the superfans in order to get feedback on their products and the overwhelming majority of the fans believe they will not get objective feedback if they decide to follow this strategy.

In any case, Holland is entitled to his opinions, but so are the fans, and one big chunk of MCU fans does not feel heard in the last few years. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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