Why the MCU Is Falling Apart (And What Solopreneurs Can Learn From Disney’s Mistakes)

I Walked Out of Spider-Man Mid-Way Through the Credits. That Used to Be Unthinkable.

Remember when a new Marvel movie felt like a massive event? You’d buy tickets weeks in advance, dodge spoilers like landmines, and sit through ten minutes of credits just to catch a five-second teaser for the next phase.

Last week, I walked out of Spider-Man: Brand New Day before the lights even came up. I didn’t care who showed up in the post-credits scene. I was just tired.

It’s crazy to think about how far things have fallen. Back in 2019, Avengers: Endgame pulled in $2.79 billion. People were crying in theaters. Fast forward to The Marvels, which barely scraped past its budget and sits at a dismal 5.5 on IMDb.

Critics keep calling it “superhero fatigue.” But as someone trying to build a business online, I don’t buy that. People aren’t tired of superheroes — they’re tired of bad strategy.

Disney made three massive mistakes that killed their momentum. And honestly? They’re the exact same mistakes most creators and entrepreneurs make when they start chasing fast growth.

They traded quality for a streaming algorithm

Between 2008 and 2019, Marvel gave us 23 movies over 11 years. Two movies a year. That was the sweet spot. You had time to miss them.

Then Disney+ launched, and the corporate bosses demanded “content.” Suddenly we got 50+ hours of shows and movies crammed into a two-year window. Instead of carefully crafted cinema like Winter Soldier, we got rushed CGI, unfinished scripts, and plotlines that went nowhere.

The takeaway for us: Stop posting just to hit an algorithm target. When you flood your audience with mid-tier work just to stay visible, you don’t build an audience — you burn them out. Scarcity builds hype. Overproduction builds boredom.

They gave their audience homework

I loved Captain America: The Winter Soldier because it was just a great political thriller. You didn’t need a PhD in comic history to enjoy it. Steve Rogers drops out of a plane, beats up bad guys, and uncovers a conspiracy. Simple.

Now? To understand why a character shows up in a two-hour movie, you need to have watched six episodes of a Disney+ show, a holiday special, and three YouTube recaps.

They made watching movies feel like studying for a mid-term exam.

The takeaway for us: If your audience has to work hard just to get value from what you’re selling or writing, they’re going to leave. Keep your front door wide open. Friction kills retention every single time.

They tried to swap good stories for cheap nostalgic memberberries

When the writing started slumping, Marvel panicked. They stopped focusing on tight plots and started relying on cheap nostalgia — bringing back actors from 20-year-old movies just to get a cheer out of the theater.

It works for a weekend. The internet freaks out, Twitter trends for 48 hours, and then… nothing. Because once the surprise guest leaves the screen, you’re still left with a weak story.

The takeaway for us: Hype launches, flashy graphics, and cheap tricks might get you a quick spike in views, but they won’t keep people around. If the core product isn’t good, the party ends real fast.

The Bottom Line

Marvel isn’t dead, but the golden era where they could drop anything and print money is over. Disney is finally pulling back, cancelling unnecessary spin-offs, and focusing on script quality again.

If you’re building a newsletter, a product, or a brand on Medium, remember what Disney learned the hard way:

Make fewer things. Make them insanely good. And don’t give your audience homework.