Disney’s Baffling Strategy That’s Damaging Marvel is Why We Have High Hopes for James Gunn’s Lanterns on HBO

SUMMARY

• Marvel might have dominated the film space, but it seems that DC will emerge victorious in the streaming wars.
• While Marvel struggles to hold the attention and interest of audiences, DC has been hitting it out of the park with shows like The Penguin.
• Marvel needs to take notes from DC is doing with it's streaming platform.

Disney has had a rough few years, and while it seems that the House of Mouse might be learning, there are some things that the entertainment giant has been repeating regardless of the losses that it has generated. Especially when it comes to Marvel, arguably the company’s cash cow, there seems to be a lack of clarity as to what works and what doesn’t.

Oscar Isaac in Moon Knight [Credit: Disney+]

Even with great concepts like Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel, the Marvel machinery has failed to capitalize on what makes streaming great. While HBO has marched on prestige dramas that exceed the hour limit routinely, Marvel has stuck to making minuscule episodes that never give its characters enough room to break or even develop fully.

Disney’s reluctance for longer episodes could be the key for Warner Brothers

Credits: Colin Farrell in The Penguin || Credit: HBO

WB, leveraging HBO, has been able to churn out some great content, especially for DC. While Marvel is still struggling to figure out what episode length works for them, DC has been working overtime to deliver some of the best television that audiences have seen in a while.

There is some indication that Disney will be taking a step back to reevaluate where it stands when it comes to streaming, WB, HBO, and DC could stream full speed ahead, given that they already have the formula down to a T. Further, with James Gunn already making plans to make a slew of shows that will air on HBO, Lanterns, Paradise Lost and other shows are bound to be great prestige dramas similar to The Penguin that altogether leave Marvel in the dust.

Marvel should take notes from DC when it comes to handling streaming.

Tatiana Maslany plays the titular character in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law || Credit: Marvel Studios

DC has so far had a better success rate on streaming than it has had in films. Marvel, on the other hand, despite a great start, has fumbled the streaming game something bad. As more and more fans grow weary of the structure set up by Marvel on Disney+, there are more than a few who are happy to switch to DC, just so they can consume some quality television.

No doubt, Marvel has the budget that a prestige series merits, but it has so far barely managed to put it to good use.

Marvel, however, seems to be on its way to pulling up its socks, as reports of changes over at Disney have been running rampant. Further, with cancelations of shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and The Acolyte, Marvel might finally decide to take a page from DC and focus on leveraging the streaming the way it was meant to be.

While it might have fumbled a little, Daredevil: Born Again might be on its way to making a splash in the MCU, with its high episode count and darker tone, Marvel might finally see the wisdom in longer-form entertainment for streaming.

Written by Anuraag Chatterjee

Articles Published: 1002

Anuraag Chatterjee, Web Content Writer
With a passion for writing fiction and non fiction content, Anuraag is a Media Science graduate with 2 year's experience with Marketing and Content, with 3 published poetry anthologies. Anuraag holds a Bacherlor's degree in Arts with a focus on Communication and Media Studies.