10 Recent Critical Duds We All Saw Coming

10. The Marvels

The Marvels underperforming both critically and commercially was predicted by plenty of people beforehand, and they were right to be pessimistic. At this point, many have just given up on the Marvel Cinematic Universe; their films have been on a downward spiral ever since the Infinity Saga concluded.

Pre-release forecasts might've been a bit warmer if it'd starred a more popular superhero, but The Marvels didn't have that luxury. Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) was meant to be a thing once, but her forgettable first outing failed to make her a compelling character and she's barely been seen since. 

Ironically enough, Danvers was one of the best things in The Marvels; she's actually more fun in this movie than she's ever been, and Larson has definitely grown into the role... but in every other way, yes, The Marvels was every bit as aggressively mediocre as the marketing made it look. 

Despite the noble efforts of the cast and a few good gags, The Marvels is mostly a weightless nothingburger that's even blander than its predecessor, and it also features one of the MCU's all-time worst villains. It easily ranks among the worst MCU films to date, but looking on the bright side, at least we saw this one coming. Films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Eternals looked promising and ended up being colossal disappointments; this one promised little and delivered accordingly.