5 Telltale Signs Marvel Studios Is About To Implode

2. The End Of The Line

Moving away from backstage drama for a second, and there's a very worrying problem Marvel is facing with those who star in front of the camera rather than squabble behind it. As we enter Phase 3, the contracts of almost all of their actors are close to being at an end. Whether it's Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, or even supporting players like Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson, those six and nine picture deals no longer have quite so many movies left on them, and with two of their biggest earners - Downey and Evans - indicating that they may be ready to step away, Marvel could find themselves back at square one. Sure, Guardians Of The Galaxy was an unexpected success, but Ant-Man's $400 million haul proved that launching new franchises with obscure characters isn't easy. Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange all face the same problem, and while Ant-Man's numbers are certainly respectable, that's hundreds of millions of dollars less than what Marvel has grown accustomed to making. Without box office draws like the actors mentioned above to back them up, we could see Marvel begin to take less chances and Disney unwilling to give them a green light on the amount of projects Feige wants to make and comic book fans want to see. Even if Marvel goes down the route of recasting characters in the style of James Bond to keep their more popular franchises alive without the faces who have helped to build them up to that point, Phase 3 looks set to be a big test for the studio. Of course, there's every chance that Kevin Feige is now going to have access to enough money to make the Phase 1 actors offers they simply can't refuse. If they say no though and the newly introduced heroes fail to connect with moviegoers, superhero fatigue won't come down to people growing bored with the genre; it will stem from a lack of interest in those who are being presented to them...