Jodie Foster laments prolonged superhero phase: Not why I became an actor

Jodie Foster has expressed her optimism for a shift in Hollywood away from the dominance of superhero stories in a recent interview with Elle Magazine. Acknowledging the ongoing superhero fatigue, Foster, who is an Oscar-winning actress, mentioned her anticipation for more diverse and engaging cinema beyond the current trend.

“It’s a phase. It’s a phase that’s lasted a little too long for me, but it’s a phase, and I’ve seen so many different phases. Hopefully people will be sick of it soon. The good ones—like Iron Man, Black Panther, The Matrix — I marvel at those movies, and I’m swept up in the entertainment of it, but that’s not why I became an actor. And those movies don’t change my life. Hopefully there’ll be room for everything else," she said.

Also Read | The Marvels review: A middling superhero movie with a glimmer of hope

Foster's comments coincided with the underwhelming box office performance of The Marvels, which, despite a substantial budget of $274.8 million, became the lowest-grossing movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with a total of $187.9 million. 

Disney CEO Bob Iger attributed part of the film's struggle, as well as the struggles of MCU movies and shows, to COVID-19 restrictions impacting on-set supervision. Iger also acknowledged the need for a more realistic approach, recognising the challenges in achieving billion-dollar global box office figures. He highlighted the potential dilution of audience focus as Disney expanded its Marvel output, producing both movies and TV series simultaneously.

Also Read | Why Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, et al. are right about Marvel movies

While speaking with Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times’ DealBook summit, Iger admitted that Disney had produced too many film continuations without compelling reasons, leading to a diluted cinematic experience for audiences.

“Often, the story is not as strong as the original story, that can be a problem, but it just has to have a reason, you have to have a reason to make it beyond commerce. There has to be an artistic reason to make it, and we’ve made too many," he said.