Disney (DIS) has been the target of many attacks in recent years. From a proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz, to a 2023 spat with Elon Musk, Disney continues to struggle. Following Disney’s decision to halt advertising on X, Elon Musk said Bob Iger should be “fired immediately” because “Walt Disney is turning in his grave.” After that, Nelson Peltz lost a proxy battle in 2024 to replace Iger and restructure leadership of the company.
But since then, Disney continues to struggle across many key verticals.
Marvel Studios’ latest release, Thunderbolts — rebranded as The New Avengers — entered theaters last weekend with a global opening of $160.4 million ($76 million domestic, $86.1 million international). While that number might seem strong at first glance, in the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it reflects a growing challenge for Disney: maintaining momentum for a franchise that once seemed unstoppable.
The film had a reported $180 million budget, with another $100 million in marketing. That means the film still has a ways to go before it makes back its budget. Like many films this year, it’s expected to roughly break even or experience a slight loss.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers in Q1 of 2025, and Disney Parks revenue only grew 5% in 2024.
This comes just a couple of weeks after a devastating 9-figure loss on Snow White. That film is projected to hit roughly $295 million in total global film revenues, but a $410 million budget and marketing expenses leave Disney sitting on as much as $115 million in losses. Brave New World is currently expected to roughly break even, but some speculate heavy losses reaching as much as another $100 million from overages associated with reshoots. According to their latest earnings, however, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Thunderbolts’ $76 million U.S. debut places it 28th among MCU opening weekends, behind mid-tier performers like Black Widow ($80 million) and Captain America: Brave New World ($88.5 million), and only slightly ahead of 2023’s critically panned The Marvels ($46 million). In other words, Thunderbolts may have narrowly dodged a worst-ever label — but not by much.
While Thunderbolts avoided a catastrophic opening, its modest showing confirms a downward trend that’s been building since the end of the Infinity Saga. Fans have cited issues such as multiverse fatigue, inconsistent writing, an overreliance on streaming spin-offs, and a bloated release schedule. Each of these has chipped away at the once unshakable Marvel brand.
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Quality Over Quantity: Is the MCU Listening?
In response to recent critical and commercial flops, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige have pivoted to a "quality-first" approach. This includes trimming the Disney+ pipeline, slowing theatrical releases, and reportedly refocusing on core characters rather than rapidly expanding the MCU roster.
There are some bigger releases set for later this year that have the potential to turn things around. Notably, the Fantastic 4, Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and even Lilo & Stitch could prove to be box office hits. But with a toned-down roster and 3 of Disney’s biggest releases of the year losing at least 9 figures with struggles of breaking even, who knows what the future holds.
Not Dead, But Diminished
Disney hasn’t “lost its magic” entirely — the company beat on Q2 earnings and revenue this morning, and managed to increase Disney+ subscribers by 1.4 million during the period. This shows a glimmer of hope that the company could have found a winning strategy as it looks to turn things around. Just as well, it could be a fluke — only time will tell. The stock is currently climbing towards 10% in the green in early morning trading following upbeat earnings.
According to the report, many key metrics are seeing strength in 2025 so far. In theatres, Disney only reported earnings for Moana 2, Mufasa, and Brave New World. With those three movies, the company saw growth for theatrical releases across the board year-over-year of over 300%. But “selling, general, administrative and other costs increased $238 million, to $620 million from $382 million, due to higher theatrical marketing costs.” This largely puts to rest the speculation that Brave New World might be sitting on comically high mounting losses.
But investors will still have to wait till next quarter to see how Snow White panned out. There were certainly some overages from reshoots, but nothing that investors should be too concerned about — and other titles more than made up for it.
Disney has been searching for a successor for long-time CEO Bob Iger, who is reported to be retiring at the end of 2026. Iger will likely do all he can to put his successor in the best place possible. But a rocky few years and an upcoming new CEO mean investors should expect more volatility in the coming years. Fortunately, a strong Q1 2025 means any more calls for Iger’s early retirement won’t bear fruit.
Nevertheless, the MCU has clearly lost its aura of invincibility. Thunderbolts proves that simply putting Marvel on the marquee is no longer enough to guarantee a billion-dollar smash. With audiences becoming more selective and genre fatigue settling in, the studio’s next moves will be critical.
The MCU isn’t over — but its next phase will need more than just new heroes. It needs a reason for fans to care again.
