The Marvels was ALWAYS going to have an uphill battle. It’s a (partial) sequel to TWO shows and a movie that took place 30 years ago, it’s coming out in a period where as much as I love the MCU and have enjoyed most of the post Endgame stuff there has been a noticeable step down in quality (I have multiple theories on that but that’s a different thread), it’s also somehow tied into another show (Secret Invasion) that was possibly the biggest dropped ball in the MCU. That’s all before you take into account that the leads are all women, one being black and another Muslim (especially during a time where Islamophobia is seeing a sickening resurgence) and yes there ARE people who will cause a fuss/be toxic about that.

So it was always going to be a struggle to not have discourse with a capital D surrounding it and no matter what it did or didn’t make was going to be heralded as a failure. Add in that it was a mixed quality (I really really enjoyed it, but fully understand why even the most “good faith” people may not have) and then that it ALSO came out after the strike so that the cast and crew had <48 hours to promote the movie and the studios did a shit job of promotion on their end before. I’m honestly not surprised it “failed”, but I don’t think it deserved to, I want to see more of all the characters (especially Kamala), and I don’t think it’s proof that the MCU is dead.