‘The Marvels’ Reviews Embargoed Until Two Days Before Release, Analysts Speculate Disney Is Abandoning The Film

John F. Trent |

Oct 26, 2023

Critic reviews for the upcoming The Marvels film have been embargoed until two days before the film releases in theaters with analysts speculating on whether its a bad sign for the film.

Erik Davis, the Managing Director of Fandago, reported on X, “Looks like the first reactions for The Marvels will drop on November 7 at 9pm PT/12amET.”

He added, “Reviews drop the next morning, Nov 8. The film arrives in theaters everywhere on November 10. Betting there’s lots of surprises in this one…”

Erik Davis on X

When questioned if the reactions being embargoed until just three days before release was a bad sign, Davis responded, “Avengers Endgame premiered 4 days before release, so no.”

Erik Davis on X

While Davis claims the review embargo is not a bad sign for the film other analysts and industry trackers disagree.

Analyst Luiz Fernando wrote on X, “Currently, both social media reactions and critics’ full review embargo will be lifted only on early morning of WED, NOV 8, same day The Marvels icks off its global rollout in several European & Asian markets such as Korea, Hong Kong, France, Italy, Germany, and others, and just one day before THU Previews happen in the US, very unusual for a MCU film (even Endgame, which had the mission to keep secrets under wraps for as long as possible, allowed social media reactions on MON, 2 days before its rollout kick off and 3 days prior US Previews night).”

#Disney’s apparent lack of confidence in #TheMarvels is really giving me those #DarkPhoenix dejavus.
It was already concerning that the studio never considered to push the blockbuster back to 2024 despite of the strikes, almost as they didn’t think the film was worth fighting for… pic.twitter.com/CKJaiKxaur

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 23, 2023

He continued, “But it’s not only Disney that seems not that enthusiastic about the film. Pre-sales for The Marvels have been the weakest for an MCU film Post-Covid (yeah, even under Eternals), what could denote lack of interest from general audiences in the new entry.”

“And for Disney to be so adamant in preventing people from talking about the film prior to its release, it could mean that the studio might fear that WOM won’t do The Marvels any favors either,” he asserted.

Analyst and YouTuber Valliant Renegade also shared his assessment, “In the case of this situation, this is one where they are not going to allow any reviews of any kind to come out on this movie until its opening day. That’s a bit of a head scratcher.”

He added, “A lot of folks out there would be forgiven for thinking that Disney has no confidence in this film and fear that if reviews come out too soon it’s going to spoil what little hype there is for this film that may still remain by that point.”

“And don’t forget this is even with Disney allegedly paying for positive reviews by actual reviewers on places like Rotten Tomatoes,” he added.

Valliant Renegade would later note that it appears The Walt Disney Company is shifting its marketing away from The Marvels and putting it toward their upcoming animated film Wish instead.

He noted that Fernando also made this assessment on X in response to another user pointing it out.

I noticed that as well. That’s so weird.

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 23, 2023

Valliant Renegade assessed, “But is it really that weird? I want you to think back a year ago when Disney was anticipating the release of Strange World. That movie was tracking very poorly and something that WDW Pro and I both noticed is that marketing seemed to be shifting away from that film. The original dollars that Disney would have allocated from distribution to pay for advertising was shifted over to [Black Panther: Wakanda Forever].”

“Matter of fact, we had heard some news from some of our sources that seemed to confirm exactly that. So this would not be the first time that Disney or any studio for that matter would make a decision like this,” he said. “At some point you have to understand you need to cut your losses. And spending an extra $100 million to market a film above and beyond maybe $50 to $60 million to maybe $80 million just enough to get people’s attention might not get you anymore ticket sales and therefore is a waste of money.”

The Marvels is predicted to have one of if not the worst opening weekend box office hauls in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. Box Office Pro predicts the film will only gross between $50 million and $75 million in its opening weekend.

The outlet also predicts the film will only bring in between $121 million and $189 million in its entire domestic run.

Long Range Box Office Forecast: @MarvelStudios ’ THE MARVELS. Read the full forecast: https://t.co/uq2sTZqGSR #TheMarvels #Marvel #Disney #BoxOffice pic.twitter.com/dQcD0ZDcbE

— Boxoffice Pro (@BoxOffice) October 12, 2023

Given these poor predictions, it’s not out of the question that The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios would abandon the film. Disney CEO Bob Iger made it very clear he intended to reduce marketing costs as one solution to the many ails plaguing the company.

During the company’s Q2 FY 23 Earnings Results webcast Iger stated, “And one interesting example — I should throw marketing in too — where when you make a lot of content everything needs to be marketed. You’re spending a lot of money marketing things that are not going to have an impact on the bottom except negatively due to the marketing costs.”

What do you make Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company embargoing reviews for The Marvels until two days before it arrives in theaters?

NEXT: Report: ‘The Marvels’ Box Office Predictions Already In Decline

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