Bob Iger Returns/Disney CEO Thread (2022)

[Nick]

Honestly they’ve been substantially better than the movies, by and large

Yeah, i've actually enjoyed *most* of them. She-Hulk wasn't it and i've only watched one episode of Secret Invasion but it sounds pretty meh from what i'm hearing and the first episode didn't hook me.

Other than that, i've enjoyed the rest of the shows. Yes, even Hawkeye. Ms. Marvel is actually up there as my favorite. WV, FatWS, Loki, and Moon Knight were all very enjoyable. The villains are almost always weak because it's a TV show and they're using second or third tier villains.

However some of these projects have been highly enjoyable and brought us major villains as well (such as Kang in Loki and Kingpin in Hawkeye). Compare some of the better outings here (WandaVision, MoonKnight, Ms. Marvel, Loki) to movies like Eternals, Thor: L&T and Quantumania and it's no contest.

Either way though it's too much content in too short of a timespan.

 

[Grabnar]

Then it was just a fizzle restart of more of the same. Why continue (for the viewer) after a solid ending?

I think a string of mediocre films after IW really kneecapped the brand. They should’ve gone all in on TV for a bit if that was the strategy and then put out a new film once they had characters established.

It feels like they’re falling into the same trap Star Wars did of not having a plan which is the opposite of how the first Saga felt, even if that was an illusion.

 

[Nick]

I think a string of mediocre films after IW really kneecapped the brand. They should’ve gone all in on TV for a bit if that was the strategy and then put out a new film once they had characters established.

It feels like they’re falling into the same trap Star Wars did of not having a plan which is the opposite of how the first Saga felt, even if that was an illusion.

Shang-Chi, NWH and GotG 3 are the only really solid movies to come out in this saga and we're already pretty deep in.

 

[tielo]

Iger decide customers didn't want 2D animation anymore when Pixar had more success than Disney. John Lasseter said 2D animation had become synonym with bad story telling (it wasn't the format but the lack of creative freedom within the procedurally forced system that was forced under Iger's reign).
Too much content isn't the problem. Spider-man across the spider-verse (Marvel movie made by Sony) does very well. It's animation AND Marvel but it's very, very good. If people didn't want to see more Marvel it would fail. It also helps that it doesn't have a bloated budget to make a profit.
Of course Iger will never say that their content is low in quality and he will throw everything and his mom under the bus to make his point, and he probably knows the real problem but he lacks the quality to repair the problem without buying an outside company as he did in the past.

 

[Nick]

Iger decide customers didn't want 2D animation anymore when Pixar had more success than Disney. John Lasseter said 2D animation had become synonym with bad story telling (it wasn't the format but the lack of creative freedom within the procedurally forced system that was forced under Iger's reign).
Too much content isn't the problem. Spider-man across the spider-verse (Marvel movie made by Sony) does very well. It's animation AND Marvel but it's very, very good. If people didn't want to see more Marvel it would fail. It also helps that it doesn't have a bloated budget to make a profit.
Of course Iger will never say that their content is low in quality and he will throw everything and his mom under the bus to make his point, and he probably knows the real problem but he lacks the quality to repair the problem without buying an outside company as he did in the past.

Yes, Spiderverse films have been great, but there's not close to 40 of them + however many series.

So while quality is the key, if you force too much content out there in a short span, you're way more likely to throw out some stinkers than if you put all of your love into one project (which is what Sony Animation does with Spiderverse).

 

[Jake S]

it shouldn't be a terrible surprise that years into the too much content era, it actually started to impact the way people made decisions. with an overwhelming number of choices, it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out — whether that be based on IP, quality or novelty.

 

[Nick]

it shouldn't be a terrible surprise that years into the too much content era, it actually started to impact the way people made decisions. with an overwhelming number of choices, it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out — whether that be based on IP, quality or novelty.

Yup. If there was a crap ton of Mario movies before the Super Mario Bros movie, that movie wouldn't have done nearly as well. The success of that movie was in many ways predicated on fans being deprived of Mario in films (outside of the 90's film that we don't talk about) up until this point.

I also think this is why Avatar: TWOW did so well despite the movie being very similar to the original film in many ways. It had been 13 years since the first Avatar film so people were willing to go back to 3D for this film with very little hesitation. I do wonder if Avatar 3, 4 & 5 can still produce that same type of hype considering they are all coming out much closer together than 1 & 2.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I do wonder if Avatar 3, 4 & 5 can still produce that same type of hype considering they are all coming out much closer together than 1 & 2.

People on the Internet keep saying that nobody remembers or watched either Avatar or Avatar: TWOW, so given their short attention spans, I imagine the difference in impact between 13 years and 3 years will be negligible.

 

[Nick]

People on the Internet keep saying that nobody remembers or watched either Avatar or Avatar: TWOW, so given their short attention spans, I imagine the difference in impact between 13 years and 3 years will be negligible.

"People on the internet" are the same people who said TWOW was going to bomb. Movies don't make $2.9B and $2.3B because "nobody watched them". The difference between 13 years and 3 years however is huge in terms of what people remember.

 

[Andysol]

I do wonder if Avatar 3, 4 & 5 can still produce that same type of hype considering they are all coming out much closer together than 1 & 2.

As long as James Cameron is alive, then yes, they’ll be successful.

I stupidly thought TWOW just might finally be a Cameron bomb before it came out.
I won’t make that mistake again.

Cameron always delivers the bag. Always.

 

[tielo]

I remember Iger was always very good with actors.
Looking at his latest interview where he is condemning the current strike while being at a billionaire's holyday camp and getting called out by many actors in the industry I am wondering how "smart" his remarks are for the future of the company.

 

[Viator]

Mumblings on the street are also indicating that TWDC is preparing to sell a bunch of their TV networks, including ABC.

 

[Jake S]

I think it would be very bad if apple was allowed to buy disney, personally, so I hope it doesn’t happen lmao.

 

[Nick]

Mumblings on the street are also indicating that TWDC is preparing to sell a bunch of their TV networks, including ABC.

Getting out of ABC and ESPN is not a bad move at this point. Getting out of linear TV almost in general (including something like Disney Channel) is actually fairly good business, especially with how much ESPN costs them in sports rights. I wouldn’t have issue there.

What I would take issue with is Iger selling Disney off completely.

 

[Andysol]

Getting out of ABC and ESPN is not a bad move at this point. Getting out of linear TV almost in general (including something like Disney Channel) is actually fairly good business, especially with how much ESPN costs them in sports rights. I wouldn’t have issue there.

What I would take issue with is Iger selling Disney off completely.

Brayden had a pretty solid breakdown video yesterday on YouTube.

Explained how ESPN+ could be in the black soon but that selling several entertainment venues could be in the cards.

Worth a watch (love his videos).

 

[Jamesh22]

I think it would be very bad if apple was allowed to buy disney, personally, so I hope it doesn’t happen lmao.

If we think prices are bad now, I can only imagine how high they would rise under Apple.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I think it makes sense to sell those linear networks under the proviso that Disney would still be licensing out their content to those networks for a fee, while giving most of the ad business to the owners of those networks. That way, all the network infrastructure can be shifted over to a willing buyer, while Disney is still able to leverage its real power in the business, its content, for its various streaming services (or the streaming services/FAST channels it wishes to sell its content to).

However, selling Disney wholesale makes little sense, and might ruin many of the efficiencies that have allowed Disney to succeed in the first place.

 

[belloq87]

I just can't imagine that Bob Iger wants his ultimate legacy to be the guy who literally ended Disney's existence as its own entity.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I just can't imagine that Bob Iger wants his ultimate legacy to be the guy who literally ended Disney's existence as its own entity.

Maybe he's in his nihilism era.

 

[TheGentTrent]

I just can't imagine that Bob Iger wants his ultimate legacy to be the guy who literally ended Disney's existence as its own entity.

His initial crowning achievement has was Disney+ and now that’s single-handedly killed their box office revenue.