Disney CEO Bob Iger says ‘No. 1 priority’ is turning around Marvel, acknowledges ‘too many sequels’ after box office misses

(CNN) — Disney chief executive Bob Iger said Wednesday that his number one priority for the entertainment giant is turning around the creative engine at Marvel Studios, the production house once known for cranking out billion-dollar blockbusters that has recently seen several box office misses.

“Quality needs attention to deliver quality, it doesn’t happen by accident,” Iger said. “And quantity, in our case, diluted quality — and Marvel has suffered greatly from that.”

“I would say right now my number one priority is to help the studio turn around creatively,” he added.

Iger, speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times’ annual DealBook summit, acknowledged that Disney had “diluted” the caliber of films produced by Marvel.

The company, he added, had “made too many” film sequels that had not been well received by audiences or critics. “There has to be a good reason to make them,” Iger said.

“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,” Iger said. “There has to be an artistic reason to make it, and we’ve made too many.”

Still, Disney is currently working on several franchise sequels, including to some of the company’s most important films, Iger noted. But Disney will only greenlight sequels they believe are “worth telling,” he said.

In addition to increased output, Iger attributed the diminished quality of franchise films to a lack of executive supervision that began during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, including on “The Marvels,” which debuted this month to the lowest box office opening in Marvel Cinematic Universe history, with just $47 million in domestic sales.

“‘The Marvels’ was shot during Covid, there wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives there, really looking over what’s being done day after day after day,” Iger said.

Still, the largest factors cited by Iger are the tectonic shifts rocking the entertainment industry and audiences’ expectations that films will quickly move from theatrical release to streaming platforms.

“I think we’ve conditioned the audience to expect that these films will be on streaming platforms relatively quickly and that the experience of accessing them and watching them in the home is better than it ever was,” Iger said. “One, easier to access in terms of the technology and two, just the visuals — better sets in your living room than before — and a bargain when you think about it.”

Now a year into his second act as chief executive of the entertainment giant, Iger spoke about his hand-picked successor-turned-predecessor, Bob Chapek, saying that after he had retired, Iger was dismayed by Chapek’s performance at the helm of Disney and saw the decision as a “mistake.”

“I was disappointed in what I was seeing in the transition period and while I was out,” Iger said, denying reports that he had been seeking to return to the company he had once led.

“I worked hard to build the company into what it was over that long period of time. I was proud of those accomplishments,” he said. “It hurts when something that you’ve put your heart and soul into and care about so much is going through a difficult time.”

Plans for the future

Disney also announced a shakeup to its board Wednesday, tapping Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and former CEO of Sky Jeremy Darroch as new directors. Francis deSouza, the former CEO of Illumina — a biotech company — said he would not seek re-election to the board.

In a statement, Mark Parker, the chairman of Disney’s board, praised Gorman’s succession planning abilities at Morgan Stanley. The bank’s co-president, Ted Pick, will succeed Gorman as CEO on January 1, 2024.

“In the 14 years that James has been CEO of Morgan Stanley, he has overseen a strategic transformation of the institution and delivered significant shareholder value, and was integral to Morgan Stanley’s well-managed succession process over the past year,” Parker said.

On stage at the DealBook summit, Iger said that he plans to depart Disney once again in 2026 when his contract expires, calling the search for a successor “robust.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely going to step down,” Iger said.