Stephen King criticises people “gloating” over The Marvels’ failure

Stephen King has criticised people “gloating” over The Marvels’ low box office numbers.

Following its release on Friday (November 10), The Marvels made just $47million (£38m) in its opening weekend in the US – the lowest opening ever for a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. At the worldwide box office, the film has made just over $88million (£71m).

In a post on X, King called out those dogpiling on the film’s failure, later suggesting it might be down to “adolescent fanboy hate”.

“I don’t go to MCU movies, don’t care for them, but I find this barely masked gloating over the low box office for THE MARVELS very unpleasant,” King wrote. “Why gloat over failure?”

I don’t go to MCU movies, don’t care for them, but I find this barely masked gloating over the low box office for THE MARVELS very unpleasant. Why gloat over failure?

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 12, 2023

Some of the rejection of THE MARVELS may be adolescent fanboy hate. You know, “Yuck! GIRLS!”

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 13, 2023

He added: “Some of the rejection of THE MARVELS may be adolescent fanboy hate. You know, ‘Yuck! GIRLS!’”

Directed by Nia DaCosta, The Marvels unites Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) with Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). The film is a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, but also serves as a continuation of Disney+ shows WandaVision and Ms. Marvel.

While some have cited superhero fatigue as a reason behind the film’s low turnout, the MCU’s last film, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3, is the fourth highest-grossing film of the year – earning over $845million worldwide against a budget of $250million.

None of The Marvels cast were able to promote the film either due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, which came to an end earlier this month.

NME gave The Marvels three stars in a review, writing: “While DaCosta’s Candyman reboot was thrilling, this never musters the same level of engagement, despite a script that is chock full of good lines and a cast of willing participants. More meh than marvel, you might say.”