Disney's Iger to have hand in Marvel's makeover

CEO says he has 'committed more and more time on' Marvel's slate

Disney CEO Bob Iger indicated on Tuesday he has been involved in honing Marvel and other Disney studio output. 

"I’ve – we’ve been working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality," Iger said, noting that was "particularly true" when it came to Marvel.

Marvel, which Disney has owned for years, is behind the movies and series centered around Marvel comic book characters. At the box office, some of its recent films have experienced lower-than-expected sales.

Marvel

Disney CEO Bob Iger says he has "committed more and more time on" Marvel's slate. (Budrul Chukrut / SOPA Images / LightRocket / File / Getty Images)

Iger said Tuesday that Disney will "slowly" reduce how much content the superhero-focused studio rolls out each year.

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The yearly amount of Marvel television series and movies will "probably" become two for the former and three at most for the latter, the Disney CEO said. The studio’s output, according to Iger, had been roughly four for both the big and small screen.

In the past, Iger has made remarks about Marvel focusing too much on quantity to the detriment of its quality and described its creative turnaround as a big focus for him.

Bob Iger

Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger arrives for the world premiere of Marvel Studios' "Avengers: Endgame" at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 22, 2019. (Valerie Macon / AFP / Getty Images)

"We’ve got a couple of good films in ‘25, and then we’re heading to more ‘Avengers,’ which we’re extremely excited about," the Disney CEO said on Tuesday. "Overall, I feel great about the slate. It’s something, as you know, that I’ve committed to spending more and more time on."

He also expressed confidence in the team and the intellectual property "that we’re mining."

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Iger made the comments during the call to discuss the entertainment giant’s latest quarterly earnings, which included revenues of $22.08 billion and diluted earnings per share excluding certain items of $1.21.

Walt Disney Co

Lightshed Ventures partner Rich Greenfield, speaking Monday on "The Claman Countdown" prior to Disney’s quarterly financial release, said "it’s all about the content" for Disney.

"More than any other company in this sector, the lifeblood of the Walt Disney Company is its content creation, and it has certainly been off its game," he said.

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Disney executives are bullish about the company’s lineup of upcoming movies. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / File / Getty Images)

"Investors are really looking for, where is that great content, all of those sorts of franchises that Disney owns and controls, where is the success of that content?" Greenfield added.

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Disney executives on Tuesday were bullish about the company’s overall lineup of upcoming movies. Some of those are "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," "Inside Out 2" and "Deadpool & Wolverine."

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The company has previously identified "reinvigorating" its film studios as a major growth opportunity as it has undergone significant changes with Iger back at the helm.