It has been a terribly quiet year for Marvel Studios due to the ongoing pandemic and delay of several movie releases— twice . This long wait has only made MCU fans hungrier for new content, which means re-watching or playing Marvel-related movies and games like watching Black Panther for the tenth time with their family or playing Marvel's Avengers .
A new survey has shown that U.S. consumers are just as hungry for Marvel, with the comic book properties making it onto over half the top 20 entertainment franchises this year. At that, some surprising ones made it onto the list while others missed the mark.
NEWS
The National Research Group, a global insight and strategy firm, began a survey in January 2019, conducting more than 350,000 interviews with U.S. consumers about more than 700 entertainment franchises. They asked which ones they considered “the most bold, inspiring and thought-provoking.”
To little surprise, Disney and Marvel Studios dominated this list, with at least seven of their own franchises making the top 20 list.
- “The Mandalorian”
- “Avengers”
- “Stranger Things”
- “John Wick”
- “Black Panther”
- “Guardians of the Galaxy”
- “The Witcher”
- “Ozark”
- “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
- “Black Widow”
- “Deadpool”
- “Thor”
- “Iron Man”
- “Mario Bros.”
- “Toy Story”
- “Doctor Strange”
- “Spider-Man”
- “Coco”
- “The Lion King”
- “Hamilton”
While it is a tad questionable whether Spider-Man is including the recent and massively successful and popular video games by Insomniac Games, Marvel Studios has had a significant and likely long-lasting impact for the character and franchise to the general public.
WHAT THIS MEANS
Arguably, the most surprising, but encouraging, part of this survey is that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow managed to make it to the top ten despite the character's movie being delayed twice. So, excitement for this new franchise starring Florence Pugh, who will reportedly continue the mantel of Black Widow in Johansson's place, is still high. It is rather disappointing and shocking that Captain America of all characters did not make this list, while Thor managed to make it above Iron Man.
It does speak volumes about the massive improvement Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder went through between The Dark World and Ragnarok . This is not to mention the influence that Taika Waititi has had on the character, which he will continue to have in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder that will also star Natalie Portman as The Mighty Thor .
