[The Editors' Verdict] What Marvel, Disney, and the Paris Olympics Have in Common

The Main Causes of Marvel and Disney's Decline
Excessive Political Correctness Emphasizing 'Rightness' Like LGBTQ+ Advocacy
Controversy Over Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Production

Among Thor, Superman, Wolverine, and Iron Man, who is the hero with a different personality? This was a question from the 2014 Samsung Aptitude Test. The correct answer is Superman, the hero character from DC Comics. On the other hand, Thor, Wolverine, and Iron Man all belong to Marvel Comics, which is their rival.

On the 28th (local time), Kevin Feige (from the left), Joe Russo, Robert Downey Jr., and Anthony Russo posed together at the Marvel Studios panel at Comic-Con International held in San Diego, California, USA.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Recently, Robert Downey Jr., also known as RDJ, made headlines with his return to Marvel. RDJ played the character Iron Man for 11 years starting in 2008 and was greatly loved. However, after Iron Man’s death in the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame, he left Marvel. This time, he is returning as the villain 'Doctor Doom' in the new Avengers series. There is intense interest in whether RDJ’s comeback from the greatest hero to the ultimate villain will become the hidden card Marvel hopes for.

In fact, the last Marvel film he appeared in, Avengers: Endgame, was a massive hit worldwide, earning about $2.8 billion (approximately 3.9 trillion KRW). However, after his departure, Marvel’s subsequent releases such as Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels all failed at the box office, sparking a crisis theory. Ultimately, to overcome this crisis, Marvel has once again pulled out the RDJ card.

Another hidden card is Deadpool and Wolverine, which was released at the end of last month. In its second week, the global total revenue reached $824 million (about 1.12 trillion KRW), and if this trend continues, it is expected to become the second $1 billion movie of the year. Wolverine is the original character who led the success of the X-Men series. Although he died in Logan (2017), he returned through Marvel’s multiverse universe.

Why has Marvel, which once caused a worldwide sensation and was thriving, declined to the point of recalling past popular characters and actors? There are various reasons such as loss of direction and lack of narrative, but excessive ‘PC-ism (Political Correctness)’ is also considered a major factor. For example, in Eternals, regardless of the theme, there is a passionate kiss scene between a male-male same-sex couple, and in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the new hero ‘American Chavez’ is suddenly introduced as being born between two women. Additionally, the fact that all the new phase-leading characters in the MCU?Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Ironheart, Shuri (Black Panther), Monica Rambeau?are female has been linked to ‘feminism’ and criticized by hardcore Marvel fans.

Marvel’s parent company, Disney, is no different. Disney set a Black mermaid and a Latina Snow White as protagonists and inserted homosexual codes throughout its works, drawing complaints of excessive PC-ism and being thoroughly shunned by the public. Due to poor performance, Disney’s stock price, which was close to $200 in March 2021, recently fell below $90, losing half its value.

At the opening ceremony of this year’s Paris Olympics, drag queens (men dressed as women), transgender models, and singers took on the roles of Jesus’s apostles, surrounding a long table in a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, sparking continuous controversy. Critics argue that the Olympics, which should avoid ideology or politics, are instead revealing excessive PC-ism by endorsing homosexuality.

The original intent of PC-ism is likely to guarantee the rights of minorities for equality. However, by emphasizing only ‘rightness,’ it seems to have transformed into a situation where minorities impose and oppress the majority. If guaranteeing minority rights is important, shouldn’t the cultural enjoyment rights of individuals, that is, the ‘right to enjoy,’ also be important? After all, who wants to be indoctrinated with ideological messages when watching movies or sports, but simply wants to enjoy what they like?

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.