Ever since Marvel Studios triumphantly re-recruited Joe and Anthony Russo and Robert Downey Jr. back into the MCU, the once high-flying studio hasn’t been able to shake the narrative that it’s relying too heavily on its past.

Its much-hyped presentation last weekend at Comic-Con didn’t do much to tamp down that feeling. 

While the fans in the room at Hall H — some of whom camped out for up to 36 hours — brought an electricity worthy of the Dr. Doom masks they were all sporting, industry insiders were more lukewarm on Marvel’s dog and pony show.

Announcements of Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider and David Jonsson as Black Panther were met with nearly universal acclaim, but many raised eyebrows at the central “Avengers: Doomsday” portion of the panel, when 17 of the film’s high-profile actors were paraded on stage. (Most of them didn’t even speak, and the majority also did not participate in the press line following the show.)

Marvel boss Kevin Feige showed off a new trailer for “Avengers: Endgame Encore” which will re-release in the new Infinity Vision format this September, leaving many veteran journos wondering why a seven-year-old film was a cornerstone of the studio’s showcase. Additionally, new footage from “Doomsday” was shown, which played considerably better than the movie’s first trailer, which was released five days earlier. 

“It was a little underwhelming, but I think it’s because the last time they showed off a big slate, it bit them in the ass. But there’s also [Disney fan event] D23 coming up, so they have the chance to show more soon,” one insider said, noting that the SDCC panel only covered films and left out projects like the upcoming series “VisionQuest,” out this October.

The stakes for “Doomsday” feel bigger for Marvel than even the multiverse-breaking carnage teased in the next adventure for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. 

“Doomsday” will be the first “Avengers” movie since 2019’s record-breaking “Endgame.” But despite spending years introducing new characters like Florence Pugh’s Yelena Balova and Simu Liu’s Shang Chi (the less said about “The Eternals,” the better), “Doomsday” is leaning heavy on nostalgia.

Along with the Russos and Downey — who is making a heel turn as Dr. Doom — Chris Evans is coming out Marvel retirement, along with an entire roster of “X-Men” from the 2000s-era Fox-produced movies, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming and Rebecca Romain.

But the reaction has been more tepid than in the past — particularly for Evans’ return, which was teased last December as the unofficial kick off to a year-long “Doomsday” promo push.

While there is some genuine excitement from fans, it’s been mixed with others who felt the studio was too desperate to recapture its old form by pinning its hopes on what worked before. As one X commenter summed it up upon seeing Evans back in the movie’s first trailer: “I felt nothing.”

Marvel’s special sauce has soured in the years since Downey and Evans hung up their metal suit and vibranium shield. And despite a future that now includes a new Black Panther, plus the addition of Gosling and a new take on the “X-Men,” this year represents something of a make-or-break moment for Marvel to prove that it can still be a reliable box office kingmaker.

This weekend’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is tracking for a giant $200 million opening, but those mega-hits are becoming fewer and farther between.

Even as the box office is having its best year since Covid, there remains a fear among film execs in this world that, like the Western before it, the superhero genre is no longer en vogue and able to reach mass audiences outside of its core fanbase.

When “Deadpool & Wolverine” drew a massive $1.3 billion box office in 2024, even rival film execs were celebrating. (During a party for HBO Max’s “The Penguin,” DC Studios co-chair Peter Safran told me he was relieved that the film proved comic book movies were still capable of drawing billion dollar grosses.)

But those fears were only put to rest temporarily. Marvel’s three films in 2025 all released to varying degrees of disappointment.

“Captain America: Brave New World,” Anthony Mackie’s first as the title character, barely passed $400 million globally and was well below its prior two installments. “Thunderbolts,” despite the strongest critical praise for the MCU in years, did even worse with just $382 million. “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” the first Marvel-produced version, earned $521 million, a good-but-not-great result that felt disappointing given the amount of hype Marvel put into it.

For Safran’s DC Studios, while “Superman” performed decently enough in 2025, their second film outing “Supergirl” crash landed this summer as one of the biggest box office bombs, putting its own make-or-break pressure on next summer’s “Superman” sequel, “Man of Tomorrow.” 

For Marvel, they’re banking on their own old super friends to save the day.