These 3 Marvel Shows Cost Disney+ Half a Billion, Adding to $11 Billion Loss

Summary

• Over the course of its existence, Disney+ has lost more than $11 billion.
• At the same time, it has invested nearly half a billion dollars in just three series released in recent years.
• Bob Iger intends to change the streaming service's trajectory by cutting costs.

Disney hasn't had the best of times in recent years, but the arrival of the Disney+ service in 2019 seemed like a real lifesaver for the media giant, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic: while most of the company's divisions were literally paralyzed waiting for the situation to resolve, the main revenue came from the content delivered on Disney+.

But as usual, the Mouse showed its greed and began to invest billions of dollars in the endless exclusives, which not only gradually caused fatigue among the viewers, but also produced fewer and fewer quality projects due to the growing demands of the execs and the inability of the production teams to keep up with them.

Star Wars is a case in point. While we all raved about the first two seasons of The Mandalorian and loved the gritty, politicized atmosphere of Andor, the quality of the A Galaxy Far, Far Away series gradually deteriorated: The Book of Boba Fett turned out to be a complete failure, while the third season of The Mandalorian was met with less enthusiasm, and many are not sure if they want to bother waiting for the upcoming The Acolyte.

However, the situation was far more critical in the case of the MCU — just three of the popular shows, which we'll discuss below, cost nearly half a billion dollars, but, instead of huge profits, that only contributed to Disney losing more than $11 billion on its streaming service.

Disney's Huge Losses and Toxic Work Environment

According to Forbes, Disney+ has amassed an operating loss of more than $11.4 billion since its launch in 2019, which shows just how flawed Disney's business strategy is. In recent years, series like She-Hulk have been the subject of many scandals due to employee exploitation: in an effort to produce more and more content and turn a profit, management has forced staff to work day and night, while also pushing them to make last-minute changes.

As a result, the scripts and VFX suffered, and audiences were not as engaged as before. At the same time, the budgets of the series were colossal — but it can't impress the ordinary viewer if the large sums of money don't justify the quality.

Nearly Half a Billion Dollars for Three Marvel Shows

3. Loki — $141.3 million

Loki with Tom Hiddleston was a huge success. Both seasons drew huge ratings and critical acclaim. And while the budget is nothing compared to the money spent on the series below, it's unlikely that Disney will want to work with such large sums of money again for its future projects.

2. Moon Knight — $147.9 million

Released in 2022, the series starring Oscar Isaac was a colossal success, but cost nearly $148 million to produce. Despite the rave reviews and high ratings, a second season is unlikely in the coming years, as Disney will now clearly be wary of such a large expenditure.

1. Secret Invasion — $211.6 million

The funniest example is Secret Invasion. After all, its budget was an insane $211.6 million. In the end, however, it did not attract much interest, and those who did watch the series were left with a negative impression. Secret Invasion is the very epitome of a flawed Disney policy.

'It's very, very clear that we need more engagement in terms of consumers spending time on the platform,' Bob Iger told CNBC.

Well, maybe this time Disney will actually listen to the audience and start releasing content less frequently. After all, even with much smaller budgets, more time for production teams and a healthier work environment can produce much better results.

Source: CNBS.