背景介绍：
曾经风靡一时的漫威电影现在也不火了，好多人已经觉得看漫威电影有点累了，中国的影院目前也很少上线漫威电影了。票房大获成功的《复仇者联盟4》之后，随着钢铁侠、美国队长、黑寡妇这些初代主角“光荣退役”，漫威系列电影，似乎也就大大失去了此前的吸引力，此后陆续推出的几部新作，基本上都风评不佳，口碑每况愈下，让越来越多的漫威影迷也渐渐失去了观影与讨论热情。
Marvel seems to be losing its powers
漫威似乎英雄失势
The world’s mightiest movie franchise looks
increasingly fragile
世界最强大系列电影看起来日渐式微
In “The Avengers” (2012) Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson),
a spy, described heroes as “an old-fashioned notion”. Certainly the film’s
characters, including Captain America and Iron Man, were not novel, first
appearing in comic books published in the mid-20th century.
在2012年上映的《复仇者联盟》中，塞缪尔·杰克逊饰演的特工尼克·弗瑞说，英雄是个“已经过时的概念”。毫无疑问，电影中的美国队长、钢铁侠等角色都并非新创，它们最早出现在上世纪中期出版的漫画书中。
But if the idea was old, the excitement around superheroes had been renewed. “The Avengers” became the first Marvel movie to make more than $1bn at the global box office.
如果说英雄的概念老旧了，人们对超级英雄的热情却被重新点燃了。《复仇者联盟》成为第一部全球票房破十亿美元的漫威电影。
When Fury’s words were used in the trailer for “The
Marvels” (2023, pictured), however, they took on a different tone. Heroes may
seem
antiquated
, he argued, but “the world can still use them”. If it was an
attempt to convince the viewer, it did not work.
然而，当弗瑞的这句话用在2023年上映的《惊奇队长2》的预告片中时，话风不一样了。他说，英雄可能看上去过气了，但“世界仍然可以用用他们”。如果这话想拿来说服观众，那并没有起到效果。
Released in November, “The Marvels”, the 33rd instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), made around $200m at the box office. It became the poorest-performing MCU film to date, and will probably lose money.
去年11月上映的《惊奇队长2》是漫威电影宇宙(MCU)的第33部电影，票房约为两亿美元。它也因此成为MCU有史以来票房最差的影片，而且可能还会赔钱。
Nor was “The Marvels” a one-off disappointment. “Ant-Manand the Wasp: Quantumania” also underperformed. According to CinemaScore, an
audience-rating benchmark, of the past eight MCU films, five have scored B+ or
worse. Fans complain of dull characters,
sloppy
writing and
amateurish
special
effects.
《惊奇队长2》并非唯一令人失望的影片。《蚁人与黄蜂女：量子狂潮》也表现不佳。根据权威观众评分网站CinemaScore的数据，在最近上映的八部MCU电影中，有五部获得了B+或更低的评分。粉丝们抱怨它们角色乏味、剧本潦草、特效拙劣。
Marvel productions on the small screen have not fared
much better. Recent MCU television series on Disney+, including “Secret
Invasion”, about Fury’s character, have been poorly reviewed and, estimates
suggest, little watched. It does not bode well for the shows due to be released
in the coming months.
漫威在小屏幕上推出的制作也乏善可陈。最近在Disney+上播出的MCU剧集，包括以弗瑞为主角的《秘密入侵》,评价都很差，而且估计收视率极低。这对计划在未来几个月上映的剧集来说不是个好兆头。
The decline is surprising: for a long time, the Marvel
brand seemed
invincible
. Disney bought the comic-book company in 2009 and it became a prized asset. The 23 movies
released between 2008 and 2019 grossed almost $23bn in total, making Marvel the
largest film franchise in history.
这样的衰落令人惊讶——因为在很长一段时间里，漫威品牌似乎战无不胜。2009年，这家漫画公司被迪士尼收购，成为其旗下的宝贵资产。2008年至2019年间，漫威出品了23部电影，票房总收入近230亿美元，打造出了历史上规模最大的系列电影。
Disney insiders suggest several causes for the slump.
One is to do with personnel. Several trusted writers and directors have moved
on. Many of the actors playing the most popular superheroes left the MCU after
“Avengers: Endgame” in 2019, and Chadwick Boseman,
the star of “Black Panther”, died in 2020.
针对漫威的日渐式微，迪士尼内部人士提出了几点原因。一个是人事问题。好几位值得信赖的编剧和导演相继出走。2019年《复仇者联盟4：终局之战》上映之后，许多最受欢迎的超级英雄的扮演者离开了MCU。2020年，《黑豹》的主演查德威克·博斯曼去世。
Last month Disney fired Jonathan Majors after he was found guilty of assaulting and harassing his then-girlfriend. The actor played the
villain
at the heart of the “Multiverse Saga”, the story which would connect the films released between 2021 and 2027.
去年12月，迪士尼解雇了在《多元宇宙传奇》中饰演反派的乔纳森·梅杰斯,原因是他因殴打和骚扰当时的女友而被定罪。《多元宇宙传奇》在故事情节上将把2021年至2027年之间上映的多部电影串联在一起，而梅杰斯的反派是其中的核心角色。
Another reason is to do with geopolitics. The first 23
films were all released in China, the world’s largest theatrical market, but between 2020 and 2022, none was.
另一个原因与地缘纷争有关。MCU最早的23部电影都在中国这个全球最大的电影市场上映，但在2020年至2022年间一部也没有。
Yet part of the problem is of Marvel’s own making.
Since 2021 the MCU has released an average of 3.3 films and 3.7 television
series every year—a rate that seems to strain audiences, internal creative
teams and special-effects departments.
但也有些问题是漫威自己造成的。自2021年以来，MCU平均每年出品3.3部电影和3.7部电视剧——这样的速度似乎让观众、内部创意团队和特效部门都难以招架。
For prospective viewers hoping to watch a new title, 33 films and 11 seasons of television is simply too much homework. The focus on the “multiverse”, which draws on films predating the existing cinematic universe, aggravates this issue.
对于想要观看一部新剧的观众来说，要先了解过33部电影和11季电视剧实在是太多功课了。目前重点打造的“多元宇宙”还涉及现有电影宇宙之前的电影，更加剧了这一问题。
Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, who initiated Marvel’s
expansion, has said the franchise can return to its former glory by slowing the
pace of production. “I’ve always felt that quantity can be actually a negative
when it comes to quality. And I think that’s exactly what happened. We lost
some focus.” He, and Marvel’s many fans, will be holding out for the heroes.
开创了漫威扩张之路的迪士尼CEO鲍勃·伊格尔已表示过，通过放慢制作速度，漫威系列电影可以重回昔日的辉煌。“我一直觉得，要说质量的话，多产实际上可能是个负面因素。我想事实正是这样。我们有些偏离重点了。”他，将和众多漫威粉丝一道，坚持等待英雄回归。
antiquated
[ˈæntɪkweɪtɪd] adj. 老式的；过时的
sloppy
[ˈslɑːpi] adj. 马虎的；无条理的；凌乱的
amateurish
[ˈæmədərɪʃ] adj. 不熟练的；外行的
invincible
[ɪnˈvɪnsəbl] adj. 不可战胜的；不能克服的
