I feel like the negativity around Phase 4 is both warranted and unwarranted.
Warranted because no previous phase has had a movie as bad as Love & Thunder or with legs as poor as Quantumania.
Unwarranted because Phase 4 still had Shang Chi and No Way Home, runaway hits that were very well received.
But if Guardians grosses less than the second movie this weekend, it can't be denied...the shine is somewhat diminished for general audiences.
Given how effective "this is the end" marketing campaigns typically are, there are only two explanations for the low tracking: superhero burnout is real OR the six year gap is one year too many.
The D&D trailers sucked, but the movie overperformed on opening weekend. So the problem wasn't the marketing, the problem is that even good word of mouth couldn't convince people to see a D&D movie.
It's interesting to me how horror comedies always fail at the box office. I guess audiences either want to be scared or they want to laugh. But not both.
Never saw his earlier classics, as dysfunctional family schtick (and no other hook) didn't really interest me, but Moonrise Kingdom floored me and I'm excited for this one. I was initially pumped for French Dispatch until I heard it was an anthology. His choice of setting/story is often not up my alley, but this one certainly is