Marvel Entertainment has been very successful since being acquired by Disney in 2008, but they have primarily featured male superheroes and need to expand their audience. The report analyzes Marvel's lack of female representation and recommends developing more films and characters centered around women. This could grow Marvel's fanbase by 500,000 and increase profits by catering to women's entertainment spending. Developing popular female heroes like Wonder Woman through build up appearances could inspire young girls and increase box office revenues.

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A Market Analysis for
(Marvel Entertainment)
(Yolanda Ward)
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
(December 17, 2019)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This analysis report looks at the what the current and possible future of Marvel Cinematic
Universe could be. The Marvel Cinematic Universe series was the highest grossing film
franchise in the world as of November 2020, with a total worldwide box office revenue of $22.56
billion dollars. Of the twenty-three films in the series, the average revenue was estimated at
$980.5 million dollars per film (Statista, 2021). Since 2008 Marvel Studios has produced films
with predominately men as the lead role. Women are looking to find a superhero that they can
relate to and identify with. Sure, some women enjoy the Marvel movies because the star is sexy
or handsome, but they are yearning for more. Though Marvel has prided itself on telling
compelling and universally relatable stories, they have failed to master representing women as
more than objects and accessories to motivate their male heroes and representing male
relationships with more nuance and realism and less implicit homophobia (Meluso, M. 2020).
By giving the female audience a voice, they are going to keep coming back to watch movie after
movie which in turn gives Marvel a bigger fanbase and more money.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective for this analysis is to show the Marvel Universe that we need more
leading women as superheroes in more film. The information that is going to be presented to
today will hopefully allow you to see the endless potentials of having more female superheroes
in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has a very strong following with their fanbase but not
so much when it comes to the female fanbase. Marvel needs a strategy that will bring them a
bigger female fanbase to generate more revenue for their company.
Marvel has been criticized for not having enough female lead superheroes in movies and
there should be a change. If they start making films with females as lead superheroes, then they

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will draw more of a female fanbase. With Marvel being one of the most recognizable brands in
the world this is a task that can be easily accomplished with the right marketing strategy.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information that is
going to be provide to you
comes from various sources
through the internet. The
information was gathered over
a four-week time period in.
During the research there were
facts that were noticed about
the Marvel brand such as the
number of female superheroes
they have in their universe and the lack of usage. The information that was gathered mainly
came from articles, charts and graphs. My information starts from 1945 to the present day. The
challenges that were encountered with this report was the factual demographics for the female
fanbase that Marvel is trying to cater to. Marvel has over 7,000 superheroes on their roster and
that includes male and female (Kopf, Rodriguez, 2018). Marvel needs to devote more time and
money in creating female based roles to draw in the female fanbase.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
Figure 1(Chen, A., Pliang, Wang, X.,2018)

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Marvel Entertainment is an American film and television studio that’s a subsidiary of The
Walt Disney that sells toys, books, video games, and comics. Marvel Entertainment is a
conglomerate in the world of entertainment that goes as far back as 1939. Marvel Studios has
released twenty-three films since 2008 and the number continues to grow. Marvel tells the
stories of villains and superheroes that go as far back as 1939 and bring them to life fifty to sixty
years later.
During research there was found to be a lack of a female
presence in Marvel films. Men have been dominating Marvel
Cinematic Universe for years while the females are just a sidekick.
In order for Marvel to maximize on the female audience they would
need to start including them as lead roles and not supporting
actresses. Marvel is in a prime position to tap into opportunities and
grow the market. Growth in the international market can help
Marvel diversify the risk and become less dependent on the domestic market (Tilak, S.J., 2009).
CONCLUSIONS
Marvel Entertainment has been a force to reckon with since 2008 when The Walt Disney
Company acquired them. They have shoveled out blockbusters such as Iron Man, Black Panther,
and Avengers just to name a few. Since 2008 Marvel movies have grossed $18 billion dollars
from tickets sales, merchandise, and other product (Whitten, S., 2019). They are a very
marketable and profitable company because they have a global fanbase that is loyal and
persistent. They have crossed over into international waters by getting foreign actors to play the
superhero role. By doing that they have secured a more international fanbase. Over the past
Figure 2(Cronin, B., 2018)

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eleven years their movies have been in the top ten compared their competitors movies released at
the same time. By releasing more female superheroes films will help diversify the Marvel
Cinematic Universe and draw in that female that is not quit a Marvel fan.
RECOMMENDATIONS
With the arsenal of female superheroes that Marvel has there is no reason for films or television
shows to not have females as the lead superhero. Young boys watch all these male superheroes
on the screen and have aspirations of being just like the crusaders they see on the screen so why
can’t we give young girls the
same aspirations. There needs
to be a build up to the character
for audiences to get familiar
with the female hero or villain.
Take Wonder Women for
example, she first made her
appearance in Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice was met with rave reviews (DC Comics, 2015). Her appearance in
that film was a build up for her own franchise of movies. With the right storyline and marketing
strategy Marvel can increase their female fanbase by 500,000 by 2021. Women love to see a
woman in power dominating their male counterparts so with a storyline like that what woman
would come out by the thousands to watch such a blockbuster. With women spending at least an
average $1560 a year on entertainment (Miller, D., 2017). Marvel could capitalize on those
funds. With the right marketing skills and team within two years Marvel can acquire the female
Figure 3(Kurdes, C., 2019).

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fanbase that is so needed. By putting as much into the female superheroes as the male
superheroes Marvel should be able to attain this feat.
REFERENCES
DC Comics. (December 21, 2015). Retrieved on January 9, 2021, from
http://dccomicsmovie.com/the-audiences-reactions-to-the-batman-v-superman-trailer-
attached-to-star-wars/
Kopf, D., Rodriguez, A. (February 16, 2018). Retrieved on January 9, 2021, from
https://qz.com/1206265/marvels-movie-footprint-is-comically-massive/
Meluso, M. (2020). Retrieved on January 9, 2021, from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu:81/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=fe1b3a7b-
02fa-4528-ba59-16db49d2fec3%40pdc-v-
sessmgr05&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=147397356&db=a9h
Miller, D. (October 25,2017). Retrieved on January 9, 2021, from
https://smartasset.com/checking-account/millennial-money-spending-habits
Statista. (2021). Retrieved on January 7, 2021from
https://www.statista.com/statistics/317408/highest-grossing-film-franchises-series/
Tilak, S.J. (March 10, 2009). Retrieved on January 9, 2021, from
https://www.reuters.com/article/industry-us-marvel/marvel-eyes-global-growth-bets-on-
india-and-china-idUKTRE5292YW20090310
Whitten, S. (July 21, 2019). Retrieved on January 9, 2021, from
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/21/disney-has-made-more-than-18-billion-from-marvel-
films-since-2012.html

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APPENDICES
Chen, A., Pliang, Wang, X., Retrieved on Dec 18, 2019, from
https://studentwork.prattsi.org/infovis/projects/marvel-universe-visualization/
Cronin, B. (April 3, 2018). Retrieved on December 19, 2019, from
https://www.cbr.com/marvel-comics-first-comic/
Kurdes, C., (Feb. 8, 2019). Retrieved on Dec. 18, 2019, from
http://supercineverse.com/abc-no-go-on-all-female-marvel-series/