Disney and Marvel Studios Learned That More Isn’t Better

Once an uncertain experiment, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) quickly became a global phenomenon, beginning with Iron Man in 2008. Soon afterward, Disney acquired Marvel for $4 billion in 2009. Marvel and Disney captivated audiences globally with a carefully connected storyline culminating in the record-breaking Avengers: Endgame in 2019, grossing $2.8 billion and reshaping Hollywood’s business model. However, in recent years, Disney has become a victim of its success. Its operating philosophy shifted to "more is better," and Marvel started to lose its magic.

When More Becomes Too Much

In a rush to fill its streaming platform, Disney greenlit dozens of Marvel shows and films in rapid succession. What once felt intentional became overwhelming. As the Wall Street Journal reported, even Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige admitted that consuming the content started feeling more like "homework" than entertainment. Viewers became disengaged, and Marvel fatigue set in due to this overproduction.

On a recent conference call, Disney CEO Bob Iger reflected on the company’s misstep: "In our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more." He continued, “We’ve also learned over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality. Frankly, we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much. By consolidating a bit and having Marvel focus much more on their films, we believe it will result in better quality.”

Disney and Marvel lost focus on what made their brands special and started to dilute themselves. But dilution doesn’t just happen in entertainment; it mirrors what slowly unfolds inside many company cultures.

Dilution Disguised As Progress

In organizations, dilution often arrives disguised as innovation and good intentions. Leaders launch new programs, perks, and messaging at a breakneck pace. Wellness stipends, DEI trainings, weekly all-hands meetings, new Slack channels, revamped values decks—it all piles up. This results in a culture that begins to feel like a disconnected anthology series: inconsistent, reactive, and hard to follow.

Instead of deepening engagement, these efforts create initiative fatigue. Employees don’t feel supported and heard—they feel managed and marketed to. When companies try to scale culture without scaling clarity and cohesion, they don’t build trust—they fragment it. Busyness begins to masquerade as progress, while motion replaces meaning. Over time, the story that culture tells—how people feel and operate daily—becomes fractured and forgettable.

Less Is More. And Depth Is Necessary.

What Marvel fans experienced, corporate teams also experience: too much, too fast, and too scattered. This is especially visible in employee well-being strategies. In an effort to appear progressive, companies often over-rely on mental health apps, generalized wellness stipends, or mindfulness platforms. But without addressing core issues like workload overwhelm, poor communication, or lack of psychological safety, these perks feel performative and impersonal.

Just as Disney discovered that more content didn’t equal stronger loyalty, companies must realize that culture isn’t built through volume. Cultures develop through precision and intentionality. Employees don’t need another app; they need a healthier system. That includes meaningful recognition, better-designed environments, financial literacy, and a sense of belonging. Culture, like storytelling, must be cohesive and emotionally resonant. The only metric that matters is whether it actually changes people’s work experiences.

Leaders Can Take Cue From Disney

Just as Disney is refocusing Marvel on fewer, higher-quality films, leaders must resist the temptation to overproduce culture. Aim for fewer but better initiatives and strategies that are personalized and integrated rather than existing solely for optics. Leaders can ask themselves: What are we actually creating here? What story is our culture telling day to day? Because whether in film or business, culture is a story your people live. If that story becomes fragmented, so does the trust that binds your team. Depth always beats noise. And in the long run, less—but better—is how companies win long-term.