Too many Superheros?

How much content should a franchise produce? A recent WSJ story indicates that the expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is approaching a deluge. The graph they created certainly indicates a huge increase in content, mostly on TV. How much to produce is an extent decision.

On the one hand, the huge success of the Avengers related films created valuable brand awareness. The studio sunk the fixed costs into characterization, story lines, and production values that will pay off in terms of future audience engagement. That is, the marginal cost of attracting additional audiences is now lower because of these past investments. The strategic decision implied by lower MC is to increase content production.

On the other hand, the audience is experiencing diminishing marginal utility in consuming more content. It may not be worth it for fans to keep up with every thread in the franchise. Endgame culminated a consistent story arc that kept engagement high. Additional content necessarily means splintering story lines that fans need not keep up with. Perhaps the studio did not appreciate how the resulting lower MR would optimally lead to a reduction in content production.

There may be lessons here for the Star Wars universe.