Disney overslept on a problem everyone else saw years ago: they’ve driven their biggest fans—boys and young men—right out the door. Now, scrambling to fix a decade of cultural self-sabotage, Disney is quiently begging Hollywood to pitch movies that actually speak to the guys they spent years ignoring.
According to Variety, Disney’s top brass is now quietly pressing Hollywood to make movies for Gen Z males aged 13 to 28. This isn’t a public admission but an insider directive, revealed by Variety sources. After years of sidelining boys and men with woke storytelling, Disney faces a brutal truth: it has driven away the very audience that built its empire.
Marvel and Star Wars were once unstoppable, fueled by stories that thrilled young men. Now, those franchises have flopped, battered by political agendas and sanitized characters. Disney’s experiment to “expand” its audience became a slow cultural alienation campaign against its core fans.
Now the company wants those young men back. Original adventure films and bold new intellectual properties aimed at boys are suddenly in high demand. But what took them so long? Did Disney really think casting politically correct leads could replace masculine heroes? Does leadership actually believe boys want limp, gender-neutral stories stuffed with politics?
The real failure isn’t just creative—it’s strategic blindness. Disney bought Marvel and Lucasfilm to capture boys, then systematically chased them away. Star Wars’ sequels erased iconic heroes for loud woke messaging. Marvel prioritized ideology over compelling characters. This isn’t rebuilding; it’s admitting defeat.
The urgent call to studios is a last-ditch scramble. But will any of this fix the mess? Boys want stories with grit, adventure, and characters who feel real—not sanitized political products. Disney’s “boy trouble” isn’t a surprise. It’s the predictable result of a relentless campaign to erase what made these brands great in the first place.
Wow, you mean we labeled the entire Star Wars fanbase as toxic masculinity and trolls, and now you don’t watch us anymore?
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 21, 2025
Can Disney pivot fast enough to win back the audience they’ve alienated? Or will they just keep chasing woke approval and bleed their once great franchises dry? The stakes couldn’t be clearer. Young men know what they want. Boys want to see stories where boys are the heroes. It’s really that simple. They just need to do it one at a time, and do it well. Disney only needs to decide whether it’s willing to deliver.
Andre at Midnight’s Edge came to the same conclusion.
Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
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