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Fan service has “just become a checkbox” in comic book movies after The Cap/Mjolnir moment in Avengers: Endgame, according to former Marvel Comics boss John Nee
John Nee, whose experience in the comics medium stretches across decades, says comic references on the big screen have gone “downhill” since Avengers: Endgame
NewsbyGrant DeArmitt, Staff Writer
Published on Fri Aug 28 2026
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John Nee knows the comic industry. From WildStorm to DC to Marvel, Nee has been in top positions at comic book publishers across decades of the medium’s history, and has seen the kinds of changes that happened therein when comic books became the main basis for billion-dollar franchises. And accoring to the industry vet, not all those changes have been for the better.
Nee recently sat down for an interview with ICv2’s Milton Griepp, during which the ex-Marvel Comics publisher, ex-DC senior vice president, and longtime partner of comics’ Jim Lee was asked to describe what he felt were the “trends in the interaction between comics and media.”
“I think that civilization peaked,” Nee said, “When Steve [Rogers] caught Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame, and that it’s been downhill ever since, and that fan service has just become a checkbox in an overall franchise plan, and that standing out has been difficult. I think that things aren’t exciting because there’s nothing to be excited about.”
“Which is a really dour thing to say,” he concluded.
Interested? Here’s where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here’s a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you’re looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here’s everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.
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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.
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