'Thunderbolts' is the "first and best example" of Marvel's new strategy, according to Bob Iger.

The new superhero film stars the likes of Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Bob - the CEO of Disney - believes the movie reflects the long-term direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The 74-year-old media executive said during an investor call: "We all know that in our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, that we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more.

"We've also learned over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality."

Marvel enjoyed an impressive run of success between 2008's 'Iron Man' and 2019's 'Avengers: Endgame'. But since then, Marvel's successes have become more sporadic, and the company has learned some important lessons because of recent flops.

Bob said: "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 that will result in better quality."

The Disney boss is confident that 'Thunderbolts' will herald a new era for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

He explained: "I think the first and best example is 'Thunderbolts'. I feel very good about that."

Meanwhile, Florence Pugh recently admitted that she loves the "human" element to her Marvel character.

The 29-year-old actress plays Yelena Belova in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Florence loves that her character shows a vulnerable side to her personality in 'Thunderbolts'.

The Hollywood star told ScreenRant: "It's so important. I also think I wouldn't have believed it if she weren't [vulnerable]."

Florence first played Yelena in 2021's 'Black Widow', and the actress is thankful that the character remains so closely connected to Natasha Romanoff, the character previously played by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Florence said: "Natasha was her hero and her idol. She's her big sister.

"Even when she was angry at her, she never stopped loving her. So, the idea that she's gone and she never got to have that relationship that she finally got back in 'Black Widow'? If I hadn't been able to play this beat, I would've been p***** off because it's natural instincts.

"You've got to allow these characters to be human. You've got to allow them to feel."

Florence stars alongside David Harbour in 'Thunderbolts' and she loves that their on-screen relationship has a real-life feel to it.

The actress said: "Even though we want to make a movie where people don't have to see all the previous movies of all these characters, we cannot do that. We can't let the audience think that they're stupid because, realistically, I would want that scene if I were watching and wasn't in this movie. I'd want those two arguing.

"It was just very, very important to make sure that we're constantly evolving and questioning and making sure that we have those beats of vulnerability."