Doesn't it feel like that's how it's always been though? Movies that didn't have the budget, the marketing, the names, they were there at the same time but maybe only in 800 theaters for a month. The upside now is that the turnaround is faster and the ability to see these movies is much more accessible in the modern era.
Plus the truth is technology has really made a difference. It's not the 80's fault that they didn't have the ability or confidence in say comic book characters to make that happen. Looking back at a movie like Dolph Lundgren's Punisher, I personally feel like that is more along the lines of what people enjoyed about the Netflix show that grittiness. It might just come down to studios not willing to put serious money behind a market that wasn't completely mainstream like it would become.
It's almost like the comic book movie genre replaced the "solo dude action movie" that was prevelant in the 80's and 90's. Kind of like how that genre took over from the Westerns/War movies. Now the solo badass guy might get a big release depending on what The Rock or Liam Nessen are up to. Usually it's straight to the streaming platform, digital Video City I guess.