On November 10th, Marvel came out with the movie The Marvel’s starring Brie Larson, Imman Vellani and Teyonah Parris. The film was Marvel’s worst opening weekend for a movie grossing only 46 million in the box office. The last time Marvel had a movie do that badly was all the way back in 2015 with Ant-man and before that, 2008 with the Incredible Hulk.
Marvel movies are usually a hit and none of them have ever grossed below 50 million until now with The Marvels. There could be an explanation to why this movie wasn’t a hit and it has to do with Marvel’s lack of quality over quantity.
Up until 2016, Marvel only came out with one to two movies per year. Now, they are releasing up to four, as well as creating shows that they produce and stream on Disney+. With those statistics, it appears that they are likely to release more content rather than focusing on the product. After the big hit that was Avengers Endgame, which grossed 357 million its opening weekend, Marvel studios came out with four films in a row that weren’t able to break the 100 million mark. They weren’t able to do that until December of 2022, with the release of Spider-man No Way Home, which surpassed 250 million.
A lot of Spider-man’s success was due to nostalgia and people loving to see their childhood Spider-man on the big screen once again. The two actors who played Spider-man previously, Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield, appeared in the film. Marvel was able to build the hype for the film and advertised it perfectly without revealing this big surprise they had waiting for the audience. After Spider-man, Marvel came out with three more films in 2022 that did relatively well in the box office; all three featured big name superheroes appearing in a sequel. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did 187 million, Thor: Love and Thunder did 144 million, and Black panther: Wakanda Forever, did 181 million its opening weekend. 2023 is a different story. Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania was released early in the year on February 17th, and the film only grossed 106 million opening weekend and in total was barely able to cover production costs. After that, they came out with Guardians of the Galaxy on May 5th, which grossed 118 million its opening weekend, and now we are at the present time, with The Marvels only grossing 46 million in one weekend.
Even though Guardians of the Galaxy ended up being a hit with 358 million in the domestic box office, the three movies were still considered mediocre on their opening weekend, especially The Marvels. Many people may say that Marvel has been on a decline, but they are saying that based on their opinion of the quality. If you look at the numbers, Marvel is only ever on a decline when it comes to making movies about lesser known heroes and less big name characters. Shang-Chi only made 75 million its opening weekend and the Eternals only 71 million, even the first Ant-Man only made 57 million. Black Widow also only made 80 million. Movies that have a hero that people don’t know up front, don’t perform as well, while others, like Captain America, Spider-man, and Iron Man, are fan favorites.
The viewer can decide if Marvel’s quality is on the decline, but the statistics say they are still holding strong in the box office. The only time Marvel does badly is when it isn’t their main superheroes, other than that, most of their movies are still performing well at the box office. Marvel is a huge company and as long as they keep coming out with content, it seems people will keep watching.