MCU treads water (?) with new Thor film

Thor Love and Thunder poster

Through 2019, the Marvel Cinematic University seemed invincible. Avengers: Endgame was a huge hit, a big conclusion to 11 years of Marvel films.

Since then, Marvel hasn’t had that kind of hit (almost $2.8 billion at the box office). Former Marvel stars Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans took their final bows.

Marvel’s “Phase Four” has been more of a mixed bag. It hasn’t been helped by a pandemic that affected theater attendance.

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, released earlier this year, has generated global box office of more than $953 million. That’s serious money. But the movie started out strong and tailed off. Marvel also has to provide shows for parent company Walt Disney Co.’s Disney + streaming service.

Meanwhile, Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick has run up a global tally $1.13 billion.

This weekend, Marvel’s latest movie, Thor Love and Thunder, debuted. Its opening U.S. weekend was an estimated $143 million. That’s more than respectable but not at the levels Marvel is used to achieving. This year’s Dr. Strange movie had an opening of $187.4 million.

Also, Thor stars Chris Hemsworth. Both character and actor are holdovers from earlier Marvel films. Both Thor and Hemsworth were part of four successful Avengers movies in addition to three previous Thor films.

Is Marvel treading water these days? A lot of movies would love to get Thor-level money. In the U.S., No Time to Die, the most recent James Bond film, had an opening weekend of $55.2 million and an overall U.S. take of almost $161 million.

Still, while getting to the top is hard, staying there can be harder.

Oswald the Rabbit makes his (sort of) MCU debut

Oswald the Rabbit, created by Walt Disney, circa 1927

Oswald the Rabbit, a character created by Walt Disney before Mickey Mouse, made his sort-of Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

It takes a bit of explaining. Let’s just say Oswald is shown on a television screen being watched by the imaginary kids of Wanda, the Scarlet Witch. There’s a later scene where the kids are watching the 1930s Disney version of Snow White.

Oswald (also known as Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit) originally was created in 1927 for Universal.

For decades, Disney (the company) wanted to get the rights to Oswald back. In the 2000s, Disney and Universal negotiated a swap: Universal would grant Disney the rights to Oswald. Universal (whose properties include the U.S. network NBC) would gain the services of sportscaster Al Michaels so the latter could work on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. (Early in Michaels’ career, he had a bit part in an episode of Hawaii Five-O.)

Yes, a cartoon character was swapped for the services of a human being. You can CLICK HERE for an account of the trade.

That’s how big business operates. Michaels this past season finished up his Sunday Night Football contract.

Dr. Strange 2 has a big opening weekend

Poster for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had an opening U.S. weekend of $185 million, according to Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks box-office data.

The outcome reflects something of a comeback for Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios. Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, released in 2019, was a huge hit but also saw the death or retirement of important Marvel characters.

Since then, Marvel has released movies with lesser-known characters such as Shang-Chi and the Eternals. The one big exception was Spider-Man No Way Home, but that was a co-production with Sony, which holds the Spider-Man film rights. Marvel can’t do Spider-Man movies without Sony.

The new Dr. Strange movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the sorcerer. Cumberbatch was in the first Dr. Strange film in 2016 as well as Avengers movies in 2018 and 2019 and Spider-Man No Way Home.

Can Dr. Strange restore Marvel’s momentum?

Poster for Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Until 2019, Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios was a juggernaut. The Marvel brand seemingly could do no wrong beginning with 2008’s Iron Man and running through 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Since then? Marvel has had more than a few bumps in the road.

Some of that can be attributed to a pandemic. Marvel had to delay some movie releases.

At the same time, Marvel saw some of its best-known characters fall by the wayside. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron was killed off in Avengers: Endgame. Chris Evans’ Captain America retired in the same movie.

Since then, Marvel has, mostly, relied on lesser-known characters in its catalog. Shang Chi. The Eternals. The one major hit was Spider-Man No Way Home, which Marvel made for Sony (which holds the film rights to the character). That 2021 film was a huge success, generating almost $1.9 billion at the global box office.

On May 6, Marvel gets another shot with Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Dr. Strange is an unlikely choice to hang the future of a big franchise. The character was created by artist Steve Ditko in the early 1960s. Even in those days, the sorcerer was never the most popular Marvel character.

Still, Dr. Strange was a significant character in Spider-Man No Way Home as well as two Avengers films plus his own 2016 movie.

The leaders of Marvel Studios may or may not have chosen Dr. Strange to spearhead a comeback for the studio. But it has worked out that way.

As ever, we’ll see how it plays out.