The Marvels gets off to a weak start

UPDATE: On Monday, the final U.S. weekend box office was released at $46.1 million.

The Marvels, the latest movie from Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios, underperformed during its U.S. opening weekend, at least by Marvel standards.

The movie generated an estimated $47 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The figure includes Thursday preview showings.

Until now, the lowest opening for a Marvel Studios film was 2008’s The Incredible Hulk. It had an opening U.S. weekend of $55.4 million, back when movie ticket prices were lower compared to today. In 2008, the average ticket price was $7.18. The average price for the first quarter of 2023 was an estimated $10.81.

What’s more, The Marvels opened at 4,030 screens compared with 3,505 for The Incredible Hulk.

Marvel seemed invincible through 2019 when Avengers: Endgame generated almost $2.8 billion at the global box office. Since then, it has mostly relied on lesser-known characters. Also, the studio has cranked out various shows for the Disney + streaming channel.

The Marvels was a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel and also featured characters from some of the Disney + shows.

Marvel runs aground

The Marvels poster

Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios is about to come out with a new movie. Four years ago, that would be a big deal. Today? Not so much.

In 2019, Marvel released Avengers: Endgame. It generated almost $2.8 billion in global box office. The long movie (three hours or so) also concluded a series of movies that lasted more than a decade. For Marvel boss Kevin Feige, it capped a series of hits.

Since then? Like other studios, Marvel encountered the COVID-19 pandemic. Releases were delayed.

What’s more, some Marvel characters were done. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man was killed off. Chris Evans’ Captain America wasn’t going forward. Chadwick Boseman died, and Marvel opted not to recast his role as the Black Panther.

Marvel also pressed ahead with other characters in its catalog. One such property was The Eternals, created by Jack Kirby in the 1970s. The move came and went in 2021 without much excitement.

Marvel’s biggest success during this period was Spider-Man: No Way Home, a joint venture with Sony. That movie featured three Spider-Man actors and was a huge fit. But Marvel couldn’t replicate that success.

Marvel Studios saw its resources stretched making a series of television series for the Disney + streaming service. The studio’s new movie, The Marvels, draws upon 2019’s Captain Marvel and some of the Disney + TV shows.

If you go to YouTube, you’ll find plenty of videos predicting The Marvels will be a flop. Is it because Marvel passed over many of its established characters in favor of newer ones? Or is it because what goes up must come down?

Regardless, Marvel is not what it was four years ago.