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.