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Initial box office sales for ‘The Marvels’ have pegged the latest MCU film for a disappointing $75 to $85 million opening weekend.
That low estimation turned generous after the film earned a $47 million opening weekend across the US and Canada.
The Marvels now has the worst box office opening weekend for the MCU, overthrowing the $55.4 million opening weekend of The Incredible Hulk film.
The exact reasons for the underwhelming performance aren’t known but many factors have been posed both in defence and against the film.
The term ‘superhero fatigue’ has recently been used and refers to the abundant amount of superhero films releasing back-to-back which some have found off-putting.
DC’s two recent superhero films, The Flash and Blue Beetle have both underperformed with a $55 million and $25 million opening weekend respectively.
All these recent superhero failures at the box office could support superhero fatigue as a reason for the failure of The Marvels.
Another Marvel production, Loki – season two aired its finale on the 9th of November, a single day before The Marvels hit theatres which may have caused a split in the usual marvel audience.
The two marvel productions were also advertised together through an image by Marvel Studios on X (Twitter) which acted as an early leave slip that could be given to a school or work.
The slip gave the impression of the new releases being a big event which may not have been replicated with The Marvels film, leading to disappointment and a lack of excitement towards the project.
The budget of the film was around $275 million, making it the fourth highest of any MCU film, only being surpassed by the three Avengers movies, the most consistently popular of the MCU movies.
Some fans have shown their confusion over the budget size with one saying: “That’s a lot of money to flush down the drain. All the marvel fans I know have absolutely zero interest in seeing it and they all hated the first film.”
Another fan had a more neutral view of the budget, saying: “The first movie did a billion at the box office. So the sequel got a higher budget. Makes sense to me.”
Another possible factor for the lack of eyes on the latest Marvel adventure may be the lack of promotion carried out for the film by the actors.
A major theme of the film is the connection between the three heroines which hasn’t been replicated off the screen thanks to the only recently concluded SAG-AFTRA strike.
After seeming unstoppable since the MCU began back in 2008, the future of it and superhero films in general appear uncertain.
