Deadpool & Wolverine has made a huge splash at the box office, passing the previous MCU movie’s entire box office take-home in just three days. After breaking the record for the most-watched trailer in history and following it up with the most pre-sales ever for an R-rated movie, it should come as no surprise that it is shaping up to be the MCU’s latest money-spinner. Reviews have lavished the MCU’s first R-rated movie with praise, possibly marking a big turning point for Marvel Studios.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Deadpool & Wolverine has already surpassed the entire global box office of $206.1 million for The Marvels by raking in $211.1 million in just three days after releasing internationally on Wednesday, July 24. This is a great sign for Marvel, which has been reeling from the historic box office flop in November and the critical failures of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion. It also increases chances to reach $1 billion as the billion-dollar Joker took home $247 million globally during its opening weekend.
Why Deadpool & Wolverine’s Box Office Is So Much Better Than The Marvels
Several Factors Led To The Marvels’ Box Office Flop
There is no denying that Deadpool & Wolverine has earned its initial box office success on its own merits. The movie is “Certified Fresh” at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, alongside a whopping 97% audience score. Combined with its star power and the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine has received one of the most exhaustive and extensive marketing campaigns of any MCU movie, it stands to reason that it would become one of the most successful movies in Marvel’s repertoire.
On the other hand, the reasons for The Marvels‘ historic box office failure are myriad. In stark contrast to the several months of heavy marketing afforded to Deadpool & Wolverine, complete with an extensive press tour by its main stars, The Marvels‘ marketing was severely hampered by 2023’s SAG-AFTRA strike. This prevented the movie’s most prominent star, Brie Larson, from helping to drum up enthusiasm until the final stretch, which was unfortunately far too late.
Furthermore, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine are both universally beloved figures in the superhero genre with well-established cinematic legacies. Brie Larson, meanwhile, continues to receive an upsetting level of backlash from a certain subset of Marvel’s fandom, while her co-stars are decidedly less well-known than most other MCU characters. This taken together makes Deadpool & Wolverine‘s success when compared to The Marvels much easier to fathom, though it is a welcome turn of events for Marvel nonetheless.
