There’s no stopping the cinematic phenomenon that is Black Panther. Not only is it a critical darling that’s being touted as perhaps the best movie the MCU has had to offer to date, but it keeps on plowing through box office records. The latest is that it’s become the fourth Marvel film in a row to reach $800 million at the worldwide box office.
All three MCU pics released in 2017 – that’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok – surpassed that extremely impressive bar. In fact, five out of the last six movies in the franchise, going back to 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, have achieved that honor. Only Doctor Strange didn’t manage it. And even then it was still very successful, racking up $677.7 million globally.
Black Panther‘s current box office standings also mean that it’s become Marvel Studios’ biggest first movie in a standalone franchise. 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy previously had that distinction with $773.3. million, while the next film to beat will be Thor: Ragnarok, with its $853.7 million gross. It’s also at eighth place on the list of most successful MCU movies. Currently reigning supreme is 2012’s The Avengers, with its mighty $1.5 billion total.
Last weekend, Black Panther earned $118 million, meaning it had the smallest second-weekend drop of an MCU movie to date. At the same point, it also pushed the overall gross of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over $14 billion, furthering marking it out as the most successful movie franchise of all time. At this rate, it seems genuinely doable that Ryan Coogler’s spinoff could surpass The Avengers as the top grossing MCU film at the domestic box office, which would be an incredible feat.
Given this whopping success, it looks certain that there will be many Black Panther sequels and spinoffs to come, just as was the plan for the franchise all along. Wakanda forever, indeed!
