It seems like just yesterday that the first Iron Man was released, exposing audiences to a superhero that wasn’t mainstream yet still more than worthy of joining the likes of Batman and Spider-Man.
Nine years later and the Marvel Cinematic Universe now stands as an iconic movie franchise, famous for bringing numerous characters to the forefront, whilst also revolutionizing the film industry. In fact, the likes of the DC Extended Universe, Universal’s Dark Universe and Legendary’s MonsterVerse, among others, all owe their inception to Kevin Feige’s ambitious dream.
As we all know, when it comes to Marvel Studios movies, a respectable box office haul is almost a guarantee. Even their lesser efforts put most other blockbusters to shame in terms of earnings and today, 9 years after first kicking off the MCU with 2008’s Iron Man, the franchise has reached another impressive milestone. Thanks to Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok – which just had a huge weekend – the MCU now sits at $5 billion at the domestic box office.
To put that into perspective, no other franchise has reached that mark in North America. Not even one. In comparison, Star Wars is at $3.3 billion, not adjusted for ticket price inflation, the Harry Potter/Wizarding World franchise sits at $2.6 billion, the Batman franchise has $2.4 billion, the James Bond franchise has brought in $2.1 billion and Disney’s live-action re-imaginings have earned $2 billion.
It’s safe to say that the future is incredibly bright then for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and with the way things are currently going, it appears that the studio will be holding onto their license to print money for a while. Sure, the current roster of heroes might be nearing their end (or some of them, at least), but with more and more exciting new characters joining the MCU with each and every film that releases, it seems like the best is still to come.
