The Marvels Has The Worst MCU Box Office Debut Ever

Captain Marvel might be the most powerful Avenger, but that didn't help the superhero's sequel at the box office. The Marvels just opened with the worst start ever for the MCU by pulling in $47 million domestically--$110.3 total when adding in international markets--according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Previously, 2008's The Incredible Hulk held the distinction for lowest debut ever for the MCU with $55.4 million domestically. But keep in mind that's not adjusted for inflation and back when the MCU was just getting started. The Marvels also came up short compared to DC's The Flash, which opened to $55 million domestically over the summer.

Captain Marvel opened to $153.4 million domestically in 2019 on the way to making over $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. Needless to say, The Marvels has a far way to go to come close to those numbers in the weeks ahead. In fact, The Marvels didn't even meet the expectations of hauling in half of what Captain Marvel did over this past weekend.

The Hollywood Reporter believes audience scores could hurt The Marvels going forward, too. The film holds a B CinemaScore, joining The Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania as the only MCU movies with that low of an audience score.

Other factors and theories considered for The Marvels lackluster launch include: no buildup of cast promotion because of the Hollywood actors strike that just ended and superhero fatigue with the MCU after so many Disney+ shows. Captain Marvel also played off a teaser in Avengers: Infinity War and premiered before Avengers: Endgame.

GameSpot's The Marvels review praised the action in the MCU movie, calling it good. However, writer Phil Owen adds, "The Marvels is very much a film that goes down easy, but there's just not much to remember it by." For more, check out our explainer on the ending and mid-credits scenes for The Marvels.