(Source: www.forbes.com)
Black Panther will pass two major milestones this weekend. First, possibly as soon as tomorrow, it will top the $623 million domestic total of The Avengers by Sunday night. That will mean, unadjusted for inflation, that Ryan Coogler and John Robert Cole’s MCU superhero flick will be the highest-grossing comic book superhero movie ever in North America. And then, probably today (it had $1.207 billion as of yesterday, including $100m in China), the Chadwick Boseman flick will pass the $1.215b global gross of Iron Man 3, thus making Black Panther the biggest solo superhero flick ever worldwide and making Chadwick Boseman (wait for it…) Earth’s Mightiest Hero! (cue “Fight as One.”)
Yes, in terms of tickets sold, Black Panther will be behind Spider-Man ($637 million adjusted for inflation), The Dark Knight ($688m adjusted) and The Avengers ($706m adjusted). But T’Challa is sure to pass Spidey and may (emphasis on “may”) pass Bruce Wayne’s sequel installment as well. I still think $700m+ is a bridge too far, but A) at this point anything is possible and B) if Uprising and Ready Player One don’t connect, then Black Panther has clear sailing until Rampage on April 13 and Avengers: Infinity War on April 27.
Yes, it is likely that Black Panther will still be playing in a number of theaters by the time Infinity War opens, so plan your double-features accordingly. Not only is Black Panther a huge hit, but it also positions its lead character and its supporting cast to essentially take over the MCU in the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War and next summer’s fourth Avengers flick.
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When Iron Man launched the MCU ten years ago with a still impressive $318 million domestic gross and $585m worldwide (less huge by today’s standards and less than Hancock and Mamma Mia! that same summer), Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark became the center of the MCU at least until the end of Phase Two when Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers took a “co-starring” role. Infinity War is bringing the first mega-arc to an end, with Evans swearing that he’s done after the fourth Avengers flick next summer and Downey Jr. essentially No. 1 in the Infinity War dead pool.
Black Panther is crushing all relevant competition in the superhero realm, it’s not hard to see how Chadwick Boseman’s ferocious feline (cats rule/dogs drool) should become the proverbial center of the MCU in Phase Four. Even from a story standpoint, it’s not like teenage Peter Parker, outlaw Scott Lang or the somewhat introverted Doctor Strange should become the center of the MCU universe. We haven’t met Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, but even Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy are too busy away from Earth to take over the unofficial mantle. Even if Black Panther had just performed like a “normal” MCU solo origin story flick (think a $95m debut and a $230-$260m domestic total), T’Challa would be the logical choice.
It’s no secret that Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. considered making Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman the new center of the DC Films universe (as opposed to Ben Affleck’s Batman) after Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman earned $822 million worldwide last summer. Those plans may be in flux after Justice League, but A) I don’t expect Infinity War to follow the same pattern and B) Black Panther has something incredibly valuable compared to Wonder Woman or really any other MCU or DC Films superhero. The supporting cast that is about as popular as the title hero. Heck, you could form a whole new Avengers just with the men and (mostly) women of Wakanda.
I’m not the first person to suggest that Letitia Wright’s Shuri could take over the “Iron Man” mantle should Tony Stark get Thanos-ed, and really the entire supporting cast (Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, etc.) would qualify as added value elements to any MCU movie in which they appear. The potential team-ups (Shuri and Peter Parker doing science-based adventures, Nakia and Black Widow doing spy games as a team, etc.) write themselves. But either way, if Tony Stark became the center of the MCU universe after Iron Man made $585 million worldwide (in 2D and in a very different overseas environment), then it stands to reason that a solo origin story that made as much money and pleased as many crowds as Black Panther should now find itself as the center of the next wave of MCU flicks.
That may be the biggest gift that Black Panther has given to the MCU. Not only is it a super-duper breakout hit, it is connecting in a way that will make the next batch of MCU movies more exciting both to MCU fans who liked Black Panther and to folks who otherwise weren’t that into Marvel but darn well adored the T’Challa adventure. And yes, if this all comes to pass, we’ll have the biggest franchise in Hollywood now somewhat spearheaded by a cast of mostly black actors and actresses. Couple that with Star Wars and the Universal/Comcast Corp.’s Fast and the Furious films, and, well, suddenly conventional wisdom about what makes a hit movie or a hit franchise doesn’t seem so conventional.
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