The Fantastic Four: First Steps was met with good reviews from fans and critics alike, generally seen asthe best outing for Marvel’s first family yet - even if that’s not saying much. However, that might not translate to box office success, as it’s now suffering from the same problem as Thunderbolts.
As reported byVariety, Fantastic Four saw a staggering dip of 66 percent at the US box office this weekend. This likely means that the film will fall far below its projections, much like Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World before it. This is despite both Fantastic Four and Thunderboltsbeing seen as a return to form for the MCU.
Fantastic Four And Thunderbolts Might Be Good, But Audiences Are Staying At Home
Fantastic Four might have opened to a strong $117.6 million in its debut weekend, but that’s crashed down to $40 million this weekend. Both figures only account for theatres in the US, but that is where it should be finding most of its business, and it seems like Marvel movies just don’t have the staying power that they used to.
It’s easy to see why this is. Even before the Disney Plus shows dropped, getting into the MCU required a whole lot of dedication, as you’d have to get through a long list of films. Now, there are spin-off shows to throw into the mix, and we haven’t had an Avengers movie to tie it all together since Avengers: Endgame in 2019, unless we count Thunderbolts.
There have also been more than a few stinkers since Endgame. Most recently, there was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the aforementioned Captain America film. It’s possible that this has tanked Marvel’s reputation enough to put people off showing up for the films that are actually well-received.
As a result of this, we’ve ended up in a situation that few of us could have predicted a few years ago - DC is outperforming Marvel.Superman had a stronger opening weekend than Fantastic Fourand hasgone on to become the highest-grossing Superman movie ever. Perhaps all those years of leaving the Fantastic Four brand to collect dust mean that younger audiences just don’t feel connected to them, especially if their understanding of the Marvel Universe comes from the MCU.
This doesn’t mean that the MCU is down and out. Spider-Man has an incredibly successful track record, andthe next film, Brand New Day, is in the works now.
