While so many are already gearing up for Avengers: Endgame, the story isn't quite over for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's previous entry just yet. Captain Marvel's box office totals have been slowly building, with its eyes on the $1 billion mark. Now, the movie has finally crossed that threshold, becoming the 38th movie ever, and the seventh MCU movie, to make $1 billion at the global box office.
The original Avengers film was the first Marvel movie to break the billion dollar mark. More recently, two of the Marvel films released last year, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War did so as well. This means Marvel will have two billion dollar films this year as well, as Avengers: Endgame is expected to not only break the billion dollar mark but break the $2 billion mark.
Expectations were high for Captain Marvel. The film was the first to be focused on a solo female hero, and coming in between the two big Avengers movies, one that has already become one of the highest grossing movies ever, and another that's expected to be, Captain Marvel could have been very easily overshadowed. However, the story of Carol Danvers has clearly been able to hold its own, and succeed in a way that not every part of the MCU franchise has been able to.
It also has done better than other female led superhero movies. DC's Wonder Woman finished it's theatrical run with a perfectly respecatable $821 million. The Gal Gadot-led film actually did better than Captain Marvel domestically, but Brie Larson's film more than made up the difference internationally.
The box office numbers, as reported by Variety, are, of course, good news for Marvel Studios and Disney. who have already got this year off to a great start. However, there's potentially more to it than that. Many have speculated that Captain Marvel is likely to be a major part of the MCU going into Phase Four, since we're expecting current top line characters, like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, to be on their way out. The fact that the audience has voted with their wallets and approved of the character means that if this is in fact the plan, it's going to go very well for Marvel.
We certainly expect Captain Marvel to be a difference maker when it comes to the events of Avengers: Endgame, and based on the fact that pre-sale records were broken when tickets went on sale for the movie yesterday, people are clearly ready for that.
The future of the MCU after Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out in July is still mostly a mystery. We know of a few projects in development, but nothing has a release date. Future Captain Marvel movies certainly seem likely following this result.
