Marvel Studios has a shot at owning the box office this November, and it’s all thanks to Warner Bros. With Dune: Part Two postponing its release until next March, The Marvels not only has full reign of IMAX cinemas it may also move forward by a full week and drop on Nov. 3 instead to fully make use of its new free run to the top of the charts. As such, the Marvel fandom is already bowing down before the Brie Larson sequel to declare it the new savior of the MCU.
The only thing is, didn’t we just have a new savior of the MCU a few months ago? One user got the discussion going on the r/MarvelStudios subreddit by asking: “Will The Marvels save the MCU from its current ‘MID’ sentiment?” On the one hand, this seems a fair question, given that 2023 has given us both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion, two of the worst-reviewed entries in the franchise ever.
On the other, though, let’s not forget that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came out this past May, only narrowly missing bringing home $1 billion globally and earning widespread praise from the fans. Like one commenter put it, “it took exactly one project for people to forget they loved GOTG 3.”
Another argued that maybe Guardians 3 is the exception that proves the rule as it was very much the baby of (new DC chief) James Gunn, rather than a typical Marvel Studios product.
However, if we stretch our minds back only a little further to last November, we have the equally financially successful Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a literal multi-Academy Award nominee.
The MCU might be less in need of a savior than you’d think, then, but, hey, if there’s one thing the Marvel universe can never have enough of its heroes. So, fingers crossed The Marvels nails the landing this fall.