Thanks to the combined success of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and the recently-released sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has notched a record $4 billion worldwide in 2018 alone.
That brings the franchise’s lifetime cume closer to $18 billion – Box Office Mojo pegs the current total at precisely $17.515B – and it’s fair to say Ant-Man and the Wasp played a big part in pushing this most successful franchise into uncharted territory. Indeed, the entire Ant-Man series has already crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, $610M of which was collected by the hit sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
It’s currently on course for a Blu-ray release next month (October 16th, to be specific), which tells us that Marvel Studios is on the verge of promoting its heavy-hitters of 2019 – namely Captain Marvel and Avengers 4 – in the coming weeks.
But this historic feat is all about the company’s 2018 slate, which reached dizzying new heights thanks to the landmark success of Ryan Coogler’s standalone Black Panther movie. Not only was the Afrocentric blockbuster considered a critical darling, but it’s one of the few MCU movies to gross higher than $1 billion worldwide.
Ditto for Avengers: Infinity War. The Joe and Anthony Russo-directed crossover made history in its own right by bringing together the franchise’s biggest characters for a superhero smackdown the likes of which we’ve never seen before. And we fully expect Avengers 4 to swoop in and tend to unfinished business come 2019.
Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, though; after scoring $4 billion with only three movies, it’s fair to say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is healthier now than it’s ever been. And long may that continue…