There’s always going to be an asterisk next to the commercial performance of Black Widow due to the Marvel Cinematic Universe prequel landing on Disney Plus Premier Access the same day it hit theaters, which ultimately opened up a huge can of worms between the studio and star Scarlett Johansson.
That being said, a box office haul of $379 million is more than most Hollywood blockbusters have managed to earn during the pandemic era, so it was far from a failure. However, Black Widow has now been surpassed domestically by Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which moves the symbiotic sequel into second place on the 2021 list, although it’s still trailing well behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ $221 million.
As per Forbes, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is sitting on a domestic tally of $184 million heading into the weekend, having passed $350 million globally last week. That’s a solid return for the Sony-backed comic book adaptation, when even 50% of its predecessor’s $856 million total would be viewed as a major success by the standards of the time.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage has been setting records in many overseas markets since rolling out on October 15, and the three highest-grossing domestic releases of the year so far are all Marvel movies, once again reaffirming the commercial strength and worldwide appeal of the company’s output.