Marvel Studios has been doing quite well at the box office, but still faced some hurdles in its more experimental phase. Phase 4 has seen quite a few more distinct projects than in the past, which also meant that fan reception wasn’t always on board. Since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel Studios’ productions have been getting B CinemaScores rather than the usual A they’ve built up over the years. Eternals being the lowest they’ve had in a long time with a B while Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ended up with a B+ score.
The only one that was able to break that streak was the co-developed Spider-Man: No Way Home which also had a strong nostalgia effect at play but also was technically published by Sony. Luckily, it seems that the B CinemaScore streak has come to an end as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has received an A grade from audiences.
Early indicators hint that it may have been close to getting an A+ rating as it received five stars from 83% of audiences according to PostTrack, which is not too far from No Way Home‘s 89%. It’s a great sign that audiences are still enjoying Marvel films at the moment, as the latest phase rolls out. Plus, it bodes well for the film’s legs in the long run even if A+ could’ve pushed it even further. It’s not surprising though that after an event film like Avengers: Endgame, people would feel a bit of a sophomore slump like with any long-running series, but Marvel is playing the long game by testing out new waters throughout this phase.
