This year’s Thanksgiving box office was less than stellar with the new titles struggling to pull in audiences. Strange World, Disney’s latest animated film, was originally projected to earn around $30 million over the holiday weekend. Instead, the film looks to have debuted with just $18.6 million, which would make for one of the worst openings for an animated Disney film in modern times. The film, of course, had a poor CinemaScore working against it – having earned a B CinemaScore – a first for Disney Animation – and poor word of mouth from audiences.
It also didn’t help that the movie had to compete with Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which came in at number one for the third weekend in a row. That film managed to secure $64 million in its third outing, bringing its worldwide haul to an impressive $675 million so far.
The only other new releases this weekend were Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which saw a limited theatrical release from Netflix, and Devotion. While insiders believe Glass Onion pulled in around $12-$13 million this weekend, that figure is not expected to be counted on any official box-office charts. As for Devotion, the film is expected to pull in $9 million for the weekend, while The Menu is expected to pull in $7.4 million in its second outing.
There’s been a lot of hype around Tenoch Huerta‘s incredible performance as Namor, the leader of Talocan and antagonist in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Many have hoped that this performance would kick off interest from Marvel Studios to get this character his own solo project, but sadly it seems that rights are still an issue for some of the Marvel characters.
According to The Wrap, the rights are still not fully with Marvel Studios and are something from the pre-Disney era. When Marvel Comics was about to go bankrupt, they sold the rights to their characters to studios that would work on films. That’s how Sony and Fox originally got access to the pantheon of popular characters long before Marvel Studios was even a thought.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore has confirmed to The Wrap that the character can definitely return in a future project, but Disney is not able to produce a standalone project based around the character. It seems the rights are still with Universal, who also holds the rights to Hulk and was the reason that character never got a sequel since the Edward Norton film back in 2008.
Sadly, this means we shouldn’t expect any further exploration of Talocan in a solo outing in cinemas or even Disney+. Perhaps they’ll find a way to bring the characters back as part of another project where he isn’t the main character but still has a major role. Of course, there’s also the chance that Disney sees the potential and is open to repurchasing the rights to the character; though that may be more difficult with a potentially higher price given his newly found popularity.
It definitely looks like Marvel Studios’ projects are quite frontloaded in their release, as even Black Panther Wakanda Forever with an A CinemaScore faced a harsh Friday-to-Friday drop. It pulled in between $17.9M and stands at a chance of making up to $70M. It’s definitely a harsh 79% drop but not the worst that Marvel Studios has seen this year, as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dropped by 81% on its second Friday. It’s even lower than Thor: Love and Thunder‘s 80% and not too far from Black Adam’s 72%. Perhaps it’s a general genre trend in a market with less to offer.
As Deadline points out, there’s a chance it’ll make up to $70M and could stand at a 65% drop for its second weekend total. At that rate, it’s only around 3% lagging behind Multiverse of Madness, which is massive considering it was a prime summer release in May. Plus, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are around the corner which could give it a massive boost with very little competition. So, it does seem safe to assume it’ll hold the top spot going into its third weekend.
The Black Panther sequel already passed $400M worldwide and could be moving similarly to the previous entry. For those wondering if it’ll pass the billion-dollar mark: it doesn’t seem like a sure thing but if it holds after this weekend there’s still a chance it could outdo the Doctor Strange sequel. Even if some want to call this “the end of Marvel” once again, the films are still financially doing better than most and after much-calling fatigue since even after Avengers: Endgame‘s release. It’s the kind of fatigue many others would dream about.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever delivered a fascinating backstory for the underwater nation of Talokan and its God-king, Namor. Writer/director Ryan Coogler created a unique version of the legend of Atlantis that allowed for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the Sub-Mariner to stand apart from the comics while still staying true to the character’s core characteristics. Interestingly enough, despite nearly entirely recreating the character, Coogler also left room down the road for Namor to retroactively become a part of a comic book-based team with which he’s long been associated: the Invaders!
In the pages of Marvel Comics, the story of the Invaders was first told via flashbacks to World War II. Originally comprised of Namor, Captain America and John Hammond, the Original Human Torch, the Invaders were a group of heroes who sought to take on the Axis powers of Europe in the 1940s. The team grew to include teen sidekicks Bucky Barnes and Thomas “Toro” Raymond and, over the years, dozens of other characters. The original members of the team have reunited over the years but the bulk of their great stories took place during WWII fighting against one of the greatest evils the world has ever known. Despite just being introduced into the MCU in its present day, it seems that nothing about Namor’s known history could prevent him from being a part of such a team in the MCU.
As shown in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Namor is over 450 years old and despite his desire to keep Talokan and its people hidden from the surface world, the film’s events do not depict the first time he’s had contact with humans. Not only has Namor been spotted on beaches in and around the Yucatan Peninsula, but he also burned down a plantation and murdered several of its inhabitants as a young boy. Though he serves as the antagonist of Wakanda Forever, Namor is no villain. Arrogant, prideful and extremely temperamental, Namor is also compassionate and has a strong sense of justice, so while he holds no love for the surface world, you can be sure that he would share Captain America’s sense of disdain for the Nazis.
Historically speaking, the Nazis had a very real fascination with the lost continent of Atlantis and undertook several attempts to find it. As outlined here, it wouldn’t take much to retcon what audiences know of the MCU’s WWII era to bring Namor, Steve Rogers and John Hammond (who was introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger) together to fight Nazis. In fact, all it would take would be a threat to Talokan to invoke Namor’s imperious impulses and find himself compelled to fight alongside other righteous heroes. If Marvel Studios did it right, it might even explain why Nick Fury had an icon in the Atlantic Ocean on his map of superhero hot spots seen in Iron Man 2.
That map has been widely interpreted to represent the locations of heroes Fury was following closely. The icon in the Atlantic has been thought to be Atlantis while the one in Africa thought to be Wakanda. However, there’s no reason to believe that those icons couldn’t simply represent places where interesting activities have taken place in the past rather than events that were taking place in and around the events of Iron Man 2. Fury didn’t have to know the exact location of Wakanda, for example in order to have become aware of some past incident in the area that drew his attention. The same could be said for the area in the Atlantic. The Nazis were known to be searching the seas far and wide for any potential signs of Atlantis so there’s no reason they couldn’t have engaged with Namor and the Invaders in that region, which is not insignificantly located near Tristan da Cunha, the most remote island archipelago in the world with a current population of only 264 inhabitants. Should a battle involving the Nazis, a flying fish man, a flaming, flying android and the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan have taken place in such a location, it wouldn’t take much imagination to figure out why it wasn’t part of the history books in the MCU but a guy like Fury would have means to find out about it.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever delivers a great origin and introduction for K’uk’ulkan and does an equally wonderful job of not cutting off any more stories for the character, past present or future.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters now.
Winston Duke’s star has been on the rise for over half a decade. Duke is best known for his roles in Black Panther and Us and for his thick thighs, which have made him an ongoing source of social media thirst. After garnering attention as M’Baku in Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, Duke’s role was beefed up significantly for Black Panther: WakandaForever, where he served as an advisor to Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri. The film’s final moments seemed to indicate that M’Baku may have taken on an even more significant role in Wakanda and now the star has confirmed it in an interview with Esquire. Spoilers to follow…
The final moments of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever see Shuri, who became the Queen of Wakanda following the death of her mother, Ramonda, head to Haiti to be with her nephew, Prince T’Challa, and his mother, Nakia. Being in Haiti, she is not able to be present at Warrior Falls when M’Baku “challenges” her for the throne, seemingly allowing M’Baku to become King of Wakanda, though clearly with Shuri’s blessing. Though it seemed pretty clear, fans have questioned the outcome on social media but Duke came by to put those questions down, saying of the moment “Yeah, it’s kind of cool to be revealed asM the King of Wakanda at the end of the movie. That’s huge. So whatever that entails, it’s gonna be a fun one.”
Though M’Baku sits the throne of Wakanda, Shuri remains the Black Panther. The post-credit scene would seem to indicate that she’s determined that her role as Protector of Wakanda is better filled in Haiti where she’s able to look to the safety of Prince T’Challa. Whether Marvel Studios ever intends to follow the story of the Prince’s claim to the throne or if the PCS simply serves to make good on the film’s subtitle and show that the Royal Family of Wakanda will live on for another generation isn’t clear. But having the Thigh King become the King of Wakanda is a brilliant way to show that part of T’Challa’s legacy was reuniting the long-fractured nation of Wakanda.
One of the money shots of the marketing footage for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever showed the descent of Namor onto his massive, underwater throne. Namor has always been a big throne guy in the comics, but the crew on Wakanda Forever really upped the ante in adapting the Sub-Mariner and his throne room for the MCU, having Namor seated in the jaws of an ancient beast! Fans have been buzzing about the set piece since first seeing it, speculating on just what sort of creature the jaws belonged to and now they have their answer.
Production Designer Hannah Beachler, who won an Academy Award for her work on Black Panther, returned to work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and took to Twitter recently to detail some of the fascinating features from some of the most breathtaking sets from the film including Namor’s throne.
Namor's throne seat. A Magalodon jaw with Jade Teeth. The Hieroglyph carved in the bone reads, "This Jade Tooth Bites." I thought it was charming and dangerous like Namor. The piece was 12 feet tall by 10 feet wide. It was BIG! pic.twitter.com/lFypY6qRIH
As fans believed, Namor’s throne was indeed created from the jaws of a Megalodon. The extinct Megalodon is the largest species of shark to have ever lived. Recent estimates indicate the average Megalodon was likely 34 feet long (Great Whites average 20 feet, for comparison) with teeth about 7 inches long! The production design team did their homework not only in depicting the size of the jaws but also in keying in on the fact that more than a quarter of the total number of Megalodon fossils have been found around the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Given the details of the piece, including the description carved into the lower jaw, it would be a shame if it weren’t seen again soon in the MCU!
There’s been a lot of debate on the success of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the box office, mostly due to it ending up lower than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Many believed this might be the sign that Marvel won’t have a billion hit this year, but the box office is quite fiscal and there are many more elements at play. All eyes are currently on its second weekend to see how the film holds with a $181M opening weekend, especially after the previous two Marvel Studios releases have hit some sharp drops.
As of now, it seems that predictions have the film opening to $72M with upwards of $80M also a possibility. Any drop between 55% to 60% would be seen as a major win and a great showcase of that A CinemaScore the film scored in comparison to other Marvel titles of the year. The pandemic hasn’t been kind to most releases and with only a few exceptions really catapulting beyond expectations, mostly Top Gun: Maverick, Marvel has been the most dominant sure-fire opening scorer at the box office.
The film did end up going lower on Monday than even Thor: Love and Thunder as it pulled in $11M but did tick up to $12.6M on Tuesday. Yet, the film also isn’t a summer release like the previous two Marvel films which makes a world of difference when it comes to its performance during the week. Plus, it’s a much longer film than previous entries which also means fewer available screenings per day playing a key factor in its performance. So, it’s still hard to say how the weekend goes but predictions have been difficult even s the pandemic slowed down, as we’re seeing more variation in how films perform. Even with that, it’s likely to reach $400M worldwide in no time.
The original Black Panther had a very impressive 44.7% decline and it’s unclear to say this film could do the same. It doesn’t have the coveted A+ CinemaScore its previous iteration had and it also had a smaller opening, not too surprising given the challenges this film had to face and the new release slot. It’s only the seventh film to pass $200M domestically and that is definitely a good sign for Marvel Studios, as it pushed Disney passed $3B total gross for the year, beating last year. With little competition until Avatar: The Way of Water in mid-December, the film could have a chance at proving its legs to at least close in on a billion. If predictions are right, it has a decent chance but anything can change once the weekend rolls around.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has made quite the splash at the international box office and is a strong contender to potentially pass a billion with some powerful word-of-mouth pushing the project forward. There’s, however, one part that could end up dragging its growth down in the form of the current Disney plan setting each new release to be available on Disney+ within 45 days. Yet, it seems that Wakanda Forever may move away from that current trend.
While reporting the current box office trends, Deadline shares some details on what we can expect from its theatrical run. They point out that the film isn’t set to release ahead of the holidays, which has been a common move for Disney to get some more momentum for its subscriber growth ahead of the holiday season. Encanto dropped quite quickly on the platform and it seems they have the same plan with Stranger World, which is set to release on November 23rd. Even Eternals found its way shortly after the year started in January.
Yet, they are opting to potentially not do the same with Wakanda Forever. As such, they may be starting to move away from the 45-day release window that has been set and adapt from film to film. Top Gun: Maverick proved that a longer release window can truly carry a film passed the billion and with some strong word-of-mouth, it would be a shame if Disney got in the way of its own success. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising if they generally start moving away from that and give these films more time to breathe in theaters.
If you haven’t seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever yet, only continue at your own risk. The following article contains spoilers on major plot points of the sequel.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ended Phase 4 by further exploring the concept of grief, but with some real-world thrown into the mix. Director Ryan Coogler and his crew used the film to work through their own challenges after the loss of Chadwick Boseman, which leads to a powerful film reflecting back on the legacy he leaves. In the middle of it all, Angela Bassett offered a powerful performance as Queen Ramonda. In an interview with IndieWire, she highlighted what it was like taking on the role and returning as the character and how Coogler supported the cast throughout production.
He’s extremely clear on the story and what he’s doing, but the way he carries himself around the cast and the crew. It’s so collaborative. He’s so self-effacing. That impostor syndrome that we’re feeling or whatever, he will just say it out loud. ‘I don’t know about these words. Are you OK with them?’ And he really invites you to have your say, be a part, which is wonderful. He doesn’t straightjacket you.
Angela Bassett
Of course, the big move in this film was her death at the hands of Tenoch Huerta‘s Namor. A powerplay to showcase his power before Wakanda and especially Letitia Wright‘s Shuri. In a story already fighting through the loss of a character, it seemed harsh to add one more to the list, but Bassett shared how the Black Panther director convinced her of taking the story down this route.
I objected. Yeah, I was like, ‘Ryan, what are you doing? Why? You will rue the day! You will rue the demise of [Ramonda]. People are gonna be so upset. He was like, ‘Angela, I know, I know, but look, to die is not really to die in this world. It doesn’t really have to mean that.’
Angela Bassett
It definitely was shocking and added to the emotional gut punch that was Wakanda Forever. Shuri’s character has gone through a lot in this film. So, it just added even more weight to the events that transpired. Still, it almost seems like we could expect Bassett to potentially return in the MCU’s future if that is how Coogler sold her on the story decision.
With the revelation that Wakanda is no longer the only nation with access to Vibranium, the landscape of the Marvel Cinematic Universe changed dramatically. For all the reasons clearly outlined by Queen Ramonda in her speech to the UN and seconded by Everett Ross in his conversation with his ex-wife and current CIA Director, Valentia Allegra de Fontaine, it seems best if Vibranium is kept out of the hands of other nations. Fortunately, the two known locations of Vibranium on Earth now seem safer than ever with Wakanda and Talokan forging an alliance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, if Vibranium could be found buried in the ocean floor, who is to say that’s the only place outside of Wakanda where deposits of it might exist?
An increasingly popular fan theory posits that it won’t be long before Vibranium’s history in the MCU is revised once more and that another deposit of the alien metal will be discovered in another place, like Wakanda and Talokan, thought to only exist in legend: the Savage Land. Hidden away in Antarctica, the Savage Land is a tropical game preserve created by an alien race over 200 million years ago that first appeared in Marvel Comics in 1941. Over the years, several individuals stumbled upon the Savage Land, filled with prehistoric flora and fauna such as dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers and early hominids, allowing legend of it to spread among mankind and into “fictional” accounts. In addition to the wild array of creatures that inhabit it, the Savage Land from the pages of the Marvel Comics is also the only known location of an alternate form of Vibranium known as Anti-Metal. While Savage Land Vibranium shares some properties with Vibranium, its unique properties could make it, in many ways, a more dangerous alternative.
By embracing the more fantastical elements of Namor and Talokan, Marvel Studios kept the door open to introducing the Savage Land in the MCU. And if the Savage Land does exist in the MCU, it could provide a fascinating opportunity to make good on Namor’s promise that one day the world would come for the resources of Wakana and Talokan. As eager as Val is shown to be to get her hands on Vibranium in Wakanda Forever, she’s not foolish enough to think her team of Thunderbolts could possibly be well enough equipped to take on either Wakanda or Talokan, much less their combined strength. However, the uncertain fate of Riri Williams’ Vibranium detector in the film could be just the type of unresolved plot point that could set the course of the Thunderbolts’ mission in the 2024 film: a trip to the Savage Land.
Sending a few Super Soldiers, a cyborg, a spy and a sneaky quantum-phase shifter into the Savage Land to bring back some Anti-Metal might sound like a relative day at the park; however, as fans of the comics know, it isn’t just the dinosaurs and Man-Apes of the Savage Land that the Thunderbolts would have to deal with. The Savage Land has its own protector, Ka-Zar, and it’s unlikely he and his Smilodon companion Zabu would take kindly to a group of outsiders coming to raid his land.
Since the Disney-Fox merger was completed, I’ve consistently heard whispers that Marvel Studios One-Above-All Kevin Feige was eager to bring the Savage Land to the MCU. Fox never explored the potential of it and its inhabitants, making it ripe for Marvel Studios. Feige found a way to include a “Savage World” in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which served as a Savage Land Easter egg. Is it possible it also served as a way to prime audiences for the eventual inclusion of the location within another project?
While on the surface, the group Val has assembled to be her Thunderbolts doesn’t really inspire much awe; however, putting them in the Savage Land and pitting them against Ka-Zar and/or the elements does seem to spice things up a touch. In the comics, Anti-Metal’s unique properties allow it to liquefy other metals. So much for John Walker’s shield. Could Anti-Metal do the same to Wakandan Vibranium? Bucky’s arm would make for an interesting experiment. Savage Land Vibranium also has unique vibrational properties. Could those be used to disrupt Ghost’s phasing abilities?
Of course, Ka-Zar is no villain and if Thunderbolts was going to follow along this “hunt for Vibranium” path, the team wouldn’t spend the entire film locked in battle with him, but the idea of that team on a mission to the Savage Land is much more palatable than them taking on Wakanda, Talokan or really any group of powered people. The current makeup of the team is pretty weak and couldn’t handle any sort of Avengers-level threat. So who else could be in the Savage Land that would make a formidable and realistic threat to the team? Skrulls have been known to be interested in Anti-Metal in the comics and would provide just the kind of threat the Thunderbolts could handle while teaming up with Ka-Zar. It could also provide a great opportunity for Marvel Studios to adapt the big Savage Land battle from the Secret Invasion comic event into a smaller-scale third-act brawl that would make Thunderbolts a whole lot of fun.
Another, less exciting option for a big bad in Thunderbolts could be the MCU’s Power Broker, Sharon Carther. It’s worth noting that the D+ series Secret Invasion is said to lead right into Armor Wars, which is now being developed as a feature film. Having competing parties searching for Vibranium in the Savage Land is a lot less exciting than having Skrulls there, but it could also be said that they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I’ve not heard exciting things about the big bad of the Thunderbolts’ film, however, so this is just one boring place my mind goes while pursuing the possibilities.
Again, it’s all just speculation generated from what’s become a fairly well-shared fan theory about what Val’s team will get up to in Thunderbolts, but there are certainly enough dots to connect to make up the bare bones of a boring story. However, given its slot as a July film, Marvel Studios will certainly want Thunderbolts to look and feel like a blockbuster and a trip to the Savage Land would go a long way in that regard.
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