Marvel has always been one of the cinematic franchises, if not the first, that dominates the box office. Despite releasing three blockbusters this year, the MCU still trails Top Gun: Maverick (number one) and Jurassic World: Dominion (number two). Since 2014, Kevin Feige’s superhero franchise has tended to be one of the two highest-grossing movies of the year on a global level, except for 2022.
According to Box Office Mojo by IMDb Pro, Top Gun: Maverick heads the 2022 worldwide box office, with Jurassic World: Dominion coming in second. Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness landed third, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ranks sixth and Thor: Love and Thunder ranks eighth.
Despite people’s doubt, James Cameron’s most-anticipated sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, which holds the 4th place in the box office, managed to excel better than the two latter MCU releases, as well as Illuminations’ Minions: The Rise of Gru, which comes fifth in the ranking.
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As of this writing, Avatar: The Way of Water has just dethroned Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for third place, and is soon expected to overtake Jurassic World: Dominion for second place. Marvel is obviously suffering from box office deficiencies with Phase 4 not performing well, even for MCU fans.
Marvel has appeared to be fairly untouchable since the release of Iron Man in 2008. The MCU has received a warm welcome from both moviegoers and comic book geeks, propelling film after film to the top of the box office.
In the 10 years between 2012 and 2021, Marvel was always performing well at the box office. They were only left off the list in 2020 because they postponed their releases due to the pandemic. Marvel had a strong run of dominating the box office before 2022 because in 2018, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War tied for first place, followed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019 and Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
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Despite this trio, Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Jurassic World Dominion, earning billions and a clear vision that the MCU will leave the podium this time, the studio is expected to bounce back in 2023 with its upcoming promising releases.
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