Avengers: Infinity War came out on 27th April 2018 and opened to record-breaking sales. The movie set both commercial and critical records as it soared on the BOX office, the movie got rave reviews from the fans as it met all of their expectations and we had enough misdirection in the trailer that the plot of the movie was engaging even to the most seasoned fan. The idea of Infinity War was to present the fandom with a possibility of loss, the idea that the good guys don’t always win. That sometimes there are such monsters out there that can take apart entire universes with their might and when our heroes come face to face with such calamities there is little they can do.
The idea seemed to work as Infinity War seems to go strong on both domestic and international box office. After 12 weeks of its release, the movie, on Sunday closed with a gross collection of $1.999471 Billion as reported by Forbes, just shy of the $ 2 Billion mark. It completed its run on Monday when it closed on $921,000 taking the gross earnings of the movie well over the $2 Billion mark. Although Infinity War dipped below a $1 million a day on its 48th day (one less than avatar and four more than the force awakens) it has now become the fourth movie to ever attain the $ 2 Billion mark. The entire premise that a superhero movie could be such a great success is astonishing to the general comic fan. It is imperative that we continue to support this stream of success if we very wish to see great comic movies in the future.
Avengers: Infinity War has set a new record with its commercial success, the movie made its $2 Billion with a 33/67 split in the domestic/international market making it one of the highest grossing superhero movies ever. Financial analysts reading this article should know that these figures have not been adjusted for any kind of inflation.
So what does it mean for the superhero franchise if a movie like Infinity War makes the big bucks? Well, it means exactly what you think it means. It means that the producers and Hollywood big shots along with moviemakers all over the world realize that superhero movies are big money. Although, the Marvel cinematic universe has worked (and succeeded ?) tirelessly to convince people of the legitimacy of superhero movies as more than a one-off project, the community of ‘elitist’ moviegoers are still not convinced. There is this argument going around in the fandom that the superhero genre has overstayed its welcome and it will soon disappear into oblivion because the novelty of superpowers in movies and shared universes has begun to wear off.
The entire premise seems a bit flawed at its core. Because the only people who are interested in shared universe movies are the ones who have followed he characters in those shared universes from their comic days. An Iron Man or a Spider-Man fan won’t just watch the movie but they will try their damnedest to look for good stories featuring their favorite character. In this case, the fans usually move to the source material of comic book movies. The source material can be a comic, a graphic novel, or even an original animation. The comic book movie genre makes big money not just by releasing movies but by propagating the brilliance of their cast too.
The story of Iron Man is so impactful not because of the great CGI or the impeccable visual presentation. Sure they play a pivotal role, but at the core of every movie or every story are the characters and superhero movies have characters like Iron Man, Superman, or Batman that have existed in the limelight for decades. There are fans out there who have grown up with these characters and who love them with all their hearts. Such connection to a characters makes for an engaging premise, what more can a filmmaker ask for when his audience is irreversibly invested in their protagonists.
The future of the superhero genre seems solidified because of movies like Avengers: Infinity War and now we wait for May 4, 2019, for the release of Avengers 4.
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