'Deadpool & Wolverine' - One of Marvel's Biggest Hits Is Barely an MCU Movie

Audiences will show up for marquee characters they know and/or like far more than they'll show up for a performer, the promise of spectacle or an existing IP.

Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine has now earned $407.6 million domestically and $851.9 million worldwide. It’ll pass the $409-$411 million domestic cumes of Iron Man 3, Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness by the end of this sentence while concurrently later today zooming past the $852 million (including a now-implausible $262 million in China) lifetime total of Venom and the $873 million lifetime cume of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. We’re looking at a domestic total higher than any “solo” MCU superhero movie save for (presumably) Black Panther ($700 million domestic and $1.345 billion in 2018) and (certainly) Spider-Man: No Way Home ($805 million/$1.91 billion in 2021). The key lesson? All three films have little connection to the overall MCU narrative or long-form continuity and are entirely predicated on their marquee characters.