Debuting with a Hulk-like smash of critical acclaim and big box office receipts, Captain America: Civil War has once again silenced dissenting voices bemoaning audiences' superhero fatigue and set new benchmarks at the box office.
By racking up $181.79 million domestically in its opening weekend, Marvel's latest cameo-laden stepping-stone in its expanding cinematic universe now boasts the third largest opening weekend of any Marvel film, and the fifth largest opening weekend of all time. Amongst Marvel movies, it's debut only falls short of both Avengers movies, ensemble affairs that typically act as the big event films bookending "phases" within the Marvel cinematic universe.
The fact that Captain America: Civil War's opening weekend domestic gross rubs shoulders with the massive Avengers films shouldn't be a surprise, as the marketing for the movie aggressively promotes the film's multiple cameos by Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and other Avengers alumni, giving the movie much more of a hero-packed vibe than Captain America's previous two films. With the top four Marvel opening weekends coming from the past four years, Marvel aptly demonstrates that its cinematic universe, now with a little under a decade of world-building under its belt, is featuring more heroes per movie while still keeping critics on board (none of the top four movies have a tomatometer rating under 75%), resulting in bigger box office receipts than ever.
The movie also owes some of its success to serving as a backdoor pilot of sorts for Marvel A-lister Spider-Man, who makes his debut in the Marvel cinematic universe in this film, played for the first time by Tom Holland.
Take note, Warner Bros.: Successful superhero ensemble movies, particularly ones where two big heroes go head-to-head in battle such as Captain America: Civil War, requires audience investment earned through years of universe building. Marvel accomplished this through the creation of individual franchises for its biggest characters, particularly Captain America and Iron Man, whereas Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Warner Bros./DC's recent attempt at a hero vs. hero film, fell short with critics and fans due to its dour tone and a lack of backstory for its titular heroes in the fledgling DC cinematic universe.
