Captain America: Brave New World rallied past expectations and weak word-of-mouth in its opening weekend.
So where does this leave the MCU?
Captain America: Brave New Worldis crossing $100 million over the four-day weekend according to Disney.
Its a face-saving win forMarvel Studiosand proof that audiences still care about this mega-franchise.
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However, lets also consider that previous February holiday MCU win,Ant-Man 3.
In other words, it earned 20 percent more than Disneys estimates forBrave New World.
With that said, expectations are a big part of the MCUs problem.
In other words, these movies are costing more than they did a decade ago despite being less popular.
Traditionally, when franchises start dipping toward B- CinemaScores, it predicts bigger box office problems to come.
The only MCU movies to earn a B CinemaScore areEternals,The Marvels, andAnt-Man 3.
And as you might have noticed, none of them have sequels forthcoming.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justicedebuted at $166 million with terrible reviews and a B CinemaScore.
Discovery signaled they were rebooting the whole cinematic DC universe.
All of which puts the MCU in a strange place.
In which case, a better-than-expected opening weekend might lead to a less grim-than-anticipated second weekend drop.
Next week would be the bigger test, then, inBrave New Worlds long-term prospects.
Beyond the fourth Captain America movie, however, remains the health of the MCU brand itself.
The film even hintsMackies Cap will be instrumentalin assembling a new Avengers roster in next yearsAvengers: Doomsday.
