The Box Office Success Double Standard of ‘Aquaman 2’ and ‘The Marvels’ Is Ridiculous

Box office projections set Aquaman 2 as having a “successful” $50 or $60 million dollar opening weekend. But only recently, The Marvels’ projections of a $75-$80 million opening were deemed a failure.

The new Aquaman movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, hits theaters in less than a month. As reported by Deadline, Aquaman 2 is on track to gross between $50-$60 million on its opening weekend during the Christmas holiday. These numbers are being hailed as a success—apparently, the movie will “make a splash” if those predictions are correct. This is good news for DC Studios, which has seen many of its latest films flounder at the box office. Having Jason Momoa, an actor seemingly beloved by the entire world, as the star doesn’t hurt this movie’s chances of success, either. After all, he’s just a guy trying to keep the kingdoms of the ocean in line and maybe bond with his bro. (I don’t think they want us to pay attention to the sidelining of Amber Heard’s character, Mera.)

Wait … wasn’t The Marvels labeled a failure?

Celebrating a $60 million opening seems at odds with how the world reacted to another superhero movie that recently came out—The Marvels. Both movies have a fun vibe and have the heroes learning how to work together with their found families. However, excitement over The Marvels in the media seems vastly different from the excitement for Aquaman 2. Of course, instead of being helmed by Momoa, The Marvels boasts three female leads, two of whom are people of color. Brie Larson, who plays Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, has been a favorite target for misogynist internet trolls.

Before The Marvels premiered, critics already framed it as a failure. Box office projections for The Marvels predicted it would make between $75-$80 million during its opening weekend. People dove into discussing superhero fatigue and a supposed lack of interesting characters as the film’s core issues. Superhero fatigue is definitely being felt, but that began long before The Marvels—other male-led projects have suffered, too. Even Samuel L. Jackson couldn’t get people excited about Secret Invasion. Yet The Marvels became a lightning rod for superhero failure with an $80 million projected opening. Although The Marvels has plenty of positive reviews, it is still getting hit by disgusting takes, like Disney CEO Bob Iger saying Nia DaCosta, the film’s writer and director, “didn’t have enough supervision” while making the film.

Related: The 61 Celebrities Who Have Played Themselves In The MCU on We Got This Covered

Where Marvel and DC differ

One point in favor of the Aquaman 2 praise is the difference between Marvel and DC films. Budgets and expectations for Marvel movies are usually higher than those of DC. Marvel’s top-grossing movie, Avengers: Endgame, made over $2.7 billion worldwide. In comparison, the first Aquaman movie, DC’s top film, had a total gross of $1.1 billion. Additionally, the production budget for The Marvels was $274.8 million, whereas Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s budget is slightly lower, at $205 million.

However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased cost of necessary things like food and rent, consumers spend their money differently. A film’s projected box office intake on opening weekend may no longer be a solid test of how a movie will actually perform. The success of Barbie and Oppenheimer in the theaters sent shockwaves through the industry. No one expected people to turn out in droves on opening weekend, but it happened. The vastly different pre-release coverage of these two superhero movies feels less about Marvel versus DC and more about how female-led superhero movies are framed in the media.

(featured image: Warner Bros. Pictures)