It’s beginning to look as though the Avengers or Spider-Man remain the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s only realistic hopes of ever returning to billion-dollar territory, with The Marvels staring box office disaster square in the face ahead of its theatrical release this weekend.

Anybody who doubts franchise fatigue is a very real thing need look no further than the latest estimates for Nia DaCosta’s incoming sequel, which realistically carry the potential to anoint the Captain Marvel follow-up as the MCU’s first certifiable bomb of epic proportions.

As much as you’d hope that won’t be the case, a worldwide opening of $140 million is the current prognosis, which is a devastating blow for a number of reasons. Not only would that be less than Captain Marvel made domestically alone across its first three days in theaters, it’s also more than $300 million behind its predecessor.

For comparison, Brie Larson’s solo debut hoovered up an incredible $153.4 million from the United States and $456.7 million worldwide in the space of 72 hours back in 2018, and there’s a distinct chance The Marvels may not even clear that latter figure by the time it exists multiplexes.

Even more concerningly, it’s been noted that if Thursday previews surpass $6 million, then the three-day haul could barely squeak past $40 million. It won’t go down as the MCU’s lowest-grossing blockbuster ever unless something goes catastrophically awry, but The Marvels is going to set at least one all-time low for the long-running saga, and it could potentially be a great deal more than that.

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