The Marvels just hit a new mark in MCU history for the worst audience score the franchise has ever seen.
The Marvels becomes the 33rd movie in MCU history, although it wasn’t without its fair share of concerns heading into its debut.
The sequel had the worst pre-sale ticket revenue for any MCU movie since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, and with reports of issues concerning the story, it has a lot of ground to make up right from the get-go.
The Marvels Gets Bad Audience Score
Upon its theatrical debut, The Marvels earned a "B" audience score rating from CinemaScore, which is the worst/lowest audience score a Marvel Studios film has ever received.
The MCU has had two other films from the Multiverse Saga earn a "B" audience score from CinemaScore, those being 2021's Eternals and 2023's Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
The full list of CinemaScore ratings from the MCU can be seen below in order from the best scores to the worst scores:
- The Avengers: A+
- Black Panther: A+
- Avengers: Endgame: A+
- Spider-Man: No Way Home: A+
- Iron Man: A
- Iron Man 2: A
- Iron Man 3: A
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier: A
- Guardians of the Galaxy: A
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: A
- Ant-Man: A
- Captain America: Civil War: A
- Doctor Strange: A
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: A
- Spider-Man: Homecoming: A
- Thor: Ragnarok: A
- Avengers: Infinity War: A
- Captain Marvel: A
- Spider-Man: Far From Home: A
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: A
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: A
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: A
- The Incredible Hulk: A-
- Captain America: The First Avenger: A-
- Thor: The Dark World: A-
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: A-
- Black Widow: A-
- Thor: B+
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: B+
- Thor: Love and Thunder: B+
- Eternals: B
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania: B
CinemaScore calculates its audience score rating with an average of ratings from moviegoers as they leave the theater. This means the score is purely based on the first reactions from the general public directly after the given film finishes.
In the MCU's 15-year history, only six movies, including The Marvels, have earned less than an A- with this rating system.
Will The Marvels Be Successful in Theaters Later?
This year alone proved that films aren’t necessarily doomed after a bad opening weekend, as demonstrated by Disney and Pixar’s Elemental when it earned over $400 million at the global box office.
Taking into account all of the issues Marvel Studios has had this year both in theaters and on Disney+, The Marvels has an uphill battle to fight.
More than anything, the franchise’s problems with disappointing CGI work are coming back to bite, and Zawe Ashton’s performance as the villainous Dar-Benn hasn’t landed with many viewers.
On top of that, audiences have complained that The Marvels sticks too much to the "MCU formula" which has been brought up as an issue over the last few years, especially since the Multiverse Saga began in 2021.
Currently, Marvel Studios is in the midst of another round of major delays to future Phase 5 and Phase 6 films, with Deadpool 3 now being the lone MCU movie coming in all of 2024.
Hopefully, with the writers' and actors' strikes now over, Marvel Studios will be able to address some of these internal issues, taking complaints about The Marvels into account when looking to the future.
The Marvels is now playing in theaters worldwide.
