Logan is a hit, but it’s not enough of a hit for the hero.
Is there any movie franchise as inconsistent with its quality and success as X-Men? Over the weekend, Logan exceeded lowballed expectations to gross $88m, and that’s pretty good and all but seems kind of low for a solo vehicle starring one of the most popular comic book superhero characters of all time. There’s no reason why Wolverine shouldn’t be as big a draw as fellow Marvel icons Spider-Man and Iron Man. And after Deadpool, there’s no excuse to be made about it being R-rated or for the case that $85m is actually a relative achievement for the series.
If we look at just the three Wolverine movies, Logan did so-so business at home. It may look like it matched X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s $85 opening, but that first part of the trilogy actually took in $99m if we adjust for inflation. However, compared to the previous installment, The Wolverine – $53m opening, or $59m adjusted for inflation – it is an improvement. This could be seen as a recovery given that audiences may have flocked to a solo Wolverine movie in 2009, been terribly disappointed by it then skipped the next one, but later discovered it’s much better and is now on board again.
That up and down with the disappointments and renewed interest is kind of X-Men’s thing. Originally, the franchise was on the rise, each of the first few installments opening better and making more than the last. But X-Men: The Last Stand left a bad taste in moviegoers’ mouths, and so X-Men: First Class debuted to less than half the money of its precursor. That one was popular enough, though, that it was followed by a much more successful X-Men: Days of Future Past. Then last year, the people weren’t fooled with X-Men: Apocalypse, which is the one time quality and box office were compatible.
You could also see the second trilogy of X-Men movies as being only really successful if Wolverine is a main character, as in Days of Future Past. He only cameos in First Class and Apocalypse, the two with the lowest domestic box office in the main series. So, if he’s always considered such an asset to the franchise, as played by Hugh Jackman, then why do The Wolverine and Logan join those two installments in the bottom four slots for the franchise when it comes to opening numbers? As we also saw last year with analysis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe figures, superhero team movies tend to do better than solo series, but this is Wolverine we’re talking about. Not Thor.
The thing that’s especially interesting about Logan’s opening, as good as it appears to be, is this is the Wolverine movie fans have been supposedly wanting for the last 17 years. He’s a killer, and for many comic book readers and moviegoers that’s exactly what he should be. Maybe not everybody heard. Logan is likely to have better legs than the other X-Men movies, if word of mouth on its merits combined with all the repeat business (I’m seeing it again this week, and I very rarely do that) is greater than its potential backlash for being slower than some of the other X-Men movies.
To prove just how poorly Wolverine fares as a box office draw compared to his peers, down below is a list of the top qualifying big-screen live-action superheroes in order of popularity according to a Ranker ranking voted on by 55k fans. Each hero has had at least one “solo” movie where he or she is the main character, and so we show his or her average opening box office for both solo features and for team outings. You’ll clearly see how different Wolverine is from the others at the top. And there’s no good reason why other than at least his two more recent movies are a little smaller.
Keep in mind, of course, that this all has to do only with his appeal and box office draw in the US. Wolverine and the X-Men are more consistently a big deal overseas, as evidenced by Logan already taking in an additional $153m from international markets. And looking at past installments’ totals, while The Wolverine made much less than Origins here, it made much more around the world. Also, Apocalypse was one of the biggest X-Men successes elsewhere while performing poorly in America. So that’s another question: why is Wolverine a really big draw everywhere but here?
Now for that ranked list. All figures are adjusted for inflation, via Box Office Mojo.
1. Batman
Average solo opening box office: $115m
($145m for contemporary wide release era)
Average team opening box office: $167m
2. Wolverine
Average solo opening box office: $81m
Average team opening box office: $110m
3. Spider-Man
Average solo opening box office: $130m
Average team opening box office: $177m
4. Superman
Average solo opening box office: $52m
($95m for contemporary wide release era)
Average team opening box office: $167m
5. Captain America
Average solo opening box office: $166m
Average team opening box office: $197m
(Captain America: Civil War is counted as both a solo and a team movie, but if excluded from the former, the average is $85m)
6. Iron Man
Average solo opening box office: $147m
Average team opening box office: $197m
7. Hulk
Average solo opening box office: $78m
Average team opening box office: $207m
8. Thor
Average solo opening box office: $80m
Average team opening box office: $207m
9. Deadpool
Average solo opening box office: $135m
Average team opening box office: n/a
10. Daredevil
Average solo opening box office: $58m
Average team opening box office: n/a
11. Green Lantern
Average solo opening box office: $57m
Average team opening box office: n/a
12. Punisher
Average solo opening box office: $12m
Average team opening box office: n/a
13. Doctor Strange
Average solo opening box office: $84m
Average team opening box office: n/a
14. Catwoman
Average solo opening box office: $23m
Average team opening box office: n/a
15. Supergirl
Average solo opening box office: $15m
Average team opening box office: n/a
16. Spawn
Average solo opening box office: $37m
Average team opening box office: n/a
17. Hellboy
Average solo opening box office: $37m
Average team opening box office: n/a
18. Blade
Average solo opening box office: $34m
Average team opening box office: n/a
19. Ant-Man
Average solo opening box office: $60m
Average team opening box office: $177m
20. John Constantine
Average solo opening box office: $40m
Average team opening box office: n/a
21. Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
Average solo opening box office: $41m
Average team opening box office: n/a
22. Elektra
Average solo opening box office: $17m
Average team opening box office: n/a
23. Judge Dredd
Average solo opening box office: $16m
Average team opening box office: n/a
Related Topics: Batman, Box Office, Comics, Marvel
