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‘Batman V Superman’ Just Beat A Marvel Classic At The Box Office

By Gregory Wakeman
Published on: 00:09 PST, Apr 27, 2016

Most of the news you’ve read regarding Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has probably been rather negative.

While its opening weekend haul at the box office was undeniably impressive — it even broke records for a March release — it has since been extensively reported that it faced a historic decline in its second week, and its current gross is believed to have been a huge disappointment for Warner Bros.

Plus, to make things even worse for the film, its studio, and everyone involved in its production, it received nearly unanimously negative reviews upon its release, too.

Because of these issues, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has been labelled as a flop. Especially considering that it was just the second of Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe, which will, hopefully, be followed by nine upcoming films that includes Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League Part One, The Flash, Aquaman, Shazam, Justice League Part Two, Cyborg, and Green Lantern Corps.

But it turns out that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s failure has been somewhat exaggerated. Proof of which can be found with the news that the Man of Steel sequel has now surpassed the box office totals of both Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

Forbes reported that Batman v Superman grossed $5.4 million domestically in its fifth weekend, meaning that it has now amassed $319 million in its opening month. That means it has now surpassed the $312 million of Iron Man 2 and the $318 million of Iron Man. However, it is unlikely to get close to Iron Man 3’s domestic box office haul, which ultimately came in at $409 million.

The comparison between Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Iron Man trilogy is rather apt. That’s because, like Batman V Superman, 2008’s Iron Man was seen as the starting point for its particular cinematic universe.

Sure, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was preceded by Man of Steel, but the latter was developed, shot, and released without the knowledge that a DC Extended Universe would be devised and that the film would be a part of it.

Iron Man ultimately went on to clock $585.2 million at the worldwide box office, a total that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has already eclipsed as it currently has grossed $852.3 million, with $532.4 million coming internationally on top of the $319.9 million domestically.

There are some caveats to these figures, though. That’s because before his origin story was released into cinemas, the character of Iron Man was a cult figure, one mostly only known by comic book aficionados.

On the other hand, Batman and Superman were and still are two of the most popular characters in the history of pop culture. They’d already spawned over 10 films of their own, and it was widely believed that putting the two characters in the same blockbuster would reap huge financial rewards for the studio.

Basically, the box office haul for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice can be seen in a positive and negative light.

Sure, bringing these two DC characters together should have resulted in a larger return at the box office, but its total still puts the DC Extended Universe in good stead for the future. The real pressure will now be on the follow-up to Batman v Superman to build upon this triumph. This will start with Suicide Squad on August 5, and its box office return will provide us with a better idea of how well the DC Extended Universe will do in the future.

[Image via Warner Bros.]

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