Recently, in a rather bold statement, Bob Iger advertised his confidence in the upcoming Deadpool and Wolverine movie. During a Morgan Stanley event, Bob Iger stated that he is confident about Deadpool 3 being the most successful Marvel movie in a long time. This is indeed a very strong claim from the Disney CEO but we all know that Deadpool and Wolverine is going to be a huge success, but can it beat other blockbuster movies like Avengers Infinity War, Endgame, or Spiderman: Far From Home? Let’s try to figure that out.
Deadpool And Wolverine: The Only Marvel Release in 2024
“Deadpool and Wolverine will be one of the most successful Marvel movies we’ve had in a long time.”- Bob Iger
The thing to note here is that in 2024, Deadpool 3 is the only feature film coming out from Marvel Studios under the banner of Disney. Due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, all other Marvel projects like Captain America: Brave New World, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and Blade were shifted to the 2025 release date. Deadpool and Wolverine movie is set for the release date of July 26, 2024.
It is obvious that Marvel Studios and Disney are putting a lot of faith in one single project so they must have a good reason to do so. However, I believe this is simply not the only reason for the confidence Bob Iger has shown in the movie. Even the numbers are in his favor. Let’s look at some speculations.
What Do the Numbers Say?
If we talk about the Deadpool franchise, Deadpool (2016) made a global collection of $782.8 million, while Deadpool 2 (2018) did a total global collection of $785.8 Million. In a time span of 2 years, Deadpool movies have seen a total growth of 0.38%. Now, remember that figure, and let’s move to Deadpool and Wolverine. So, the movie is coming out after 6 years, and considering the percentage rate of growth previously mentioned as a constant, Deadpool and Wolverine need to make about $791.15 Million to be considered a successful movie, at least in comparison to the previous two movies in the franchise.
However this time, the case is slightly different. Several characters from the X-Men franchise are expected to appear in the movie. Deadpool and Wolverine is bringing back the X-Men franchise to the screen, making them a part of the MCU which will greatly impact the movie’s total earnings. The Fox Studios’ X-Men franchise amassed a total global collection of $6 billion from 13 movies. Out of which approximately half or $2.9 billion were made by the movies featuring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
Now, Deadpool 3 is bringing in characters from the X-Men franchise, especially Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The audience that helped the X-Men movies featuring Jackman’s Wolverine earn $2.9 billion will certainly be interested in the movie. As a hardcore Wolverine fanboy, I’m damn interested in Wolverine and Deadpool’s crossover. This can skyrocket the total box office collection of Deadpool and Wolverine beyond what the statistics say.
Can Deadpool and Wolverine Beat Endgame and No Way Home?
Now the question is, can it beat movies like Avengers: Endgame which made $2.8 billion globally, Infinity War, grossing over $2 billion globally, and Far From Home’s collection of $1.8 billion globally at the Box Office? Yes, there is a high probability that Deadpool and Wolverine will not only cross the $1 billion mark but also break the previous records. If you look at Endgame and Infinity War, the money-making point of these movies was all the characters they brought together pooling in different fandoms.
The same goes for Spider-Man: No Way Home. An unpopular opinion I have is that No Way Home was not a good movie but was indeed an excellent fan service. The money-making point of No Way Home was not the story, no matter how much you deny it, it’s a fact that if No Way Home featured just Tom Holland, it wouldn’t be as successful as it got. The movie made money totally off of the fandom surrounding Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man.
With Deadpool 3, something no one saw coming is happening, the X-Men are back, Hugh Jackman, and the multiple rumored cameos, In the case of Endgame and Infinity War, we knew that at some point, all the heroes would come together. With Far From Home, it was expected even before the filming started. However, with Deadpool 3, this was indeed a surprise that blew the minds of Deadpool as well as X-Men fans simultaneously. I’m not saying the previously mentioned movies didn’t do it well, all I’m saying is that Deadpool just did it way better. Making it a strong candidate to surpass Avengers: Endgame as the highest-grossing movie from Marvel.
Numbers Favor Bog Iger
In my opinion, based on all the statistics and facts mentioned above, Deadpool 3 can be one of the most successful Marvel movies. The numbers support this, the approach of the movie supports this and most of all, the fandom that is going to storm the theaters like the beaches of Normandy supports this. If you look at the collection made by some Marvel movies like Captain Marvel and Black Panther, both of these movies made $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion respectively by revolving around a single character.
So, this is for certain Deadpool and Wolverine is going to cross the $1 billion mark and there is a very high probability that it might just take the spot of the highest-grossing Marvel movie. Miracles might happen, especially when Deadpool is the Marvel Jesus.
