When Taika Waititi first appeared in the MCU with Thor: Ragnarok, his portrayal of the God of Thunder was a smashing success. It therefore came as no surprise that he would return to lead Chris Hemsworth on yet another exhilarating adventure for a fourth time. The fact that Love and Thunder didn’t perform quite as well as the director’s first was unexpected.
Not as Good as You Thought
The reception was lackluster when reviews started to appear, despite the unusually glowing initial comments. The film actually earned a B+ CinemaScore. Although it seems reasonable, that is actually the second-lowest rating for a Marvel Studios film ever.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
While the film’s $144 million domestic opening weekend box office haul was a record for the Thor franchise, it saw a decline of 67.7 percent this past weekend, earning only $46 million. Comparatively, the dip from Thor: Ragnarok, the previous installment in the Thor series, was merely 53.5%.
Given that many of the Phase 4 projects haven’t exactly been wowing audiences, some fans have begun to wonder if Marvel Studios is trying to do too much. Hopefully, as Marvel becomes more at ease with their present output and how it’s all managed, audiences will start to notice more consistent quality in the future.