The good news is that Thunderbolts* (or… uh… are we using the new title now?) kicked off the summer movie season with $74 million in North America and $160 million worldwide, grosses that would be excellent for 90% of all big-deal Hollywood franchises. The bad news is that such a bow is still essentially tied with Eternals and lower than the debuts for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World. While the reviews and buzz are generally positive, how much will that matter in a pop culture ecosystem where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is no longer an automatic A+ cinematic vacation destination? Chrissi Michael, content strategist by day and box office nerd by night, is here to dissect the circumstances. She again makes the case for being either my new best friend or my new arch enemy…

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