This year has been a huge one for cinematic releases. While a number of planned movies had to be delayed to next year, 2024 held its own at the box office, with some returning franchises dominating once again, while others exceeded expectations. Some unfortunately underperformed and others shockingly overperformed, surprising even the most tenured of box office experts.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was one of those surprises, delivering for audiences and exceeding the previous franchise-best by grossing over half a billion. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also outperformed tracking, earning over $400 million in the run-up to spooky season. And let's not forget Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine, which both exceeded $1 billion and allowed Disney to hold the two highest-grossing movies of the year.
Yes, there have been a lot of great movies this year, and now, the best of them all has finally made its debut on streaming, once again dominating the competition.
Deadpool and Wolverine makes streaming debut on Disney Plus (and quickly tops the chart!)
Deadpool and Wolverine has finally made its debut on Disney Plus and it has wasted little time making its presence felt. The film arrived on the streamer this past week and it climbed to the No. 1 spot on its charts after just one day. Was there ever a doubt that it would? No, but it is satisfying for fans of the film who appreciated its monumental box office success to see that evolving into monumental streaming success.
I don't use the word "monumental" lightly, for what Deadpool and Wolverine accomplished at the box office was nothing short of spectacular. The film reinvigorated the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a very lacklustre year for the franchise (which saw it achieve some of its lowest box office performances in history), and it did so by returning it to its glory days with a performance that saw it gross over $1.3 billion worldwide, breaking records as the best-performing R-rated movie of all time.
But the reinvigoration goes beyond the box office numbers. Deadpool and Wolverine isn't just one of the best MCU movies in years, it is unquestionably one of the best - if not the best - films of 2024. Unapologetically fun and surprisingly heartfelt in places, it succeeded on all fronts - which is pretty impressive considering that it had a lot of fronts to succeed on.
Sure, the film was the third installment in the Deadpool franchise but it's also the character's first involvement in the MCU (due to Marvel regaining the movie rights to the character after the Disney/Fox merger a number of years ago). It's also the first movie for Wolverine in the MCU franchise, which resulted in the long-awaited and much-anticipated return of Hugh Jackman as the beloved, reluctant X-Men hero. That also meant the movie acted as the first truly significant reference to the X-Men in the franchise. Marvel's Mightiest Mutants are on their way to the MCU, but this is the movie that paved the way for their eventual arrival.
If there is one word to describe Deadpool and Wolverine as a movie, it would be fun. Pure unadulterated, over-the-top, outlandish, ridiculous, ambitious, outrageous, insane (and sometimes very violent) fun. It exceeded expectations and achieved everything it needed to do - and so much more, entertaining audiences all summer, serving as a fitting send-off to the classic Fox X-Men movies and kickstarting an exciting new chapter for Ryan Reynolds' Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman's Logan in the MCU.
If you haven't watched the movie yet, what are you waiting for?! It's streaming on Disney Plus now!