Disney’s “Black Panther” sequel broke a November box-office record — another win for the Marvel-verse

Big opening weekend for Wakanda… Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” just raked in $180M in North America, the second-biggest box-office haul of the year and the highest-grossing November debut ever.

• It’s a much-needed win for Disney, whose sales and earnings fell short of expectations last quarter despite rebounding attendance at its parks.
• Big shoes to fill: “Wakanda Forever” was the first flick to crack $100M since July. But the super sequel fell short of the original “Black Panther,” which featured the late Chadwick Boseman ($202M on opening weekend).

It’s Marvel’s universe… we’re just living in it. The only movie that’s outperformed “Wakanda Forever” this year was another Marvel flick, the latest “Doctor Strange.” In fact, 9 of the top 15 domestic debuts in history are now Marvel films (not adjusted for inflation).

• Marvel mania: The seven Marvel movies that Disney’s released in the past two years have grossed $2.3B, more than a fifth of total box-office sales in that period.
• Well-versed: Disney uses its Marvel-verse to cross-promote shows, parks, and merch. It plans to build an Avatar-verse around its new “Avatar” film, which opens next month.