But he already faces a challenger — from his own backyard. Marvel’s big-screen THOR arrives in Midgard on May 20, 2011, giving the world-famous wall-crawler just two weeks to web the most wallets.
While the fans obviously benefit from a summer filled with superhero smackdowns, keep in mind that Spidey and Thor may live in the same comic universe but have different movie homes (Sony for Spidey, Marvel/Paramount for Thor). In the past Spidey climbed to as much as $400 million thanks to a lack of serious comic character competition. Will Mjolnir manage to damage Peter Parker’s pockets?
Of course, SPIDEY 4 should thrive just from recognition and moviegoers craving further excitement (or retribution) after SPIDEY 3. Meanwhile, Marvel is attempting to assemble their AVENGERS that summer — THOR is followed on July 22 by CAPTAIN AMERICA, and they should pair up with Iron Man, Nick Fury and Black Widow in 2012.