7 Comic Book Movies That Changed The February Box Office Forever

Thanks to various Marvel Comics adaptations dominating the first weekend of May and July often featuring comic book movie blockbusters like the The Dark Knight sequels, summertime is often thought of as the default timeframe to launch comic book movie adaptations. Of course, given the ubiquity of these titles in the last 20 years, the four months of summer aren’t enough to contain every entry in this subgenre. Nearly every month of the year can now contain a major comic book movie blockbuster, including February.

Once thought of as a place to dump genre fare before the more competitive springtime and summertime months, February, especially from 2016 onward, has been seen as an optimal launchpad for comic book movies that challenge conventions. Thanks to how many of these titles have opened in this corridor of the calendar, seven different comic book movies have altered the February box office. Some were for the better, some were for the worse. However, their influence manifested, these seven comic book features reflected how May and July aren’t the only months where these titles can leave a profound mark on pop culture.

Daredevil

In February 2003, the comic book movie landscape looked radically different. Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, debuted just nine months after the original Spider-Man. Inevitably, this Hornhead movie was nowhere near as big of a hit as Spider-Man. However, its $40.3 million three-day debut was, at the time, the second-biggest domestic February launch in history, only behind 2001’s Hannibal. In these nascent days of theatrical Marvel Comics movie adaptations, Daredevil established February as a lucrative corridor for these movies. Not too shabby for a feature now largely derided by the general public.

Ghost Rider

Nicolas Cage’s first solo Ghost Rider movie debuted over 2007’s President’s Day weekend frame that served Daredevil well four years earlier. Though it’s not held in high esteem today, Ghost Rider actually did respectable business in its initial theatrical release. Over its three-day bow, it grossed $45.38 million, the third-biggest domestic February bow up to that point. This opening proved Daredevil was no fluke. February really could house lucrative comic book movies.

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Once upon a time, the first feature film adaptation of Mark Millar’s Kingsman comics, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was set to debut in domestic theater over October 2014’s second-to-last weekend. It was eventually delayed to President’s Day weekend 2015, which turned out to be a boon for this project. Instead of having to contend with Interstellar’s third weekend in its initial 2014 perch, Kingsman got to be the only big action tentpole around in February 2015. Meanwhile, this feature’s hefty box office total solidified that it wasn’t just PG-13 comic book movies that thrived in February. R-rated comic book movies could also find financial glory in these early weeks of a given year.

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Deadpool

If any comic book movie really altered the February box office forever, it must be Deadpool. The first solo Merc with a Mouth movie didn’t just do respectable February business like Daredevil and Ghost Rider. It delivered a $134.4 million domestic bow that would’ve been sizeable in May or July. Absolutely blowing away all previous domestic openings for X-Men movies, Deadpool redefined all expectations for just how big February blockbusters could become. Shockingly, though, this tremendous opening would not remain the biggest February opening weekend in history for very long.

The LEGO Batman Movie

After The LEGO Movie in 2014 became a box office phenomenon, and further sequels and spinoffs were inevitable. Enter The LEGO Batman Movie in February 2017, which also turned into a mighty box office hit. Scoring the ninth-biggest February opening weekend ever at the time of its release, The LEGO Batman Movie also secured the biggest non-Deadpool comic book movie February bow. Anyone still thinking Daredevil from 14 years earlier was an anomaly had to eat crow by the time The LEGO Batman Movie rolled around. Arriving roughly a year after Deadpool, this LEGO Movie spinoff cemented February as an ideal place for comic book movies to bow.

Black Panther

Even with so many hit February comic book movies out there, all of them kneel at the feet of Black Panther. This Ryan Coogler directorial effort cleared $202 million in its first three days of release in February 2018. That was a once unthinkable haul for a February movie to reach in its entire domestic run, let alone in its first three-day weekend. In the past, the likes of Daredevil and Kingsman thrived in February thanks to a lack of competing blockbusters. Black Panther, meanwhile, was a pop culture phenomenon that would’ve thrived wherever it opened. February had truly come into its own as a blockbuster launchpad with the arrival of a cinematic king like Black Panther.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the one “big” February comic book movie that had more ominous implications in how it changed this month’s box office landscape. On the surface, this feature’s $100+ million three-day debut (only the third nine-digit bow ever in the month) should’ve been reason enough to celebrate. However, Quantumania dropped a whopping 69.8% in its second frame, one of the biggest Marvel Studios second weekend plummets up to that point. In the past, a comic book movie scoring a tremendous February opening seemed to just organically have solid legs afterward. Quantumania, though, changed that perception forever. Not even February comic book movies were impervious to dismal word-of-mouth while opening in a month clearer of competing blockbusters than, say, May or July.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now streaming on Disney+.