Black Panther Tops Captain America: Civil War And Deadpool At Box Office

Black Panther, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has officially been released and already it's making a massive impact. The first box office numbers for the movie are starting to roll in and it seems like they might be higher than originally expected.

According to Variety, the film earned $25.2 million from Thursday night screenings, just edging out the $25 million Captain America: Civil War took in during its opening night in 2016. It's the second-highest opening for a movie in the MCU, only falling short of the $27.6 million haul that 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron wound up with.

All told, Variety reports that Black Panther could end up making $170 million in its opening weekend alone, which would put it in the top five films of the franchise, just behind Iron Man 3's $174 million. It's worth noting that it would also be the highest opening for a Marvel superhero's first standalone movie.

While the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) was part of Captain America: Civil War, this is his first solo film. The other recent first-time standalone movie in the MCU is Spider-Man: Homecoming, which earned $117 million in its first weekend.

Looking outside of the MCU, Black Panther nearly doubled Deadpool's opening night ($12.7 million) and slightly trails the $27.7 million bow for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice--the highest opening for a film in the DC Extended Universe. No matter how you look at it, Black Panther is going to reign supreme at the box office this weekend--and likely for the next couple of weeks.

After that, fans luckily won't have to wait long before the next MCU adventure. Avengers: Infinity War arrives in theaters on May 4.