With a thumping opening on the weekend, Thor: Love and Thunder has hammered down Marvel’s reputation as the dominant box office force in contemporary cinema.

Taika Waititi’s follow-up to Thor: Ragnarok, which reunites Chris Hemsworth as Thor with Natalie Portman as Dr Jane Foster, took $15.8 million in Australia. The only bigger opening weekend since the pandemic began has been Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $26.2 million.

Around the world, the most recent Thor movie debuted with an impressive $US302 million ($442 million).

Waititi shot it in Sydney, with an A-list cast that includes Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Chris Pratt and Tessa Thompson.

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While Pixar is arguably Hollywood’s most consistent hit-maker, bar the disappointing business for Lightyear last month, Marvel has continued to be a saviour for cinema owners since COVID first hit the industry in early 2020.

Love and Thunder is the third Marvel movie to become a breakout smash during the pandemic, taking $20.2 million in just five days.

It joins Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($38.2 million) and Sony’s Marvel co-production Spider-Man: No Way Home ($81.2 million and fourth at the all-time box office).

The non-Marvel hits in the last 12 months have been Top Gun: Maverick ($78 million and fifth on the all-time list), DC Comics’ The Batman, No Time to Die, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Elvis and Sing 2.