Hasan Piker influences beyond Generation Z, angers moderate Democrats

Welcome back to The Feed. We are three Generation Z editors at The Hill working to understand the ins and outs of our generation’s politics.

This week, we’re giving a glimpse into how Gen Z has dominated the box office over the last few weeks and why so many live at home once they graduate.

Opening up: Gen Z helps Marvel, Christopher Nolan dominate the box office

The past few weeks have brought us two of the highest-grossing movies of the year, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

And they share similarities in who is featured and who has helped generate blockbuster box office revenue. 

“Spider-Man” shares Tom Holland and Zendaya (who sit on the cusp of Gen Z), as well as Jon Bernthal, with “The Odyssey.” The Hollywood couple were certainly a big draw for Gen Z fans to theaters.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” made box office history last weekend, passing fellow Marvel film “Avengers: Endgame” for the biggest North American opening weekend with $360 million U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, according to the Associated Press. 

It is being reported that 36 percent of the opening weekend crowd was between ages 18 and 24, drawing in a large Gen Z crowd. 

Despite Marvel’s audience aging since the 2019 release of “Avengers: Endgame,” the success shows a resurgence in Gen Z’s interest in Marvel, especially with the release of the “Avengers: Doomsday” trailer followed by “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

Marvel’s “Phase One,” which spanned from 2008-2012, included origin story movies for some of this generation’s favorite superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not to mention that all of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man movies came out before the MCU’s “Phase One” even started.

“Iron Man” (2008), “The Incredible Hulk” (2008), “Iron Man 2” (2010), “Thor” (2011) and “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011) set up the 2012 release of “The Avengers.” This was a Marvel phase older Gen Z grew up with and younger ones were born into. 

“The Odyssey’s” opening weekend made about $124 million, passing some of Nolan’s best, including “Oppenheimer,” “Inception” and “Interstellar.” The film made an additional $51 million in North America its second weekend, NBC News reports.

Nolan has also jumped in on the superhero connection with Gen Z in his career — although on........

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