A Marvelous acquisition: Disney's acquisition of Marvel was genius.

5/19/22 8:00PM

The cinemaverseYesterday filmmaker Anthony Russo, who co-directed the highest grossing movie of all time (Avengers: Endgame), outlined why he believes cinematic universes — where characters, plots and timelines converge over multiple movies — will continue to be the foundation of global cinema.

Marvelous Marvel

‍From Russo's director chair it would be hard to come up with any conclusion other than "cinematic universes are the future" considering the unbelievable success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — which has pumped out box office hit after box office hit since Disney's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2008. Indeed, all told the 28 movies in the MCU have grossed more than $26 billion on the big screen, for a whopping $940m+ average per movie.

Marvel's latest entry in the series, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is a great example of the incredible pull of the MCU. Doctor Strange is not exactly a character with the fame of Spider-Man, Thor or Captain America and yet the movie has already pulled in $720m globally. That is only just shy of the $768m pulled in by rival DC Comics' flagship character movie The Batman.

‍If it ain't broke

‍Perhaps what's most insane about the Marvel movies is that there are no signs of production slowing down. Two more MCU releases are planned for this year, with three more in the works for the year after that. In fact exec producer Kevin Feige revealed recently that the studio now has narratives and a plan for the MCU all the way out to 2032.

The entrance of Allbirds seen from Hayes St. in San Francisco, Calif.

Allbirds, the once buzzy multibillion-dollar sneaker startup, is selling up for $39 million

That’s less than 1% of its peak market cap about four years ago.

Tom Jones20h

Max Knoblauch3/30/26

JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

JetBlue Airways raises bag fees as fuel prices soar

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tom Jones

flavor of the month

3/30/26

Americans won’t tolerate bland food anymore — and it’s turned McCormick into a ~$7 billion-a-year spice and sauce giant

Now, McCormick is eyeing Unilever’s food business.

Bottles of Frank's RedHot Xtra Hot and Sweet Chili on a

Foam party!

Crocs’ prince charming

ByChrisStokel-Walker

FriMar 272026

Max Knoblauch3/26/26

Netflix is hiking its prices again

Netflix is raising its subscription prices for the fourth time in four years, a move first spotted by Android Authority.

Per Netflix’s US pricing page, the cost of an ad-supported plan is climbing $1 to $8.99 per month, while the cost of a standard ad-free plan is going up $2 to $19.99 per month. The premium tier has also risen $2 to $26.99 per month.

The streamer last raised its subscription costs more than a year ago in January 2025. It also hiked prices in 2023, 2022, 2020, and 2019. Netflix shares climbed about 2% on the news.

“Our approach remains the same: we continue offering a range of prices and plans to meet a variety of needs, and as we deliver more value to our members we are updating our prices to enable us to reinvest in quality entertainment and improve their experience by updating our prices,” said a Netflix spokesperson, in a statement to Sherwood News.

Netflix is hiking your prices yet again: Standard, premium, and ad-supported all going up