Marvel Studios' Black Panther has enjoyed a record-breaking first weekend, making more than $360m worldwide and $192m at the US box office: the second biggest opening week haul ever for a superhero movie.

Black Panther now has the fifth largest three-day US opening in history, the largest ever opening weekend for a film released in February, and the second largest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) behind only The Avengers.

That means it beat the opening weekend figures of Avengers: Age of Ultron, all six Iron Man and Captain America movies, as well as the entirety of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and Warner Bros DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

Justice League, which features all the DCEU's biggest stars - Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and The Flash - opened last November to just $94m, and went on to make $657m total worldwide.

With its current momentum, Black Panther should eclipse that total within a couple of weeks. Today (19 February) being President's Day in the US, Black Panther will add to its haul, with Variety reporting it will hit $218m domestically.

Black Panther's success has been easy to predict for some time. It's a landmark film that has been praised for its authentic, celebratory depiction of black, pan-African culture. It's a depiction that hasn't been seen on the big screen before in such a high-profile, big budget blockbuster.

Its release during Black History Month in the US has added weight to its significance. All that said however, while the film was expected to do well on its opening weekend, it has still surpassed those expectations.

Chadwick Boseman stars as T'Challa, the king of the rich, technologically-advanced and fictional African nation of Wakanda. As king, he's imbued with the heightened abilities and now-iconic suit that makes him Black Panther.

Boseman stars opposite Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyongo, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Forest Whitaker, Daniel Kaluuya and Angela Bassett. Black Panther was directed and co-written by Creed's Ryan Coogler.

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