Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has now officially passed the original film at the box office. When the film released earlier this month, it became an instant success with fans and critics alike thanks to writer/director James Gunn and his charismatic cast of colorful characters. While some felt the film wasn’t as fresh as the original, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has enjoyed immense success at the box office thus far which has naturally led Marvel to bring Gunn back for a third film.

While fans will have to wait until after development begins on the next two Avengers films before anything concrete will occur with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, that certainly hasn’t stopped them from showing up for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in droves. It didn't just have a big opening but has remained strong throughout May. This week, it's fourth on release, the film even beat out newcomer Baywatch and has now passed a major milestone.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has now passed the first film at both the domestic and foreign box office (numbers from Box Office Mojo); its total gross now stands at right above $783 million worldwide. For comparison, the first Guardians of the Galaxy made $773 million worldwide during its entire box office run back in 2014.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is now the second most successful first sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Avengers: Age of Ultron being the only film above it) worldwide as well as the most successful superhero movie not featuring Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker or Tony Stark. In other words, Gunn and company have achieved something that not many fans would have imagined back in 2014 before the release of the first Guardians of the Galaxy: bringing obscure comic characters to the big screen and making viewers fall in love with them.

Still, as successful as Guardians 2 has been thus far, its potential to hit the coveted $1 billion dollar mark at the box office remains unlikely and it’ll probably finish up its run somewhere within $800 million worldwide. Regardless, though, Marvel has to be happy with the numbers and accolades achieved by Vol. 2 and with Gunn and the rest of the crew returning for what Gunn has described as the end of this particular “iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy,” perhaps Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will finally cross that $1 billion dollar mark and wrap things up nicely.

Next: Guardians of the Galaxy 2: All 5 Post-Credit Scenes Explained

Source: Box Office Mojo