Marvel’s four-year marketing campaign on behalf of The Avengers has paid off. On its opening weekend, the superhero movie not only earned an unprecedented $200.3 million (easily beating the $169.2 million earned last year by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2), but it also set a few other records, including becoming the fastest movie ever to reach $100 million. Box Office Mojo also reports that The Avengers had the highest per-theater average ever for a wide release movie – a stunning $46,057 per screen.

In just three days, the film already has earned more money than Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk earned during their entire domestic runs. By next weekend, it should catch up with the two Iron Man movies.

That’s what a four-year build-up will get you. Every Marvel comic book movie since 2008 ended with what amounted to product placement for The Avengers, with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury appearing in after-the-credit recruiting sequences for the super group he was assembling.