“I’m having a baby tomorrow but I need to know how it ends,” says Jo from Clapton, east London, who was among the first wave of fans to see Avengers: Endgame on Thursday.

“We were offered a C-section earlier in the week, but because we had the Avengers booked we decided to have it later,” she said outside the Vue cinema in Stratford’s Westfield complex.

Postponing the birth of your first child in order to see a superhero film may seem extreme, but this weekend thousands of Marvel fans will put plans on hold for the final instalment of the Avengers franchise.

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Endgame is on course to have the highest-grossing opening weekend in box-office history. The predicted $1bn haul would reaffirm – if any further proof was needed – that superhero films are the dominant pop-cultural form.

“We’ve followed the whole franchise since its inception,” adds Jo. “It’s trying to appeal to a bigger demographic as possible without diluting it in any way. They all feel like distinct movies but at the same time it all feels like one holistic franchise.”

Among the crowds getting tickets from the humming self-service machines is a group of students rushing to make a 4.15pm showing.

“For our generation there’s just this clout to it,” says Rohit, 19, who was introduced to Marvel characters through the cartoon series a decade ago. “I’ve grown up with them and seen all 22 films. There’s something so human about it. There’s something inspiring to see them struggle then overcome.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fans of the Avengers take part in a costume contest before the public premiere of Endgame at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

At the Vue in Westfield there is little else on the menu as studios avoid scheduling their releases to be crushed by the Avengers juggernaut. But it’s not just the multiplexes that are riding a Marvel wave. Half a mile down the road at the more artsy Stratford Picturehouse, posters in the foyer tell visitors the 7pm showing of Endgame is sold out.

Annie Sciara and her boyfriend, Dom Walker, have come to an earlier showing to avoid the post-work rush. The couple are committed cinemagoers. “We see everything basically,” says Sciara. “When the Oscars come around we’ll try to see as many nominated films as possible.”

Sciara says her boyfriend got her hooked on the Marvel franchise: “I’ve watched all of them in the last three years … since I’ve been with him.”

“I used to read the comics when I was a young boy,” said Walker, who puts the film’s huge box-office predictions down to the cumulative effect of the franchise, which started in 2008 with Iron Man. “They’ve recreated what they did in the comics and built up to a massive event,” he adds. “No one’s really done that before.”

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Avengers: Endgame is only one part of Disney’s 2019 plans that have put the studio on course for the most successful box office showing in history.

In March, Captain Marvel achieved the biggest opening weekend (£12.75m from 655 cinemas) in UK cinemas since Avengers: Infinity War, 11 months earlier. Tim Burton’s remake of Dumbo became Disney’s fourth number one film at the UK box office this year when it was released in late March, following Mary Poppins Returns, Glass and Captain Marvel.

The second half of 2019 is packed with Disney films that look like box-office catnip as well. May sees the release of Aladdin, starring Will Smith, while Toy Story 4 (June) and The Lion King (July) mean that in the summer months Disney will be unavoidable.

The year will be capped by the launch of its Disney Plus streaming service, which is due in November and will feature a Marvel TV series starring Tom Hiddleston as Loki and two Star Wars spin-offs: The Mandalorian, and an unnamed Rogue One series starring Narcos actor Diego Luna, who will reprise his role as Cassian Andor.

Disney Plus will be quickly followed by the sequel to Frozen before Star Wars: Episode IX hits cinemas in December. Avengers will definitely win the ticket battle this weekend but complete box-office dominance looks like Disney’s true end game.