🏈 Plus: Edible mascot | Friday, December 29, 2023
| | | | | | | Presented By ExxonMobil | | | | Axios PM | | By Mike Allen · Dec 29, 2023 | | 😎 Hello, Friday. Thank you for PM-ing with us in '23. We love these happy hour conversations, and we'll work hard for you in '24! - Today's PM — edited by Erica Pandey — is 644 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Mickey Meece for the copy edit.
| | | | | | 🎥 1 big thing: Superhero movie bust |  Data: Box Office Mojo. Chart: Axios Visuals After a decade of dominating the box office, superheroes were knocked off their pop culture throne in 2023. - Why it matters: The underperformance of several blockbuster movies from Marvel and DC has sparked fears that the once-bulletproof genre is fading out of the mainstream, Axios' Tim Baysinger writes.
🔭 Zoom out: The year was filled with comic book sequels that drew less money than their predecessors — including new entries for "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Ant-Man," "Shazam!" and "The Flash," which even brought back Michael Keaton as Batman. - "The Marvels," the follow-up to 2019's "Captain Marvel," became the lowest-grossing movie in the 15-year history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" was the latest superhero film to misfire at the box office: It had a disappointing $40 million opening over the four-day Christmas weekend — well below the $67.8 million that the first "Aquaman" earned in December 2018.
🥊 Reality check: It wasn't a lost year for the comic book genre. Sony's animated "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" was a critical and commercial hit, doubling the box office from "Into the Spider-Verse." 🔮 What's next: The box office isn't giving up superheroes yet. A new cinematic universe for DC is coming with "Superman Legacy" in 2025. |     | | | | | | 2. 📝 Ohio governor breaks from party |  | | | Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios | | | | Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) vetoed a bill today that would have prevented minors from receiving gender-affirming health care and restricted transgender girls' ability to participate on school sports teams, Axios' Jacob Knutson and Tyler Buchanan report. - Why it matters: It's a break from lawmakers in his party who backed the legislation.
DeWine is now just one of two Republican governors who have vetoed restrictions on gender-affirming care and among a few who have rejected bills that would constrain trans athletes. - Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a similar bill in 2021. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb rejected bans on trans athletes last year.
"This bill would impact a very small number of Ohio's children," DeWine said. "But for those children who face gender dysphoria and for their families, the consequences of this bill could not be more profound." - "Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life," he added. "Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived, would be dead today, if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio's children's hospitals."
👀 What to watch: Ohio's GOP lawmakers hold enough seats to override DeWine's veto. But it's unclear if they will. | | | | | | | | A message from ExxonMobil | | Let's deliver carbon capture for American industry | | |  | | | | ExxonMobil is working on solutions to reduce carbon emissions in its own operations — like carbon capture — that could help industries in manufacturing, commercial transportation and power generation deliver lower emissions, too. Learn more. | | | | | | 3. Catch me up | | Photo: Brian van der Brug/L.A. Times via Getty Images - 🌊 Above: People watch from a balcony in Faria Beach as huge waves crash onshore in Ventura County, Calif., yesterday. The storms are continuing, with 10- to 20-foot waves headed for the central California coast. More from L.A. Times.
- Russia launched more than 150 missiles and drones at several Ukrainian cities this morning, in what Ukrainian officials are calling one of the largest air attacks of the war. Officials said at least 30 people were killed and 160 wounded, the N.Y. Times reports.
- 💰 Increased Social Security retirement and disability benefits for 2024 will start to roll out for millions of Americans as early as today and throughout January. The 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment is much smaller than 2023's 8.7%. Go deeper.
| | | | | | | | 4. 1 fun thing: Edible mascot | | Photo: David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Check out Strawberry, the mascot of the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando last night. Photo: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images After the game, Strawberry was lowered into a giant model of a toaster to be "toasted." Soon enough, out popped a human-sized edible Pop-Tart to be enjoyed by the Kansas State Wildcats, the winners of the game. | | | | | | | | A message from ExxonMobil | | Let's deliver carbon capture for American industry | | | | | | | | ExxonMobil is working on solutions to reduce carbon emissions in its own operations — like carbon capture — that could help industries in manufacturing, commercial transportation and power generation deliver lower emissions, too. Learn more. | | |  | Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters.
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