Boosted by 'The Avengers,' the superhero sequel has no problem reigning over the weekend competition.

Thor proved a god among fall's mortal films, though he pales in comparison to the men of steel, iron, bats and spiders.

Thor: The Dark World thundered to an easy win at theaters this weekend, collecting $86.1 million, according to studio estimates from box-office trackers Rentrak.

The debut fell slightly short of analysts' expectations but ahead of Disney's projections. Forecasters expected at least $90 million from the superhero sequel.

While the debut didn't rank among the instant-blockbuster openings of previous installments of comic-book heroes including Batman, Superman, Iron Man and Spider-Man, all of which bowed to more than $100 million, Thor's reign over theaters remains impressive, analysts say.

"Consider that Thor was largely an unknown character prior to 2011," when the first film soared to $181 million, says David Mumpower of Boxofficeprophets.com.
Scott Bowles, USA TODAY