Not to bash on either movie but I kinda wish the battle for the box office was between two better movies. Nice for MCU though but I also agree once Avatar 2 comes out (if it ever does) they'll just put out the original Avatar for like a week or two and it will get #1 again.
I had a great conversation over the weekend about this very topic.
For one, what makes a movie "better" is 100% subjective, and what someone gets out of actually going to a cinema varies. It's no secret that Avatar is my favorite movie, but do I think it's the "best" movie? I'm not really sure. I think Contact is a far better story, and it's a great movie, but a theater adds nothing to that experience. Whether I see it in my living room of on the big screen, my feelings are exactly the same. But a movie like Avatar, or any of the MCU movies, the theater viewing becomes integral to the experience (in addition to the story). I didn't see Avatar 10 times in theaters because it was the greatest story every told. I went because it was one of the most awesome rides I had ever been on. The theater delivered big time.
So I don't really think box office numbers should be tied to how good a movie is, or whether or not a movie is better than another. I mean, I think Back to the Future is one of the greatest films ever made and to date has made less than $400M at the box office.