The emergence of franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe has caused the superhero movie box office to skyrocket, though some movies have earned more than many may think. The order of MCU movies began with 2008’s Iron Man and ushered in an era of superhero movie dominance thanks to Marvel’s highest-grossing movies. This caused DC to quickly follow suit, constructing a shared universe based on beloved characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
Even before these franchises, however, superhero movies were somewhat commonplace in Hollywood. From Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and the Fox X-Men movies to the earlier Batman and Superman efforts, superhero movies have long proved to be successful at the box office. This will undoubtedly continue with upcoming MCU movies and the slate of DC movies and shows from James Gunn. When looking back on the past, though, some superhero movies earned more attention at the worldwide box office than many perceive.
One such movie is 2018’s Venom. Venom was directed by Ruben Fleischer as the first movie in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe that has since spawned a sequel, two spin-offs, and several upcoming Spider-Man movies. Although Venom is a popular antagonist from Marvel Comics, many were not sure how well the character would fare in a solo movie, much less how much of a box office pull the project would be. As it turned out, Venom was a success thanks to the casting of star Tom Hardy and the film’s Spider-Man connections.
Regardless of the film’s evidently successful run, the true extent of its box office power often goes unnoticed. At the end of its worldwide theatrical run, Venom had grossed around $850 million. This easily surpasses every subsequent installment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe and even totals higher than a large majority of MCU movies. Of the 33 theatrically released MCU titles thus far, Venom has only failed to gross more than 13 projects. This puts into context just how successful Venom was with the film besting 20 movies from the biggest superhero movie franchise ever made.
Sticking with the Sony Spider-Man Universe, Morbius is at the opposite end of the spectrum to Venom regarding box office success. Based on the minor Marvel Comics antagonist of the same name, Morbius was the second movie in Sony’s franchise and received overwhelmingly negative reviews. If the critical reception was not bad enough, Morbius slumped to a lowly $160+ million worldwide box office haul against an $80 million budget, proving to be a failure for the studio.
However, some interesting stats may prove that Morbius earned more than its laughably poor online perception has many believe. One such fact is that Morbius outgrossed five Marvel movies. While this is a reflection on some of Marvel’s poorer box office outings too, it also reinforces the idea that Morbius earned more than first thought. The five movies Morbius earned more than are Punisher: War Zone, The New Mutants, The Punisher, Elektra, and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Another surprise package in the realm of superhero movie box office is Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin. Even more so than critically panned movies like Morbius, Batman & Robin was denounced upon its release as one of the worst superhero movies ever made and still remains so to this day. Despite this reputation, Batman & Robin managed to gross a somewhat respectable total at the worldwide box office.
By the end of its theatrical run, Batman & Robin earned a worldwide box office total of $238 million. This total is higher than the aforementioned five Marvel movies, as well as Morbius. Other major superhero movies that Batman & Robin surpassed regarding box office include Blue Beetle, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Green Lantern, 2015’s Fantastic Four, Superman II, 2021’s The Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman 1984 to name only a handful. This proves how successful Batman & Robin secretly was, marred only by its high budget and overwhelmingly poor quality.
Where audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes are concerned, Captain Marvel ranks as the lowest. The film was highly controversial, primarily driven by star Brie Larson’s desire for the film industry to better accommodate women and people of color. Aside from these broader elements, Captain Marvel’s somewhat formulaic story caused divisiveness, with the aforementioned audience score and online discourse since the film’s release labeling the film a misstep for Marvel Studios.
That said, the story of Captain Marvel’s box office is exactly the opposite of what many would have people believe. Captain Marvel overcame this controversial reception and became a certified box office hit. The film grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide and stands as the 10th highest-grossing MCU film ever released. Although the online chatter around the project may radiate how much of a failure the project was, Captain Marvel’s box office went higher, further, and faster than anyone thought possible.
Similar to Captain Marvel, though admittedly not on the same level, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a divisive film. Many found it to be an enjoyable successor to the first film, while others found the somewhat restrained multiverse plot disappointing. Since the film’s release in 2022, Doctor Strange 2 is often regarded as one of the weaker Phase 4 films in the MCU, at least as far as popular online discourse is concerned.
The overall feeling of disappointment that is attributed to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would suggest it did not resonate with general audiences. However, the film’s worldwide box office total proved this was not the case. Doctor Strange 2 grossed a total of around $950 million, higher than all but two of the 10 theatrical MCU films since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Only Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed more worldwide than Doctor Strange 2, proving the latter to have earned more than many would suggest.
Without the failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Tom Holland would never have been cast as Spider-Man in the MCU. Due to the film’s critical and commercial failure, Andrew Garfield’s reign as Spider-Man came to an end, and Tom Holland’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War – and his five other subsequent MCU roles – was formulated. Given this drastic change in the world of Spider-Man, it could be forgiven for thinking The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a complete box office bomb.
In reality, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has a respectable run at the worldwide box office. The film earned a total of $700 million during its theatrical run. The reported budget for the film sits between $200-$293 million, meaning that even in a worst-case scenario, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 recouped over double its budget. This makes the MCU reboot seem strange, as it was likely only the middling critical reception that hindered The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from earning even more money and leading into The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
Given that the MCU consists of 33 theatrical films, a handful hold the unwanted truth of being the worst-ranked in the franchise. One of these movies is Thor: The Dark World, a movie with such an uninspired reaction that a complete tonal reboot of the Thor movies was crafted in Thor: Ragnarok. This reaction to Thor: The Dark World, as well as its franchise-worst villain and uncompelling central relationship – led to the film being among the lowest-ranked in the MCU.
This poor critical and fan reaction should surely equate to lower box office, but it remains the case that Thor: The Dark World has earned more money than some of Marvel’s best efforts. Films widely considered among the best superhero movies of all time such as Iron Man ($585 million) and Logan ($614 million) did not surpass the box office total of Thor: The Dark World. As evident, the box office total of any given film is not always reflective of the project’s quality.
An interesting case study regarding the superhero movie box office is 2012’s The Avengers. The first team-up of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes highlighted the true potential of the MCU to audiences across the globe, aiding the franchise in becoming the box office behemoth it was between 2014 and 2019. The film was widely regarded as one of the best superhero movies ever made, and it is common knowledge that the film performed well at the box office. However, The Avengers is one movie that earned more than many might think.
While its success is well-known, the golden age of the MCU came after The Avengers, primarily in Phases 2 and 3 of the franchise. Despite the overwhelming run of box office success that saw eight Marvel movies gross $1 billion or more over the seven years after The Avengers, the latter film remains the fourth highest-grossing project in the entire franchise. Although the average box office haul of MCU movies increased after The Avengers, only Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home managed to surpass its total box office earnings.
As is common with the MCU, Iron Man 3 was a film that divided fan opinion. While many liked the change in direction for the film that saw director Shane Black fully implement his style into the franchise, some felt the film strayed too heavily from the source material and judged the film to be a lesser MCU effort as a result. While the film’s divisive nature remains to this day, even above Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 holds an interesting record for the MCU’s box office that proves it earned more money than its reaction may have suggested.
Iron Man 3‘s worldwide box office total stands at $1.2 billion. This total means Iron Man 3 holds the record of being the highest-grossing solo movie in the entire MCU, discounting Black Panther. The latter film was an unprecedented global and cultural phenomenon, a box office power Iron Man 3 did not possess. Only Spider-Man: No Way Home and the four Avengers movies rank above Iron Man 3 in terms of MCU box office, all of which are ensemble films.