2025 Box Office: Report Card So Far For Comic Book Movies Is Alarming (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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2025 is going slowly in terms of box office collections, and it has now hit another low as none of the comic book movies, including Superman, have crossed this major milestone worldwide. The comic book genre has a large fan base, but lately, it has not been doing so well financially, even the MCU flicks. Keep scrolling for the deets.
Superheroes like Batman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers already had decades of comic book popularity. Combined with the shared universe, long-form storytelling, and big-budget visual effects, they have a global appeal. People worldwide crowded the theaters to watch their favorite comic book heroes on the big screen. From Robert Downey Jr to Chris Evans, Henry Cavill, and more, iconic actors helped elevate the films. Also, big crossover movies like Avengers and Justice League combined multiple heroes, making these movies unmissable.
From Superman to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, No Comic Book Movie Could Cross the $700 Million Mark in 2025!
All the comic book movies released in 2025 received strong ratings on the aggregate site but failed to cross the $700 million milestone worldwide. This year, three MCU movies came out: Thunderbolts*, Captain America 4, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman. First Steps and Superman are still running at the cinemas, but they, too, will not hit the $700 million mark worldwide. Meanwhile, Thunderbolts* did not even cross $400 million.
Check out the highest-grossing comic book movies of the year.
1. Superman – $599.5 million
2. The Fantastic Four: First Steps – $473.6 million
3. Captain America: Brave New World – $415.1 million
4. Thunderbolts* – $382.4 million
No Comic Book Film Cracks $700M for the First Time Since 2011
Marvel Studios was in its early years around 2011, and their Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger remained below $500 million. Things changed when, in 2012, The Avengers came out, becoming the top grosser with its $1.5 billion lifetime. Christian Bale‘s The Dark Knight Rises also collected $1.08 billion, while The Amazing Spider-Man raked in $757.9 million. In 2013, Iron Man 3 collected $1.2 billion, continuing the streak of at least one comic book movie hitting the $700 million mark.
It continued after that, even in 2023, when the trend was alive, which was probably one of the worst years for Marvel Studios. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 emerged as the fourth highest-grossing film of 2023, earning $845.5 million.
2020 was an exception as the pandemic engulfed the world, and there were no major releases overall. In 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home compensated for it by becoming the highest-grossing film of the year with $1.9 billion haul. But this year, even Superman, with such strong legs, is projected to earn between $615 million and $620 million at the worldwide box office. No more comic book movies are releasing this year, and James Gunn’s Superman will wrap up the year as the highest-grossing comic book movie of the year.
