While many fans like to claim there is superhero fatigue, Spider-Man: Brand New Day proves that there are still certain superheroes that audiences will flock to theaters to see. As that movie rises up the charts of the most profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe movies of all time, it also proves that Spider-Man remains one of the heroes that fans love to see in movies, regardless of the supposed genre fatigue. Spider-Man also isn’t alone.
The earliest superhero movies were mostly from DC, with Batman: The Movie spinning off the classic Adam West television series, Christopher Reeve proving that a hero can fly in Superman, and then Tim Burton bringing the gothic version of Gotham City to the big screen in Batman. While there were smaller Marvel movies, like The Punisher and Howard the Duck, it wasn’t until Blade that Marvel finally saw some success. After that, it was only a matter of time before heroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men began to dominate the box office.
Today, superhero movies still dominate the box office. Whether it is the MCU and movies like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday or the DCU and James Gunn’s revitalization of Superman and Matt Reeves’ Batman movies in a different universe, these films remain huge success stories, but it takes a very special superhero to break box office records.
These movies are all ranked based on their solo titles, so Iron Man’s numbers don’t include Avengers movies.
10
Guardians Of The Galaxy: $2.4 Billion
When Marvel hired James Gunn to direct a big-screen adaptation of Guardians of the Galaxy, it was a huge risk. Not only was this an obscure B-list team in Marvel Comics that mainstream audiences had never heard of, but the iteration that Gunn was using had only existed in comics for a few years before the first movie came out. However, Gunn was the perfect choice for this movie, this franchise, and these heroes.
This was not only a team of unlikely heroes and a franchise likely to fail, but it was one that was the most creative and unlike anything the MCU had done to that point. What resulted was a monster success, thanks to a mixture of Gunn’s comic timing, his emotionally heartfelt storytelling, and some great music needle drops. The first movie was a success with a $772.7 million take, and the two sequels both broke $800 million to remain consistent enough to sit near the top of the MCU’s most successful franchises.
9
Thor: $2.7 Billion
As a hero, Thor made a little more money than the Guardians of the Galaxy in his movies, but he was in one more movie than the Guardians, and the Guardians even cameoed in Thor’s fourth movie outing. That said, it was a tough road to get to $2.7 billion, as Thor’s first movie was a slow starter at $449.3 million, and his second, while making more money, was a critical disappointment.
When Taika Waititi joined Marvel and directed Thor: Ragnarok, everything turned around. This movie, with a lot more humor and the return of the Hulk, ended up making $853.9 million, the highest total for any Thor movie to date. Those three movies together rank Thor below the Guardians, but with his fourth movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, he moved ahead of the Guardians, although that movie was met with critical disdain and audience apathy. However, it did pull Thor up to a box office total just below a Marvel hero who only recently joined the MCU.
8
Wolverine: $2.7 Billion
The X-Men franchise was a huge box office success story, though largely because it had so many movies to its name. Wolverine appeared in almost all of those movies, but his solo films made nearly as much as the entire X-Men slate, and he did it in three fewer movies than his mutant teammates. Things didn’t start out great for Wolverine, as X-Men Origins: Wolverine was his lowest box office outing as a solo star.
However, he exploded after that. The Wolverine broke the $400 million mark, and then Logan finished with $619.1 million worldwide. Logan stands as one of the best stories in any superhero movie, playing as much like an apocalyptic Western as it does a superhero story. However, what pulled Wolverine up to his current total of $2.7 billion is the team-up movie, Deadpool and Wolverine, which broke the $1.3 billion mark.
7
Deadpool: $2.9 Billion
While Wolverine needed Deadpool’s help to break the $2 billion mark, the Merc with a Mouth made almost as much as Wolverine on his own in only two movies. It all started with his R-rated solo debut, which stunned the industry with a $782.8 million worldwide take. This was even more impressive since Ryan Reynolds had to fight to get his movie made, as Fox had no faith in an R-rated superhero movie. Deadpool helped change everything about how Hollywood looked at adult comic book films.
Deadpool 2 made a little more money, with $785.8 million, and then Deadpool did something no one expected. He joined the MCU, and he brought Wolverine with him. Deadpool and Wolverine finished with $1.3 billion worldwide, and Marvel realized it had a major franchise on its hands. In just three movies, Deadpool has outgrossed Wolverine, Captain America, and Thor at the box office.
6
X-Men: $3.0 Billion
In 2000, Marvel proved it was ready to bring superheroes to the world, and with Fox in control, the X-Men became the best superhero team to ever appear in a movie until the MCU launched almost a decade later. The X-Men succeeded from the start thanks to great casting, including bringing in Patrick Stewart to play Professor X and Ian McKellen to play Magneto. The first three movies finished with $1.16 billion worldwide, and then the franchise pivoted.
After a Wolverine solo movie struggled with critics, Fox created prequels with a younger cast and then combined both casts in X-Men: Days of Future Past. By the end, the X-Men franchise had grossed $3 billion worldwide, and when the MCU brings them back in a couple of years, they will climb much higher in the box office rankings.
5
Superman: $3.1 Billion
Superman was the first major big-screen success for superheroes, as the first movie with Christopher Reeve proved that audiences would pay to see these bigger-than-life heroes on the big screen. However, things dropped starting with his third solo movie, and the franchise ended after four films. That said, the first two movies made a combined $516.7 million worldwide, and it wasn’t until Zack Snyder took over that Superman revived at the box office.
Superman Returns made $391 million at the box office, but it was Man of Steel and the long-awaited Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that pushed Superman over the $2 billion mark. He also appeared in Justice League, but counting only the films built around him or those that put Batman in a supporting role, he finished with $3.1 billion, a total that includes the $618.7 million from James Gunn’s reboot.
4
Iron Man: $3.6 Billion
Iron Man was the superhero who kick-started the MCU. While it came the same year as the critically acclaimed The Dark Knight, Iron Man was still a big enough success to launch the MCU, the biggest superhero franchise in history. It wasn’t a juggernaut at first, with the debut movie making $585.7 million, but things got bigger from there. By the third movie, Iron Man 3 broke the billion-dollar mark with $1.2 billion worldwide.
That is even more impressive since the second and third movies received mixed reception, with the second considered a critical disappointment and too many people disliking the Mandarin twist in the third film. Also added to the total is Captain America: Civil War because this was as much an Iron Man movie as it was a Captain America movie, and with that added on, Iron Man hit $3.6 billion worldwide.
3
Batman: $5.3 Billion
The most profitable DC superhero character is easily Batman, and that is because he has been in more movies with his name in the title than any other superhero in history. The first movie, spun off from the Adam West TV show, made just over $300,000 at the box office. That said, when Tim Burton arrived in 1989 and relaunched the Batman franchise, it became a monster success.
The two Burton movies combined for $678.4 million at the box office, and the two movies that followed helped push the franchise over the $1 billion mark. Christopher Nolan’s trilogy brought in $2.4 billion alone, with the second and third breaking $1 billion each. Zack Snyder then directed the $874 million Batman v Superman, and Matt Reeves’ The Batman made $772.7 million, with its sequel coming soon.
2
Avengers: $7.7 Billion
The Avengers ruled the box office for a long time, with Avengers: Endgame even becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time before losing that spot. As the ultimate MCU team-up franchise, the Avengers series saw every film break $1 billion, starting with The Avengers at $1.5 billion and Avengers: Age of Ultron bringing in $1.4 billion.
Avengers: Infinity War blew that away, with $2.04 billion, and then Avengers: Endgame finished with $2.79 billion. Endgame will build on those totals when it is re-released later this year, and then Avengers: Doomsday will likely push the Avengers franchise into first place when all is said and done. Avengers: Secret Wars next year will add even more to the box office totals.
1
Spider-Man: $9.5 Billion
At least until Avengers: Secret Wars comes out, Spider-Man is the king of all superheroes when it comes to profitability at the box office. The most impressive thing is that this comes from one fewer movie than Batman, yet Spider-Man has made over $4.2 billion more than the DC hero, and that total is still climbing. The Sam Raimi trilogy made a combined $2.4 billion, and the two Marc Webb movies made $1.5 billion.
When Spider-Man made his way to the MCU, things exploded. After Spider-Man: Homecoming made $880 million, each of the three MCU movies that followed broke the $1 billion mark. Spider-Man: Far From Home finished with $1.1 billion, Spider-Man: No Way Home made $1.9 billion, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is up to $1.7 billion in only its second week of release, and will almost surely climb into the top spot for comic books’ most profitable superhero, moving ahead of No Way Home.
