Although 2025 has played host to a standard array of threeMCUmovies, it seems that nothing short of a miracle will help their combined might to reach the $1.3 billion reached by a single 2024 movie. This may raise alarms for the entire franchise, which has experienced a rollercoaster of financial and critical fortunes throughout the Multiverse Saga.
Some of the MCU’s best-ratedand highest-grossing movies have been released within the last four years. 2021’sSpider-Man: No Way Home, for instance, isn’t just the MCU’s third-highest-grossing movie, but is widely lauded as one ofthe best movies the MCU has ever released. Nevertheless, it has been a rocky road for the MCU since then.
The Multiverse Saga has since hostedthe MCU’s lowest-grossing moviewithThe Marvels, and several of its lowest-rated, such asAnt-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaandThor: Love and Thunder. Despite 2024 looking like a pivot in the right direction, it now seems that 2025 has now experienced some fallout.
Marvel’s 2025 MCU Movie Box Office Can’t Reach The Heights Of Deadpool & Wolverine
The typical three-movie release structure that has come to define the Multiverse Saga returned in 2025, with three MCU movies releasing in relatively swift succession. In order, these include:
At the time of writing,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis still in theaters.
This stands in stark contrast to2024, which hosted just one movie:Deadpool & Wolverine(July 26). This followed the Hollywood Strikes of 2023, which delayed productions of several blockbusters. In fact,Deadpool & Wolverinewas one of very few superhero movies released that year, with Sony’s Spider-Man Universe filling dates with three releases and the DCEU being officially defunct.
Nevertheless,Deadpool & Wolverinedominated with a $1.3 billion box office. This made itthe MCU’s 11th billion-dollar movieand its sixth-highest-grossing movie overall. Despite being bulked out by three releases, 2025’s combined box office falls significantly short.
$413,640,021
$382,436,365
$437,090,844 (At time of writing)
Total 2025 Box Office: $1,233,167,230
So far,this makes for a difference of more than $104 million. WithThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsbeing the only movie that is still in theaters, it shoulders the burden of covering that shortfall. Unfortunately, as the movie now approaches its fourth weekend, this seems unlikely.
In its second weekend,The Fantastic Four: First Steps' box officegross dropped by around 67%. In its third, it dropped a further 59%. This trajectory is comparable toAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which dropped 70% and 60% in its second and third weeks, respectively, and grossed a total of $476 million worldwide.
With a stronger opening and word-of-mouth,First Stepscould easily gross more thanQuantumania. Nevertheless,even if it breaks $500 million, it is still unlikely to clear the $541 million needed for 2025’s total gross to matchDeadpool & Wolverine's$1.3 billion.
Why Marvel’s 2025 Movies Are Struggling At The Box Office
Deadpool & Wolverineadmittedly had a lot working in its favor. The anticipated return of both titular characters was bolstered by the significance of their MCU debuts,helping to makeDeadpool & Wolverinethe premier cinematic event of the year. Furthermore, the superhero movie stood out in an otherwise subpar and relatively barren year for the genre overall.
2025, meanwhile, has been a big year for superhero movies. WhileThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsis arguably as big an event asDeadpool & Wolverine, with the star-studded titular team also making their MCU debut, the DCU also launched around the same time, withthe critically acclaimedSupermanreleasing just two weeks beforeThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Both of July’s superhero movies were also unburdened compared toCaptain America: Brave New WorldandThunderbolts*, which each necessitated prior knowledge. The four-year-oldThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, for instance, comprises six hours of required viewing to keep fully abreast of both movies.Thunderbolts*also starred three characterswho debuted inthe lesser-known MCU movie,Black Widow.
Furthermore, 2025’s substandard performance could signify superhero fatigue. It is also impossible to discount thatthe MCU’s recent critical failures might have soured general audienceson the franchise. Still, the acclaim of theMCU’s two most recent movies and a year’s reprieve could help the franchise to bounce back withSpider-Man: Brand New Dayin 2026.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
