Marvel's 2025 Box Office Proves That The MCU Has Fallen From Grace

For roughly a decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the unquestioned king of all things at the box office. From the very beginning in 2008 when "Iron Man" became an unexpected smash hit to the unbelievably high highs of the $2.79 billion success of "Avengers: Endgame," it was an incredible run. To date, the franchise has netted more than $32 billion in ticket sales globally. Unfortunately for Disney and Marvel Studios, those numbers have been climbing more slowly in recent years, with the hits harder to come by. 2025 is now nothing if not evidence of the MCU's fall from grace.

"Zootopia 2" recently posted an absolutely staggering $559.5 million global opening over Thanksgiving. With that, after just a handful of days, it managed to climb into the list of the 10 highest-grossing movies worldwide for 2025. In doing so, it kicked Marvel's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" ($521.8 million) off the list entirely. James Gunn's "Superman" ($616.6 million) is now the only superhero movie in the top 10 for the year.

Setting aside 2020 when the ill-fated "The New Mutants" ($49.1 million worldwide) was the only Marvel movie released in a year crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic, it's the first time since 2011 that Marvel Studios won't have at least one movie in the global top 10. 2011 saw only "Thor" ($449.3 million) and "Captain America: The First Avenger" ($370.5 million) released in the lead up to "The Avengers" in 2012.

But 2012 was the point of no return, as "The Avengers" became a record-shattering $1.51 billion, game-changing success. From that point on, it felt like Kevin Feige and the brass at Marvel Studios could do no wrong. Then, everything started to change.

In 2019, Disney became the first studio in history to make $10 billion at the box office. That was buoyed greatly by the MCU, with "Avengers: Endgame" ($2.79 billion) and "Captain Marvel" ($1.12 billion) both doing gangbusters business. Even though it was released by Sony, "Spider-Man: Far From Home" ($1.13 billion) was also a monster smash for the MCU. That's $5 billion in a single year.

Things even looked promising in 2021 when "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" made $432.2 million, when very few movies were making any money. "Black Widow" ($379.7 million) was hampered greatly by its streaming release. When "Spider-Man: No Way Home" made a genuinely astounding $1.9 billion later that year, it felt like the MCU was truly back. The harder truth of the matter is that the movie became a true event, uniting three generations of fans. Broadly speaking, audience habits had changed, and the Marvel logo alone no longer made something an automatic must-see event.

2022 was the last year of inarguable MCU dominance, with "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ($955 million worldwide), "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" ($859.2 million), and "Thor: Love and Thunder" ($760.9 million) all finishing in the global top 10. But those were all sequels in established franchises. More importantly, movies like "Love and Thunder" couldn't compete, in terms of perceived quality, with the likes of "Thor: Ragnarok." Audiences were starting to turn.

At the same time, the MCU began releasing shows like "WandaVision" and "Loki" on Disney+. The notion of "it's all connected" became a hindrance rather than an asset. People had too much to watch. It started to feel like homework. Casual audience members started to fall off, picking and choosing what to engage with. 

It wasn't all must-see cinema anymore. 2023 showed cracks in the armor. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" ($845.5 million) was a big hit, but it was another sequel and the end of a trilogy. Meanwhile, "The Marvels" became the lowest-grossing movie in MCU history, taking in just $206.1 million. A catastrophe. It made "Eternals" pulling in just over $400 million in 2021 look great by comparison. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" also majorly disappointed with ($476 million).

"Deadpool & Wolverine" made $1.3 billion in 2024, becoming the biggest R-rated movie ever. But again, it's a sequel relying on nostalgia rather than Marvel launching a new franchise. To that end, the MCU hasn't truly created a new franchise since "Endgame" arrived. "Shang-Chi" has yet to get a sequel. "Eternals" was over before it truly started. Therein lies the problem. 

Chris Hemsworth won't play Thor forever. The actors who made the MCU what it once was are slowly moving on to other things. It speaks volumes that Robert Downey Jr. is coming back to play Doctor Doom in next year's "Avengers: Doomsday." It's an attempt to capture that former glory leading into "Avengers: Secret Wars" in 2027, which will conclude the Multiverse Saga. 

But this saga is limping to its conclusion. 2025 saw both "Captain America: Brave New World" ($415.1 million) and "Thunderbolts" ($382.4 million) fall well short of expectations. Mind you, "Thunderbolts" was met with very good reviews. The MCU has fallen from grace; there's no two ways about it. The bigger question is, can Marvel reclaim its place atop the pop culture hierarchy? Or are those days truly a thing of the past? We shall see.

"Avengers: Doomsday" hits theaters on December 18, 2026.