Visualizing The Rise (And Fall) Of Marvel's Box Office
Disney’s investment in Marvel Entertainment has earned it tens of billions of dollars, but the latest Marvel box office performances are starting to prove worrying.
On November 10, The Marvels released to movie theaters as the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). After one weekend, it had earned just $46 million domestically, making it the lowest-ever debut for an MCU movie.
Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte created the following chart to show the rise and fall of Marvel box office earnings using data tracked by The Numbers as of November 12.
Marvel Box Office Earnings (2008‒2023)
The MCU was officially kickstarted with the release of Iron Man in 2008, a well-reviewed hit that earned $585 million worldwide at the box office.
Over the next few years, Marvel has released multiple movies in the same universe, building up characters and stories in “phases” and capitalizing with crossover releases. Phase 1 ended with 2012’s The Avengers—The first Marvel movie to earn more than $1 billion.
Here are Marvel’s movie releases in order of recency, as well as their estimated production budgets, box office hauls, and percentage of positive reviews:
| Release Date | Film | Production Budget | Opening Weekend (Domestic) | Box Office (Worldwide) | Review Score (Rotten Tomatoes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov. 10, 2023 | The Marvels | $275M | $46M | TBD | 61 |
| May 05, 2023 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 | $250M | $118M | $845M | 82 |
| Feb. 17, 2023 | Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania | $200M | $106M | $464M | 46 |
| Nov. 11, 2022 | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | $250M | $181M | $854M | 83 |
| Jul. 08, 2022 | Thor: Love and Thunder | $250M | $144M | $761M | 63 |
| May 06, 2022 | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | $200M | $187M | $952M | 73 |
| Dec. 17, 2021 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | $200M | $260M | $1,908M | 93 |
| Nov. 05, 2021 | Eternals | $200M | $71M | $402M | 47 |
| Sep. 03, 2021 | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | $150M | $75M | $432M | 92 |
| Jul. 09, 2021 | Black Widow | $200M | $80M | $380M | 79 |
| Jul. 02, 2019 | Spider-Man: Far From Home | $160M | $93M | $1,132M | 90 |
| Apr. 26, 2019 | Avengers: Endgame | $400M | $357M | $2,789M | 94 |
| Mar. 08, 2019 | Captain Marvel | $175M | $153M | $1,130M | 79 |
| Jul. 06, 2018 | Ant-Man and the Wasp | $130M | $76M | $623M | 87 |
| Apr. 27, 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War | $300M | $258M | $2,048M | 85 |
| Feb. 16, 2018 | Black Panther | $200M | $202M | $1,336M | 96 |
| Nov. 03, 2017 | Thor: Ragnarok | $180M | $123M | $850M | 93 |
| Jul. 07, 2017 | Spider-Man: Homecoming | $175M | $117M | $878M | 92 |
| May 05, 2017 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 | $200M | $147M | $869M | 85 |
| Nov. 04, 2016 | Doctor Strange | $165M | $85M | $676M | 89 |
| May 06, 2016 | Captain America: Civil War | $250M | $179M | $1,152M | 91 |
| Jul. 17, 2015 | Ant-Man | $130M | $57M | $519M | 83 |
| May 01, 2015 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | $365M | $191M | $1,395M | 76 |
| Aug. 01, 2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy | $170M | $94M | $771M | 92 |
| Apr. 04, 2014 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | $170M | $95M | $714M | 90 |
| Nov. 08, 2013 | Thor: The Dark World | $150M | $86M | $645M | 67 |
| May 03, 2013 | Iron Man 3 | $200M | $174M | $1,215M | 79 |
| May 04, 2012 | The Avengers | $225M | $207M | $1,515M | 91 |
| Jul. 22, 2011 | Captain America: The First Avenger | $140M | $65M | $371M | 80 |
| May 06, 2011 | Thor | $150M | $66M | $449M | 77 |
| May 07, 2010 | Iron Man 2 | $170M | $128M | $621M | 72 |
| Jun. 13, 2008 | The Incredible Hulk | $138M | $55M | $266M | 67 |
| May 02, 2008 | Iron Man | $186M | $102M | $585M | 94 |
| Median | $193M | $118M | $808M | 83 |
Throughout the years, Marvel’s movie releases garnered greater box office draws and critical praise, culminating in Avengers: Endgame earning $2.79 billion at the box office and becoming one of the highest grossing movies of all time.
But subsequent releases have been hampered, first by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by a mix of poor reviews, scaled-back marketing campaigns, and oversaturation. While the first three phases of the MCU were limited only to Marvel’s feature film releases, Phase Four (2021‒2022) included eight television shows released on Disney+.
The Marvels, the sequel to the billion-dollar-grossing Captain Marvel and the Disney+ show Ms. Marvel, is the third movie in Phase Five. The phase was planned to span five movies and seven television shows, but Marvel’s recent underperformance and production delays from labor strikes in Hollywood are already causing Disney to re-evaluate its release plans.
Will Marvel be able to climb back into pole position at the global box office?
