2025 hasn’t been the strongest year for the box office results of Marvel or DC‘s superhero movies – but, looking at the most financially lucrative films of the year proves the companies didn’t outright fail with their film offerings. Since the superhero genre has been staggeringly profitable in much of recent history, 2025’s box office results have naturally raised some eyebrows.
Despite several major superhero movies releasing this year, none of them have reached the higher end of what these films are capable of box office-wise, even though more than one of the 2025 releases drew considerable critical acclaim. That said, putting things in perspective is arguably crucial here.
2025’s Biggest Box Office Hits Show The MCU & DCU’s Movie Results Are Better Than You Might Think
With the MCU timeline previously having reached almost $3 billion in box office results with one lone movie thanks to Avengers: Endgame‘s eye-watering $2.79B takings – and with superhero movies making $1B or more via worldwide box office results being a not uncommon feat – DC and Marvel’s 2025 box office results are evidently not the strongest either franchise has ever experienced.
2025’s highest grossing superhero movie in terms of worldwide box office is that of Superman, which made $615 million. Though this certainly isn’t a small number, the fact even big names like the Man of Steel and the Fantastic Four couldn’t amass above just over half a million is a striking thing to note given the superhero genre’s history of higher box office takings.
However, ten months into the year, the overarching box office results of 2025 do paint a picture that underlines how this isn’t strictly reflective of the genre alone. While 2025 has two months left as of writing, only two movies are reported to have broken the $1B box office mark this year, and both Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are still in 2025’s top 10 worldwide box office results (as per Box Office Mojo and The Numbers).
Overall, this underlines that 2025 was a period that, broadly speaking, brought lower financial results for most of its releases, despite a range of high-quality films having been released during this time – supporting the idea that the superhero genre’s results were more reflective of the overarching state of cinema currently, versus solely being an issue with the genre itself.
2025’s Box Office Lineup Suggests Marvel & DC’s Results Aren’t Just Down To Superhero Fatigue
Interestingly, if you extend the list of 2025’s highest grossing movies to its top 15, every single superhero movie released this year is included in the roster, despite Thunderbolts* being one of the MCU’s lowest-ever grossing films as a result of its $382 million worldwide box office. Ultimately, this seems to put 2025’s box office results as a whole in context.
While there’s certainly a good chance 2025 will close out with another hit in the final months of the year – as the seasonal period is often a lucrative time for movies – even another box office success or two would still paint a picture of a complex setup for the world of cinema in the year overall, and a time wherein audiences were more broadly speaking not showing up to movies en masse.
Of course, with the superhero genre having been such an integral part of box office results for over a decade now, the complicated circumstances both Marvel and DC now find themselves in aren’t entirely separate to the current perception of superhero movies by and large, and the genre’s current inability to resonate as consistently with audiences as it has previously.
However, the fact that even these less consistent results are still some of 2025’s best does speak to the idea that neither Marvel nor DC have failed, and that their results are more reflective of broader trends and concepts. Hopefully, the positive critical reception 2025’s superhero films have broadly received can pave the way to stronger results in 2026 and onward.
