One month after it was released, the the most beloved characters in the MCU, arguably pale in comparison to the star power of dyed-in-the-wool Avengers like Doctor Strange and Thor.
Despite this, the MCU's most universally acclaimed movies, proving that some MCU installments can break the formula with which the franchise has become synonymous. Unfortunately, an off-piste marketing move that saw Thunderbolts* change its title to The New Avengers after its opening weekend didn't exactly entice new scores to theaters, proving that the Avengers name alone isn't sufficient. Still, while it may not have grossed the almost guaranteed $1 billion banked by all other Avengers movies, it's not as bad as some might make out.
Thunderbolts*'s Box Office Results Are Better Than Other Recent MCU Movies, But Not Mind-blowing
Thunderbolts* Has Currently Grossed A Modest $317 Million
Thunderbolts* is still in theaters, but has grossed $372 million worldwide at the time of writing, according to The Numbers. This is within the lower range of MCU movies, but significantly better than the MCU's recent record-breaking flop, The Marvels. In 2023, The Marvels grossed under $200 million against a reported budget of $270 million. At the same time, Captain America: Brave New World shares its $180 million budget with Thunderbolts* and had grossed $414 million by the end of its theatrical run. There is still a chance that Thunderbolts* could catch up, but the prognosis isn't looking great.
After Thunderbolts*'s Disappointing Box Office, The Next 4 MCU Movies Are All Guaranteed Heavy Hitters
Although Thunderbolts*' performance at the box office has been pretty disappointing, the MCU has some big heavy hitters coming down the line.
Still, Thunderbolts* has far sured the global box office of other recent Marvel movies. Although their production budgets were comparatively meager, 2024's Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web grossed just $60 million and $100 million, respectively, worldwide. Still, these are exceptionally low bars, and Thunderbolts* box office starts to look a lot healthier when viewed through a wider lens.
Thunderbolts*'s Box Office Looks Better When Compared To The MCU's Entire Movie History
Thunderbolts* Isn't The Worst-Performing MCU Movie
As it stands, Thunderbolts* is the fourth-lowest-grossing movie in the MCU, although it is close to suring Black Widow's $379 million. It is safe to say, however, that Thunderbolts* has already been more financially successful than Black Widow, considering the latter cost an extra $20 million to make. The same might also be said for Eternals, which grossed $402 million worldwide against a production budget of $200 million. Thunderbolts* has additionally grossed more than Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk.
The MCU's 5 Lowest-Grossing Movies (via TheNumbers) |
||
|---|---|---|
MCU Movie |
Production Budget |
Worldwide Gross |
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) |
$200,000,000 |
$476,073,180 |
Thor (2011) |
$150,000,000 |
$449,326,618 |
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) |
$150,000,000 |
$432,224,634 |
Captain America: Brave New World (2025) |
$180,000,000 |
$413,640,021 |
Eternals (2021) |
$200,000,000 |
$401,731,759 |
Black Widow (2021) |
$200,000,000 |
$379,751,131 |
Thunderbolts* (2025) |
$180,000,000 |
$372,088,406 (so far) |
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) |
$140,000,000 |
$370,569,776 |
The Incredible Hulk (2008) |
$137,500,000 |
$265,573,859 |
The Marvels (2023) |
$270,000,000 |
$199,706,250 |
Considering Thunderbolts* stars a litany of lesser-known characters, its current box office isn't too surprising. The Marvels suffered from a similar setback, while Captain America wasn't exactly as well-known as, say, Spider-Man or Hulk by the time Captain America: The First Avenger was released in 2011. Given that it features four characters who debuted in Black Widow, perhaps this movie provides the most accurate benchmark with which to measure the success of Thunderbolts*. When doing this, Thunderbolts* boasts a respectable result.
Comparing Thunderbolts* To Every Other MCU Movie's Box Office Also Shows How Far Its Own Is From Many Other Marvel Films
Many Marvel Movies Grossed Much Less Than Thunderbolts*
The image looks even better when assessing the Thunderbolts* worldwide box office against the backdrop of all other Marvel movies. X-Men: First Class is another example of a critically acclaimed Marvel movie that fell short of precedent, grossing just $355 million worldwide. This is bafflingly less than the widely lambasted X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but still more than Dark Phoenix, one of Fox's last and most poorly received X-Men movies. Thunderbolts* is also grossing more than Sony's Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter combined.
Punisher: War Zone is the lowest-grossing modern Marvel movie, grossing just $10 million worldwide.
The Thunderbolts* box office is additionally indicative of how far the superhero genre has progressed. Early superhero movie installments generally grossed much less globally than Thunderbolts*, including 2005's Fantastic Four ($333 million), 2000's X-Men ($297 million), 2003's Hulk ($245 million), and 2003's Daredevil ($183 million). Still, in the modern age of the MCU, Thunderbolts* global box office is an outlier, and may tragically portend the downfall of the genre as a whole.
Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
- May 2, 2025
- Runtime
- 127 minutes
- Director
- Jake Schreier
- Writers
- Eric Pearson, Joanna Calo
- Producers
- Kevin Feige
Cast
Yelena Belova
Bucky Barnes
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
MCU Movies
Source: The Numbers
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