We will never see another studio like Marvel.
As Avengers: Endgame breaks box office records on its way to challenging Avatar for all-time highest-grossing movie dominance, the movie also casts a spotlight on Marvel Studios’ impressive run of movies that just mint money. Even before 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel’s roster of hits based on their licensed properties (think Sony’s first Spider-Man movie or Fox’s 2000 X-Men release) often found themselves at the top of Hollywood’s list of moneymakers.
Here’s a snapshot of Marvel Studios’ ten top-grossing earners (domestic) and their ten biggest box office hits, which includes movies pre-MCU and Marvel characters (like Deadpool) licensed to other studios.
(Credit: Marvel Studios)
Marvel Studio’s Ten Highest-Grossing Movies at the Box Office
- Black Panther (2018) – $700 million
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – $678.8 million
- Avengers: Endgame (2019) – $645 million (and counting)
- The Avengers (2012) – $623.4 million
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – $459 million
- Captain Marvel (2018) – $421 million
- Iron Man 3 (2013) – $409 million
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) – $408 million
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – $334 million
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – $333.2 million
Four movies that gross over $600 million domestic is unheard of for the major studios, yet Marvel pulled it off in less than a decade. Like Pixar, the Marvel brand has become synonymous with a fun, quality time at the movies.
Before Endgame set the opening weekend record, another Marvel hero helped get that honor back in 2002. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man was the first movie in history to have a then-record-setting $100 million opening weekend. Today, that’s what some movies clear on their opening days. Speaking of Spider-Man, here are the ten biggest pre-MCU hits at the box office (not adjusted for inflation), along with Marvel films like Deadpool and Spider-Man that were licensed by Marvel to other studios before Disney bought Fox.
(Credit: Sony Pictures)
Marvel’s 10 Biggest Pre-MCU and Marvel-Licensed Movies at the Box Office
- Spider-Man (2002) – $403 million
- Spider-Man (2004) – $373 million
- Deadpool (2016) – $363 million
- Spider-Man 3 (2007) – $336 million
- Deadpool 2 (2018) – $318.5 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – $262 million
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – $234.4 million
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) – $233.9 million
- Logan (2017) – $226.3 million
- X2: X-Men United (2003) – $215 million
Good thing Disney now owns the X-Men movie rights. Get ready for all those awesome X-Men vs. Sentinel battles the original Fox releases never delivered. And don’t expect Sony to ever fully relinquish their rights to Spidey back to Marvel. The Webhead makes them way too much Scrooge McDuck money.
Long story less long: Marvel and their brand of blockbusters aren’t going away any time soon. Gird yourself for a lot of Marvel movie marathons in the years to come.
