Summary
- Superhero movies, like Spider-Man: Far From Home, pull in big bucks thanks to the hype surrounding iconic characters and epic storylines.
- Aquaman and Black Panther show that lesser-known heroes can still make a splash at the box office with stunning visuals and captivating narratives.
- Avengers: Endgame proves that the culmination of a decade-long saga can bring in record-breaking numbers and unforgettable moments for fans.
Superhero movies have been the undisputed king of the box office for the past decade and more. Fans love to see the iconic heroes of Marvel and DC duke it out on the big screen, and with recent releases like Deadpool & Wolverine set to break records for the R-rated scene, it’s time to look at the highest-grossing superhero movies of all time.
MCU: Phase Five, Ranked (So Far)
Despite the MCU's momentum winding down, Phase Five still has a few tricks up its sleeve to impress those who can't get enough of Marvel's heroes.
Whilst DC competes, Marvel dominates and has become the titan to beat when it comes to the comic book movies that have made the most money. The best superhero movies with the biggest box office results aren’t surprising considering the hype and fanfare regarded some iconic characters in spandex.
10 Spider-Man: Far From Home
Worldwide Gross: $1,132,679,685
- Release Date: June 28, 2019
- Director: Jon Watts
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 91%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 95%
Doing away with superhero Civil Wars and giant purple aliens that want to wipe out half of existence, Peter Parker takes a break by venturing on a vacation across Europe with his schoolmates and teachers. All goes well until Nick Fury needs Peter Parker to become Spider-Man and aid the elusive hero Mysterio in saving the world across various European landmarks.
The success of Spider-Man: Far From Home doesn’t just come from the fact that everybody loves Spider-Man. There’s an obvious advantage to being the epilogue to Avengers: Endgame, and audiences turned up to see Spider-Man swing back into action and see him deal with Tony Stark’s death.
9 Aquaman
Worldwide Gross: $1,152,028,393
- Release Date: December 7, 2018
- Director: James Wan
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 65%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 72%
The DCEU retreats underwater to avoid further stories with Batman and Superman and instead presents an entire new aquatic world with Aquaman, where Arthur Curry must come to terms with his heritage as the Prince of Atlantis, and embark on a quest to unite the seven seas and the surface in order to fulfill his destiny and become King.
20 years ago, nobody would have guessed that the highest-grossing DC movie wouldn’t involve Batman or Superman, but instead, Aquaman of all characters. Jason Momoa has turned Aquaman into a rockstar, and James Wan’s imaginative underwater world is beautiful to explore.
8 Captain America: Civil War
Worldwide Gross: $1,155,046,416
- Release Date: April 27, 2016
- Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 90%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 89%
Politics begin to interfere with the Avengers as repercussions after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and racked with guilt surrounding the death of innocents in the Ultron program, Tony Stark is inclined to agree, causing a potentially irreversible rift to form between Captain America and Iron Man that may just turn the superhero world violent towards one another.
Captain America: Civil War is still a Captain America movie at its core, but it’s also a mini-Avengers movie. All previous characters feature and the implications going forward have never been stronger. Despite making over a billion dollars, it’s surprising that Captain America: Civil War didn’t make more, since it was the MCU’s introduction to Spider-Man.
7 Iron Man 3
Worldwide Gross: $1,215,577,205
- Release Date: April 24, 2013
- Director: Shane Black
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 79%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 78%
After saving New York from an alien invasion and nuclear devastation, Tony Stark’s thoughts and dreams are haunted by what he saw in the wormhole, leaving him filled with paranoia, worry, and anxiety. This is Tony Stark at his most vulnerable, which makes him an easy target for the Mandarin, who seeks to reduce Tony Stark’s life and his suit of armor to rubble.
Iron Man 3 could have easily been a magnum opus for Robert Downey Jr.’s trilogy conclusion, but it instead relies a bit too much on comedy rather than delving deep into the dark character moments that Tony Stark deserves. Iron Man 3’s box office is attributed to RDJ’s charisma and star power, and for audiences to see where the character ends up after The Avengers.
6 Black Panther
Worldwide Gross: $1,374,959,729
- Release Date: February 13, 2018
- Director: Ryan Coogler
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 96%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 79%
Continuing through the MCU, Black Panther takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, where T’Challa must return home to the African nation of Wakanda to take responsibility as its new king, and new Black Panther. Tensions arise as the new king of Wakanda is tested by the world and a family member that he never knew he had, Eric Killmonger.
Black Panther provides the MCU with one of its more celebrated stories, with some riveting characters and settings. The culture surrounding Wakanda is equally inspiring as it is cool, and standout performances help to elevate the movie to uplifting degrees among diverse communities.
5 Avengers: Age of Ultron
Worldwide Gross: $1,405,018,048
- Release Date: April 22, 2015
- Director: Joss Whedon
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 76%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 82%
The Avengers face yet another global threat, one that seems to be the doing of one of their own. As Tony Stark attempts to create a suit of armor around the world with a peacekeeping program, he does not expect it to go rogue and begin its own plans to create peace in our time by eradicating human life. What could have been a darker tale that the MCU needed, seemed fairly tame and comedic.
Despite being a highly anticipated sequel, Age of Ultron made less money than the previous Avengers movie. A few factors could be involved. Perhaps fans and general audiences didn’t care for the premise, or word of mouth regarding familiarity and a quipping genocidal villain just didn’t sit right with them.
4 The Avengers
Worldwide Gross: $1,520,538,536
- Release Date: April 25, 2012
- Director: Joss Whedon
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 91%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 91%
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is forever changed with the release of The Avengers, which brings forth Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to forge a team capable of defeating Loki and the Tesseract, which has amassed an alien invasion that threatens the people of Earth. The Avengers has Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk band together, bringing forth a cinematic universe like no other to stop a world-ending threat.
MCU: Phase One, Ranked
The starting line of the Marvel Cinematic Universe had some humble successes still more memorable than most for the comic book movie genre.
The Avengers proved that the MCU could work, and it showed that by introducing audiences to these B-list characters through their own engaging movies, they could be familiar and excited with the potential to see their stories crossover. The chemistry and dialogue between the characters really helped to make The Avengers what it is today.
3 Spider-Man: No Way Home
Worldwide Gross: $1,922,598,800
- Release Date: December 15, 2021
- Director: Jon Watts
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 93%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 98%
It doesn’t get more fan-servicey than this, as the MCU Spider-Man heads into his threequel, capping off his trilogy with a celebration of the hero’s past, present, and future. Spider-Man: No Way Home doesn’t shy away from the surprises, and as Peter Parker tries to make the world forget that he’s Spider-Man, he comes face-to-face with the consequences of meddling with magic by bringing forth the multiverse.
Spider-Man: No Way Home almost made a whopping $2 billion at the box office, and it’s easy to see why. The return of some iconic Spidey villains like Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Jamie Foxx’s Electro was enough to have people turn up in droves, but what really sealed the deal was the return of Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire as their respective Spider-Men, bringing together all live-action interactions of Spider-Man on screen for the first time ever in an ode to all their stories.
2 Avengers: Infinity War
Worldwide Gross: $2,052,415,039
- Release Date: April 25, 2018
- Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 85%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 92%
After the Avengers were split up due to the events of Captain America: Civil War, the heroes that remain must salvage their allies in an attempt to stop the dreaded Thanos and his forces from erasing half the universe in a maddening plan for balance. Avengers: Infinity War amasses almost every MCU character introduced so far, and places them into teams of misfits, all with equal responsibility to ensuring the safety of the universe.
Avengers: Infinity War was the prelude to the finale, and as audiences headed in, they were all caught by surprise by the tragic ending of some of their favorite characters. Infinity War was electrifying in its heroic moments, and its box office gain is a testament to the popularity of Marvel characters that Marvel Studios slowly crafted into superstars.
1 Avengers: Endgame
Worldwide Gross: $2,799,439,100
- Release Date: April 24, 2019
- Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 94%
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score: 90%
After Avengers: Infinity War left audiences on a dramatic cliffhanger, it’s no surprise that armies of fans turned up on opening weekend and beyond of the highly anticipated Avengers: Endgame. This was it, the celebration of 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the potential finale to the characters and universe that put Marvel and Marvel Studios back on the map.
The Avengers band together for perhaps the final time as they attempt to avenge the fallen and find a way to bring back half of the universe that Thanos stole from them with the Infinity Stones. Everyone wanted to see how this story ended, and the abundance of characters and exciting fan-cheering moments seemed endless and easily rewatchable.
Source: Box Office Mojo
10 Best Superhero Theme Songs
A superhero needs an iconic theme just as much as they need a memorable outfit, and these songs certainly do their heroes justice.