When it comes to releasing superhero movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) may want to adopt the "quality over quantity" mantra.
Here's a look at how the 2025 Marvel movies are doing for Disney.
What Happened: Disney started 2025 with a bang for its Marvel franchise with a strong opening for "Captain America: Brave New World."
The film opened with $100 million in domestic box office and $92.4 million in international markets for a global total of $192.4 million.
The first of three Marvel films released by Disney in 2025, the film has grossed $200.5 million domestically and $214.6 million internationally for a global total of $415.1 million, as reported by BoxOfficeMojo.
Disney also released "Thunderbolts" in May. The superhero film opened with $74.3 million domestically and went on to gross $190.3 million and $192.2 million internationally for a global total of $382.4 million.
The newest Marvel release, "Fantastic Four: First Steps," has now been in movie theaters for two weeks and has topped the box office charts both weeks, reported Variety.
The film opened with $117.6 million domestically but fell 66% in its second weekend to $ 39.8 million. The drop, larger than the expected 55% to 60%, is now one of the biggest second weekend drops for a Marvel film, following the similar 68% second weekend drop of "Brave New World" earlier this year.
Through two weeks, "Fantastic Four" has grossed $198.4 million domestically and $170.3 million internationally for a total of $368.7 million.
While that total is sure to increase, Disney's three Marvel films have likely underperformed their original expectations, and none of them will hit the $1 billion milestone, depending on where "Fantastic Four" finishes.
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Why It's Important: Disney also released three Marvel films in 2023, and the box office results were similar.
Here were the three films:
- “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”: $106.1 million domestic opening, $214.5 million domestic, $476.1 million global
- “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”: $118.4 million domestic opening, $359.0 million domestic, $845.6 million global
- “The Marvels”: $46.1 million domestic opening, $84.5 million domestic, $206.1 million global
In total, the three films raked in $658.0 million in domestic box office revenue and $1.53 billion globally. The Guardians film held a strong box office presence. The Ant-Man sequel, however, saw a 70% drop in domestic box office in its second weekend following poor reviews. “The Marvels” went on to be Disney’s biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe flop.
Adding up the three 2025 films at this point brings a domestic total of $589.2 million and a global total of $1.16 billion. While "Fantastic Four" will likely finish higher, the 2025 results of three Marvel films appear to be close to those of 2023, with three films in the franchise also released.
Now compare that to last year's Deadpool & Wolverine," which broke records and grossed $636.7 million domestically and $1.34 billion worldwide. Those totals are almost more than all three 2023 Marvel films combined and right now outpace the three 2025 Marvel films.
While it may be in part due to some superhero fatigue, Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) has witnessed strong results for its recently released "Superman" movie. That film opened at $125 million domestically and $ 2.21 billion worldwide. The film has grossed $316.2 million domestically and $551.2 million globally in four weeks. Those domestic and global totals outpace all three 2025 Marvel films currently.
"Superman" also saw a lower second-weekend drop of 53%, which could suggest longer staying power and better results in theaters. The film ranked fourth this past weekend with $13.9 million domestically.
"Superman" could help boost Warner Bros., which is already having a strong 2025 with the top-grossing film domestically ("Minecraft") and the fourth and fifth-ranked films domestically in "Superman" and "Sinners." The company also has the 11th and 12th highest-grossing films.
The good news for Disney is that they have some of the highest-grossing films, with the three Marvel films ranking seventh, eighth and tenth. Those lower rankings could mean the movies are knocked out of the top 10 as the year progresses. Outside of Marvel, Disney has the second-highest grossing film domestically in "Lilo & Stitch," which has grossed $421.2 million domestically and $1.02 billion worldwide.
Disney will also take a break from releasing three Marvel films in a year in the future. Currently, the company has two Marvel films scheduled for 2026 and one for 2027, which include the latest Avengers ensemble films that could rank among the highest-anticipated films ever, and hopefully, for Disney shareholders, some of the highest-grossing films ever.
DIS Price Action: Disney stock is up 1.9% to $118.85 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $80.10 to $124.69. Disney stock is up 7.3% year-to-date in 2025.
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