3 Upcoming Anime Movies That Could Beat Marvel and DC at the Box Office (Like Demon Slayer)

In the past, assuming that an anime movie could compete with box office smash hits from the MCU or DCU franchises would have been laughable at best. This has very little to do with the quality of past anime movies or series; it’s more related to the unfair stigma that surrounded anime as a medium within the Western entertainment industry. Long-time anime fans remember when it was considered uncool to watch anime, let alone compare your favorite series to other well-known franchises. Despite past judgment surrounding anime, we’ve seen a lot of that prejudice towards the medium lifting in the past decade, with anime becoming more and more common in the mainstream.

This change is not just reflected in online spaces and streaming services, but in the box office. Recently, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, hit movie theaters for its global release, and to say the results were overwhelming would be an understatement. It not only surpassed huge comic book adaptation releases this year, such as Superman and Fantastic Four, but has also become the highest-grossing anime film of all time. The shift in popularity towards anime has been a huge boon to the fandom, allowing for more recognition to be shone on anime releases, which has led to more anime movie theatrical releases being added to the worldwide roster. This list will explore a few upcoming anime movies hitting movie theaters soon, that have the potential to compete with the best of the best films out right now.

3) 100 Meters

Sports anime have been popular in the fandom for quite some time, with popular titles like Haikyuu, Blue Lock, and Sk8 the Infinity earning widespread attention from audiences. The pull of sports anime tends to revolve around the themes of teamwork, self-improvement, competition, and rivalry that can be navigated in-depth throughout the plot. With shonen anime becoming more frequent in terms of what’s trending in the community, sports anime can be a refreshing change from the supernatural, fantastical, or action-packed series that anime can lean towards favoring. In a similar vein, a new sports anime film that is anticipated to release soon is 100 Meters, a standout among titles from Chainsaw Man or Demon Slayer that have, or will, grace theaters this year.

100 Meters debuted in Japan in September of this year; the movie will have its official American release date in October 2025. Based on a manga of the same name, 100 Meters explores the story of two childhood friends and rival runners, Togashi and Komiya. The two boys train together in their youth, with Togashi a running prodigy and Komiya boasting determination that pushes them both to work harder and grow together in skill. Following the boys throughout their formative years, the movie delves into their adult lives as full-blown competitors, handling the stress of competition, training, and dealing with loss in the professional sports world.

2) Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution

If there’s a shonen anime series that can compete with modern titles like Demon Slayer or Attack on Titan for global popularity, it’s got to be Jujutsu Kaisen. The show first debuted in 2020 and is expected to debut its third season, depicting the “Culling Game Arc”, sometime in 2026. It’s known for its place in Shonen Jump’s “Dark Trio”, referring to the inclusion of dark, gritty themes that subvert tropes within shonen. Jujutsu Kaisen has been on a mild content hiatus since the manga ended last year, with fans waiting for the next season to drop; Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death – The Movie debuted this past summer, a compilation film of the “Star Plasma Vessel Arc”.

The new hype in the fandom comes from the promise of the next movie in the franchise, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution. This film will adapt the “Shibuya Arc”, and offer a sneak peek into the first two episodes of the third season. We’re expected to see popular characters featured like Yuta Okkotsu, who will officially be joining the reccurring character roster of the anime’s main timeline. While compilation anime films can be hit or miss, the excitement around new content, fan-favorite characters, and the signature MAPPA animation style gives Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution a boost in terms of popularity that may favor the film’s turnout in theaters.

1) Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

Chainsaw Man is a series that has been steadily growing in popularity among the anime community since the show’s release in 2022. It’s also a MAPPA production, showcasing the studio’s signature animation style and fight-sequence intensity, no doubt lending to how successful its adaptation has been received by audiences. The show’s second season has not yet been officially announced, but will take place after its only theatrical release, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. Fans have long been waiting for new content from the franchise, which has added to the anticipation surrounding the film, which will drop in theaters in October 2025.

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc will adapt the “Reze Arc”, as the title suggests. This arc takes place directly after the first season and follows a storyline in the manga where Denji meets Reze, a sweet girl whom he becomes romantically attracted to despite knowing little about her true nature. In actuality, Reze is the Bomb Devil, a dangerous supernatural being with hidden objectives that force Denji into an emotionally tense confrontation that sets the tone for big reveals within the manga. The choice to adapt this arc into a film ensures that the gravity and emotion of this particular manga arc are translated to the big screen; not to mention, its portrayal of original content that hasn’t been animated will definitely draw in die-hard fans of the series.

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Are you planning to see any of these anime movies? Tell us which anime films from 2025 you loved in the comments below.

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