For years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe dominated the box office, but the franchise has experienced its fair share of ups and downs on that front in what’s been an uneven era post-Endgame. Now, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars directors Joe and Anthony Russo have shared their thoughts on whether or not the MCU is still a reliable box office draw. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaking duo touched on the commercial prospects of the upcoming Avengers films. As they work on bringing the Multiverse Saga to a close, they’re focused more on making “the best movie possible,” which will ideally bring people to the theater.
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“We can’t control the economic environment. We can’t control what’s happening in the world around the time of the release,” said Joe Russo. “We can’t control the audience’s desire to leave their homes or not. All we can do is make the best movie possible in the hope that it excites them.”
Over the past couple of years, MCU films have not been guaranteed money makers like they were during the heyday of the Infinity Saga. Both The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania failed to meet expectations, grossing $206.1 million and $476 million worldwide, respectively, against massive production budgets. This year’s Captain America: Brave New World was also a box office disappointment, earning just $373.7 million globally as of this writing.
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The MCU’s shaky box office results have even led to Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld calling for Kevin Feige to be replaced as Marvel Studios president. However, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom for the MCU during the Multiverse Saga. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine broke their fair share of records during their theatrical runs, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 posted a strong $845.5 million worldwide gross.
The “make the best movie possible” part of Joe Russo’s comment is arguably the most important. It perhaps isn’t a coincidence that the Multiverse Saga installments with the best reviews tend to perform better at the box office while those with a mixed reception struggle. Brave New World has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Captain America movie, which definitely hurt its ability to generate enthusiasm amongst general moviegoers. Something on the scale of an Avengers movie could be critic-proof to an extent since there will be sizable interest in seeing how Marvel pulls Doomsday and Secret Wars off, but word of mouth could go a long way in determining how strong its legs are. There are other high-profile tentpoles on the horizon in 2026, and if Doomsday fails to leave a positive impression, audiences could quickly pivot to one of those titles.
This summer should give us a clearer picture of where Marvel stands at the box office these days. Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps seem to be building interest at this stage in their respective marketing campaigns, meaning they could help the MCU rebound from a tough start to the year. If both of those films perform well, then there could be proper excitement for Doomsday, which is set to feature characters from Thunderbolts* and First Steps. That, combined with strong reviews for the Russos’ MCU return, would result in a much-needed win for Marvel.
