2024 was not a strong year for superhero movies. Even as Deadpool & Wolverine broke various box-office records, this domain was dominated by subpar box-office bombs like Kraven the Hunter, Joker: Folie a Deux, and Madame Web. In the 2010s, this was a subgenre that seemed outright bulletproof. As long as you didn’t release a Dark Phoenix-level turkey, some amount of profitability was at every movie studio’s fingertips. That reality is long gone. In its place is a much more erratic landscape where even Marvel Studios can launch projects that gross under $100 million domestically.
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All eyes now turn to 2025 and what it will say for superhero movies. It’s no exaggeration to say that this is the make-or-break year for superhero cinema as we know it. Granted, it’s doubtful Hollywood will entirely abandon these characters if 2025 is as littered with box-office bombs as 2024. However, 2024 going awry for superhero cinema will spell trouble for these titles that not even an eventual Avengers: Endgame-sized hit could rectify. The chips are down and 2025’s superhero titles need to step up to the plate.
What’s at Stake for DC Studios
The severity of 2025 for superhero movies comes down heavily to the proper big-screen launch of DC Studios. July 2025’s Superman will kick off James Gunn and Peter Safran’s era of interconnected DC adaptations. Warner Bros. Pictures executives at all levels of power are crossing their fingers that this summer blockbuster can eradicate all memories of the DC Extended Universe and get folks excited for DC movies again. Ater all, thanks to Black Adam, Wonder Woman 1984, The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and others, the 2020s have been a dismal time for DC blockbuster movies.
This means Superman is no ordinary movie; it’s not even just the start of a cinematic universe. If Iron Man back in 2008 had bombed, other studios could’ve kept on adapting Marvel characters for the big screen. Superman will be a litmus test for the enduring viability of DC characters. Are people just exhausted with this corner of the comic book world? Can the umpteenth modern Superman reboot finally get people jazzed about this character?
These are the questions lingering over DC’s one big 2025 blockbuster. If Superman works, exciting new opportunities arise for adapting DC characters into live-action. If it craters, then Warner Bros. might have to close the book on costly DC tentpoles for the time being. Even the post-Batman & Robin era of DC movie adaptations wasn’t as dire as 2024 has been for these kinds of superhero films. It seems like everything from darker Todd Phillips directorial efforts to crowdpleaser blockbusters involving these characters is ignored by audiences. Superman’s box office performance will offer a clear glimpse into whether or not DC characters have a future in movie theaters
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What Does 2025 Look Like for Marvel Studios?
Deadpool & Wolverine is both a blessing and a curse for Marvel Studios in 2025. This massive pop culture phenomenon proved the label could still produce big hits. However, it’s also unclear right now if that was an anomaly or not. 2025’s most worrisome element for Marvel Studios is that two of its big movies (Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*) continue storylines and character arcs from post-2019 Marvel Cinematic Universe media. Here comes a big test of how much audiences care about MCU material that was not introduced in the pre-Endgame days.
Not helping matters is Brave New World’s incredibly rocky production, which has only accentuated critiques of how Marvel Studios makes its movies. The Fantastic Four: First Steps, meanwhile, has the daunting task of finally properly adapting a comic book group known for headlining infamously dismal movies. Marvel’s three 2025 movies and Superman all encapsulate one recurring problem 2025 must contend with: over-familiarity. All these titles are dealing with characters that have all been seen in live-action before. There are no Guardians of the Galaxy or Wonder Woman blockbusters on the docket that finally let underseen comic book mainstays anchor a tentpole release.
With so much pressure on superhero movies in 2025, relying on familiar figures like Superman and Captain America may put studio executives at ease. However, it also ensures fewer chances for big superhero movie surprises that take pop culture by storm. As audiences bemoan the staleness of comic book adaptations, these properties need to take more risks, not cling to the familiar. The precariousness of Marvel and DC in the pop culture zeitgeist has informed a worrisome 2025 slate heavy on retreading ground.
The good news, at least, is that there are tremendous upsides if these 2025 blockbusters do work. First Steps and Superman becoming box office hits would be especially welcoming for both Marvel and DC since it would mean each company’s flagship characters finally have well-received 21st-century big-screen incarnations. However, if 2025’s superhero movies keep performing like most 2023 and 2024 superhero titles at the box office, this subgenre will officially be in dire straits. Unfortunately, that outcome will involve these titles fizzling out clinging to what’s worked in the past rather than exploding in a blaze of creative gusto.
