Comic book adaptations are still capable of bringing in $1 billion at the box office (see: last summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine), but over the past handful of years, the genre arguably hasn’t been as big of a draw as it once was. For proof, look no further than this year’s crop of superhero movies. Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* rank among the lowest-grossing films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and business for The Fantastic Four: First Steps drastically slowed down after a strong opening. Even Superman, 2025’s most lucrative comic book movie, faced an uphill climb at the international box office. Still, James Gunn’s reboot has passed some notable milestones in theaters, and now it’s achieved another accomplishment.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Superman is the year’s only superhero movie to reach $600 million at the global box office. It’s also the first DC Comics adaptation to hit that milestone since 2022’s The Batman, which earned $772.3 million.
How Superman‘s Box Office Compares to 2025’s Other Superhero Movies
Bolstered by positive reviews and word of mouth, Superman exceeded box office projections and earned $125 million domestically in its opening weekend. In subsequent weeks, it held very well, becoming the highest-grossing solo Superman movie of all time in the United States. As Superman impressed domestically, its performance overseas was softer than some might have liked, meaning it had no chance of topping Man of Steel. After the official box office numbers were reported on Thursday, August 21st, Superman had earned $343.5 million in the U.S. and $256 million in international territories. That kind of ratio would have been very unusual for a superhero movie in the 2010s, when the international box office propelled several titles to $1 billion.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps found itself in a similar boat, earning more domestically ($251.3 million) than internationally ($222.2 million). Its $473.5 million worldwide total is good enough to make it the highest-grossing Marvel movie of the year, but it’s also not the runaway hit Marvel Studios and Disney were probably hoping for. Interestingly, after First Steps exceeded its own box office expectations with a $117.6 million domestic debut, it suffered a steep second weekend drop and fell behind its summer competition.
Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* seemingly lost money during their respective theatrical runs. Reports indicated Thunderbolts* needed to gross $425 million worldwide to break even (it finished with $382.4 million). After Brave New World had been in theaters for about a month, word was that its worldwide gross wasn’t “nearly enough to offset its massive $180 million price tag.” The fourth Captain America movie finished with $415.1 million. Interestingly, both titles became big hits on various home media formats.
There was a time not too long ago when all four of these films might have hit $600 million worldwide. In 2019, four comic book adaptations grossed over $1 billion. Things have certainly changed; shortened theatrical windows give casual audiences less incentive to rush out to the multiplex, and mixed reception to a film like Brave New World can impact ticket sales. Marvel Studios and DC Studios aren’t planning on stopping any time soon, so it’ll be interesting to see how they adjust to the new box office reality, hopefully putting their films in a great position to succeed.
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