Despite positive reviews, Thunderbolts* is poised to go down as a box office failure, a result that could lead to significant changes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A new piece in Variety detailing Thunderbolts*’ commercial performance and the potential fallout notes that Thunderbolts* is one of the lowest-grossing MCU installments to date. As of this writing, it has earned just $377.6 million globally. Variety states it needs to earn $425 million in order to break even. Seeing that the film’s box office run is winding down, that seems unlikely to happen, meaning Thunderbolts* is Marvel’s second box office disappointment of the year, after Captain America: Brave New World.
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As Marvel looks to rebound, it could consider a couple of strategies. Variety posits the possibility the studio of adapting a “go big or go home” mentality by only moving forward with films headlined by premier characters that are a virtual lock to be a box office success (i.e. Spider-Man, Avengers, X-Men, etc.). It’s also possible Marvel looks to scale back on production costs, as it can be easier for movies with smaller budgets to turn a profit.
Thunderbolts* kicked off the 2025 summer movie season in early May, grossing $74.3 million over its opening weekend. Though word of mouth was strong (88% score on Rotten Tomatoes), the film did not have strong legs at the box office. After only a couple of weeks in theaters, Thunderbolts* was overshadowed by new arrivals like Final Destination Bloodlines, Lilo & Stitch, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, titles that either exceeded expectations or set new records. For the weekend of June 6th-8th, Thunderbolts* came in 10th on the domestic charts.
As of this writing, Thunderbolts* ranks ahead of only Captain America: The First Avenger ($370.5 million), The Incredible Hulk ($264.7 million), and The Marvels ($206.1 million) on the MCU’s all-time worldwide charts. Captain America: Brave New World grossed $415.1 million globally during its run earlier this year.
It’s disappointing to see Thunderbolts* end up in the red, especially after many felt it was a fun return to form for the MCU. From a storytelling perspective, it is one of Marvel’s stronger films recently, balancing genre entertainment with heavy themes in a satisfying way. But given its box office performance, Marvel is likely going to have to change things moving forward. Reducing budgets could work, but it’s worth pointing out Thunderbolts* was already cheaper than some of its Multiverse Saga contemporaries ($180 million). Marvel can probably go a bit below that figure, but you can only cut costs so much on a high-profile studio tentpole designed to be a global blockbuster. Those types of movies need to be heavily marketed to raise awareness.
Marvel is already making an effort to dial back its output, scaling back the number of movies and TV shows that are released each year. Even Kevin Feige realized it had become too much like homework to follow the MCU’s sprawling storyline, so he decided to focus on quality over quantity. The rest of the Multiverse Saga’s film slate is set, featuring titles like Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Avengers: Secret Wars, which should all be sizable box office hits when they open. Perhaps that is the way forward for Marvel, prioritizing features that center on the landmark characters. For those who have enjoyed seeing more obscure characters like Shang-Chi and the Eternals get the spotlight, this would be an unfortunate turn of events, but even some die-hard MCU fans might admit the franchise became too diluted with an overabundance of films and shows. The film industry is a business, and Marvel can’t keep losing money on its movies. Building projects around marquis heroes could ensure those projects turn healthy profits, and lower tier characters could always team up with Spider-Man or Wolverine.
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