Marvel's Thunderbolts* Box Office Officially Passes The MCU's Biggest Bomb's Entire Gross In Just 1 Week

Thunderbolts* has pᴀssed the entire box office gross of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s lowest-grossing film in just a week. Thunderbolts*’s ending shows that the MCU clearly has big plans for its new superhero team, with the characters set to play a major role in Avengers: Doomsday. Thunderbolts* is the perfect answer to complaints that the Multiverse Saga has largely been unfocused, with many new characters introduced but only a few of them interacting. With Thunderbolts*‘s post-credits scene changing the MCU in a couple of major ways, the positive word-of-mouth is carrying the film to new heights at the box office.

According to The Numbers, Thunderbolts*‘s box office currently stands at $272.1 million, with the MCU movie pᴀssing the franchise’s biggest box office bomb, The Marvels, which scored $199.7 million worldwide over its entire theatrical run, in only a week. The Captain Marvel sequel followed the original movie led by Brie Larson, which grossed over $1 billion, making its box office failure quite a disappointment. While Thunderbolts* includes several MCU franchise stars in its cast, it is the first film in the team’s franchise, and that setup seems to be working for it.

What The Thunderbolts* Box Office Update Means

The MCU Movie Sets Its Sights On Becoming Profitable

Thunderbolts* had a reported budget of $180 million. Based on how the rule for movies to be profitable is that they need to do 2x-2.5x their budget, then the MCU’s latest 2025 film has to end its global run in the $360-450 million range for it to be profitable. With its first two weekends at the box office out of the way, Thunderbolts* seems to be on a path that could put it at a $405-445 million worldwide finish, according to box office analyst Luiz Fernando (via Twitter).

Based on its performance so far and box office projections, it seems like Thunderbolts*‘s MCU connections have managed to help it have a very different outcome than The Marvels. The MCU’s biggest box office bomb lost the studio millions. Thunderbolts* is projected to make back its budget/turn in a small profit for Marvel, all while setting up a new team. While it is a far cry from the MCU’s biggest hits, a possible Thunderbolts* sequel could climb higher at the box office after the solid first movie kickstarted the new Marvel franchise.

Our Take On The Thunderbolts* Box Office Update

The MCU’s Biggest Box Office Bomb Tried Something Similar To Thunderbolts*

I’m surprised by just how fast Thunderbolts* was able to surpᴀss the entire box office gross of The Marvels. The 2023 MCU movie, like Thunderbolts*, featured a new Marvel team coming together. The Marvels was even a sequel to a film that grossed $1 billion, while Thunderbolts* sees stars from different MCU projects team up for the first time. However, given how the first Captain Marvel proved itself divisive in many ways and Thunderbolts* sets up key changes for the MCU’s next projects, I can understand why the two performed like they did, and Thunderbolts* is also the better film.