Although 2025 has played host to a standard array of three MCU movies, it seems that nothing short of a miracle will help their combined might to reach the $1.3 billion reached by a single 2024 movie. This may raise alarms for the entire franchise, which has experienced a rollercoaster of financial and critical fortunes throughout the Multiverse Saga.

Some of the MCU’s best-rated and highest-grossing movies have been released within the last four years. 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, for instance, isn’t just the MCU’s third-highest-grossing movie, but is widely lauded as one of the best movies the MCU has ever released. Nevertheless, it has been a rocky road for the MCU since then.

The Multiverse Saga has since hosted the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie with The Marvels, and several of its lowest-rated, such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Thor: Love and Thunder. Despite 2024 looking like a pivot in the right direction, it now seems that 2025 has now experienced some fallout.

Marvel’s 2025 MCU Movie Box Office Can’t Reach The Heights Of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine

The typical three-movie release structure that has come to define the Multiverse Saga returned in 2025, with three MCU movies releasing in relatively swift succession. In order, these include:

• Captain America: Brave New World (February 14)
• Thunderbolts* (May 2)
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25)

This stands in stark contrast to 2024, which hosted just one movie: ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine (July 26). This followed the Hollywood Strikes of 2023, which delayed productions of several blockbusters. In fact, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine was one of very few superhero movies released that year, with Sony’s Spider-Man Universe filling dates with three releases and the DCEU being officially defunct.

Nevertheless, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine dominated with a $1.3 billion box office. This made it the MCU’s 11th billion-dollar movie and its sixth-highest-grossing movie overall. Despite being bulked out by three releases, 2025’s combined box office falls significantly short.

So far, this makes for a difference of more than $104 million. With The Fantastic Four: First Steps being the only movie that is still in theaters, it shoulders the burden of covering that shortfall. Unfortunately, as the movie now approaches its fourth weekend, this seems unlikely.

In its second weekend, The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ box office gross dropped by around 67%. In its third, it dropped a further 59%. This trajectory is comparable to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which dropped 70% and 60% in its second and third weeks, respectively, and grossed a total of $476 million worldwide.

With a stronger opening and word-of-mouth, First Steps could easily gross more than Quantumania. Nevertheless, even if it breaks $500 million, it is still unlikely to clear the $541 million needed for 2025’s total gross to match ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine​​​​​​’s $1.3 billion.

Why Marvel’s 2025 Movies Are Struggling At The Box Office

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine admittedly had a lot working in its favor. The anticipated return of both тιтular characters was bolstered by the significance of their MCU debuts, helping to make ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine the premier cinematic event of the year. Furthermore, the superhero movie stood out in an otherwise subpar and relatively barren year for the genre overall.

2025, meanwhile, has been a big year for superhero movies. While The Fantastic Four: First Steps is arguably as big an event as ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, with the star-studded тιтular team also making their MCU debut, the DCU also launched around the same time, with the critically acclaimed Superman releasing just two weeks before The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Both of July’s superhero movies were also unburdened compared to Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*, which each necessitated prior knowledge. The four-year-old The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, for instance, comprises six hours of required viewing to keep fully abreast of both movies. Thunderbolts* also starred three characters who debuted in the lesser-known MCU movie, Black Widow.

Furthermore, 2025’s substandard performance could signify superhero fatigue. It is also impossible to discount that the MCU’s recent critical failures might have soured general audiences on the franchise. Still, the acclaim of the MCU‘s two most recent movies and a year’s reprieve could help the franchise to bounce back with Spider-Man: Brand New Day in 2026.