The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) may be losing its box office dominance, but it remains hugely influential in popular culture. It’s hard for modern viewers to believe, but the MCU was generally seen as something of a huge gamble; an interconnected universe where every film was loosely tied to the rest, building up to climactic Avengers blockbusters?

Marvel didn’t even have access to their heaviest hitters, Spider-Man and the X-Men. Again, modern viewers tend to inflate the reputations of characters like Iron Man and Captain America, another testimony to the MCU’s success. But now, in the post-Avengers: Endgame world, the MCU’s star has lost its luster.

What’s gone wrong? And is the MCU still important?

The MCU Has Stumbled Since Avengers: Endgame

There’s a sense in which the MCU was a victim of its own success. In truth, Marvel’s plans were always a lot less detailed than studio bosses often claimed; only one of the MCU’s Phase 1 post-credits scenes makes sense, and an entire one-sH๏τ had to be created to explain away The Incredible Hulk.

Looking back, Marvel’s biggest misstep probably came in 2014 when the studio announced the entire MCU Phase 3 slate – and the buildup to the epic Avengers: Infinity War (originally conceived as Parts I and II). Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige himself has admitted this backfired; as he told IGN, he felt Infinity War overshadowed Avengers: Age of Ultron:

“I think there was a slight notion of—Ultron hadn’t come out at that point and I felt a tiny little sense of, ‘Well, gosh, we’ve gotta talk about the movies we have coming out next because that’s what we’ve been working so hard on and that’s what’s next available for our audience to see,’ but when we talk that far ahead, that took a lot of attention out.”

The problem, fundamentally, was that viewers became less engaged with each individual movie in isolation, and more focused on the journey to a set destination. Infinity War and Endgame delivered on this, but it left Marvel struggling to continue the story, not least because the studio seems to have only decided on its multiverse narrative partway through Phase 4.

Meanwhile, a corporate mandate to boost content for Disney+ left Marvel overcommitted, releasing no less than 11 seasons of superhero TV between 2020 and 2024. It was too much, diluting the brand, while quality suffered; Marvel bosses had stopped producing the one-sH๏τs because of limited bandwidth, and the studio simply couldn’t handle this kind of output.

The Impact Has Been Seen In The Box Office

The best indicator of the MCU’s decline can be seen in the MCU’s box office takings for each year.

There have been occasional hits (think Spider-Man: No Way Home, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool: Wolverine, and the like) but the MCU is clearly suffering from diminishing returns.

The most surprising aspect of this, though, is the shocking fact that 2025 features the lowest box office takings for the MCU since the end of Phase 3 in 2019. We’re only a year away from Avengers: Doomsday, the grand finale of Phase 6, and everything should really be booming ahead of that cinematic event; but it’s not happening.

In fact, Marvel’s 2025 box office has failed to beat ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine.

The World Is Beginning To Change

At the same time, though, it’s important to set the MCU’s decline against a difficult backdrop. Pundits expected summer 2025 to see the global box office pᴀss the elusive $4 billion mark for only the second time since 2019, but Hollywood failed to deliver. People simply aren’t turning up for the movies like they used to.

When they do turn up, it’s often for something fresh and original rather than for big franchises; Sinners and Weapons were the real hits of 2025. Last year, Christopher Nolan told ᴅᴇᴀᴅline he hoped Openheimer‘s success signaled the beginning of a “post franchise, post intellectual property, landscape for movies,” and he seems to have been right.

Marvel May Be Diminished, But The MCU Still Matters

Still, the numbers speak for themselves; the MCU is, quite clearly, not what it was. For all that’s the case, though, the MCU continues to punch above its weight. The movies and TV shows are star vehicles, drawing both established stars and new names hoping to break big, and Marvel excel at playing the nostalgia card.

The MCU’s themes and concepts continue to drive Hollywood; it’s no coincidence everyone has pivoted to exploring the multiverse right now, and this influence will surely endure. Meanwhile, as much as the fashion may be moving away from franchises, you can expect them to remain an important part of Hollywood.

2026 Will Prove The MCU Still Packs A Punch

Marvel’s continued importance will surely be demonstrated next year, when we’ll be getting both a new Spider-Man movie and Avengers: Doomsday. Both should easily break $1 billion in the global box office, even in an environment where $800 million is really the new $1 billion. The latter benefits from feeling like a coda to every Marvel movie since 2000’s X-Men.

What is striking, though, is that these are the only two MCU movies hitting theaters next year. This is all the more remarkable given Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a partnership with Sony, meaning Marvel Studios don’t even accrue all the profits. This shows Marvel’s strategic shift towards a “less is more” approach; fewer movies, more ‘sure things.’

It’s a smart call. It won’t mean the MCU regains its box office dominance; don’t ever expect the franchise to gross over $5 billion in a single year again. But it will mean every movie has an impact, and (ᴀssuming costs can be gotten under control) makes a healthy profit, to boot.

With that approach, the MCU can remain a force to be reckoned with.