While the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) stands tall as Marvel’s most successful venture into the box office, not every Marvel movie has hit it big at the box office, as proven by releases like The New Mutants. While the early 2000s saw franchises like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and the Fox X-Men movies take off, not every Marvel property was so successful.
And that’s part of the reason why the sudden and complete takeover of the MCU from 2008 onwards was a surprise. Not only were these characters that were lesser-known, but the superhero movies from Marvel had been struggling. But, a recent Marvel flop slightly alters the perspective on these earlier releases.
The New Mutants Has One Of Marvel’s Lowest Box Offices
The New Mutants Was A Huge Financial Flop
The New Mutants came at an awkward time in the timeline for Marvel movies. After Fox had successfully built an X-Men franchise, and seen further success with the rebooted franchise with a younger cast, they hoped to expand their Marvel movie offerings.
Despite The New Mutants being a complete movie, it was not in-keeping with the rest of Marvel’s offerings.
As a result, they planned to release a Gambit movie, and they filmed and completed The New Mutants. But, in 2019, Disney purchased Fox, and as a result, the rights to these characters reverted back to Marvel Studios, also owned by Disney. And despite The New Mutants being a complete movie, it was not in-keeping with the rest of Marvel’s offerings.
As a result, the studio did eventually release the movie, years after completion, and with minimal marketing. As a result, the movie earned a meager $47 million. But, as much as this is eclipsed by other MCU releases, it’s not far off from other earlier Marvel releases.
The New Mutants’ Box Office Results Make The Punisher & Punisher: War Zone Look Better
The New Mutants Is Not The Lowest Earning Marvel Movie
In 2004, Lionsgate released The Punisher, a film about the popular comic book hero, Frank Castle, as played by Thomas Jane. While the movie was not a total flop, and it did manage to recover several million dollars more than the production budget, even in 2004, this movie was not considered a big hit.
|
Movie |
Release Date |
Box Office (via The Numbers) |
|
The Punisher |
April 16, 2004 |
$54,533,774 |
|
The New Mutants |
August 28, 2020 |
$47,535,251 |
|
Punisher: War Zone |
December 5, 2008 |
$10,157,534 |
Then, four years later, Lionsgate decided to reboot their Punisher story with Ray Stevenson in the lead role for Punisher: War Zone. This time, the movie was definitively a flop, but, when looking at the results next to The New Mutants, it’s not that bad.
The New Mutants & The Punisher Movies Reveal Some Interesting Truths About Marvel Films
The truth is, there are various reasons why all three of these movies flopped. From poor marketing, to less popular characters, and poor timing. But overall, one major takeaway is the fact that action isn’t everything. While action as a genre has its own fanbase, comic book movie fans crave something a little more than just punching, shooting, and explosions.
All three movies had potential. They all featured interesting characters with a solid fanbase from the comics. But, they lost sight of a larger vision, and these movies suffered the consequences. Thankfully, Frank Castle has since found success with actor Jon Bernthal. Hopefully, The New Mutants will be able to enjoy similar redemption in the future.
