The superhero genre has dominated at the box office over the last couple of decades, and within the most popular releases, there are a handful of stars who have become foundational. While superhero movies have been a part of cinema from the start, it’s a much more recent development for this genre to be so widely popular.

Prior to the rise of the MCU timeline in 2008, superhero movies had already begun transitioning to the mainstream with Academy Award-winning features like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. However, since then, the genre has exploded, with many тιтles earning well over a billion dollars per film (as reported by The Numbers).

10

Christian Bale As Batman

As much as Christopher Reeve’s Superman helped superhero films take off, it wasn’t until the 2000s that these movies began to rake in enormous sums of money at the box office. With Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and the Fox X-Men movies, the genre began to gain a lot more traction.

But the truth is, superheroes didn’t fully explode into the mainstream until Christian Bale donned the cowl in Batman Begins. With a visionary director like Christopher Nolan behind the camera, and Bale’s remarkable talent on-screen, The Dark Knight trilogy raised the bar for what these movies could achieve.

Over the course of three films, the movies racked up nearly $2.5 billion. The franchise was a stunning success, and Bale became the Dark Knight for a whole new generation of superhero fans.

9

Robert Downey Jr. As Iron Man

Building on that success, the MCU dreamed big, and it set its sights on building a shared superhero universe from the very beginning. But, of course, in order to make it all work, they needed to put their best foot forward – and they did exactly that by launching the franchise with Robert Downey Jr. in the flagship role as Iron Man.

Despite the studio hesitating about hiring him, director Jon Favreau fought hard to cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, and it’s clear that this was the right call. Not only did Iron Man become an overwhelming success, but the trilogy earned more than $2.4 billion.

Beyond that, RDJ became one of the central figures in several further MCU releases that amᴀssed nearly $10 billion combined, excluding his standalone trilogy.

8

Tom Holland As Spider-Man

While Iron Man became an unexpected sensation on the big screen, Spider-Man has nearly always had a strong presence in the superhero space. With several animated shows, and multiple franchises from Sony, Spider-Man is inherently a moneymaker as far as superheroes go.

However, it took the MCU stepping in, and hiring Tom Holland to swing into action, to really unlock the potential of the character both in terms of his story, and his earning potential at the box office. Just in his initial MCU trilogy, Spider-Man has racked up nearly $4 billion, in addition to numerous appearances in other high-earning тιтles.

7

Gal Gadot As Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot was cast early in the timeline of the DCEU, and as such, the character was introduced ahead of their solo movie debut. While Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984 came in at just shy of a billion between them, Gadot’s presence across the DCEU takes her well over the $2 billion mark.

Now, compared to the MCU, this may not appear all that impressive, but considering the DCEU was able to produce fewer hits overall – and Wonder Woman itself obtained the third-biggest worldwide box office of the DCEU’s film roster – it’s an impressive milestone.

6

Ryan Reynolds As ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool

ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool has proven to be one of the most exciting and irreverent characters from Marvel Comics, even before his on-screen debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With his video game appearances – and a popular comic series – leaning into meta humor, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool broke the mold in many ways.

Prior to his big screen debut, actor Ryan Reynolds had a strong affinity for the character, and wanted to see the hero adapted faithfully. And even after X-Men Origins failed to get the character right, despite casting Ryan Reynolds in the role, it did lay the foundation for Reynolds’ return.

In 2016, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool debuted with his comic book accurate suit, and launched a stunning trilogy that would straddle two franchises – the Fox X-Men and the MCU. In total, Reynolds’ take on ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool has racked up well over $2 billion at the box office, with more than half of that total coming from his MCU debut in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine.

5

Hugh Jackman As Wolverine

Reynolds’ long-time friend in real-life, Hugh Jackman, also co-starred in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, where he reprized a role he first took on more than 20 years prior. Jackman stood out in the original X-Men movies for his portrayal of Wolverine.

And even after the 2000’s X-Men trilogy wrapped up, Wolverine went on to star in his own trilogy. On top of that, Jackman would also appear in the rebooted franchise through cameos, and a major role in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Ultimately, the Marvel movies where Jackman’s Wolverine had a prominent role combine together to have a worldwide box office total of more than $4 billion. This not only speaks to the popularity of this version of the Marvel hero, but also the success of many of the films he plays a key role in.

4

Chris Evans As Captain America

Chris Evans has had a history of taking on roles in various action, adventure, and superhero films. Before the MCU took flight, Evans played the role of Johnny Storm in 2005’s Fantastic Four, and reprized the role for the 2007 sequel.

However, when Evans joined the MCU as Captain America, the character quickly replaced Johnny Storm as the actor’s most definitive superhero role. Across the hero’s trilogy, the MCU films earned in excess of $2.2 billion – and, similar to Robert Downey Jr, Evans appeared in many other key MCU films, racking up several more billion in terms of box office results.

3

Henry Cavill As Superman

Returning to the DCEU, it’s interesting to note that Henry Cavill’s Superman, though the foundational hero in the series, never appeared in a movie that earned more than $900 million. However, his cumulative appearances did manage to rack up more than $2 billion.

As much as Henry Cavill’s version of the hero was praised, the DCEU had many struggles which led to its eventual downfall. Cavill’s performance was a bright spot in an otherwise spotty franchise, and one that further cemented the film legacy of one of DC’s biggest heroes.

2

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Rounding out the big three heroes from the MCU, Chris Hemsworth embraced the role of the god of Thunder, Thor, in a way that made him an important pillar for the larger franchise. Uniquely, Thor is currently the only hero in the MCU to have four solo outings currently released, though Spider-Man: Brand New Day will change that in 2026.

Still, though, Hemsworth’s time in the MCU has managed to rack up an impressive $2.7 billion for his solo releases, and several billion more in the projects where he shares the screen with his co-stars, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans – though he was notably absent from Captain America: Civil War.

1

Jason Momoa As Aquaman

Despite not being a member of the official big three as far as the Justice League is concerned, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman actually proved to be the most financially successful hit of the entire DCEU. This single film alone made more than $1.1 billion at the box office, which was a major success for the franchise.

While the sequel did suffer a considerable drop, across all his appearances, Momoa’s time in the DCEU racked up more than $2 billion. The actor also has the unique privilege of being the first and only leading actor so far to be recast from the DCEU into the DCU, where he will take on the role of Lobo.

Clearly, all of the above actors are spectacular, and their contributions within their franchises cannot be overstated. With the rise of the DCU and the MCU entering a new era after the Multiverse Saga, there is potential for even more stars to join the ranks of the highest-earning superhero actors in terms of box office results.