Superman‘s box office results being lower for the superhero genre than usual in one area is all the more interesting when compared with a major MCU hero. While the MCU and DCU timelines are different in an ᴀssortment of ways, both seek the same results – namely, that of critical and commercial success in adapting Marvel and DC’s respective worlds.

Superman‘s box office has suggested promising things for upcoming DCU movies, but has still garnered a number that is lower than many of the most hopeful predictions for the film and its financial results. Interestingly, seeing how this matches up with one major MCU hero sheds even more light on the DC film’s box office numbers.

Superman’s International Box Office Is Unusually Low Despite Its 2025 Success

Superman currently holds the highest superhero movie box office of 2025 with its $611 million results – a тιтle it looks like it will keep, since its main compeтιтor, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, doesn’t appear to be set to beat it. However, it’s worth noting that this $611 million result is somewhat unusual in one key way.

Often, while superhero movies need their domestic box office to make a considerable chunk of their financial results, more of their overall box office is from worldwide results. This was not the case for Superman, though, which made most of its worldwide box office through its domestic results.

Altogether, Superman‘s $611 million is comprised of a $351 million domestic box office, and a $260 million international box office result, meaning the domestic box office takings were higher by a considerable $91 million (all statistics via The Numbers).

It has been suggested that part of these results may be down to a lack of engagement from international audiences with Superman as a figure currently given how innately he can be considered to be tied to the US. This is an interesting concept to consider alongside the prior results of an equally “All-American” superhero mantle: that of Captain America.

Superman’s International Box Office Is Even More Striking Compared To The MCU’s “Most American” Hero

It’s worth keeping in mind that the results of Superman and Captain America’s MCU movie roster are different in many ways – partially because there have been four Captain America movies, and partially because Chris Evans’ run as Captain America was during much of the height of fervor for the MCU, whereas Superman is the first film release for the DCU.

However, it is nonetheless worth comparing these results, particularly because Superman and Captain America are very similar figures in the wider superhero mythos, even if they come from different companies and have different powers and backstories. They’re also worth comparing since all the MCU’s Captain America movies made more internationally versus domestically.

Between Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Captain America: Brave New World, every MCU Captain America film has made a notable amount more than its domestic box office through its international earnings, including with its own 2025 installment.

While it’s possible the international box office for Captain America: Brave New World is only higher because its overall box office numbers are lower – and that more interest in the movie could have seen similar results to Superman – the current numbers imply there may be other factors more at play regarding Superman‘s results rather than perceptions of the US.

Interestingly, it is worth noting that the first-ever MCU Captain America movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, has one of the smallest divides between its international and domestic box office, making only $193 million internationally compared to a $176 million domestic result, which itself suggests interesting things about Superman‘s own result.

Why Superman’s Lower International Box Office May Be Lower Than Captain America’s

While there could be some weight to the idea that Superman‘s international reception reflects complicated contemporary views about America, it also seems that Captain America: The First Avenger coming close to having its international and domestic box office results match may be the key to understanding Superman‘s results.

Ultimately, these results suggest Superman‘s box office may simply be a matter of some superheroes needing to prove themselves to international fans before reaping full box office rewards. It isn’t unheard of for some superhero movies to have better domestic results, and with the DCU being in its infancy, it not yet having full international attention makes sense.

This appears to have been the case to some degree with Captain America, as The First Avengers‘ sequel – Captain America: The Winter Soldier – fared far better, making $454 million internationally compared to its $259 million domestic box office earnings. Indeed, this even looks as though it may have factored into the financial results of the Iron Man trilogy as well.

While Iron Man’s MCU legacy is one of the most universally popular in the history of the superhero genre, the original Iron Man movie’s results are in line with the idea that superheroes and their franchises often have to prove themselves before earning their full international appeal, looking at its $318 million domestic box office and $266 million international earnings.

Altogether, this paints a more potentially promising picture for both Superman and the DCU’s future, since it supports the idea that later installments could garner stronger international results as the DC Universe begins to gain traction and become more established. However, whether this is definitely true will only become clear with future releases.