Over the course of almost two decades and 37 movies to date, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has banked billions at the global box office and become the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
Often cultural events as well as cinematic spectacles, the MCU films have arguably changed Hollywood’s approach to blockbusters forever. But which one proved to be the biggest money-spinner?
As the world counts down to the release of Avengers: Doomsday, read on to discover the highest-grossing Marvel movies to date.
All dollar amounts in US dollars
We’ve calculated our ranking based on data from Box Office Mojo. Of the 37 Marvel movies released so far, 11 have grossed more than $1 billion (£750m) worldwide in their initial release. We’ve adjusted the total gross of these 11 movies for inflation and ranked them from least to most money-spinning.
Some Marvel favourites narrowly miss the cut (we’re looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), but the final list contains some serious cinematic gems. Let the countdown begin…
2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine was the box office smash that Marvel needed, and it almost single-handedly put to bed the debate around superhero fatigue. Following an unprecedented run of cinematic success, Marvel Studios hit a rough patch post-Infinity Saga era, culminating in the embarrassing flop that was 2023’s The Marvels. Deadpool’s official entry to the MCU arrested the slide, and then some.
The blockbuster’s $1,338,073,645 worldwide take made it the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, surpassing 2019’s Joker by over $300 million. The return of Hugh Jackman and the fact it was the only MCU movie of the year no doubt helped its stellar performance. It’s also one of only two Marvel movies from the 2020s to make our list.
Given the disaster that was The Marvels, you'd be forgiven for forgetting how much of a smash Captain Marvel was at the time. It arrived sandwiched between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, when interest in the MCU was at its dizzying peak. Those favourable headwinds propelled it to a worldwide gross of $1,131,416,446, making it one of Marvel’s biggest solo-character launches to date.
The first female-led MCU film became one of the highest-grossing movies of 2019, and the seventh Marvel movie to gross over $1 billion. With an estimated production budget of around $175 million, it also turned a tidy profit.
The second standalone Spidey outing for Tom Holland also benefited from its release proximity to Avengers: Endgame, with audiences keen to see how the MCU would develop after Endgame’s tumultuous events. In fact, its original release worldwide gross of $1,132,723,226 was almost identical to Captain Marvel’s, give or take a few million dollars.
At the time, it was the first Spider-Man movie to gross over $1 billion and became the fourth highest-grossing film of 2019, outshining the likes of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Toy Story 4.
Despite its billing as a Steve Rogers solo outing, Captain America: Civil War had an Avengers-level cast, including Iron Man, Black Panther and the first appearance of Spider-Man in the MCU.
The first Phase Three movie was a phenomenal success, laying the groundwork for Infinity War and Endgame and pulling in $1,155,046,416 worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2016 in the process.
It’s fair to say most people didn’t see Iron Man 3’s box office-trouncing performance coming. Released the year after The Avengers, audiences flocked to cinemas to see what would unfold in the MCU after the Battle of New York, propelling the Shane Black-directed movie to a worldwide gross of $1,215,577,205. That’s more than the previous two Iron Man movies combined.
At the time, crossing the $1 billion mark was relatively rare. Only a few films had managed it, including Avatar and Titanic. The success of the standalone Tony Stark outing proved that individual Marvel characters could spawn huge hits outside of Avengers-level team-ups.
Black Panther wasn’t just a superhero movie; it was also a cultural event, brought to life by a predominantly Black cast and creative team. It attracted audiences who would usually swerve Marvel fare and, significantly, its staggering domestic gross (US and Canada) of $700 million eclipsed its international box office take. At this point, a solo Marvel outing rarely topped the $900 million mark, making its $1.35 billion worldwide gross unprecedented at the time.
It became the first superhero movie to earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and picked up a total of three Academy Awards. A critical darling, it’s also the highest-ranked Marvel movie on Rotten Tomatoes, boasting a Tomatometer score of 96%.
On the flip side, Avengers: Age of Ultron has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes ranking in this roundup, placing 28 out of all 37 Marvel movies to date. That didn’t stop it from banking a total of $1,405,018,048 globally.
The penultimate Phase Two film introduced a raft of new characters and laid the groundwork for the staggering collective success of the Phase Three outings. But despite its significant gross, it’s viewed as disappointing in some quarters, largely due to what came before...
Today, moviegoers can’t move for shared cinematic universes, but in 2012, they remained relatively uncommon. Marvel had been steadily building towards its crossover event for years, and it’s fair to say that many people doubted whether a movie stuffed to the rafters with superheroes would fly with audiences.
The studio knocked it out of the park, and The Avengers swiftly became the highest-grossing superhero movie ever and the third highest-grossing film in history, behind only Avatar and Titanic. The leap was enormous. Prior to The Avengers, the most successful Marvel movie was 2010’s Iron Man 2, with a gross of $624 million. The Avengers banked over $1.5 billion worldwide and arguably changed the way Hollywood approached blockbuster filmmaking forever.
Tom Holland’s third solo Spidey outing arrived as the global box office was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Bringing together the two previous Spider-Men, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, and throwing in a bunch of iconic villains for good measure, it quickly became the must-see movie of 2021.
Marvel had managed to keep the plot under wraps while subtly hinting at what lay in store. As a result, moviegoers rushed to cinemas to avoid spoilers, resulting in a phenomenal $260 million domestic opening weekend. The movie grossed $1.9 billion in total, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that it failed to secure a release in China. Given the context, No Way Home is widely considered one of the most impressive box office performers in history.
The culmination of the MCU Infinity Saga, Infinity War was the movie Marvel had been building towards for a decade. It weaved together almost every MCU hero to date and featured arguably the most formidable superhero villain in history in Thanos.
The fact that the bad guy won makes its $2 billion worldwide gross all the more remarkable. It’s thought that one of the most talked-about endings in modern cinema history prompted repeat viewings, further boosting its gross. At the time, it was the fastest film ever to breach the $1 billion mark globally. Given that cliffhanger ending, it’s little surprise what takes the top spot…
Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all time, before a 2021 re-release of Avatar knocked it into second place. Its list of achievements is long and impressive. It boasted the biggest opening weekend ever at the time, raking in $1.2 billion globally in its first five days. Its $2.7 billion worldwide gross made it the most successful MCU outing by a wide margin. And it was the first film ever to come close to a $2.8 billion global gross.
Delivering emotional payoff, battle sequences on a staggering scale and an ending well and truly nailed, Endgame was also a massive hit with critics too, bettered only by Black Panther in the Rotten Tomatoes ranking. The peak of modern blockbuster making? Let’s just say Avengers: Doomsday has a big job on its hands to even come close.
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