Summary
- In 2019, the MCU had 3 films that sured $1 billion, including Avengers: Endgame, which stands out with a worldwide gross of $2.79 billion.
- The success of Endgame makes it challenging for the MCU to sur 2019's financial heights, even with multiple successful releases happening in one year.
- The future lineup of MCU films makes it unlikely for 2025 to break the record, though there is some potential for a new record in 2026 or 2027.
Given the mind-boggling level of success the Marvel Cinematic Universe experienced in the year that drew its current highest overall box office results, I don't think the franchise will ever beat 2019. The MCU has seen some truly astronomical successes throughout its current 16-year run, with 11 movies having garnered over a billion dollars each in their worldwide box office. Currently, the MCU's releases make up eight of the ten highest superhero movie box offices of all time, making it clear the franchise defines the genre and will no doubt continue to for years to come.
However, whether future MCU releases to ever match the box office records that its 2019 release brought to the table.
All Marvel Movies Releasing In 2024
The Marvel movies releasing in 2024 offer a range of film experiences - and some confusion, due to the changed dates of several incoming installments.
The MCU Released Three Movies That Broke The $1B Mark
Three 2019 Movies Set Up A Major Milestone For The MCU
MCU movies breaking $1 billion at the box office is by no means unheard of, but the nature of the franchise's release schedule has meant that having more than one film that reaches this benchmark release in one year is rare. This makes 2019 all the more noteworthy, as the year provided three separate franchise-defining movies that managed to gross above the billion dollar mark.
As will surprise precisely nobody, one of this record-breaking selection is none other than Avengers: Endgame. The culmination of the Infinity Saga managed to become the most financially lucrative movie in the entire MCU, and the film with the second-highest lifetime gross in the world. Endgame was only beaten out by Avatar on this particular leaderboard, and since James Cameron's sci-fi series debut has made almost $3 billion by itself, that is truly saying something.
Given the sheer unparalleled scope and scale of Endgame - and Endgame's $2.79b worldwide gross - it's easy for the other movies that ed this mark to fall to the wayside in comparison. However, where Endgame closed the book on a major chapter of the MCU, Spider-Man: Far From Home promised new beginnings, making its own $1.13b results a promising sign of audience investment in what was to come for the franchise.
Similarly, Captain Marvel fleshed out the relatively unseen past of the MCU, and established one of Marvel's most powerful heroes, retroactively showing why and how she would be appearing in future releases such as Endgame itself. Captain Marvel is also notably one of two solo MCU hero movie debuts to have garnered over $1b in its run - also reaching the $1.13b mark - with the other, Black Panther, having released a year prior. Combined, this gives the MCU's 2019 movies a box office result of over four billion dollars, which is a truly staggering amount to think about.
Endgame Is The MCU's Most Successful Box Office By A Long Way
Endgame's Colossal Box Office Results Cement 2019's Legacy Further
While the combined strength of Captain Marvel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Avengers: Endgame together is what makes 2019 such a truly potent year in of releases, I think the sheer results Endgame saw are worth focusing in on when looking at how impossible it seems for the MCU to top this year. Avengers: Endgame is exceptional by a large margin, as its box office is $700,000 above the next highest ranking MCU movie - which is somewhat inevitable to some degree, given this movie is its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War.
At not far from a billion dollars above the second highest grossing MCU movie, it's clear that unless this unparalleled success can be repeated, the franchise would have to release two still very successful movies to come close to matching its financial heights. In fact, this would realistically perhaps even want to be closer to three movies, as two releases would need to make $1.39b or more.
Since this is a number that even major movies like Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War didn't make, the chances of two films that released in the same year reaching these financial milestones doesn't seem all that high. However, given the heights the MCU has built itself to already, it'd be far too early to count it out entirely.
Can The MCU Beat 2019's Box Office Results In Its Future?
The MCU's Current Future Lineup & Set Up Makes Beating 2019 Unlikely - But Not Outright Impossible
Given Endgame's box office would likely need two separate $1b+ movies in order to be matched, factoring in Spider-Man: Far From Home and Captain Marvel's own success stories makes the MCU ever matching 2019 feel astronomically unlikely. This is especially true given the MCU is making efforts to slow its release schedule, with Bob Iger announcing in February 2024 that, “In our zeal to greatly increase volume...some of our studios lost a little focus. So the first step that we’ve taken is that we’ve reduced volume, we reduced output, particularly in Marvel.”
With only Deadpool & Wolverine releasing in 2024 for the MCU - though to its own noteworthy success - it was always clear that this year wasn't one in which we'd see this record be broken. Though 2025 has four MCU movies to choose from - and Captain America: Brave New World as well as The Fantastic Four: First Steps offer some particularly lucrative looking stories, especially given audiences have been waiting for the Fantastic Four for decades - all four of these films would have to make over a billion to hope to match up with 2019.
As such, it seems unlikely that 2025 will break this box office record either. However, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars do raise the possibility for 2026 or 2027 to be different, especially with Robert Downey Jr. returning in Doomsday as major Marvel villain Doctor Doom. Failing even this, it's possible the far-flung future could break this record down the line, particularly if the theories about the Mutant Saga following up the Multiverse Saga hold weight, as combining the full story potential of the X-Men with the MCU is a powerful sounding recipe.
- Films
- Avengers: Secret Wars
- TV Shows
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Vision Quest
- Created by
- Kevin Feige
- First Film
- Iron Man
- First TV Show
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Cast
- Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
