February 2023 updates below.
In 2009, The Walt Disney Co. purchased Marvel Entertainment for the hefty sum of $4 billion. More than a decade later, their superhero cinematic continuity—curated by Marvel Studios mostly under Disney, but with some assistance from Paramount and Universal in the early days—has earned $28.2 billion at the global box office.
With this weekend’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicking off Phase 5 of the MCU, we’re taking a look back at the franchise which has consistently defied expectations over the past decade-plus to become a cornerstone of the entertainment industry.
Phase One (2008 – 2012)
By the mid-2000s, the Marvel brand had already enjoyed stellar success on the big screen thanks to the likes of the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises under Sony and Fox, respectively. Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige had a vision, though, of one cohesive franchise uniting many characters to form an episodic story that would play out on the big screen for both long-time comic book readers and a new generation of fans.
The groundwork was laid by hiring director Jon Favreau and casting Robert Downey, Jr. in the comeback role to top all comeback roles for the studio’s first venture, Iron Man. The origin of Tony Stark’s place in the universe propelled to a $102 million opening at the domestic box office, the second best of 2008 behind The Dark Knight, and legged out to $318.6 million—part of a $585 million global haul.
It was a runaway success that had die hard comic lovers and general audiences buzzing and awaiting what the future might hold for a potential franchise, especially after the iconic (and trend-setting) post-credit tease featuring Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury.
Later that summer, The Incredible Hulk arrived as the second attempt to bring Bruce Banner’s story to the screen following mixed results with 2003’s Hulk. Edward Norton stepped in for Eric Bana, and while fan reactions were generally positive, it was hard to follow in the shadow of Iron Man just weeks prior. Incredible Hulk bowed to $55.4 million on its way to $134.8 million domestically and $266 million globally.
The latter represents the lowest global total of any MCU film, and the title role would again be recast with Mark Ruffalo four years later, but the film’s contributions remain canon thanks to the inclusion of Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark in a post-credit cameo (as well as William Hurt’s General Ross, whom reappears later in the franchise).
Nearly two years later, Iron Man 2 arrived with big expectations after the success of the first film and ultimately delivered similar results. Downey, Jr. remained a key draw, while the introduction of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and a supporting role from Jackson’s Fury helped round out the continuing ensemble build. After a $128.1 million opening — the highest among all 2010 releases — the sequel finished with $312.4 million stateside and a slight increase to $621 million globally.
It would be another full year before the next origin story arrived in the form of Thor. Viewed as a higher risk to adapt for the big screen compared to more nameable Marvel characters, this was the next major test for the brand — one that it handily passed. The Son of Odin’s first adventure debuted to $65.7 million in May 2011, capping off with $181 million domestically and $449 million worldwide.
That same summer, more key components of the MCU were introduced. Captain America: The First Avenger took audiences back in time to the era of World War II as it introduced Steve Rogers and a number of story threads that would come to hold significant importance (namely, the first Infinity Stone) throughout the first three phases of the franchise. First Avenger banked $65.1 million on opening weekend, ultimately cashing out with $176.7 million domestically and nearly $371 million around the world.
With the first batch of characters in place, Marvel Studios was ready to assemble its—and the world’s—first A-list ensemble superhero movie, The Avengers. Thanks to the goodwill of the preceding solo films and a wave of massive buzz leading up to release, the first film crushed box office records in May 2012 and became the first movie to ever clear the $200 million opening weekend threshold ($207.4 million).
Word of mouth was just as hot as the pre-release hype, too, as it legged out to $623.4 million in North America and more than $1.5 billion worldwide. Avengers was easily the biggest film of the year in box office figures, and back then, trailed only Titanic and Avatar on the all-time charts.
Naturally, the film’s post-credit scene marked a major turning point for the MCU as it teased the long game of Kevin Feige and the studio: an eventual showdown with Thanos, one of the most complex and popular villains in comic lore, and the promise of a full-blown storytelling arc that would eventually come to be known as The Infinity Saga.
Phase Two (2013 – 2015)
Even though Marvel had firmly established itself as a mega-franchise with an eye extending far out into the future, they didn’t turn away from their solo superhero movies. As distribution deals with Paramount and Universal had expired, Disney was also now in full control.
Iron Man 3 kicked off the second phase of the MCU with another deep dive into the psyche, and Avengers-related aftermath, of Tony Stark. The goodwill of both the Iron Man films and Avengers itself helped this third solo outing explode with $174.1 million on opening weekend in May 2013 before topping out at $409 million domestically and a stunning $1.2 billion worldwide. As what would become the final film in Iron Man‘s solo trilogy, those figures helped the sub-franchise go out on high marks across the board, landing just behind Frozen ($1.28 billion) as the second highest-grossing film of the year in global terms.
Later that year, in November, Thor: The Dark World continued the travails of the Asgardian with box office figures that exceeded his own origin film. The sequel bowed to $85.7 million before finishing its run with $206.4 million domestically and $645 million globally. It was the first MCU flick to release outside the summer window and proved the franchise could be viable any time of the year.
Jump ahead six months later for further evidence of that. In April 2014, Captain America: The Winter Soldier similarly blew past its direct predecessor’s box office run with $95 million on opening weekend, leading to a $259.8 million stateside haul and $714 million global finish.
As the third consecutive MCU entry to significantly improve upon the comparable box office performance of its Phase One counterpart, the “Avengers bump” was proven to be no fluke. To this date, Winter Soldier is widely regarded as not just one of the favorite MCU films, but a high point of comic book-inspired films in general.
For those that still doubted that, August 2014 would silence such claims. Following one of the more memorable marketing campaigns of the franchise (shout out to Blue Swede), Marvel introduced its next ensemble team of heroes—but this time, without any solo films or general familiarity outside fans to help build awareness. Guardians of the Galaxy delivered a fresh voice to the comic book canvas via writer/director James Gunn, backed by a cast of rising and established stars like Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel (among more).
That film’s $94.3 million debut remains one of the most impressive feats of the franchise given that the Guardians were unknown characters to anyone who wasn’t an avid comic reader. With a leggy run to $333.2 million domestically and $773 million worldwide, the risk more than paid off and further established the MCU’s name itself as a major selling point for moviegoers from all walks of life.
The following year would present the end of Phase Two, starting with Avengers: Age of Ultron. The sequel powered up a $191.3 million debut in May 2015, the second highest ever at the time behind its 2012 predecessor. Reception may not have been as catchy as the first Avengers films, but Ultron still delivered a $459 million domestic finish and $1.4 billion global take—all while continuing to set up more plot and McGuffin dominos for future MCU chapters to knock down.
In July of that same year, focus shifted back to the small scale—literally—with the introduction of Paul Rudd as Ant-Man. The film had been in development limbo for years (at one point planned to be helmed by Edgar Wright of Baby Driver and Shaun of the Dead fame), but Marvel was dedicated to making Scott Lang and his family a central part of their build-up to the climax of the Infinity Saga.
This origin film bowed to a respectable $57.2 million, drawing positive reception for its lighthearted tone as it legged out to $180.2 million stateside and $519 million globally.
Phase Three (2016 – 2019)
The beginning of the end of the Infinity Saga arrived ten months later in May 2016.
Although Captain America: Civil War‘s story had little to do with the actual development of the Infinity Stone plot line furthered by multiple MCU films before it, the film represented a watershed moment for the franchise. Civil War adapted one of the most popular story lines from comic lore as it pitted Steve Rogers and Tony Stark on opposite sides of a crucial idealogical pinpoint as fallout from the end of Phase Two and Ultron.
The promise of their oft-foreshadowed showdown helped drive a massive $179.1 million opening weekend, onward to $408.1 million domestically and $1.15 billion worldwide. Although it technically rounded out the trilogy of Cap’s films, Civil War performed more like an Avengers flick thanks to its high-stakes storytelling and ensemble aspects—winning the global box office crown for its year.
The introduction parade continued later in 2016 with Doctor Strange, who would go onto become another crucial piece in the Infinity Saga puzzle. Casting Benedict Cumberbatch was a major assist in helping the unknown-outside-fans character generate instant appeal, although the success of the Marvel brand was certainly a factor as well.
The Doc’s origin story banked $85.1 million on opening weekend in November that year, tapping out with $232.6 million domestically and over $676 million globally. To that point, it was the highest global box office take for any of Marvel’s origin stories that focused on one primary character.
Marvel’s output was noticeably increasing by this point, and 2017 would come to mark the first of three consecutive years with three new releases under their banner.
In May, the Guardians made a highly anticipated return with James Gunn again driving the creative ship in tow with Marvel mastermind Feige. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 bowed to $146.5 million and ultimately earned $389.8 million domestically and $869 million globally, further cementing the popularity of the ragtag group of heroes.
Later that summer, Spider-Man: Homecoming made its long-awaited debut in July with a $117 million opening. After his introduction in Civil War, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker instantly became a favorite among young crowds and Marvel fans, which proved to be a major asset considering the Spider-Man brand itself had been flailing in recent years thanks to creative and financial missteps of three straight films under Sony. The 2015 announcement that Sony and Disney reached a deal to allow the character a presence in the MCU was met with great applause, though. Homecoming ultimately earned $334.2 million domestic as part of an $880 million global box office run.
Completing the first of the three yearly trifectas, Thor: Ragnarok arrived in November 2017 with the best results of the Thor branch thus far. Writer/director Taika Waititi infused his unique comedic style into the universe much in the same way Gunn previously had with the Guardians films, all while still meeting the necessities of the Marvel storytelling sandbox. Ragnarok bowed to $122.7 million before hammering out finishes at $315.1 million domestically and $854 million globally. Like the Iron Man and Captain America “trilogies” before it, Thor has continued to flex bigger box office muscle with each outing.
Phase Three was fully into its internal second act by early 2018 with the monumental release of Black Panther that February, and it took down every preconception of an origin story with it. The film was an instant event because of its impact on Black representation in cinema, and writer/director Ryan Coogler infused the character’s first modern big screen appearance with the kind of storytelling that helped it transcend genre expectations and draw audiences from all backgrounds.
Black Panther crushed every February and Presidents Day record with a towering $202 million opening weekend, the highest ever for an origin film. Once again, Marvel goodwill and the film’s own merits helped it stick with moviegoers long after those early records, earning $700.1 million domestically and $1.35 billion around the globe. It became the third highest grossing film in domestic history at the time, and upset another Marvel film as 2018’s highest earner in North America.
The film that was upset? May’s Avengers: Infinity War—although no one would say it disappointed by any measure. Whereas Ultron played more like a continuation of the core Avengers’s stories, Infinity War upped the ante and shifted the focus to the largest collection of characters ever attempted in a comic book adaptation.
Intense hype surrounding the first appearance of characters like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians in a bona fide Avengers film—combined with the synergy of Marvel Studios’ tenth anniversary—helped power a new opening weekend record of $257.7 million, topping the 2-years-and-4-months reign of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million).
Moreover, the shocking cliffhanger made Infinity War stand apart from everything Marvel had ever done up to that point, leaving fans in shock and disbelief at the enormous loss the fictional universe suffered in the film’s final moments.
Infinity War ultimately earned $678.8 million at the domestic box office, while winning the yearly crown with $2.05 billion globally—the fourth film to ever reach that mark, and the first comic book or superhero film to ever do so. Par for the course, its post-credit scene offered one glimmer of hope for the future of the Marvel universe.
Later that summer, realizing fans would be in dire need of some levity after the tragedy endured earlier in the season, Marvel delivered Ant-Man and the Wasp to save the day. Like the sequels to solo titles before it, this one similarly improved upon its predecessor’s performance with a $75.8 million July bow, onward to $216.7 million domestically and $623 million worldwide.
Taking place before the events of Infinity War, avid viewers knew the sequel wouldn’t significantly advance the overall franchise’s story line, but it had its fair share of introductory elements and another post-credit tease that further connected the dots in the setup for a looming finale.
The final missing piece before that finale, however, was another milestone in Marvel’s first female-led film: Captain Marvel. While marking another jump back in time for the MCU—its early 1990s setting makes it second chronologically after The First Avenger—it was Infinity War‘s post-credit scene featuring a mysterious pager that set this film up to break out in a big way.
Debuting to $153.4 million in March 2019, Captain Marvel fell shy of only Black Panther among all-time superhero origin box office launches. The film played well with audiences as it rang in $426.8 million stateside and $1.13 billion globally, and introduced one final integral character before the conclusion of Marvel’s Infinity Saga.
Just weeks later, the denouement arrived. After 21 films, Avengers: Endgame concluded the unprecedented big screen arc that began with Iron Man eleven years earlier.
Anticipation was feverish to the degree that pre-sales crashed movie ticketing websites for hours. The result was an opening weekend that exceeded even the wildest and most optimistic of expectations: $357.1 million domestically (besting Infinity War‘s previous record by a full $100 million) and $1.2 billion worldwide. It was the first film to ever achieve a $1 billion-plus global debut.
Endgame united fans and general audiences in a way few films before it ever have as the intense curiosity surrounding the cliffhanger of Infinity War elevated the must-see nature of the highly touted climax in this part of the MCU’s life cycle. Everyone knew there would be more Marvel films, but no one knew who would make it out alive and how Thanos’s victory one year earlier would be answered—nor at what cost.
If there was any doubt that the MCU, and the Avengers films in particular, had joined the highest ranking echelon of pop culture impacts previously championed by only a handful of franchises, those doubts were laid to rest with the single biggest communal movie-going weekend in history. The zeitgeist couldn’t have been more tapped.
Endgame burned off so much demand early on that it would prove challenging to unseat Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ domestic crown ($936.7 million), but Phase Three’s third act did topple Avatar‘s global record. With $2.798 billion to its name in the end, Avengers: Endgame officially became the king of the worldwide box office chart on July 21, 2019.
Ultimately, with the film’s big climax and tragic goodbye, the emotional anchor of Tony Stark and Peter Parker’s relationship validated the importance of having the latter character become part of the grand MCU plan.
Of course, just over two months later, the story continued. Serving as an epilogue to the events of Endgame, Marvel positioned Spider-Man: Far From Home as another necessary emotional comedown with a story that directly—and often literally—picked up the pieces for Peter. Its $92.6 million first weekend was deflated by an atypical mid-week launch for a Marvel film, but the rest was the same story on a different day: the first Spidey sequel within the MCU bested its predecessor’s run with a $390.5 million domestic take and $1.13 billion global haul.
Phase Four (2020 – 2022)
After Spider-Man: Far from Home, as well as its own major post-credit reveal, the MCU was dormant in large part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A reasonable gap had originally been planned, with no film on the slate between July 2019 and May 2020. That month was meant to see the release of Black Widow, one of many release casualties of the pandemic.
After multiple calendar shifts, Widow came out on July 9, 2021. Although fans had been treated to several streaming series on Disney+ in early 2021, there had been a 24-month wait for a new Marvel film, making the longest span between any two MCU theatrical releases since the 23-month gap between The Incredible Hulk in June 2008 and Iron Man 2 in May 2010.
With Widow’s arrival, though, came an experimental release strategy: Disney made the film available in theaters as a premium-priced purchase on Disney+ the same day. It was a controversial move across the industry, one that sparked legal battles between the studio and star Scarlett Johansson herself. Still, the film proved its theatrical worth with an $80 million opening weekend in July 2021—the largest of the pandemic era at the time of its release.
Widow saw larger-than-expected drops within its first days of release, an occurrence many blamed on streaming availability at home. Legs eventually stabilized to some extent after a sharp 68 percent second weekend drop, but earnings capped out at $183.7 million domestically and $379.6 million globally as the pandemic remained a significant factor in every market.
As summer came to a close, Disney announced its next Marvel offering would revert back to an exclusive theatrical window. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings bowed in domestic cinemas with a 45-day window and crushed Labor Day records in its wake.
More than doubling the previous Labor Day benchmark, Shang-Chi opened to a $75.4 million three-day start and drew strong word of mouth for the franchise’s latest origin film. The film’s diverse appeal was also a strong factor in bringing out Asian-American audiences, thanks to it featuring the MCU’s first Asian-led cast.
Box office legs were incredibly strong as consumer sentiment continued to rebound throughout the early fall, and Shang-Chi finished its run with $224.5 million domestically–part of a $432 million global haul.
Two months later, Phase Four continued with another origin story exclusive to theaters for 45 days: Eternals.
The film had been strongly marketed for months in advance, and its ensemble cast of known names and familiar faces – despite non-fans having no familiarity with characters themselves – drove what ended up being a $71.3 million opening stateside.
Eternals was unique for at least one thing, though: it became the first MCU release—out of 26 releases—to receive a “Rotten” rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics. It was a surprising turn of events after such brand consistency and with director Chloé Zhao coming off her Oscar-winning work on Nomadland, but it was also perhaps inevitable for a franchise that had continually set high standards for itself.
Audience reception was more forgiving, though, and Eternals became yet another solid box office performer during the pandemic era. Despite mixed reception, it finished with $164.9 million domestically and $401.7 million worldwide.
With Eternals, Disney and Marvel Studios had delivered a third pandemic-era box office hit in the lead up to what had long been deemed the biggest event release of 2021 even since before the pandemic era: December 17’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Billed as the end of the current Spider-Man trilogy taking place within the MCU, No Way Home’s anticipation had been brewing for over a year—arguably since Far from Home’s post-credit reveal. Featuring the return of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and the promise of a full-on multiverse storyline, fans and casual viewers alike drove record-breaking trailer views throughout 2021 and, eventually, crashed ticketing websites as sales began shortly after Thanksgiving.
Ultimately, No Way Home lived up to and beyond all expectations.
The film scored the second best domestic opening in history with $260.1 million, besting Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ prior December benchmark of $248 million. Legs were strong as well thanks to fantastic word of mouth and general audience appeal, finishing off at $804.8 million (plus another $9.3 million from a September 2022 re-issue) domestically for #3 all-time, and $1.92 billion worldwide (#6 all-time).
2022 saw Phase Four enter its final stages with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opening summer with $187.4 million as interest in the Multiverse Saga soared in the wake of No Way Home. The film was a success financially and explored the horror genre (a first for the MCU) but divided some fans and audiences. Final tallies reached $411.3 million domestic and $952.2 million worldwide.
Two months later, the heart of summer greeted Thor: Love and Thunder‘s release with the highest debut of the character’s standalone movies, eclipsing the performance of Ragnarok. Bowing to $144.2 million and finishing with $343.3 million stateside ($745.3 million worldwide), it was still another MCU entry that divided audiences and critics alike in a demonstrable way at the box office.
Between the middling audience reception of those two films and an increasing amount of MCU content streaming on Disney+ (some of which itself has not drawn the kind of golden critical or audience reception of peak Marvel chapters), the franchise during this time started to come under some scrutiny that saturation of content may be growing into a valid concern outside of die-hard fans.
Over the summer, Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige made an appeal to fan confidence and confirmed that 2022’s releases would end Phase Four of the MCU—to be capped by November’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever—the 30th official theatrical release of the franchise since 2008.
As the sequel to one of the biggest and most culturally significant superhero films in history, expectations were always going to be high. That’s especially true with the tragic and untimely passing of T’Challa himself, Chadwick Boseman, due to cancer in 2020.
The return of writer/director Ryan Coogler and the prior film’s ensemble cast, though, kept interest in the sequel very high. Preliminary tracking estimates indicated it would easily be one of the best box office openers of the year, which it became with a $181.3 million bow (just behind Multiverse of Madness). The holiday season corridor with minimal competition helped ensure solid staying power with positive audience reception.
As of early February, the film stood at $453.5 million domestically and $842.8 million worldwide.
Phase Five (2023 – 2024)
With a clearer path now outlined by Feige himself, 2023 sees Phase 5 kick off with the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on February 17. The Ant-Man subset of films within the MCU have been crowd-pleasers to date, and this third film looks to again build on the success of its direct predecessors.
An expected box office boost, reflected in pre-release tracking for a $100 million-plus debut, is given extra momentum by the well-publicized theatrical introduction of Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. Majors was initially introduced in the Disney+ streaming series Loki and has been promised to serve as this new MCU era’s primary villain over at least the next few years.
Following Quantumania, Phase Five will continue with two films set for summer releases. The sophomore entry will be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5), and the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels (July 28).
From there, Phase Five is planned to continue on the big screen with Captain America: New World Order (May 3, 2024), Thunderbolts (July 27, 2024), and Blade (September 6, 2024).
Phase Six (2025 – 2026)
Looking even further down the timeline, Phase Six will commence with return of Ryan Reynolds alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in Deadpool 3 (November 8, 2024).
Then come the awaited Fantastic Four reboot (February 15, 2025) and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (May 2, 2025). The latter will mark the first Avengers film since Endgame six years earlier.
Two untitled films are currently dated for July 25, 2025 and February 13, 2026 before the next Avengers event, Avengers: Secret Wars goes on May 1, 2026 and presumably ends Phase Six.
Phase Seven (2026 – 2028?)
Following Secret Wars, July 24, 2026 and November 6, 2026 have untitled MCU films staked for those weekends. Little is known about these films beyond speculation at this stage (as of November 3, 2022).
As mentioned, many of these titles since 2020 have shifted multiple times from their originally planned release dates due to COVID-19, and it’s possible more changes could occur as Marvel occasionally re-aligns its theatrical plans and Disney+ series featuring key MCU characters. Production impact could also be a factor as the industry continues to recover from visual effects pipeline delays as a lingering effect of the pandemic.
Still, even after the triumphant success of Endgame and the franchise as a whole, promising new horizons await—especially in the wake of Disney’s Fox purchase, which sends franchises like X-Men, Fantastic Four, Blade, and many others into the capable hands of Marvel Studios.
Clearly, it’s a safe bet that Kevin Feige still has more cards up his sleeve as fans around the world wait to share the many of the next rousing Marvel moments in a movie theater, together.
The MCU: By the Numbers (pre-Quantumania‘s release as of February 9, 2023)
- 30 Films
- 3 All-Time Opening Weekend Records (Domestic)
- 4 Domestic #1 Yearly Finishes (Total Gross)
- 5 Global #1 Yearly Finishes (Total Gross)16 Domestic Top 5 Yearly Finishes (Total Gross)
- 23 Domestic Top 10 Yearly Finishes (Total Gross)
- $137.1 Million Average Domestic Opening Weekend (up from $135.54 in November 2022; $135.3M in June 2021)
- $4.773 Billion Total Domestic Gross from Opening Weekends
- $371.3 Million Average Domestic Gross ($368.5M in November 2022; $371.5M in June 2021)
- $11.140 Billion Total Domestic Gross
- $942.2 Million Average Global Gross ($945.6 in November 2022; $981.6M in June 2021)
- $28.263 Billion Total Global Gross
- 82.65% Average Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score (82.6% in November 2022; 84.7% in June 2021)
- 85.29%* Average Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score (84.97% in November 2022; 84.2% in June 2021)
- $199.35 Million Average Production Budget ($197.6M in November 2022; $197M in June 2021)
* excludes Black Panther and Captain Marvel audience scores due to targeted review bombing
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