The New Path To Success For Superhero Movies

The Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s final movie of the year has already become a streaming hit, showing how the franchise and superhero movies in general might have a saving grace. The Infinity Saga was Marvel’s most popular period, where Thanos was the franchise’s main villain and most of the best MCU movies were released. Key stars appeared in new projects nearly every year.

With the start of the Multiverse Saga, things changed. The MCU started to deal with a lot of criticism, which was in part due to the elevated number of projects on the MCU slate due to a streaming push on Disney+, as well as more movies being released in theaters every year. After some box office disappointments, the superhero genre’s saving grace is clear.

2025’s Superhero Movies Have Mostly Struggled At The Box Office

Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards looking scared while holding Franklin in The Fantastic Four First Steps — Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards looking scared while holding Franklin in The Fantastic Four First Steps

All of Marvel’s 2025 movies have faced issues at the box office to some degree. Captain America: Brave New World fell incredibly short of Chris Evans’ final two Captain America movies, only grossing $415.1 million worldwide. Despite the fact that it had better reviews from critics and fans in comparison to Brave New World, Thunderbolts* had even worse box office results.

The MCU’s New Avengers ended their theatrical run with a disappointing $382.4 million. For a team that will be crucial to Marvel’s upcoming Avengers movies, that does not look good at all. Finally, The Fantastic Four: First Steps had a mixed performance. While its box office surpassed all other Fantastic Four movies, the MCU reboot still underperformed due to high expectations.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps grossed $521.4 million at the worldwide box office. DC’s only 2025 movie, James Gunn’s Superman, performed better than Marvel’s releases. Superman flew to $615.7 million globally. That has led to a quick sequel order, with Man of Tomorrow arriving in 2027. However, it was still lower than Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which grossed $670.1 million.

Marvel’s $520M Streaming Hit Follows Superhero Movies’ New Path To Success

The Fantastic Four standing together on a poster for First Steps

In the past, the MCU became known for frequent $1 billion hits. Those days seem to be gone, with superhero movies now mostly dealing with lower box office performances. While major franchises, such as the Deadpool movies, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films, and the Avengers, might still gross above $1 billion, that is no longer the norm.

However, streaming has emerged as the saving grace for superhero movies. The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ streaming success cements that, with the movie already taking the top spot on iTunes in the U.S. prior to its Disney+ release. This connects to the success of the other 2025 superhero movies, which have all taken the top spot on streaming services with their debuts.

Whenever The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases on Disney+, the movie should follow the streaming hit pattern from the other 2025 superhero movies. While the box office might no longer be guaranteed to be dominated by superhero films, streaming appears to be their new path to success, which can help keep the genre thriving with new MCU and DCU releases.