After Fantastic Four, the MCU’s Next 3 Movies Are All Guaranteed to EASILY Make $1 Billion

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The Fantastic Four: Initial Footprints”

The movie titled “The Fantastic Four: Initial Footprints” didn’t quite achieve the box office explosion that Marvel may have anticipated, but larger victories lie ahead. The initial “Fantastic Four” film in the MCU had a promising start, earning $117 million domestically and a global total of $216 million during its opening weekend. However, it experienced a significant decline in its second domestic weekend, causing some concern that it might be a flop, although such concerns seem somewhat premature. This film may not signal a comeback to the MCU’s golden era, and instead could be indicative of a new standard for Marvel Studios.

First Steps” has grossed approximately $434 million at the box office, which marks a modest success for Marvel considering its production budget of around $200 million. This figure is slightly higher than the previous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie, “Thunderbolts,” with earnings of $382 million. However, these numbers don’t indicate a triumphant return for Marvel as we are accustomed to seeing MCU movies surpass $600 million or even reach billions. Nevertheless, the performance of “First Steps” aligns with the franchise’s recent trend and is poised to achieve greater heights once more in the near future.

The Only MCU Movies With Release Dates Are All Big Hitters

Following the overextension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) after “Avengers: Endgame,” Disney is momentarily reducing the number of MCU releases. Initially, there will only be three Marvel films slated for release in 2025, and at present, that’s the total count across 2026 and 2027 combined. However, it’s expected that this will change, with Disney continuing to release at least two MCU movies annually. Consequently, the forthcoming films are some of Marvel’s most anticipated productions.

  • Spider-Man: Brand New Day – July 31, 2026
  • Avengers: Doomsday – December 18, 2026
  • Avengers: Secret Wars – December 17, 2027

As we prepare for Spider-Man 4, the series led by Tom Holland, has enjoyed an impressive run of success. The previous film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, grossed over $1 billion at the box office, and this was before the release of No Way Home, which saw returns from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, resulting in a staggering $1.9bn. Although the upcoming film, Brand New Day, may not reach these heights due to its focus on street-level storytelling rather than a multiverse spectacle, the powerful brand of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man is expected to earn over $1 billion.

It’s highly likely that both “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Avengers: Secret Wars” will be even bigger hits. The least successful of the Avengers movies thus far is “Age of Ultron,” which earned $1.4 billion, a slight letdown considering it was expected to surpass the initial installment’s gross ($1.5 billion). However, the franchise reached unprecedented heights with “Avengers: Infinity War,” marking the first MCU film to exceed the $2 billion threshold, and then set new records with “Avengers: Endgame,” which made an astounding $2.7 billion and briefly held the title for the highest-grossing movie of all time, previously held by “Avatar.”

To put it simply, on average, the Avengers films have grossed approximately $1.9 billion at the box office, while the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man movies have made an average of $1.3 billion. Despite some challenges faced by the cinematic universe, it would be imprudent to anticipate them falling short of their predecessors. With strategic release dates, high anticipation, and in the case of “Doomsday” (and probably “Secret Wars”) a massive star power, these films are expected to earn over $1 billion, with the Avengers movies potentially making significantly more than that.

Spider-Man & The Avengers Won’t Prove If Marvel Is Back

For Marvel Studios, the advantage lies in anticipating that these three films could collectively generate over $4 billion at the box office. However, if these movies perform as predicted, they may not provide significant insights into the current status of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Instead, it’s the standalone films that will offer a clearer picture of public interest in the Marvel universe. These movies will help determine whether the popularity of Spider-Man and the Avengers is enough to rekindle broader enthusiasm for the MCU as a whole.

At present, it remains uncertain which films will materialize or when they’ll be released, but there are several projects in progress that we can mention: an X-Men reboot, Armor Wars, Blade, and a movie produced by Scarlett Johansson that is shrouded in mystery. However, the primary challenge lies in actually completing these films, as Blade was initially announced in 2019 without a finalized script to this day. If they do come to fruition, each of these movies will serve as a box office test. The X-Men could potentially be a grand slam, but its success depends on how Marvel decides to introduce them. Given the high anticipation, their introduction is likely to create quite a stir, even though the brand was somewhat damaged at the end of the Fox era.

Instead of facing larger obstacles, will audiences attend Armor Wars instead of seeing it as a lighter version of Iron Man? With a lower budget (and likely an R-rating), Blade might not be expected to achieve the same level of success. The original Wesley Snipes movies were profitable, earning a combined $418 million (unadjusted for inflation; approximately $800 million when adjusted), but it would be unjust to anticipate the reboot to be a blockbuster hit. However, maybe what the Marvel Cinematic Universe requires is more of these lower-budget productions that don’t need to earn over $500 million at the box office instead of constantly spending over $200 million on each project.

Essentially, the MCU remains robust and will keep churning out successful sequels, like Black Panther 3 and (hopefully) Fantastic Four 2, which may see improved performance due to the characters’ previous appearances in Avengers movies. However, whether Marvel can regain its former dominance, where risky ventures such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man yield massive returns, is yet to be seen, and that might take several years to determine.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently playing in theaters.

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2025-08-11 01:12