Summary
- Not all MCU films have done exceptionally well at the box office, but that does not mean that they are bad.
- Some low-grossing MCU films like Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have lessons for Marvel to learn from for future movies.
- Iron Man may not be a top-grossing MCU film, but it remains one of the franchise's best due to its impact and quality.
The MCU's best movies, like Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home, turned out to be box office giants.
However, not all MCU movies can finish their box office runs to the tune of $1 billion worldwide or more. There are many factors that contributed to the MCU's lowest-grossing films being in the position they are in, be it story reasons, the time they were released, the focus on obscure characters, and more. Marvel can learn lessons from the MCU's lowest-grossing films that can only improve future MCU movies.
10 Best Marvel Movie Trilogies Ranked
With Deadpool & Wolverine concluding one of the best Marvel trilogies, the list includes some impressive live-action entries both in the MCU and not.
10 The Incredible Hulk
$264.7 Million
The Incredible Hulk
Cast
Bill Bixby
Lou Ferrigno
Susan Sullivan-
Jack Colvin
The Incredible Hulk (1977): In this film, scientist David Banner suffers a gamma radiation overdose, triggering a transformation into a giant, muscular green creature whenever he becomes angry. This condition compels him to undertake a journey to understand and control his monstrous alter ego.
- Release Date
- November 4, 1977
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
- Director
- Kenneth Johnson
The Incredible Hulk sits at the bottom of the list for a few factors. Not only was it the lowest-grossing MCU movie from its release in 2008 up until late 2023, but the MCU film is like a distant look into the franchise and quite a simple film overall. Edward Norton was great as Bruce Banner, leaning into the character's traumatic response to becoming the Hulk and how that affects his life.
Over the years, the MCU started bringing back The Incredible Hulk characters, with 2025's Captain America: Brave New World including multiple.
However, that was not enough to make The Incredible Hulk succeed. Betty Ross ended up feeling rather bland in the film; the movie's CGI was not nearly as good as it should have been, which is a pretty big flaw when the Hulk and Abomination are a huge part of it, and the story was boring. In the end, The Incredible Hulk is a rather dull affair that should have been way more exciting, given its lead hero.
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9 Eternals
$402 Million
Eternals, directed by Chloé Zhao, follows a group of ancient aliens who have secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years. The film explores their reunion in the face of an unexpected tragedy and the threat posed by their age-old adversaries, the Deviants. Released in 2021, the film expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Release Date
- November 5, 2021
- Runtime
- 156 minutes
- Director
- Chloé Zhao
Before it was released in theaters, there was a lot of buzz surrounding Marvel Studios' Eternals. The movie was directed by Chloé Zhao, who won the Best Director Oscar for Nomadland months before Eternals premiered. Due to that, there was a lot of talk about Eternals being a candidate for several awards in the lead-up to its premiere, and with an all-star cast that included names like Angelina Jolie and Richard Madden, it seemed to be on the way to becoming a major success.
However, Eternals ended up flopping. Sure, it was still affected by the pandemic, but the movie itself was just not as exciting as it seemed to be. There were a lot of characters introduced all at once, and that led to Eternals not having the time to properly flesh out all of them and make fans care. The movie's main villain was also an ugly CGI creation that looked dull, and despite great visuals everywhere else, Eternals ended up being a convoluted misfire.
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8 Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania
$476 Million
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania follows Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne, ed by Janet van Dyne, Hank Pym, and Cassie Lang, as they navigate the Quantum Realm. Their journey introduces them to peculiar creatures and challenges their understanding of reality, pushing their abilities to new extremes.
- Release Date
- February 17, 2023
- Runtime
- 125 minutes
- Director
- Peyton Reed
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's poor box office was quite shocking. The Ant-Man franchise was never one to pull in huge numbers, but the third film in Scott Lang's MCU saga was designed to be the hero's biggest, with ramifications for the MCU's Multiverse Saga. The film saw the debut of Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, the villain who was then set to be the main threat the Avengers would face in two movies before Majors was fired by Marvel Studios.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ended up being the lowest-grossing Ant-Man movie.
Now that role will fall to Doctor Doom, making Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's best aspect, Majors' performance and story as Kang, moot. The film lost a lot of the Ant-Man franchise's charm by taking place almost exclusively in the Quantum Realm, which led to characters like Luis getting cut and gags with Ant-Man and the Wasp's shrinking powers in relation to the world disappearing. With poor CGI in a lot of moments, the Quantum Realm also looked less exciting than it should have, and Kang was defeated too easily.
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7 Thor
$449.3 Million
Thor
WHERE TO WATCH
Thor, released in 2011, introduces Chris Hemsworth as the titular Norse god. Banished to Earth by his father Odin, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, Thor must live among humans and learn humility. As he adapts to his new circumstances, a threat from Asgard, led by his brother Loki, endangers Earth.
- Release Date
- May 6, 2011
- Runtime
- 115 minutes
- Director
- Kenneth Branagh
2011's Thor is not the best of Chris Hemsworth's MCU movies, but it is also nowhere near the worst. The film is a serviceable origin story for Thor in the MCU that serves as a great starting point for the character. Thor establishes Asgard, which looks the best it ever does in the MCU, the franchise's core characters, like Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and Thor's motivations nicely.
Banished to Earth, the film follows the God of Thunder as he finds his path back to being worthy of his hammer, Mjolnir, and his privileged position as Odin's son. Thor's modest box office is a byproduct of the time the movie was released, and had it been developed later in the MCU than when the franchise was only finding its footing, director Kenneth Branagh would more likely than not have seen a hefty box office with Thor.
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6 Ant-Man
$519.3 Million
Ant-Man follows master thief Scott Lang as he becomes a hero under the guidance of Doctor Hank Pym. Using his Ant-Man suit, Lang gains the ability to shrink in size while increasing in strength, and together they must protect the technology from new threats and execute a world-saving heist.
- Release Date
- July 17, 2015
- Runtime
- 117 minutes
- Director
- Peyton Reed
Paul Rudd's Ant-Man franchise has two of the 10 lowest-grossing MCU movies. That is not necessarily indicative of the quality of the Ant-Man movies, but more so of the obscure nature of the character for non-comic book readers, as well as the Ant-Man films mostly standing on their own in the MCU. Given those elements, 2015's Ant-Man, the hero's MCU debut, was always going to reach smaller numbers than other bigger MCU heroes.
Ant-Man is a fun heist movie. It is a refreshing story in the MCU, mostly avoiding big end-of-the-world stakes for a more personal tale. The movie also leans more heavily into comedy than the other MCU films of the time it was released. Ant-Man is an entertaining film that does not offer much more than a good time, which is why it ranks in the middle of the list.
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5 Black Widow
$379.7 Million
Black Widow
Cast
Rachel Weisz
Black Widow: Released in 2021, Black Widow follows Natasha Romanoff as she faces a conspiracy linked to her past. Pursued relentlessly, Natasha must confront her history as a spy and navigate fractured relationships from her previous life before becoming part of the Avengers.
- Release Date
- July 9, 2021
- Runtime
- 134 minutes
- Director
- Cate Shortland
Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is one of the most important characters in the MCU. Fans asked for a Black Widow movie for many years, with the character only getting her chance to shine in a solo film after Natasha Romanoff had died in Avengers: Endgame. That led to Black Widow following a story set in the character's past, delving deeper into Natasha's backstory with the Red Room.
Black Widow introduced fan-favorite characters like Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and David Harbour's Red Guardian, both of which return next year in Thunderbolts*.
Sadly, the pandemic and the decision to release Black Widow on the same day in theaters and Disney+ ended up hurting the movie's box office. The film itself is quite fun, with a nice mix of levity and emotional moments. Black Widow introduced fan-favorite characters like Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova and David Harbour's Red Guardian, both of which return next year in Thunderbolts*. All in all, Black Widow was a gripping adventure for Natasha, but it came too late.
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Thunderbolts* is set to assemble a new team with darker pasts seen in previous MCU movies, so here's a breakdown of where we last saw each member.
4 Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
$432.2 Million
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
WHERE TO WATCH
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: This film introduces Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Confronted by his past, he becomes entangled with the mysterious Ten Rings organization, which challenges his identity and abilities. Released in 2021, the movie explores themes of family and legacy.
- Release Date
- September 3, 2021
- Runtime
- 132 minutes
- Director
- Destin Daniel Cretton
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was such a fun movie that it led to Marvel hiring director Destin Daniel Cretton to helm Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. However, he ended up departing the project, which has since become 2026's Avengers: Doomsday. The movie introduced a whole new side of the MCU, with mystical elements, artifacts, organizations, and more. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings even had dragons.
The movie featured some of the best action sequences in the MCU, with Simu Liu delivering a charismatic and energetic performance in the lead role. Tony Leung also gave life to one of the shared universe's best heroes as the MCU's true Mandarin, paying off Iron Man 3's setup years later. Due to the pandemic, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' box office was lower than it could have been.
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3 The Marvels
$206.1 Million
The Marvels follows Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, whose powers entwine with Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan and S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. As unintended consequences destabilize the universe, the trio must collaborate to navigate a new threat linked to a Kree revolutionary and an anomalous wormhole.
- Release Date
- November 10, 2023
- Runtime
- 105 minutes
- Director
- Nia DaCosta
The Marvels being this high on the list should be a controversial decision, as the movie has become the lowest-grossing MCU film, taking The Incredible Hulk's place after 15 years. Despite its abysmal box office, which led to Marvel losing a lot of money on the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels is not a bad movie. Sure, it does not rank among films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier or Avengers: Infinity War, but the movie was still an entertaining, fast-paced team-up that the MCU needed amid the Multiverse Saga.
With MCU characters going years without appearing or not really interacting with those from other franchises in recent years, The Marvels came as a breath of fresh air, bringing different MCU heroes together with solid reasoning and making their dynamic shine. However, a weak villain, years of polarizing discourse around Captain Marvel, and the MCU's divisive state as of late hurt the film's performance.
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2 Captain America: The First Avenger
$370.5 Million
Captain America: The First Avenger
WHERE TO WATCH
Captain America: The First Avenger follows Steve Rogers, a frail man from Brooklyn transformed into the super-soldier Captain America during World War II. As he aids the war effort, Rogers confronts Red Skull, who seeks world domination through a powerful device for a nefarious organization.
- Release Date
- July 22, 2011
- Runtime
- 124 Minutes
- Director
- Joe Johnston
Chris Evans' Captain America trilogy stands as the MCU's best for many. There is not a single bad movie about Evans' Steve Rogers. Captain America: The First Avenger sits at the bottom of the franchise both box office-wise and in of reception, though that has nothing to do with the movie's quality itself. Like a few entries on the list, the film was part of the first wave of MCU releases, and those found lower box office results.
With a solid story, gripping characters, and great rewatchability, Captain America: The First Avenger served as the perfect foundation for what would become one of the two most beloved heroes in the MCU. The film does a great job of telling Steve Rogers' iconic origin story, making a character who could have been seen as corny by modern audiences a beacon of hope, which is what Captain America is all about.
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1 Iron Man
$585.8 Million
Iron Man is the first film in the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, who becomes Iron Man after he is kidnapped and discovers terrorists are using weapons developed by Stark Industries. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Tony's love interest Pepper Potts alongside Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan and Jeff Bridges as the villainous Obadiah Stane.
- Release Date
- May 2, 2008
- Runtime
- 126 minutes
- Director
- Jon Favreau
2008's Iron Man is one of the MCU's most important movies, if not the most important. It was due to the film's success that the MCU continued to exist, eventually becoming the major theatrical behemoth it is today. Interestingly, Iron Man's $585.8 million at the worldwide box office, which was once an enormous success for Marvel at the time, is now one of the lowest-grossing films in the MCU.
That is but a testament to how the franchise has grown since 2008, with multiple $1 billion hits, one of which came from Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man 3. Of the MCU's lowest-grossing movies, Iron Man is definitely the best. The reasons for that are that the film brings one of RDJ's best performances as Tony Stark, does a great job of setting up a cinematic universe, has an engaging story, villain, and characters, and its CGI still holds up to this day. Iron Man is one of the MCU's best movies, counting all 34 releases so far.
