The final box office numbers for 2025 are in, and with four movies hitting the $1 billion threshold – with A Minecraft Movie coming painfully close to making it five – it was a huge year for cinema. However, it was the first year in well over a decade where Marvel had a theatrical release but didn’t see any of its films crack the worldwide box office top ten.
According to Box Office Mojo, topping the 2025 bill was a movie you may not have heard of, Ne Zha 2. A Chinese animation that was hugely popular in its home country. Chinese moviegoers are also largely responsible for the second-highest-grossing movie of 2025, Zootopia 2. A hit in China, and having made close to $1.6 billion, it has surpassed Frozen 2 to claim the Disney animation record box office crown.
It still needs to make a little more to overtake Inside Out 2 and leave Pixar in its wake, too, though.
There Were No Marvel Movies In 2025’s Highest-Grossing Films
Moving on down the top ten, you’ll find Avtar: Fire and Ash, even though it only hit theaters in December, the aforementioned Minecraft Movie, and just making it into 2025’s ten best box office busters is Superman. So yes, a superhero movie did make the cut, but for the first time since 2011, a Marvel one did not.
The highest-grossing Marvel movie of 2025 was Fantastic Four: First Steps, which, with $521 million grossed worldwide, was the 12th biggest film of the year. Captain America: Brave New World was 15th with $415 million, and the far superior Thunderbolts earned the MCU’s bronze medal for 2025 but was 16th overall, having ended its theatrical run on $382 million.
This Year Is The Third Best Year For Video Games Since 2011, According To Metacritic
Clair Obscur, Blue Prince, and Hades 2 are some of the year’s headliners.
All of that means, for the first time since 2011, there were no Marvel movies in the ten highest-grossing films of the year in 2025. So right back to the early days of the MCU, when we were only a few movies in. For those struggling to figure out what exactly Marvel released that year, its only film was Thor (yes, that’s how far back we’re talking, feels like a lifetime ago). Thor made $449 million at the box office that year, which was only good enough for 15th place.
Marvel Has Had A Movie In The Top Ten Each Year Since 2012
There was one year between 2011 and 2025 when there wasn’t a Marvel movie in the top ten highest-grossing films of the year, and that year was 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, theaters were closed for the majority of the year. Not only that, but Marvel didn’t even try to put anything in them during the brief periods they were open. It held off on releasing Black Widow until the following year, which, even though it was available on Disney Plus the same day, wound up grossing $379 million.
It’s a shame that 2025 was the year that Marvel dipped to a 14-year low box office-wise, as it was one of the best years for MCU movies since the end of the Infinity Saga. Thunderbolts was great, and First Steps was really good, too. As for 2026, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers Doomsday both on track to be released this year, there’s almost no chance Marvel misses out on the top ten again.
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Matt Shakman
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Pedro Pascal
Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
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Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
