Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing
With the box office expected to be up in 2026 due to Spider-Man 4 and Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel will get both credit and blame.
It’s been a great summer for theatrical movies, especially at Marvel. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has completely shattered expectations. The fourth Tom Holland solo Spider-Man movie registered a record-breaking domestic opening weekend of $360 million, passing Avengers: Endgame’s $357.1 million.
The records have continued, as Brand New Day became the fastest movie in history to reach $800 million domestically. The film has surpassed $2 billion worldwide, and it realistically could become one of the three highest-grossing movies of all time.
Marvel’s banner year is expected to continue in December with Avengers: Doomsday. Presale tickets have begun, and according to The Wrap, Doomsday was roughly 65% ahead of Brand New Day’s pace after two days. It’s still too early to predict how that will translate to box office success, but it’s safe to say Doomsday will likely have one of the five biggest global opening weekends of all time.
By the end of the year, 2026 should be the best post-Covid year at the box office. Marvel certainly deserves a lot of credit for driving audiences to theaters. Conversely, it also could be a warning sign.
Marvel dominating the box office is good and bad for movies
Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday becoming a billion-dollar hit is encouraging for theaters. Superhero fatigue is real, but it doesn’t exist for the right properties like Spider-Man and the Avengers. Eventizing Marvel movies is still one of the most reliable ways to drive the theatrical experience. It also proves that Marvel’s decision to scale back on what movies to release and how many per year is working.
However, Marvel used to be bulletproof at the box office. The MCU turned lesser-known characters—including Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and the Guardians of the Galaxy—into gigantic hits. However, Marvel has lost some of its magic since 2019, most notably its ability to popularize new hits.
In 2025, Marvel released three movies: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. None of those movies grossed more than $525 million worldwide, which used to be an easy benchmark for the MCU to clear.
What happens if another year like 2025 happens? Audiences are being trained to only come out for the must-see Marvel movies. That’s not a good sign for the success of theaters. Can Marvel eventize movies with niche characters? I’m not sure anymore, which ultimately hurts the box office.
Look at Marvel’s upcoming theatrical slate: two Avengers movies, X-Men, Ghost Rider, and Black Panther 3. Those projects are either based on popular characters or driven by stars, like Ryan Gosling in Ghost Rider. I don’t see many risks in that slate.
The box office clearly needs Marvel to thrive. If Marvel only delivers billion-dollar hits with its top characters while the others underperform, movie theaters might not be out of the water just yet.
Originally reported by Dan Girolamo at SuperHeroHype.
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