The fact that only oneMCUmovie has beaten a majorVenombox office record since the end of 2022 is a surprising detail for more than one reason. Whilethe Sony Spider-Man Universe timelinehas a complicated place in the annals of superhero movie history, the Venom trilogy managed to remain relatively unscathed by the series' reputation.
In fact, the originalVenommovie still holds up in many ways compared to newer superhero movies - particularly where its box office is concerned. Though several MCU movies have bestedVenomin this regard, plenty of the newest additions tothe MCU timelinehaven’t, makingVenom’s legacy currently fascinating in a whole new way.
The Original Venom Movie’s Box Office Results Were Higher Than Many People Realize
While theVenommovie trilogy is mostly associated with being a light-hearted take on the superhero genre that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this did manage to net the series some not inconsiderable box office success. That said, this is more true for the first installment in the trilogy than its predecessors, which each made substantially less.
Though the original 2018Venommovie made $80 million in its opening weekend - a lower result than many of its peers - this didn’t hamper the film’s takings, asthe worldwide box office for the release came to a considerable $856 million(viaThe Numbers). Given the film’s success, it’s easy to see how it led to the Sony Spider-Man Universe.
For context, this box office is higher than every Thor movie, every Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and several Spider-Man movies, since it’s a larger result than both The Amazing Spider-Man movies, and beats the box offices ofSpider-ManandSpider-Man2. Since all these films had not inconsiderable box offices themselves, this is a testament toVenom’s results.
Interestingly,Venom’s financial results also beat almost all of the MCU movies released in the past few years in this regard, which is fascinating to note, particularly given the less successful box office results of later Sony Spider-Man Universe installments. However, there is one notable exception.
AfterVenom’s initial results, the years directly following had several movies best its box office. 2019’sAvengers: Endgameis the most notable example of this, but 2021’sSpider-Man: No Way Homealso made far more thanVenom, as did two movies in 2022 - namely, that ofDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, andBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.
However, only one MCU movie has beatenVenom’s worldwide box office results between the release ofBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverand now.This is none other thanDeadpool & Wolverine, which outdidVenom’s worldwide box office by almost $500 millionthanks to its own $1.3 billion box office results (The Numbers).
This makes sense, sinceDeadpool & Wolverine’s balance of bringing back plenty of previous Marvel movie actors - including several major X-Men movie actors - and bringing its titular duo into the MCU multiverse garnered huge interest in and success for the release. Indeed, givenDeadpool & Wolverinehas the MCU’s sixth-highest worldwide box office, this seems par for the course.
However, the fact that only one movie in the MCU’s 2023-2025 roster has thus far broken this milestone is still a striking concept. That said, it doesn’t appear the franchise will continue this streak for long, given what’s on the horizon for the MCU.
The MCU’s Future Looks Guaranteed To Break This Trend
The MCU not reaching this milestone with any movies other thanDeadpool & Wolverinecan be attributed to many movie heavy-hitters having not been in play during this time. For example,every MCU Spider-Man moviehas made more thanVenomwith each of their worldwide box offices, suggesting 2026’sSpider-Man: Brand New Daywill do the same.
That said, the chances of the MCU movie trend being broken even sooner than that are considerable.The Fantastic Four: First Stepsappears to be in a prime position to challengeVenom’s box office results, given the debut of the Marvel hero team is a big deal for the franchise, and given the decade-long drought of live-action Fantastic Four movies.
However, even if bothThe Fantastic Four: First StepsandSpider-Man: Brand New Daysomehow don’t manage to make more than 2018’sVenom, there’s still the MCU’s almost-surefire way to break this trend. This is, of course, through what is teed up to be the biggest MCU movie in recent history:Avengers: Doomsday.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis set to debut in July 2025,Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s release is set for July 2026, andAvengers: Doomsdaywas delayed to a later release date of December 2026.
Every single MCU Avengers movie has made $1 billion minimum in their worldwide box office sales, meaning thatAvengers: Doomsdayvery much appears set to breakVenom’s record all over again. As such, while this current trend for the MCU is a notable one, there are plenty of chances for other movies in the franchise to meet or bestVenom’s results in the near future.
