Every MCU Franchise Ranked By Box Office

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been finding financial success for over a decade and a half, but which franchises have done the best and worst may be surprising. Quite often, there’s a correlation between critical reception and money earned, but a few outliers have come out on the heels of particularly good or bad MCU movies to buck the trend. The result is an interesting mix of franchises with consistent performance and ones that have bounced between financial hits and disappointments.

For the purpose of this list, “franchise” is defined as MCU projects with at least one sequel. While there are many metrics to measure the MCU timeline’s financial success, the data here (as listed by Box Office Mojo) is based on global box office performance. Moreover, rankings are based on the franchise-wide average box office take as they vary in number of films, but the raw total has also been provided.

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10 Ant-Man’s Third Movie Hurt Its Average

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $539.4 Million

The first two Ant-Man movies made respectable but unexciting amounts of money at the box office, but the mediocre take was befitting the smaller scale of Scott Lang’s adventures. However, the franchise’s financial situation took a turn for the worse when Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was released to poor reviews. As a result, it’s the lowest-earning movie in the franchise despite being the most expensive to make. With the MCU cutting back on future releases, it’s unclear if its lowest-performing franchise will continue.

9 Captain Marvel Is A Franchise Of Incredible Highs And Lows

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $668.8 Million

Captain Marvel is a popular and exciting hero in her own right, but there’s little doubt that her MCU debut got a massive boost by releasing at the peak of MCU hype between Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. It remains one of only 10 MCU movies to make over $1b, and its sequel couldn’t follow suit. Perhaps a victim of general MCU fatigue and the inability of its lead actors to promote the movie due to the at-the-time ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, The Marvels performed far worse than the actual quality of the movie.

8 Thor Is The Only MCU Hero To Have 4 Solo Movies So Far

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $677.7 Million

Though this will presumably change when Spider-Man 4 eventually releases, Thor is currently the only MCU hero to star in four solo movies. While this doesn’t give his franchise an advantage in terms of average box office performance, it has resulted in Thor being Marvel’s third-highest-grossing character overall. While Thor: Love and Thunder may not have received as positive of critical reception as its predecessor, the series overall has enjoyed relatively consistent earnings.

7 Captain America Made More Money With Each Release

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $747.0 Million

Each subsequent Captain America movie has made more money than the last, though the franchise certainly benefited from Civil War being a full-fledged Avengers movie in everything but name. While The First Avenger made meager returns, it was easily the toughest sell of the group, being an early MCU project and a period piece. Time will tell if Sam Wilson can continue Steve’s earnings streak when Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters.

6 Iron Man’s Solo Movie Career Ended Early

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $808.4 Million

Iron Man is the only hero to have had two solo movies before The Avengers (2012), and his trilogy concluded earlier than many of his peers. Despite Iron Man arguably being the most popular character in the MCU, it’s possible Tony’s movies may have made more if they were released later, as the MCU was at its peak popularity. This is partially supported by Iron Man 3, the lastest Stark solo project, making about double what Iron Man 2 pulled in.

5 Doctor Strange Saw A Dramatic Increase In Earnings For His Latest Movie

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $817.2

Though several projects in the MCU Phase 4 and 5 have struggled financially, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness proved there’s still plenty of gas in the tank for the long-running shared universe. Doctor Strange stands out among his peers as the only magic user to have his own solo franchise, and it’s clearly been a hit with audiences. With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ending on a cliffhanger tease for another story, it seems likely the former Sorcerer Supreme will return to the big screen at least once more.

4 Guardians Of The Galaxy Maintained Consistent Earnings

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $827.6 Million

Guardians of the Galaxy was an early risk for Marvel Studios, given the characters had almost no general name brand recognition. However, memorable characters, a tight script, and wonderful visuals led it to be an instant break-out hit. Its two sequels followed suit, earning a bit more money than the franchise starter. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wrapped up the story of the original Guardians team, and it’s hitherto unclear if a fourth film will happen.

3 Spider-Man Has Been Expectedly Lucrative

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $983.5 Million

Given the general popularity of Peter Parker and the long history of successful Spider-Man movies, it’s no surprise that the Wall Crawler has remained one of the MCU’s most bankable heroes. While he loses out to Black Panther as the highest solo hero franchise, there’s something to be said for Spider-Man maintaining such consistently high earnings after two reboots and three MCU films. Outside of Avengers projects, Spider-Man: No Way Home also has the honor of the single highest-grossing movie in the MCU.

2 Black Panther’s Debut Was A Mega Hit

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $1,104.6 Million

After a strong debut appearance in Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther’s first solo film proved to be an immense hit for Marvel Studios. The film’s acclaimed cast was backed by some of the MCU’s best world-building, and though Black Panther: Wakanda Forever didn’t reach quite the same financial heights, the sequel was still a critical and commercial hit. There’s currently no announced Black Panther 3, but given the success of the first two and Wakanda Forever‘s dangling plot threats, it would be incredibly surprising for it not to happen sooner or later.

1 The Avengers Remain The MCU’s Premiere Franchise

Franchise Global Box Office Average: $1,978.7 Million

Given the popularity of the MCU’s individual heroes, it’s no surprise that their epic team-ups are the most financially successful movies in the MCU. The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron pulled in impressive revenue, but the saga-capping duology of Avengers Infinity War and Endgame skyrocketed to new heights for the MCU, breaking $2b and raising the franchise average to almost double the second-place series. Time will tell how Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars but even if the come in significantly behind their predecessors, the Avengers will almost surely hold the MCU‘s top spot.