The Year Superhero Movies Made Almost $10 Billion At The Box Office, And Why It Happened

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The superhero genre made a truly staggering amount of money in terms of its box office results in one single year, and it’s such a high number I almost can’t get my head around it. Over the years, many superhero movies have made almost unfathomable amounts of money, with the MCU timeline and DCEU timeline having some notable examples.

However, across the course of the genre’s history, some years have fared better than others. Indeed, one of the all-time best years for the superhero genre in terms of its overall box office comes not all that far off breaking the $10 billion mark, underlining just how huge the superhero genre’s movie empire truly is.

Many Of The Superhero Genre’s Highest Box Office Results Come From The Same Year

With the superhero genre building itself to new heights in the past two decades, it’s no surprise that many major box office hits for the genre come within the same year. This is particularly par for the course given both the MCU and DCEU habitually released multiple films per year, as the DC Universe release schedule is set to.

This has led to several major years for the superhero genre. Many of DC & Marvel’s biggest movie box offices tend to come in the same years, such as 2019 bringing the $1+ billion worldwide box office of Joker and the $2.7 billion success of Avengers: Endgame, or the $1+ billion results of both The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises emerging in 2012 (via The Numbers).

All in all, this makes the genre’s results look all the more impressive, given it means its overall box office takings in specific years reach staggering heights. However, it’s worth noting that both of these previously mentioned years pale in comparison to one mind-bogglingly big year for the genre.

2018’s Superhero Movie Roster Means The Genre Made An Eye-Watering Amount In One Year

2018 was a colossal year for superhero movies, as the MCU released the Marvel movie with the second-highest box office of all time, and DC released the movie that netted its highest box office this same year. This was a huge feat, with Avengers: Infinity War and Aquaman garnering worldwide box offices of $2 billion and $1.1 billion respectively.

The MCU also released another major movie this same year both in terms of critical and commercial success, with Black Panther earning $1.3 billion for its engaging look at the franchise’s iteration of Wakanda. This year also saw the release of several notable if comparatively less fiscally successful films, including Deadpool 2, Venom, and Ant-Man & The Wasp.

Though these films earned less than the biggest superhero movie hits of 2018, they still certainly didn’t fare poorly in this regard. Venom‘s worldwide box office results came in at $856 million, Deadpool 2 netted itself $786 million, and Ant-Man & The Wasp made $623 million, which are all healthy numbers for the respective films.

This bolsters 2018’s box office results, and means that – if you also factor in Incredibles 2, which released this year and itself made $1.2 billion – the superhero genre made over $8 billion from 2018 alone. This is a truly spectacular amount of money, and an amount that really brings home the level of financial success the superhero genre has had.

Why 2018 Was Such A Huge Year For The Superhero Genre

Naturally, 2018’s overall superhero movie box office results make sense first and foremost because a considerable number of films came out in the same year. Had 2018 not had five Marvel movies, a DC movie, and a sequel to a beloved animated classic, it seems these sky-high results would have been far less likely.

However, it’s of course also worth keeping in mind that this year brought more than one immense box office success, and several considerable other box office takings alongside them. The results of Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther alone equal a $3.4 billion result for the superhero genre, which would be a huge result without any other films.

That said, the fact that all the films mentioned here garnered considerable box office is what takes 2018’s overall superhero movie box office up to these levels. Though Venom, Deadpool 2, and Ant-Man & The Wasp didn’t break the $1 billion mark, their combined results still equate to over $2 billion, which is crucial to keep in mind.

Finally, the trajectory of the superhero genre at this point in time has to be taken into account. The MCU’s 2018 successes can be attributed to the steady building of the franchise bringing it to new heights as the Infinity Saga reached a crescendo, and the success of several solo superhero debut films about characters who’ve historically gotten less big-screen limelight is also notable.

Looking back now, it’s almost surreal to comprehend the level of box office success the superhero genre enjoyed in a single year, and fascinating to wonder if the genre will reach these heights again going forward. With DC and Marvel setting up new chapters for their cinematic stories, only time will tell how other years match up to 2018 later down the line.

“}]] The superhero genre has some staggering successes.  Read More