Breaking down the billion-dollar benchmark obsession that’s warping film discussion
Comic book fans can finally breathe easy. 2025 delivered a solid superhero movie slate that corrected course after 2024’s disastrous run of misfires including Madame Web, Joker: Folie à Deux, and Kraven the Hunter.
This year brought us compelling entries featuring Superman, the Fantastic Four, and the Thunderbolts New Avengers. (We’ll skip over Captain America for now.) Yet online fan discourse remains dominated by negativity: DCU Superman faces backlash from angry Zack Snyder devotees, The Fantastic Four: First Steps gets labeled a bomb, and doomsday predictions about “superhero fatigue” killing the MCU and DCU persist.
This toxic trend of armchair box office analysis misses the bigger picture of theatrical economics. The unrealistic expectation that every franchise film must hit the billion-dollar mark has become a destructive force in film criticism. This mindset fails to reflect how movies actually impact popular culture.
Let’s examine how adjusting our blockbuster expectations could dramatically improve film discussion for everyone.
The Billion-Dollar Benchmark: A Recent Obsession
Blockbuster filmmaking wasn’t always about superhero movies dominating every dollar. Superhero films have entertained audiences since Richard Donner’s Superman in 1978, but the genre didn’t achieve mainstream dominance until the new millennium.
Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man cemented superhero movies as Hollywood’s safest bet. Even when Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man became the first film to earn over $100 million in a single weekend in 2002, billion-dollar theatrical runs remained virtually unheard of.
James Cameron pioneered this territory first. Titanic shattered records in 1997 with an unprecedented $1.8 billion during its initial run. What seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime achievement became increasingly common over the following decade.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest became the third billion-dollar film in 2006 (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was second). That was less than 20 years ago. Today, we have 58 billion-dollar movies, fundamentally shifting franchise expectations so dramatically that previous standards have been forgotten.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe rewrote these rules when The Avengers became the first film to cross $200 million domestically on opening weekend. This movie didn’t just codify the cinematic universe boom—it launched Marvel Studios into the stratosphere.
Before The Avengers‘ $1.5 billion haul, Iron Man‘s $585 million, Thor‘s $449 million, and Captain America‘s $370 million were perfectly acceptable results. But after Avengers‘ success, the game changed permanently.
After Avengers reached $1.5 billion, future movies in the genre would have their “success” graded by both fans and executives on how close they got to the mythical one-billion mark.
This created an understanding that superhero films had unlimited potential (even without Batman). Future genre entries would be measured against this billion-dollar benchmark, regardless of whether individual projects were designed for such massive returns.
This approach represents fundamentally irrational thinking about films. It completely ignores whether movies are actually good while distorting perceptions of films with more measured box office performance—particularly Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Good Performance Isn’t Failure
Current box office tracking shows Superman heading toward just over $600 million worldwide, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps will cross $500 million. Both represent respectable tallies, but online discourse suggests otherwise.
Much discussion centers on how DCU’s Superman won’t surpass 2013’s Man of Steel and its $670 million worldwide gross. Overzealous DCEU fans claim general audiences prefer the “Snyderverse” over the new DCU direction.
First Steps stands as the most successful Fantastic Four movie both financially and critically. Yet this achievement gets overshadowed by “death of the MCU” sentiment and declarations that the film represents a massive bomb—despite evidence to the contrary.
Industry Insiders Aren’t Panicking
People actually making these movies don’t seem concerned about performance. When claims surfaced that Superman‘s $225 million budget required at least $650 million to break even, director James Gunn called such assertions “absolutely false.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger defended First Steps during an earnings call. He appeared satisfied with results as a franchise starting point, stating the movie “successfully launched this important franchise into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
First Steps‘ $200 million budget against a $500 million run doesn’t create a runaway hit, but it’s hardly a bomb either. The result works perfectly fine, especially since Disney clearly prioritized making a film audiences actually enjoy to build character investment.
Sequel Plans Prove Success
If these movies represented such colossal failures, would both currently have sequels in development? Gunn is already working on the next “Superman Saga” installment, while Milly Alcock’s Supergirl solo film hits theaters next year.
The MCU’s Fantastic Four are scheduled to appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. These property versions aren’t disappearing anytime soon.
What exactly defines “success” here? Some arbitrary number we’ve designated as the goalpost? Is settling for “a lot of money” instead of “all the money” really so terrible?
Frankly, superhero movies consuming less overall box office oxygen benefits everyone.
Share the Theatrical Wealth
Despite regular claims from armchair analysts, “superhero fatigue” isn’t actually real. Superhero fiction hasn’t declined in popularity since the 1960s. Superhero films have generated massive profits for decades.
Notice how superhero movies are the only genre discussed this way. Did anyone argue for “romantic comedy fatigue” during the 1990s? The only “fatigue” affecting superhero franchises stems from bad movies.
Regardless of opinions about 2020s superhero films, we’ve experienced serious low points: The Flash, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and everything involving Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters. After repeated disappointments, audiences naturally became more selective about new superhero releases.
The MCU-triggered tsunami of superhero success couldn’t last forever. Marvel Studios’ original characters always had limited shelf lives. DC’s gamble on Batman meeting Superman and Justice League formation couldn’t survive poor audience reception.
Perhaps we’ve returned to the old superhero status quo: popular but just one successful movie type among many. This represents positive change, allowing superhero and sci-fi films to occupy less theatrical real estate while enabling diverse movies to succeed—something already visible this year.
Audiences want to go to the movies, and they want to see more than just the latest superhero sagas.
Weapons collected over $200 million—excellent performance for original horror. F1 cruised past $600 million through old-school filmmaking and movie star charisma. Materialists climbed to nearly $100 million as a character-focused romantic drama.
That doesn’t include China’s homegrown animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 becoming the year’s biggest film, or KPop Demon Hunters claiming the #1 domestic weekend spot through specialty sing-along screenings despite months on Netflix.
Audiences want theatrical experiences beyond superhero sagas. This development benefits everyone—the theatrical ecosystem was never sustainable on a single movie type.
The Future Looks Brighter
Superhero movies aren’t disappearing. Superman, Fantastic Four, and other beloved characters will continue reaching cinemas. But a world where superhero films don’t monopolize profit and attention creates opportunities for smaller, more varied films to shine.
This environment might finally return discussion focus to movie quality rather than studio earnings potential. When superhero films performed more modestly in previous decades, the genre remained healthy and popular.
The billion-dollar benchmark represents an artificial standard that serves no one except corporate executives obsessed with record-breaking headlines. Quality storytelling, character development, and audience satisfaction matter more than arbitrary financial milestones.
Recalibrating Success Metrics
The film industry benefits from diverse success stories. Horror films earning $200 million, romantic dramas reaching $100 million, and original concepts finding audiences prove theatrical viability extends far beyond superhero spectacles.
These varied successes create healthier industry ecosystems where different audience segments receive content tailored to their preferences. Studios can invest in original concepts alongside established franchises without requiring every project to achieve impossible financial heights.
Superhero movies earning $500-600 million represent significant achievements. These figures support production costs, generate profits, and justify continued franchise investment. Demanding billion-dollar returns from every entry creates unrealistic pressures that prioritize spectacle over storytelling.
Moving Forward
The superhero genre’s maturation means accepting that not every film will break records. This natural evolution allows space for innovation, risk-taking, and artistic growth within established franchises.
Quality matters more than quantity—both in terms of films produced and dollars earned. Audiences respond to compelling characters, engaging stories, and satisfying emotional journeys regardless of production budgets or box office totals.
As we move forward, celebrating diverse theatrical successes while maintaining realistic expectations will benefit creators, studios, and audiences alike. The billion-dollar benchmark can remain an occasional achievement rather than an impossible standard applied to every major release.
Superhero movies have earned their place in cinema history. Now they can share that space with other genres, creating richer theatrical experiences for everyone.
