The Highest-Grossing Superhero Movie For Each Year Of The 2010s, According To Box Office Mojo

The 2000s saw superhero movies in their infancy, but the signs that they would become the most important films of the 2010s were there. No other genre of movie has even come close to dominating multiplexes in the 2010s. However, it also shows just how well-oiled of a machine the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, as there isn’t a single movie outside of the series that appears on the list.

Whether fans think that’s a good or a bad thing, all of Marvel Studios’ crossover superhero movies have become equal parts fan service and gripping action. And they have gone on to influence every other studio that’s desperately cobbling together random cinematic universes. That’s all because of the sheer amount of money the MCU has pulled in worldwide.

2010 – Iron Man 2 ($623.9 Million)

When it comes to box office figures, the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be split into two different phases; the ones released before The Avengers and the ones released after The Avengers. After the 2012 movie was released, even the more unknown titles made close to the billion-dollar mark. However, when it comes to the pre-2012 movies, the box office figures are a lot more modest.

Even though some fans believe Iron Man 2 has aged poorly, it was the most successful of the lot, but even the $620 million intake isn’t quite the landmark it could have been. But the movie was doing some heavy lifting, as it was building the cinematic universe by introducing S.H.I.E.L.D, as well as being an Iron Man sequel.

2011 – Thor ($449.3 Million)

Both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger was released in 2011, and of the two, the God of Thunder came out on top, which is interesting given the characters’ in-universe rivalry. It’s hard to believe that Thor beat out The First Avenger at the box office, as Chris Evans was a much more established actor than Chris Hemsworth, and historical war dramas have always been hugely successful too.

There’s no obvious indicator as to how Thor made almost $80 million more than its sibling movie, especially as neither of them had overwhelmingly positive reviews. But it just goes to show how much star power Hemsworth had that early on in his career.

2012 – The Avengers ($1.518 Billion)

The Dark Knight was the very first superhero movie to hit a billion dollars, and The Dark Knight Rises followed suit. But even though Christopher Nolan’s beloved Batman trilogy was universally acclaimed, it couldn’t compare to the phenomenon that was The Avengers. The Avengers is far greater than the sum of its parts, as all of the previous solo movies were shockingly low-grossing compared to the 2012 movie.

But the success isn’t just down to the fact that it was an event movie. There are an infinite amount of factors that can affect a movie’s success, and one component to the movie’s box office result could be due to the unanimous amounts of dark and gritty superhero movies. The Avengers is a refreshingly exciting, one-liner-driven popcorn flick that isn’t so depressing as its peers were at the time.

2013 – Iron Man 3 ($1.214 Billion)

Amazingly, Iron Man 3 almost doubled the box office gross of its predecessor, and it’s no secret why. The 2013 movie works as the aftermath of The Avengers, and it’s the first example of the MCU serializing their movies and having the events in one movie impact the following movies, which is one of the things Iron Man 3 got right, and it also meant a much higher box office gross.

Ironically, despite the movie’s incredible success, it was more loved by casual fans than hardcore MCU buffs. That stems from how the promise of the Mandarin, one of the most celebrated Marvel villains, as the antagonist was total bait and switch. The character turned out to be a British theatre actor called Trevor who loves football, and people who had no idea who the comic book character was thought the plot twist was genius.

2014 – Guardians Of The Galaxy ($773.3 Million)

Nobody could have ever determined that Guardians of the Galaxy would have made as much money as it did. Even despite being part of the MCU and following The Avengers, it’s a goofy movie about five outcasts in space, but it still managed to make three-quarters of a billion dollars.

But what’s an even greater feat is that the film grossed more money than another 2014 MCU movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier was the second Captain America movie, and it also starred two other Avengers, Black Widow, and Nick Fury. Despite that, a movie about a tree and a talking raccoon was still able to make more money worldwide.

2015 – Avengers: Age Of Ultron ($1.4o2 Billion)

Given the MCU’s box office trajectory, on paper, Avengers: Age of Ultron should have made way more money than it did, especially as everybody was now all in on the idea of the cinematic universe. At this point in the franchise, parents who were confused why Batman and the X-Men aren’t in the movies now had a clear understanding of what the Marvel Cinematic Universe was.

However, Age of Ultron wasn’t quite as well-received as its predecessor, and it even features one of the most amateur moments in a big-budget movie. Because of this, there were far fewer repeat viewings, and even some of the MCU’s biggest fans felt that just one trip to the movie theatre was enough. And it led to a lower box office gross than the first Avengers movie.

2016 – Captain America: Civil War ($1.153 Billion)

Without a Thor movie or a Guardians of the Galaxy movie to compete with, a captain America release finally managed to become the highest-grossing superhero movie of the year. However, ironically, the billion-dollar figure isn’t so much thanks to Steve Rogers, but every other superhero in the movie.

Captain America: Civil War is essentially The Avengers 2.5, as Iron Man, Black Widow, Scarlett Witch, and so many others can be found in the movie. On top of that, it also introduced Spide-Man and Black Panther, making the movie impossible to fail.

2017 – Spider-Man: Homecoming ($880.1 Million)

Spider-Man: Homecoming is the closest the 2010s came to having one of the years’ highest-grossing superhero movies be outside of Marvel. While the film is technically part of the MCU, it isn’t distributed by Marvel Studios, as Sony owns the licensing rights and is a Sony production. But still, the film wouldn’t be half as successful if it wasn’t for the presence of Iron Man and other MCU characters.

However, with that in mind, it should have been a billion-dollar-grossing movie, and it’s far from the highest-grossing film of 2017. The slight underperformance may have been due to Spider-Man fatigue and the string of disappointments in the series, and there hadn’t been a widely positively received Spidey flick since 2004’s Spider-Man 2.

2018 – Avengers: Infinity War ($2.048 Billion)

Just like the first Avengers movie did, Avengers: Infinity War set a precedent with its box office success. The third movie marks the first time a superhero movie hit the $2 billion mark, and it was only the fourth movie in history to do so. It’s the beginning of the end, and between the breakneck pacing and the emotional backbone, Infinity War is the best Avengers movie.

Though everybody expected the movie to be a success, it doesn’t get enough credit for being surprisingly dark. The movie’s very opening scene sees Loki get choked to death, and Gamora is devastatingly murdered by her father. And despite that, it still grossed more than $2 billion.

2019 – Avengers: Endgame ($2.797 Billion)

Avengers: Endgame achieved the impossible. Not only did it conclude dozens of characters’ narratives succinctly and cohesively in a three-hour runtime that flies by, but its box office gross was unbelievable. The film was briefly the highest-grossing movie of all time, as it dethroned Avatar, which had held on to the top spot for 12 years.

However, as Avatar was re-released in theatres not long after, Endgame dropped back down to number two. It’s unlikely that any other movie on Marvel Studios’ slate will come close to Endgame’s figure. Not even a fifth Avengers movie could achieve it, as the big appeal of the 2019 movie was the climax of the Infinity Saga and wrapping up a 20+ movie story arc.