Over the last two decades, superhero films have become the dominant force at the box office, bringing in billions of dollars every year. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) alone has raked in over $17 billion since it began in 2008, making it the highest-grossing film series by far. Despite naysayers’ predictions of the demise of the superhero film fad, which traces its roots back to 2000 with the release of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men, the popularity of these films continues to increase with no end in sight.

2018 saw the continuation of the MCU with Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Ant-Man and the Wasp, which cumulatively earned just under $4 billion in worldwide box office. Black Panther grossed over $1.3 billion (making it Marvel’s highest-grossing solo film); Avengers: Infinity War became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, just scraping by the $2 billion mark (the fourth film to do so and Marvel’s highest-grossing film to date); and Ant-Man and the Wasp raked in $622.7 million (improving upon its predecessor’s $519.3 million in box office returns. Additionally, DC continued its shared universe with Aquaman, which was the first DC Extended Universe film to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. Fox also jumped into the mix with Deadpool 2, which grossed $784.8 million worldwide.

With Disney’s planned acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Marvel Studios will be able to utilize characters that it had not before (due to Marvel’s past financial difficulties, it sold the film rights to a multitude of its characters), such as Deadpool, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. This opens a whole new realm of possibilities for Kevin Feige—the “showrunner” of the MCU—to expand the already humongous franchise. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has stated Marvel’s intention to reboot Fox’s Marvel properties and incorporate them into the MCU.

Whatever one may think about the superhero genre, no one can deny that it has been an incredibly lucrative venture that shows no signs of slowing down. 2019 will see the release of three new Marvel films, Captain Marvel (March 8), Avengers: Endgame (April 26), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 5); one new DC film, Shazam! (April 5); and two new X-Men films, Dark Phoenix (June 7) and The New Mutants (August 2).

Works Cited

Clark, Travis. “Disney’s CEO Says There Shouldn’t Be ‘Two Marvels,’ Suggesting the X-Men Will Be Introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 20 Sept. 2018, www.businessinsider.com/disney-wants-marvels-kevin-feige-to-oversee-x-men-after-fox-merger-2018-9.

“DC Extended Universe.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dc.htm.

“Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=avengers.htm.

Satria, Muhammad Haikal. “After ‘Infinity War’, Will Superhero Movies Ever Die out?” The Jakarta Post, 26 Apr. 2018, 03:14 pm, www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/04/26/after-infinity-war-will-superhero-movies-ever-die-out.html.

Sharf, Zack. “Kevin Feige Expects MCU to Begin Developing Fox Properties Like ‘X-Men’ in First Half of 2019.” IndieWire, IndieWire, 27 Dec. 2018, www.indiewire.com/2018/12/kevin-feige-mcu-x-men-fantastic-four-movies-first-half-2019-1202030855/.

“X-Men.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=xmen.htm.