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It's no secret that Marvel has had its worst year on record since launching its superhero franchise of movies and TV series in 2008.
Headed by Kevin Feige, it kicked off what became known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr as the first of 33 films to date, and many more slated over the coming years.
In the 15 years since its launch, it has become the most profitable cinematic franchise in history earning almost $30 billion worldwide.
Until this year, none of the MCU's films had made less than $134 million at the box office, but that all changed with Marvel having its lowest earnings since 2014 when it made $1.49 billion.
This year, it made $1.51 billion at the box office but released three films compared to 2014's two releases, and adjusting for inflation 2014's earnings is today worth around $1.96 billion. It did not have a great 2020 either due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that's because Marvel did not release any movies that year.
Other than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is the fourth highest earning movie of 2023, MCU's other releases, The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were some of its worst-performing movies ever.
There are a lot of reasons why Marvel's fortunes are dipping, according to Yale academic and author of The Evolution of Hollywood's Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted, Alexander Ross.
"On the whole, it comes down to the quality of the pictures and ennui de superheroes," Ross told Newsweek, adding that the people who tend to run movie studios are not creatives and are more focused on the bottom line.
"They want to stick to formulas [and]... Studio executives repeatedly refuse to understand that audiences want variety. No one wants to visit theatres to see the same tired, worn out, cliche-driven characters over and over again."
State of disarray
Marvel mega-fan Chris "Supafly" Markland agreed that Marvel has maybe bitten off more than it can chew when it came to planning its cinematic universe which is made up of multiple phases— 2023 saw the beginning of Phase 5.
"Marvel's disappointing fiscal year is a result of multiple factors that can be boiled down to three main points: a lack of quality control, the over-saturation of the market with too much content at a faster rate than their filmmakers and VFX workers can manage, and a lack of lack of a strong lead character at the forefront of the universe like Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man was throughout the Infinity Saga," he told Newsweek.
He added that Marvel's "compulsive overspending" meant it was pouring too much money ino making its movies and therefore has a higher expectation for box office returns.
Newsweek contacted Marvel by email for comment.
Below we take a look at how Marvel's numbers have stacked up over the years compared to each movie's budget, with Markland noting its best years came during the Infinity Saga Phase (2012 - 2019) which he described as its "absolute peak."
"When the Avengers first assembled in 2012, the general mainstream audience was mystified by the novelty of it, because a crossover of different major franchises on that scale had never been done before," Markland described, and said that the MCU had previously been good at developing characters while balancing strong stories, but now he argued, "everything feels like it's in a constant state of disarray."
The movies below are in chronological order of release date, the figures are not adjusted for inflation and based on current worldwide earnings from Box Office Mojo.
Marvel's numbers year by year
2008
Iron Man
Budget: $140 million
Box office: $585.8 million
The Incredible Hulk
Budget: $150 million
Box office: $264.8 million
2010
Iron Man 2
Budget: $200 million
Box office: $623.9 million
2011
Thor
Budget: $150 million
Box office: $449.3million
Captain America: The First Avenger
Budget: $140 million
Box office: $370.6 million
2012
The Avengers
Budget: $220 million
Box office: $1.52 billion
2013
Iron Man 3
Budget: $200 million
Box office: $1.22 billion
Thor: The Dark World
Budget: $170 million
Box office: $644.8 million
2014
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Budget: $170 million
Box office: $714.4 million
Guardians of the Galaxy
Budget: $170 million
Box office: $773.4 million
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Budget: $250 million
Box office: $1.405 billion
Ant-Man
Budget: $130 million
Box office: $519.3 million
2016
Captain America: Civil War
Budget: $250 million
Box office: $1.15 billion
Doctor Strange
Budget: $165 million
Box office: $667.8 million
2017
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Budget: $200 million
Box office: $863.8 million
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Budget: $175 million
Box office: $880.2 million
Thor: Ragnarok
Budget: $180 million
Box office: $855.3 million
2018
Black Panther
Budget: $200 million
Box office: $1.5 billion
Avengers: Infinity War
Budget: $325 million
Box office: $2.05 billion
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Budget: $130 million
Box office: $622.7 million
2019
Captain Marvel
Budget: $160 million
Box office: $1.13 billion
Avengers: End Game
Budget: $356 million
Box office: $2.78 billion
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Budget: $160 million
Box office: $1.13 billion
2021
Black Widow
Budget: $285.5 million
Box office: $379.8 million
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Budget: $150 million
Box office: $432.2 million
Eternals
Budget: $272.6 million
Box office: $402 million
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Budget: $200 million
Box office: $1.92 million
2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Budget: $294.5 million
Box office: $955.8 million
Thor: Love and Thunder
Budget: $250 million
Box office: $760.9 million
2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Budget: $200 million
Box office: $476.1 million
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Budget: $250 million
Box office: $845.6 million
The Marvels
Budget: $274.8 million
Box office: $205.6 million
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more