With Avengers: Infinity War Hulk-smashing box office records, let’s take a look at how it stacks up to all the other Marvel Cinematic Universe titles. Here’s a current ranking of all 19 MCU films and how much money they made via Box Office Mojo — some of the results might surprise you. (Note: Infinity War will might eventually top this list, but since it’s only on its first weekend it’s still aways from No. 1).
Let’s start with lowest to highest in U.S. domestic box office:
19. The Incredible Hulk (2008) $134,806,913: Despite being at the bottom of the list and the second-worst reviewed title on here (according to Rotten Tomatoes with a 67 percent ‘Fresh’ rating) Universal’s final Hulk title, starring Edward Norton, was still considered mildly successful and just edged out 2003’s Hulk starring Eric Bana. Still, Norton’s Bruce Banner would eventually be replaced by Mark Ruffalo.
18: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) $176,654,505. A rare period piece from MCU, First Avenger was considered a solidly performing title that, along with Thor, released earlier the same year, solidified Marvel’s track record.
17. Ant-Man (2015) $180,202,163. Since Ant-Man was released after a slew of higher-grossing Phase 2 titles, it was considered slightly disappointing by industry pundits given the high bar the studio had recently set. Maybe that’s why Ant-Man is AWOL from Infinity War?
16. Thor (2011) $181,030,624: The film that showed Iron Man wasn’t a fluke.
15. Thor: The Dark World (2013) $206,362,140: And this was the film that showed Thor wasn’t a fluke. Still, reviews were lousy — this is the lowest-ranked MCU film by Rotten Tomatoes with a 66% average — and its box office wasn’t spectacular. Marvel smartly shook up the Thor franchise format with a more comedic effort for the third film.
14. Doctor Strange (2016) $232,641,920. A clear hit: In global ticket sales, it ranked as the most popular character introduction film in the MCU at the time, even beating Iron Man.
13. Avengers: Infinity War (2018): $258,000,000. Given that its opening weekend has blown away every other Marvel title, Infinity War could go straight to the top unless there’s a steep drop. The top title on this list has shown a lot of legs.
12. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) $259,766,572. Represented a solid leveling up for the Captain.
11. Iron Man 2 $312,433,331 (2010). A total hit, but earned less at the domestic box office and worse reviews (73 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) than the stellar first Iron Man — which is not what Marvel likes to see. Franchise director Jon Favreau “walked away” for the third film.
10. Thor: Ragnarok (2017) $315,058,289: Creatively reinvigorated the Thor franchise and delivered terrific reviews under director Taika Waititi (and arguably deserves to be higher compared to some on this list).
9. Iron Man (2008) $318,412,101. The sensation that started it all and still ranks as the second-best reviewed MCU title (with 94 percent on RT).
8. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) $333,176,600. Remember when Guardians was considered a risky idea? Showed a Marvel could score with a title that’s more comedy than drama.
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) $334,201. Marvel regained creative control of Spider-Man just in time to fight Peter Parker audience fatigue following five films from Sony in 15 years. While a bigger hit than Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, Homecoming‘s box office actually comes in below all three of the films starring Tobey Maguire. The highest-grossing entry remains Sam Rami’s 2002’s Spider-Man ($403,000).
6. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017) $389,813,101. Critics largely rank this sequel below the original, yet it still managed to raise the bar at the box office — joining Captain America and Thor among Marvel franchises where the second film exceeded the first in ticket sales.
5. Captain America: Civil War (2016) $408,084,349. Unofficially The Avengers 2.5 more than a Captain America film, Civil War was a big hit that proved directors Joe and Anthony Russo were ready to tackle the even more insanely complex Infinity War.
4. Iron Man 3 (2013) $409,013,994. Yup, we were surprised too. Considered one of the weaker Marvel titles, Robert Downey Jr.’s popular character has since only appeared in ensemble films.
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) $459,005,868. Another title that doesn’t top anybody’s list of Marvel favorites, the mash-up sequel underperformed the first Avengers while nonetheless ranking as a massive hit. Like Favreau, director Joss Whedon stepped aside after his sequel underperformed his original.
2. Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) $623,357,910. A success on every level and the first Marvel production to generate $1 billion in global ticket sales. Whedon’s The Avengers proved an ambitious ensemble could actually work (plus holds up really well upon repeat viewing).
1. Black Panther (2018) $688,009,489. Another all-quadrant hit — with topical social relevance thrown in — Black Panther has racked up $1.1 billion worldwide … and it’s still going! Showing that sometimes audiences and critics agree, Black Panther is also the best-reviewed title on this list (at 96 percent on RT). Despite being released 11 weeks ago, director Ryan Coogler’s entry keeps adding a couple million here and there and is currently the highest-grossing film in history behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar.
Of course, there’s always somebody who tweets, “But what about ticket sales adjusted for inflation?” So here are the MCU titles ranked based on the number of tickets sold instead of how much money each made (spoiler: it’s actually a very similar list given not many years have passed since Iron Man came out):
1. Marvel’s The Avengers
2. Black Panther
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
4. Iron Man 3
5. Captain America: Civil War
6. Iron Man
7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
8. Guardians of the Galaxy
9. Iron Man 2
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. Thor: Ragnarok
12. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
13. Avengers: Infinity War
14. Doctor Strange
15. Thor: The Dark World
16. Thor
17. Captain America: The First Avenger
18. Ant-Man
19. The Incredible Hulk
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