The Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced some of the most profitable movies of all time. Adapting many people’s favorite comic book characters for the big screen has allowed Marvel Studios to dominate the box office for 15 years.
While the franchise has hit a rough patch during its ongoing Multiverse Saga, the profits gathered by some of its recent films show that the MCU has not lost its staggering appeal. And now that Deadpool & Wolverine has already slashed box office records, it’s time to review the MCU’s five biggest opening weekends so far.
5. The Avengers (2012) — $207,438,708
Never before this film had fans seen Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on the big screen together. Such a feat seemed unthinkable, especially after the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of world-building spent on the films before it.
Ultimately, Marvel’s gamble paid off, as The Avengers scored big at the box office on its opening weekend. Fulfilling many a Marvel fan’s dream, this blockbuster assembled audiences’ favorite comic book heroes in a hilarious, heartfelt, and action-packed extravaganza, shaking up the entire film industry as a whole.
4. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) — $211,000,000
After Wolverine met his end in 2017’s Logan, the dream of seeing Hugh Jackman’s character team up with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool seemed all but dead. But then, Deadpool & Wolverine was announced, and fans were all-in for this film long before it premiered.
If the titular duo’s return wasn’t good enough, this dimension-hopping blockbuster promised to bring back countless characters from past Marvel projects, including the X-Men films, for an epic showdown in the Void. With the concept of Deadpool taking on the Multiverse, the comedic possibilities were endless, but the film retained enough heart to make it more than an enormous cash grab.
3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) — $257,698,183
This film delivered on 10 years of buildup across multiple films by presenting the climactic battle between the Avengers and the evil alien Thanos. Since this film featured the biggest lineup of superheroes at the time, audiences knew they had to witness what had been a blockbuster event unlike any other.
This sequel made roughly 25% more than what the first Avengers movie made on the first weekend, making half a billion dollars more than the latter at the box office overall. Infinity War eventually usurped The Avengers as the MCU’s highest-grossing project, reaching numbers rivaling those for Avatar, Titanic, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) — $260,138,569
After Spider-Man: Far From Home shocked audiences around the world with its cliffhanger ending, it was almost guaranteed that theaters would be packed when the sequel came out. This was especially true since the film teased the return of villains from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man films.
And though they tried to keep Maguire and Garfield’s roles in the film secret, the very possibility of their return was enough to send scores of web-heads into theaters right from the get-go. This Multiversal crossover made for the biggest opening weekend for a Spider-Man film and the second biggest for the MCU overall.
1. Avengers: Endgame (2019) — $357,115,007
Just like with No Way Home, it was inevitable that theaters would be packed after Infinity War ended with Thanos’ infamous Snap. Countless fans were dying to see how the surviving Avengers would undo the damage Thanos did to the MCU and bring back everyone who turned to dust. But with this time-traveling adventure, Endgame did more than revisit the franchise’s greatest hits.
It delivered a stirring and poignant conclusion to the stories of some of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, particularly those of Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow. Also, following the bombastic final battle presented in this film, one can only imagine how Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will compare to this revolutionary blockbuster.
