Marvel Studios’ superhero movies have taken over the box-office within the previous twenty years of film. It is incredible to see the sheer amount of money earned throughout their continued success, as well as the fact that they seem to have no clear sign of slowing down. Through their compelling writing and deep interconnectedness between a vast majority of character arcs, it seems that Marvel has taken over the major film industry as we know it.
Let’s look at the top 10 highest lifetime box-office sales of all time:
Within this top ten, four of these movies are Marvel superhero movies. What is more incredible, is that these top four films have all been released within the past decade and are likely to surpass the other movies on this list in time. This could very well be part of a film trend in which superhero movies have taken over other film genres for the time being, but many of these films have ongoing story plots that will require far more movies throughout the upcoming years. To add to that, Marvel has been releasing superhero TV series on the streaming platform Disney+ that are quickly becoming fan favorites all over the globe such as Loki, Wanda Vision, and most recently Moon Knight. What is it that makes these movies so popular?
What Marvel has done so well to garner this success is creating a nostalgic effect in all their most recent films. Spider-Man starring the main actor Tobey Maguire as Spiderman released back in 2002. Since then, the Marvel Universe has vastly grown through intricate writing and well-developed character arcs. 20 years after Spider-Man’s release, Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman appears in the 2021 box-office hit Spider-Man: No Way Home starring lead actor Tom Holland. By bringing past characters from old hit movies into the present, Marvel captures audiences across multiple decades, which is absolutely genius.
Box-office numbers are not necessarily the main determinant of if a movie is successful or not, but they are telling of the sheer volume of sales and views for each film. There are plenty of people who do not care for superhero movies in the slightest and would rather watch other genres, but the numbers can cause movie producers and scriptwriters to wonder how they can be competitive with such a strong trend. It is not as if only superhero movies should or will be produced in the future, but it can be discouraging for a film producer to execute a terrific project and be outshined by the popular Marvel trend. It would be wrong to say that film developers and writers create movies strictly for the sake of having high box office numbers, yet it is something that can be a factor for thought throughout the development of a project.
