MCU often does the marvel at the box office. The studio has witnessed many movies that reached the billion-dollar club, however, there are certain movies that have grossed lower than expected. At least, from MCU’s standard.
Regardless, MCU movies are extensively popular as if the studio has cracked the code of the box office. Also, the MCU makes sure for the room of development of further moneymaking superheroes to marvel in the times to come. But as the highest-grossing movies are often being celebrated, here are the 10 lowest-grossing movies from the studio.
10. Ant-Man And The Wasp
Scott Lang and Hope Pym’s chemistry as Ant-Man and the Wasp worked as Ant-Man And The Wasp went on to hit $622 million against the production budget of around $130–195 million. Despite profiting a large number, the MCU movie remained in the 10th position in the lowest MCU grosser list, also, the movie marked all three Ant-Man movies to be featured in it.
9. Iron Man
Iron Man’s debut in MCU was always skeptical. The studio was not very much up for the Iron Man movie believing that the audience might not respond well to the character. Au contraire, Robert Downey Jr and Jon Favreau’s collaboration has grain wide and astonishing reception. Made with around $130–140 million, the 2008 movie grossed over $585 million which was pretty less considering the success of the later installments.
8. Ant-Man
Ant-Man’s debut standalone was a success as it was made with only $130 million production budget and went on to cross the half a million dollar mark grossing over $519 million at the box office. The 2015 Ant-Man certainly opened doors for the character as the titular character appeared in multiple MCU movies only to become a prominent member of the Avengers.
7. Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania
The most recent lowest-grossing MCU movie would be Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania released in 2023. Made with an astounding $200 million, the movie grossed $476 million where it was expected to hit above half a million dollars. The Peyton Reed-directed third installment of the Ant-Man franchise was not a critically well-received flick either.
6. Thor
Yes, Thor too. Although Thor is currently one of the biggest assets of the MCU in terms of box office numbers, the debut of the Asgardian God into the MCU was not blasting at the box office like his later movies. Of course, the 2011 movie was a success earning over $449 million against the production budget of $150 million. Understandably, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston-starrer movie was a mere establishment of the franchise but even the charm of Hemsworth and Hiddleston and the likes of Portman couldn’t keep the movie off the list.
5. Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
Slightly above Eternals, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings made $432 million. Released in 2021, the standalone Shang-Chi movie was definitely a shocker as the character has mostly played the supporting parts in comics. Also, the movie came in the same year that several MCU movies like Black Widow, and Eternals, and their box office numbers indicate the fact that it was not a great year for MCU movies. Destin Daniel Cretton’s explorations of the secret and overwhelming world, however, were well-received by the critics. The production cost of the Simu Liu-starrer movie is $150–200 million.
4. Eternals
Eternals debuted in the MCU in 2021 with a group of new superheroes but with prominent actors like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek. Chloé Zhao’s Eternals was made with a production budget of a whopping $236.2 million and the movie grossed over $402 Million at the box office. Eternals had the potential to open new doors to new characters and a separate franchise, however, the movie still remained alongside the lowest-grosser.
3. Black Widow
After appearing in several movies in the MCU, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff got a well-deserved solo movie Black Widow in 2021. Of course, it was the last movie from the character as she died in the Avengers: Endgame. However, Romanoff’s solo adventure after Endgame took $200 million to make while grossing over $379 Million. The studio certainly expected a huge return but the movie only made it to the list of lowest-grossing MCU movies.
2. Captain America: The First Avenger
The very first installment of Steve Rogers’ glorious movie franchise was not what the studio might have expected in terms of the box office numbers. Chris Evans‘ Captain America: The First Avenger came out in 2011 and grossed $370 Million at the box office at the expense of a $140 million production budget.
1. The Incredible Hulk
Made with $150 million, The Incredible Hulk grossed $264 Million at the global box office. Before Mark Ruffalo took over the role of Bruce Banner a.k.a Hulk since Avengers (2012), Edward Norton played the character in the 2008 movie. The Louis Leterrier-directed movie remained the lowest-grossing movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
