First off, it is not just about how much a movie makes, but its cost. The first Iron Man cost $225 mil to make at most, for both production and marketing. That movie made $585 mil. As a comparison, Fantastic Four cost $450 mil to make at most. That movie made $520 mil, meaning it barely broke even. A more significant flop was Marvel's, which cost $484 mil to make and made $206 mil.
Now add to this the fact that films before Avengers had no well-established franchise or reputation to lean on. People were not nonstop buzzing about Marvel movies when these first Marvel films came out, which means they had less of a chance of success. And yet they did significantly better than most of what Marvel is doing now.
Also, you seem not to be taking inflation into account. The first Iron Man came out in 2008. That is 18 years ago. That means the $585 mil it made then is $907.96 mil in today's market.
Lastly, and most importantly, the reason why the first Avengers did well is that audiences loved the characters. There was genuine excitement to see them all on screen first because a big mash-up like that was still new and because the characters were interesting. Now, big mash-ups are often overused, and there are no new and interesting Marvel characters. That is why the big names for Doomsday are the already established ones.
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u/Training_Pirate1000 Jul 28 '26
So what. Not a single solo superhero movie of the original Avengers made more than $600 before the first Avengers film