The sad ending is called Venom 3
Sony Pictures advertised Venom: The Last Dance ( Venom: Last bet ) is the final chapter in the comedy series about an alien symbiotic with an Earth man played by Tom Hardy. But with a domestic opening of $51 million, 44% and 55% lower than the previous two installments, the film signaled the end of superhero cinema as the dominant force at the box office.
Venom 3's failure caused the newly rekindled hope from Deadpool & Wolverine to fade away. Photo: Sony.
Superhero movies were once an indispensable “breadwinner” of the film industry. In 2018 and 2019, the average global gross of superhero movies was more than $1 billion. This year, that number is only half that, even with the record-breaking success of Deadpool & Wolverine .
In fact, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman's collaboration is the only comic book movie to become a hit Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse Launched in June 2023. Since then, the genre has suffered an unusual box office drought. From The Flash , The Marvels arrive Madame Web Joker: Folie à Deux all earned disappointing numbers.
From 2015 to 2019, 25 out of 30 superhero titles (83%) grossed more than $500 million worldwide. Post-pandemic, the situation is reversed: As of 2022, 10 of 17 superhero titles (59%) grossed less than $500 million globally.
The reasons for the decline in box office revenue vary by film. DC is plagued by scandals and leadership changes. Marvel has saturated the market with its Disney+ shows and is in the process of limiting new movies. Meanwhile, Sony is trying to build a universe of Spider-Man related characters without Spider-Man. However, the common point is the clear decline in the commercial value of this film genre.
It is difficult to repeat the feat of Deadpool & Wolverine
Financial “headwinds” create almost existential pressure on the list of superhero films in 2025. After release Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024, Marvel Studios ramps up again with three films Captain America: Brave New World , Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps .
“Nothing is certain here. There's still a lot of goodwill for Marvel. This is still the largest superhero cinematic universe in Hollywood. But to answer the question of whether new projects will do anything like that Deadpool & Wolverine or not, I don't see that happening with any of these movies,” commented Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock.
Experts predict that it will be difficult for any superhero movie in 2025 to achieve the same results as Deadpool & Wolverine. Photo: Marvel.
An important factor that Captain America 4 and Thunderbolts faced was the extent to which they relied on characters and storylines from several previous Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) titles, including Disney+ shows The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye along with cinematic works Black Widow , Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp , Captain America: Civil War even The Incredible Hulk year 2008.
That connection has been an advantage for Marvel Studios since its inception, but is considered an obstacle for recent projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , Secret Invasion and The Marvels .
Opposite, The Fantastic Four is set in an alternate timeline, allowing the film to mark a new direction that insiders describe as invigorating the studio.
In terms of stature, the Fantastic Four are especially important in the Marvel comic universe as they are known as the first superhero family. However, two 20th Century Fox films in the 2000s and 2010s were both flops.
Marvel Studios can't let that happen again: Robert Downey Jr. is ready to return as the team's archenemy, Doctor Doom, in Avengers: Doomsday 2026. Same Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, the film will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo – who directed two films Avengers most recently with global revenues exceeding $2 billion. In other words, Marvel has set themselves an extremely high bar for reintroducing these core characters, and their challenge is to exceed that bar.
” Fantastic Four must achieve higher revenue Captain America and Thunderbolts because they wanted a few more parts Avengers anymore,” Bock said.
Marvel Studios is also committed to co-producing the film Spider-Man fourth from Sony Pictures with Tom Holland, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings).
Sony Animation is also producing the film Spider-Verse third (and final) film and television division Spider-Noir which the studio is making with Nicolas Cage for Amazon. But the future of Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) movies, made without Holland or Marvel Studios, remains up in the air.
Sony has the ambition to build a Spider-Man Universe without Spider-Man, but it is difficult to be sure of victory. Photo: Sony.
In spite of Venom: The Last Dance ends with an after-credits trailer, but there are currently no other SSU projects on Sony's slate post-release Kraven the Hunter (rated R) in December with Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
“SSU hasn't completely collapsed yet, but Venom is feeling the pressure of stifling superhero spin-offs. This is not a good outlook for the studio, which has plans for several Spider Man titles each year. There is no doubt that Sony needs to go back to the drawing board,” the expert said.
The future is uncertain
However, the strongest influx of superheroes in 2025 comes from DC Studios. In January 2023, newly appointed co-directors James Gunn and Peter Safran announced a completely new slate of 10 movies and TV shows, expected to reboot the DC Cinematic Universe ( DCU) in a more creative direction.
The first of these projects, the animated series Creature Commandos launched on Max in December. However, the project is more focused than Superman written and directed by Gunn.
“I think there is no need to emphasize the importance of Superman for the entire DCU. Probably opening with $100 million (domestic), something DC hasn't been able to do in quite some time, except The Batman 2022, like Joker: Folie à Deux produced outside of the DCU. Movies from Warner Bros. and DC will truly be on the brink if Superman unsuccessful. They have to make some big decisions,” Mr. Bock said.
Gunn and Safran pledge that no DC project will proceed without a completed script, which also helps minimize risks for the company if Superman failure. There are only two projects Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and streaming series Lanterns went into production, along with the animation Dynamic Duo . Projects featuring less prominent characters such as Booster Gold, Swamp Thing and Authority have not been greenlit until now.
DC wants to rebuild the cinematic universe with the iconic character Superman but can only walk and navigate. Photo: DC.
However, Warner Bros. and Disney remained steadfast with their DC and Marvel film projects this decade.
“There are still no movies that can replace superheroes at the box office in terms of earning potential. Until we see some other genre take over, they will continue to invest in the genre this,” Bock concluded.
