Welcome to our brand-new series. We will be taking a look at the Box Office numbers for individual franchises and MCU phases, then ranking them from worst to best. We will be using Box Office Mojo to check for the statistics which you can check out yourself.
Today, we will be looking at Phase 1 of Marvel. Our next episodes will be the individual phases for Marvel. We’ll then move on to other franchises such as DC, Transformers, Harry Potter, etc.
6. The Incredible Hulk (2008) – $264,770,996
I can’t say I’m surprised to see The Incredible Hulk at the bottom of Phase 1. Although this is technically the movie that kickstarted the MCU, it was in fact another movie that lifted the franchise off the ground. The Hulk movie was poor and it’s easily one of the most forgettable MCU movies.
5. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – $370,569,774
When you look at the general numbers for the Box Office figures, especially the MCU, $370m is a fairly low figure. This does make sense though. There weren’t many people who thought Captain America could be an interesting character. I was one of them. The movie was fantastic though and we obviously know now that Cap turned out to be one of the best MCU characters.
4. Thor (2011) – $449,326,618
The first Thor movie was a success. It was a fairly decent startup movie that featured a more serious Thor, which is in fact what a lot of people miss when you look at Love & Thunder. The movie began to tie together the Phase to build up to Avengers which also debuted Hawkeye.
3. Iron Man (2008) – $585,796,247
It wasn’t The Incredible Hulk that catapulted the MCU. It was Iron Man. From the moment this movie dropped, Robert Downey Jr became a staple in the franchise, cementing his legacy from day 1. After all of the movies that have been released since, the first Iron Man movie is still on a lot of people’s top 10 lists.
2. Iron Man 2 (2010) – $623,933,331
On the numbers side, Iron Man 2 is our second highest when it comes to Box Office numbers. Most people would probably agree the first deserved this spot. However, Iron Man 2 heavily built into the Avengers side, by including Nick Fury throughout. This was also the first film that truly mentioned the Avengers Initiative.
1. The Avengers (2012) – $1,518,815,515
It was clear this was going to be a success and oh boy, it absolutely was. The Avengers did so well, in fact, it hit the top 10 all-time Box Office numbers and still remains at number 9 today after the likes of Endgame, No Way Home, etc. What a movie it truly was.
