Marvel Mania

Marvel Studios has had a long and troubled history. Thank goodness they finally got their house in order so they could give us box office hits such as Iron Man and the Avengers franchise. Take a look at the chart below and see how much money the most successful Marvel movies have done compared with other popular franchises.

   Background shading indicates that at least one film in the series is playing in the week commencing 10 May 2013 in theaters around the world.

Highest-grossing franchises and film series^[§]

Rank Series Total worldwide box office No. of films Average of films Highest-grossing film

1 [show]Harry Potter $7,723,431,572 8 $965,428,947 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($1,341,511,219)

2 [show]James Bond $6,159,601,036 25 $246,384,041 Skyfall ($1,108,561,013)

3 [show]Marvel Cinematic Universe  $4,751,220,995 7 $678,745,856 Marvel's The Avengers ($1,511,757,910)

4 [show]Star Wars $4,382,359,868 7 $626,051,410 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace ($1,027,044,427)

5 [show]Tolkien's Middle-Earth $3,964,981,944 5 $792,996,389 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1,119,929,521)

6 [show]Pirates of the Caribbean $3,727,735,967 4 $931,933,992 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1,066,179,725)

7 [show]Batman $3,723,441,151 9 $413,715,683 The Dark Knight Rises ($1,084,439,099)

8 [show]Shrek $3,510,516,231 5 $702,103,246 Shrek 2 ($919,838,758)

9 [show]The Twilight Saga $3,345,177,904 5 $669,035,581 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 ($829,685,377)

10 [show]Spider-Man $3,248,563,075 4 $812,140,769 Spider-Man 3 ($890,871,626)

11 [show]Ice Age $2,802,576,893 4 $700,644,223 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($886,686,817)

12 [show]Transformers $2,675,610,116 4 $668,902,529 Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($1,123,746,996)

13 [show]Iron Man  $2,158,100,553 3 $719,366,851 Iron Man 3 ($948,993,000)

14 [show]Mission: Impossible $2,096,647,856 4 $524,161,964 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol ($694,713,380)

15 [show]Indiana Jones $1,983,841,081 4 $495,960,270 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull($786,636,033)

16 [show]Jurassic Park  $1,954,806,665 3 $651,602,222 Jurassic Park ($967,386,857)

17 [show]Toy Story $1,948,143,626 3 $649,381,209 Toy Story 3 ($1,063,171,911)

18 [show]X-Men $1,890,097,619 5 $378,019,524 X-Men: The Last Stand ($459,359,555)

19 [show]Madagascar $1,878,691,276 3 $626,230,425 Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted ($742,110,251)

20 [show]Men in Black $1,655,236,118 3 $551,745,373 Men in Black 3 ($624,026,776)

21 [show]The Matrix $1,632,989,142 3 $544,329,714 The Matrix Reloaded ($742,128,461)

22 [show]The Fast and the Furious $1,591,404,818 5 $318,280,964 Fast Five ($626,137,675)

23 [show]The Chronicles of Narnia $1,580,364,900 3 $526,788,300 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe($745,013,115)

24 [show]Star Trek  $1,495,393,272 11 $135,944,843 Star Trek ($385,680,446)

25 [show]Die Hard  $1,433,610,142 5 $286,722,028 Live Free or Die Hard ($383,531,464)

• ^*Canada and U.S. gross only.

Marvel even has a TV show coming to ABC soon featuring some of the characters from the Aventers movie. 

It was a struggle for Marvel Studio's movies to gain any traction at first, with movies like Howard the Duck, which was a box office flop in 1986.

Marvel tried again in 1998 with the movie Blade. 

This movie did well at the box office, paving the way for future successes like X-men in 2000.

These movies all followed the same style and formula for success that had been done by superhero movies that had come before, such as the 1989 Batman.

It wasn't until 2008 when Marvel Studios smashed the box office with Iron Man that the studio successfully created its own unique style of superhero movie. 

And with that, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was created. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk were all created in this same universe where characters all share continuity.