It’s Official: Marvel’s Phase 5 Becomes Lowest-Grossing Era in MCU History

The MCU’s Phase 5 won’t just be remembered for having the most loose ends and abandoned characters; based on the latest box office numbers, it’s also on track to go down as the lowest-grossing phase in the franchise’s history.

Phase 5 was officially done with the release of Ironheart on Disney+, so it’s time to analyze the numbers. Some movies in this phase just didn’t hit the mark.

For example, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was supposed to kick off Phase 5 with a bang. Instead, it flopped hard both with critics and at the box office. And The Marvels performed even worse. It made just over $200 million worldwide, becoming the MCU’s biggest box office failure so far.

Other movies like Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* also failed to grab much attention. They got decent reviews, and fans were hopeful, but the hype just didn’t translate into ticket sales.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a big win. Fans loved the emotional send-off for the team, and it made over $845 million globally. And then came Deadpool & Wolverine, which has been the biggest success of the phase so far. It brought in a massive $1.34 billion, reminding everyone what Marvel can still do when it hits the right notes.

But even with those two hits, Phase 5’s average is dragging. For comparison, Phase 3 averaged a massive $1.24 billion per movie. That phase included crowd favorites like Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, and of course, Avengers: Endgame. Every movie back then felt like a major event. Even Ant-Man and the Wasp, considered small-scale, earned more than most Phase 5 films.

Phase 2 wasn’t as flashy but still did well, averaging around $876.9 million per film. It included billion-dollar blockbusters like Iron Man 3 and Avengers: Age of Ultron. And Phase 4, despite being seen as the beginning of Marvel’s decline, still pulled off a decent average of $814.3 million. That’s thanks in large part to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which made almost $2 billion, although that money mostly went to Sony, not Disney.

Even Phase 1, which started everything with characters like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, averaged more than Phase 5. Those early films didn’t make insane money, but they laid the foundation for the MCU’s rise. The original Avengers in 2012 was the first true blockbuster of the series and earned over $1.5 billion.

But now, the numbers tell a different story. Marvel is struggling to keep the same momentum. Too many releases, mixed reviews, and maybe even superhero fatigue seem to be catching up. Audiences aren’t showing up the way they used to.

The next big hope is The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If that lands well with fans, it might open Phase 6 in a big way. But for now, Phase 5 holds the title for lowest box office average in MCU history, a sign that even Marvel, once seen as untouchable, has to work harder to win back its audience.

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