With fewer movies than in past years, Marvel and DC’s 2024 films will have to face superhero fatigue to come out on top at the box office.
Multiple Marvel and DC movies will be released in 2024, and their box office performance can be predicted based on some factors. Superhero movies have struggled in the past few years, with some claiming that superhero fatigue has finally seeped in, making audiences turn on the genre. While the box office failures of multiple Marvel and DC movies, such as The Marvels and The Flash, seem to point to that theory being true, movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have shown that some of Marvel’s best movies, as well as the best DC films, might still be on the horizon.
2024 marks the start of James Gunn’s new DC Universe, which promises a major shake-up at DC. However, the animated Creature Commandos series will be the DCU’s only release, with DC having a single live-action movie set for the year, and that will be Joker: Folie à Deux, which is part of the new Elseworlds banner — meaning it is not canon to the DCU. Marvel Studios’ 2024 will also be slow, with Deadpool 3 being the studio’s only film. The other 2024 Marvel movies come from Sony, who will expand its Spider-Man universe. Here are the box office predictions for Marvel and DC’s 2024 movies.
5Madame Web Could Make About $150-200 Million
Madame Web Will Release On February 14
Madame Web is the first Marvel or DC movie of 2024. The film will serve as a major expansion of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, with different Spider-Man-like characters taking on a villain that sports a similar costume to the Marvel hero. While Madame Web‘s impressive cast, which includes Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor as the movie’s lead Spider-Man-like heroes, could make Madame Web a major success, the movie has a few factors fighting against its box office chances. With the main MCU movies and the DCEU facing many box office disappointments, the often criticized SSU is unlikely to escape that trend.
Going by numbers from the specialized box office tracking website Box Office Mojo, there are two movies that help place Madame Web‘s predicted box office. Madame Web‘s script features the writing duo from the ill-received Morbius, and given how that movie became a major joke among superhero fans, grossing just around $167 million worldwide, Madame Web is unlikely to do much better. Madame Web‘s key selling point is its all-female superhero team, but due to the historically poor performance of The Marvels, which grossed $205 million, becoming the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie despite featuring an exciting female hero team, Madame Web‘s projected box office is not looking too good.
4Deadpool 3 Could Make About $1-1.2 Billion
Deadpool 3 Will Release On July 26
Deadpool 3 is the most anticipated movie of 2024, according to Fandango, and there is a good reason why. The movie will not only bring Ryan Reynolds’ Merc With a Mouth to the MCU, but it will also see the return of the most popular live-action X-Men character — Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. With a slew of Deadpool 3 set photos and videos revealing that Wolverine will finally don his iconic yellow and blue costume in live-action, as well as several intriguing story teases and character returns — with Jennifer Garner’s Elektra coming back and more Marvel characters rumored for the film — excitement is through the roof for Deadpool 3.
Both Deadpool movies broke R rating records at the time of their releases, with Deadpool and Deadpool 2 ending their worldwide runs with $782 million and $785 million, respectively. Deadpool 3 should get a major bump due to its MCU connections and the long-awaited “road trip” between Deadpool and Wolverine. With many characters from Fox’s X-Men movies rumored to appear in Deadpool 3, the MCU film could use the nostalgia factor that carried Spider-Man: No Way Home to almost $2 billion in its favor, with Deadpool 3 projected to be the first MCU movie to break the $1 billion barrier since the latest Spider-Man film.
3Kraven The Hunter Could Make About $200-300 Million
Kraven The Hunter Will Release On August 30
Kraven the Hunter stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as its title character. Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to superhero movies, as the actor has played both Kick-Ass and Quicksilver, the latter having a short-lived role in the MCU. While a classic Spider-Man comic book villain, Kraven the Hunter has yet to debut in live-action, which means not a lot of people know about the character. Add to that the fact that the movie is R-rated, which restricts who can watch it, and Kraven the Hunter could end up failing at the box office. That said, The SSU movie has a few factors that could help push it above some recent superhero movie failures.
Kraven the Hunter was recently one of the main villains in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and given how popular the game is — Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game in history — those who were introduced to the popular version of Kraven in the game might show up for the character’s upcoming solo movie. While unpredictable, Kraven the Hunter‘s R rating could end up helping the movie, as its first trailer showed some bloody and intense fights that often lack in superhero films. With the charismatic Taylor-Johnson in the lead role and Spider-Man villain Rhino confirmed for the movie, Kraven the Hunter could surprise predictions.
2Joker: Folie À Deux Could Make About $800 Million-1 Billion
Joker: Folie À Deux Will Release On October 4
2019’s Joker was a phenomenon. The movie took the world by storm with a controversy over its treatment of the main character and the film’s dark themes, leading to extensive media coverage that helped elevate Joker‘s audience beyond just superhero movie fans. Joker ended up winning major awards, with lead star Joaquin Phoenix being crowned Best Actor at the Oscars, and the DC film ended its global box office run with just over $1 billion, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever. While Joker: Folie à Deux could very well end up beating the first’s box office, a key factor could lower the sequel’s earnings.
Joker: Folie à Deux will break new ground for superhero movie adaptations, with DC Studios’ only 2024 movie being a musical. The genre change for the sequel could affect Joker: Folie à Deux‘s performance, as the highest-grossing musical films that have not been produced by Disney have fallen very short of Joker‘s box office, save for 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. With the performance of movie musicals and the fans who will be upset over the franchise’s new direction, Joker: Folie à Deux could do a little less at the box office than the original, though Lady Gaga’s debut as Harley Quinn could help the movie surpass the original.
1Venom 3 Could Make About $600-800 Million
Venom 3 Will Release On November 8
The Venom franchise has been a major success for Sony. 2018’s Venom exceeded expectations, ending its global run with $856 million. While 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage could not reach the same heights of the original, the sequel did extremely good numbers during the global pandemic and would likely have at least gotten close to Venom‘s box office in normal circumstances. Still, Venom: Let There Be Carnage‘s $507 million proved that the SSU’s most successful character can end his trilogy with great numbers.
Tom Hardy’s version of Venom is beloved by audiences, with the character placing fourth in Fandango‘s Most Anticipated Heroes of 2024, and Venom 3 ranking fifth in 2024’s Most Anticipated Wide-Release Films. Based on the excitement for what Hardy has dubbed “The Last Dance,” Venom 3 could pull in numbers close to the original at the box office, though the recent poor performance of many superhero movies might block it from going any further. However, a possible multiverse appearance from one of the Spider-Man actors would completely disrupt predictions, making the final Marvel or DC film of 2024 one to watch.