MCU fans finally know how much Marvel Studios’ biggest flop of 2025 grossed during its full theatrical run. Marvel Studios ended up with three films on its 2025 slate, all of which have already been released. Captain America: Brave New World came first on February 14, followed by Thunderbolts* on May 2. Then, Marvel’s first family was given its first MCU title with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which debuted in theaters on July 25.
Thunderbolts* is finally finished playing in theaters and is available to purchase or rent on digital or VOD platforms such as Amazon Prime Video. In total, the 2025 Marvel Studios movie grossed $190,274,328 at the domestic box office (domestic includes revenue from the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico), which is rather a disappointing number considering the film’s budget and how well it was received by critics and fans.
While $190 million is definitely not something to laugh at, it is important to keep in mind that the film operated on a $180 million budget. On top of that, theaters take a big chunk of money made from ticket sales, so films need to gross significantly more than their budget in order to turn a profit.
Internationally, Thunderbolts* brought in $192,162,037, so nearly the exact same amount as it grossed domestically. That means, after the numbers are combined, Thunderbolts* grossed $382,436,365 worldwide. In other terms, the film made approximately 2.125 times its production budget (for reference, $180 million times 2.125 is $382.5 million).
The general rule of thumb when it comes to how much a film needs to gross to become profitable is to double its budget. If Thunderbolts* adheres to that same rule, it essentially broke even. However, some factors can affect how much movies need to make (such was the case with Captain America: Brave New World), so it is possible that the movie didn't break even at all. No matter if it did get Marvel Studios out of negative figures, it will still be viewed as a flop since Marvel Studios consistently releases projects that gross well over $500 million, and multiple projects from the studio have crossed the $1 billion and even $1.5 billion mark.
The disappointing box office run of Thunderbolts* is even more of a mystery since it was so well-received. Many fans and critics called it one of Marvel's best titles in recent memory. For reference, as of writing, Thunderbolts* has an 88% Tomatometer (critics' score) on Rotten Tomatoes and a 93% Popcornmeter (audience score), which is incredibly high.
How Thunderbolts* Financial Numbers Compare to the Rest of the MCU
Compared with other MCU films, Thunderbolts* has not performed well financially. Of the three released in 2025 (Captain America, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four), it made the least amount of money both domestically and globally.
In fact, the last time a Marvel Studios film grossed less than Thunderbolts* (aside from The Marvels, which was an outlier that was the company's lowest-grossing film of all time by far) was in 2021. That year, both Black Widow and Eternals made less money than Thunderbolts* at the box office, but it is important to remember that the COVID-19 pandemic was still going on at that time, so the numbers for those films can't be fairly compared to a movie that was released in 2025.
So, when not counting those two movies or The Marvels, there are only four MCU flicks that have grossed less than Thunderbolts* domestically. Three of them (Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Incredible Hulk) were a part of Phase 1. The MCU was still being established at that time, so lower numbers are more understandable.
The other movie to gross less domestically was 2015's Ant-Man. At the time of its release, Ant-Man was not a household name. However, even though it made less than Thunderbolts domestically, it still drastically outperformed it worldwide (Ant-Man grossed $518.8 million globally).
Therefore, despite how many are in agreement that Thunderbolts* was a good movie, financially, it was a flop for Marvel Studios.
Figure out when Thunderbolts* could be coming to Disney+ here.
