The sad death of the superhero team

Opening at the top of the box office and receiving praise for its quality content, “Thunderbolts*” failed to maintain its form until the end. The film left theaters after only one month of showing with a loss of tens of millions of dollars.

Thunderbolts* left the theater in a loss

April 30 (US time), Thunderbolts* (Thunder Squad) premiered worldwide. With an opening week revenue of 74 million USD, the blockbuster superhero Marvel's latest film quickly climbed to the number one spot at the box office. This achievement continued to be maintained in its second week in theaters.

Reviews for the film have also been positive. The film has a “fresh tomato” score on Rotten Tomatoes, with 88% praise from critics. Meanwhile, audiences gave it a 94% approval rating. Thunderbolts* has the tension and drama needed for an action film, while also containing a profound message that creates a strong impact. This is what most films Marvel can not do

At that time, the CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, was delighted. He praised Thunderbolts* is the first and best example of Marvel's new film strategy - focusing on quality over quantity.

Thunderbolts* started well but ended in disgrace.

However, that excitement seems to have come too soon. Six weeks since its launch, Thunderbolts* collapsed at the box office. The film left theaters on May 29, grossing nearly $378 million worldwide, becoming one of the lowest-grossing films in Disney's entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Thunderbolts* cost $180 million to produce and about $100 million to market. Combined with the theatrical outlay, the film's break-even point is estimated to be around $425 million. That means the superhero rogues' team lost about $47 million by the time it left theaters.

Of course, with parent company Disney, Thunderbolts* could still recoup some of its costs through Disney+ and other home entertainment marketplaces, not to mention the massive revenue streams from merchandising, theme parks, and cruise lines. Still, it's a sad ending for a critically acclaimed film.

Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at ticketing company Fandango, told Variety : “The math has changed at Marvel. We're in a new era where not every Marvel movie is a billion-dollar hit.”

Good movie but still failed

Since the MCU was born with Iron Man By 2008, Marvel had become Hollywood's most consistent and profitable film producer. It was also the highest-grossing film franchise in history, with $31 billion from 36 films.

Before COVID-19 threw things into disarray, even less popular installments were hard to beat at the box office. Before the pandemic, 19 of the studio’s 22 films grossed at least $500 million globally. But since 2020, only six of 13 have hit the half-billion-dollar mark.

While Captain America: Brave New World (2025), The Marvels (2023) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) could explain the poor sales by not receiving good reviews, Thunderbolts* received good reviews but still suffered losses. This fact shows that there are barriers for superhero movies that are not based on famous characters.

A shrinking global market and a saturation of superhero stories on screen are partly to blame. Audience habits and tastes have also changed: This year’s biggest hits have been kids’ movies like A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Stitch or original movies like Sinners.

"Low-end comic book movies are no longer cinematic slam dunks. Thunderbolts* "The fact that it's ending after just one month in theaters is also a concern. These types of movies aren't as successful as they used to be," said analyst Jeff Bock of data research firm Exhibitor Relations.

Marvel's Direction

After overloading viewers with complex, interconnected stories between movies and television, Marvel intentionally slowed down to focus on quality over quantity.

Thunderbolts* What seemed like a promising start to the strategy ended in disappointment. This puts Marvel in a difficult position, should they experiment with new stories or just greenlight the sure things like Avengers or Spider-Man?

Looking at the current plan, it seems like Marvel is prioritizing the latter. Not counting The Fantastic Four: First Steps Released in July, the studio's upcoming schedule only includes big-budget blockbusters, including Avengers: Doomsday , Spider-Man 4 in 2026 and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. Another untitled work is scheduled to be released in July 2027 along with other projects. X-Men and Black Panther is being done.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the final Marvel superhero movie of 2025.

In addition, budget is also a top priority. Normally, Marvel blockbusters need $200-250 million to produce and $120-140 million for promotion. However, Marvel has reduced the budget for Thunderbolts* because the main characters of the movie are not very famous in MCU.

Limit build The story of the new character is Marvel's way of "tightening its belt" after the pandemic. Instead of ramping up production, the company prioritizes putting money into projects that feature many famous superheroes or new installments of previous blockbusters.

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