‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Presales Reportedly Catch Up to ‘Supergirl’s Entire Box Office Run More Than a Month Early

Marvel and DC have spent years trading blows at the box office, and 2026 has made that rivalry feel sharper than ever. One studio watched a new hero struggle to find an audience, while the other has been racking up advance ticket numbers months before its biggest film opens. That contrast is the backdrop for the latest comparison involving ‘Avengers: Doomsday’.

Presale numbers are not the same as box office grosses, but they are one of the few early signals the industry has. They show how many people are willing to commit before a film is even out, and they tend to attract attention when a movie is breaking records. In this case, the numbers are being lined up against a very different kind of story.

The claim making the rounds is that ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ has already outgrossed ‘Supergirl‘ at the global box office, with the film still more than a month from release. The comparison holds up only loosely. Tracker reports say the Marvel film’s worldwide presales passed $100 million on October 6 and later reached about $125 million, which puts them right around the DC film’s entire theatrical haul.

That haul is where the story gets stark. ‘Supergirl’ finished its run with roughly $126 million worldwide, according to final box office reports. A film that has not opened yet is therefore matching a completed run, although presale revenue is not the same as money earned in theaters.

‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ has already outgrossed ‘SUPERGIRL’ at the global box office. The film releases in over a month. https://t.co/pjWDcG0mVm

— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) November 1, 2026

DC Studios’ second DCU film opened on June 26 with $37.1 million domestically and about $62.6 million globally, well short of the $50 million to $55 million the studio had targeted. A reported budget of around $170 million made that opening especially painful. Its second weekend fell 74% to $9.6 million domestically.

The final domestic total landed at $72.1 million, and the worldwide figure made it the lowest-grossing live-action DC film since 2010’s ‘Jonah Hex’. Variety had projected a final tally of $200 million to $210 million, which shows how far results fell below expectations. DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran acknowledged the film missed expectations while stressing the studio’s long-term plan.

The Marvel numbers have been building for months. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ sold $16.5 million in its first 24 hours of limited premium presales, roughly double the first-day figure for ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, according to Variety. Disney’s chief financial officer later confirmed that domestic presales had passed $50 million, with more than 70% tied to the new Infinity Vision premium format.

Global Box Office, a tracking firm, has reported the film setting records as the fastest to pass $1 million in presales in both the UK and Brazil. Its domestic total was reported above $65 million roughly 50 days before release. Those global figures are tracker estimates, and only the domestic number has been confirmed by Disney.

Several things complicate a direct comparison. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ opened sales far earlier than most blockbusters, so its presale window is much longer than the one ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ had. That film began advance sales only 45 days before release and finished with about $150 million in presales, according to reports.

Presales also behave differently from final grosses. They spike when tickets go live, cool off and then surge again in the final week. Premium-format demand skews toward the most dedicated fans, which can make early numbers look stronger than the eventual general audience.

He used to be different. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/J5PUbxvAkc https://t.co/OUutSMZneq

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 15, 2026

Even with those caveats, the trend is hard to ignore. Projections for the film’s domestic opening range from $260 million to $300 million in some tracking, while other reports have pointed much higher. For reference, ‘Brand New Day’ set the current record with about $360 million domestically.

The film also faces a major test on opening day, since it shares December 18 with ‘Dune: Part Three’. The matchup, nicknamed ‘Dunesday’, will compete for premium screens and audience attention. How that plays out could decide whether the presale lead turns into a record.

The ‘Supergirl’ comparison works as shorthand because it highlights how uneven the genre has become. A hero with a familiar name and a rebooted universe behind her struggled to win audiences, while a crossover event is selling out premium shows before launch. The gap suggests that fans are choosing their spots carefully.

It would be unfair to treat the 2 films as direct rivals, since they target different audiences and carry different budgets and expectations. Still, the numbers show how much weight a big event can carry. For DC, the focus shifts to the studio’s next projects, while Marvel’s attention is firmly on December.

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