‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Edges Past ‘Avengers: Endgame’ as the MCU’s Biggest Hit Outside China
Few box office rivalries have felt as lopsided as Marvel versus Marvel, and 2026 has turned that matchup into a spectacle. Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘ has spent months rewriting the record books, one milestone at a time. Every new chart update seems to bring another fight with the biggest superhero movie in history.
The film arrived on July 31 with Tom Holland back as Peter Parker, Destin Daniel Cretton directing and a cast that includes Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal and Mark Ruffalo. Critics largely embraced it as a grounded, mature take on the web-slinger, with early reactions praising Holland’s performance and Cretton’s character-driven storytelling. A reported budget of $225 million has looked modest next to what followed.
The opening alone was historic. The film earned roughly $927 million to $932 million worldwide in its first weekend, including a record $360 million in North America and a five-day China debut of $121 million. It then crossed $1 billion in just 6 days and reached $2.022 billion after 3 weekends, making it the second-fastest film ever to hit $2 billion behind ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
The newest milestone is a narrow but symbolic one. According to the latest tally, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ has now earned $2.288 billion outside China, edging past ‘Avengers: Endgame‘, which stands at $2.287 billion in the same category, including its re-release. That makes Peter Parker’s latest outing the highest-grossing MCU film of all time outside China.
The margin is razor thin, a single $1 million, which shows how closely the two blockbusters are matched in the markets that are not China. The comparison also underlines how much the film’s China run matters to the overall picture. ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ never received an official theatrical release there and finished at about $1.92 billion worldwide, while ‘Brand New Day’ got an early China launch two days ahead of North America.
Outside that China-free comparison, the film has already collected a long list of milestones. It overtook ‘Endgame’ at the domestic box office on August 24, passing its $858.3 million total, and then surpassed ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ on September 16 to become the highest-grossing film ever in North America. It also became Sony’s highest-grossing release of all time and the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie ever.
Worldwide, the film has climbed to third place on the all-time chart, with one recent tally putting it at $2.520 billion. It trails only ‘Avatar’ at $2.92 billion and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ at roughly $2.8 billion, and it sits ahead of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ and ‘Titanic’. Summer 2026 also became the highest-grossing summer ever at the global box office, at $4.765 billion.
The first trailer for ‘SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY’ has been released. In theaters on July 31. https://t.co/bSBHGEY43K
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 18, 2026
Despite the headlines, ‘Endgame’ still owns the worldwide record for an MCU film. Its total of roughly $2.8 billion remains well above ‘Brand New Day’, and the film returned to theaters in a September re-release. Several outlets have pointed out that catching ‘Endgame’ globally always looked like a long shot.
There is also a footnote on the opening-weekend race. ‘Endgame’ kept the global opening record at $1.22 billion, and some commentary noted that ‘Brand New Day’ benefited from early access screenings that ‘Endgame’ did not have. That is part of why the China-free comparison has become such a popular talking point among fans.
The film’s success has come at a pivotal moment for the franchise. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ arrives in theaters on December 18, and the Russo brothers’ crossover event will have a lot to live up to after Peter Parker’s run. At home, ‘Brand New Day’ is scheduled for Blu-ray and DVD on November 17.
For now, Holland’s Spider-Man has proven that a solo hero can still outpace the biggest team-ups in cinema. Whether he can ever catch ‘Endgame’ on the worldwide chart is a question that may not be settled until the final numbers come in.
Do you think Spider-Man: Brand New Day deserves to be called the MCU's biggest hit outside China?
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