‘Superman’ Still Reigns as 2025’s Biggest Comic Book Movie Opening at the Domestic Box Office

With the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Superman is still the biggest comic book movie opener of the year at the domestic box office, beating out other major titles like, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts*.

According to updated box office data, Superman pulled in a massive $125 million on its opening weekend in North America, which remains the top debut for any comic book film in 2025.

Fantastic Four: First Steps came close with a strong $118 million opening, surprising many by outperforming early expectations. Captain America: Brave New World followed with $88.8 million, while Thunderbolts* opened at $76 million domestically.

Despite early competition, Superman has kept its crown. The film earned $289.5 million in the U.S. and Canada by July 25, and added another $213.2 million internationally, bringing its global total to $502.7 million.

It had a solid preview run too. It was reported that it earned $2.8 million from early Tuesday previews and $22.5 million total from all preview screenings including Amazon Prime events. That preview figure was the highest for any film in 2025, until Fantastic Four surpassed it a few days ago.

Superman made an estimated $95 million internationally during its opening weekend. Its biggest overseas markets included the UK, Mexico, China, Brazil, Australia, France, Korea, India, Spain, and Japan. However, it didn’t perform quite as strongly in countries like China, where it opened in fourth place.

Meanwhile, Fantastic Four had a great run too. It pulled in $57 million on its first day, second only to A Minecraft Movie for the biggest opening day of the year. It earned $24.4 million from Thursday night previews, beating Superman’s preview numbers.

The movie ended up making $118 million in its opening weekend and brought in $218 million globally.

Thunderbolts*, however, didn’t find the same level of success. It opened with $31.5 million on its first day, including $11.5 million from previews. Its weekend total was $74.3 million domestically and $86.1 million overseas, reaching $160.1 million by the end of its debut weekend. Kevin Feige later said that some fans thought they had to watch MCU shows on Disney+ first, which might’ve hurt the film. He admitted, “We should have made it clearer that watching the shows wasn’t necessary.”

As for Captain America: Brave New World, it managed to gross $415.1 million worldwide — $200.5 million domestically and $214.6 million internationally. But that still fell short of the estimated $425 million needed to break even, factoring in its $180 million production budget and marketing costs. The movie had a $40 million opening day, including $12 million from previews, and debuted at $88.5 million for the weekend. It had a $100 million total over its first four days. But like some earlier MCU entries, it experienced a big drop in its second weekend, 68%, one of the worst ever for a Marvel film.

Despite the ups and downs for other comic book films this year, Superman is still holding onto the number one spot, both in terms of opening weekend and total domestic gross. With a strong debut and solid legs at the box office, it’s leading the pack in 2025’s crowded superhero landscape.

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