Marvel Studios had a strong 2024 — can it sustain power at this year’s box office?

With the trailer for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” dropping yesterday, and Disney reporting nearly $25 billion in revenue this morning, aided by bumper box office sales, the entertainment giant will be hoping that its key Marvel franchise can maintain the ticket-shifting momentum set by “Deadpool & Wolverine” last year.

While Marvel Comics go back as far as 1939, its entertainment business was acquired by the House of Mouse for a cool $4 billion in 2009, following the (somewhat unexpected) success of Marvel Studio’s first film, “Iron Man (2008)".

Ironclad

For the next decade, Marvel hammered out one star-spangled smash hit after the other — most notably, the Avengers two-parter in 2018 and 2019, the latter of which is now the second highest-grossing movie of all time having accrued ~$2.8 billion. But then, Marvel movies began stalling in cinemas as signs of superhero fatigue started to set in.

After “Endgame”, nine movies in succession — aside from fan favourite Spider-Man flicks — failed to reach the $1 billion mark, including ensemble movie “The Marvels (2023)”, the studio’s largest flop to-date. Marvel then stayed pretty quiet… until mid-2024, when “Deadpool & Wolverine” strutted to the 8th biggest opening weekend ever and a $1.34 billion total worldwide gross.

X Factor

Looking ahead, Marvel is banking on some classic formulas used in “Deadpool & Wolverine” to help it keep pace at the box office throughout the six film releases the studio has slated at present.

As always, sequels are a pretty safe bet — particularly for beloved franchises like Captain America, the fourth installment of which is set to hit screens in a week’s time. Extravagant fight scenes and easter eggs are to be expected, per the new trailer for the “Fantastic Four” reboot. And, of course, a dash of nostalgia… which might be why Marvel has recast Robert Downey Jr. for its upcoming Avengers movie.