Cosplayers at the UK Photocall of Marvel Studios' "Captain America: Brave New World" in London. (Jan, 2025, Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

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

Disney’s not done squeezing the juice from Marvel.

Millie Giles

2/5/25 12:30PM

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.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.