Tom Hardy’s Venom Franchise Box Office Beat Three Original Avengers

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe scored a massive win with its Venom franchise with a total box office that beat three of the Avengers’ in the MCU. Sony is reportedly halting production of its Spider-Man Universe movies after Kraven the Hunter landed poorly with critics, earning a paltry 15% on Rotten Tomatoes and earning just $26 million globally during its opening weekend. This is a far cry from the early days of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, where Venom raked in $856 million worldwide. The cancelation therefore stands to reason as Sony appears poised to cut its losses after a significant downward trend.

Venom‘s success can be largely attributed to the character’s overall popularity with Marvel fans, with his star power being beaten only by Spider-Man himself and most (but not all) of the MCU’s charismatic cast. It’s no surprise that Sony would lean into this popularity with two sequels, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance. While these sequels would fail to reach the same heights as Venom, they were enough to prove that the character is even more popular than three of the MCU’s core Avengers with their collective box office success.

Venom’s Movie Trilogy Beat 3 Original Avengers’ Box Office Totals

The Big Three Remain At The Top

Iron Man may have helped launch the superhero genre into the stratosphere, but his solo debut was one of the lowest-grossing out of all Avengers members as the genre was yet to morph into the beast it currently is. Still, by the time The Avengers, combined the star power of its six founding members and earned Marvel Studios’ first $1 billion, Iron Man 3 followed suit and significantly bolstered the coffers of the Iron Man franchise. Venom’s own trilogy went the other way and earned progressively less, though this was enough to surpass three other Avengers.

While the top franchises boast three or four movies apiece, Venom’s trilogy is granted a significant advantage over the franchises of the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye who boast two, one, and zero standalone movies, respectively (including 2003’s Hulk). The Incredible Hulk remained the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie for some time before 2023’s The Marvels achieved that unwelcome accolade. With fans falling out of favor with Sony, it’s no real surprise that his trilogy couldn’t match up to those of the MCU’s Big Three. Still, Venom has proven to be more popular than a smattering of other Marvel heroes.

Venom’s Box Office Also Beats 6 Other MCU Heroes

Newer And Lesser-Known Heroes Fall Short Of Venom’s $1.8 Billion

While Venom would have always struggled to hold a candle to the likes of the Big Three and Spider-Man (the highest-grossing MCU franchise to date), he has at least outperformed a litany of MCU franchises starring less renowned characters. While Captain Marvel ran away with a cool $1 billion when it was released in 2019, the titular hero’s overall success was significantly hampered by the aforementioned flop that was its sequel, The Marvels. Newer characters like Shang-Chi and the Eternals, meanwhile, only have one movie apiece – though they are unfortunately among the MCU’s lowest-grossing.

Out of every franchise that Venom has surpassed with his trilogy, only Ant-Man boasts the same number of movies. Not even featuring the multiverse saga’s erstwhile arch-villain, Kang the Conqueror, could sufficiently change Ant-Man’s franchise average of $539 million in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which earned $463 million. This makes Ant-Man’s final outing in the MCU his lowest-earning yet, similarly to how Venom: The Last Dance achieved the same for the Venom trilogy. Nevertheless, it stands to reason that Venom would outperform a character like Ant-Man.

Why Venom’s Box Office Is Higher Than Several MCU Heroes

Sony Handled The Fan-Favorite Character Well

Venom remains one of Marvel’s most popular characters, which is why there was so much pressure on Sony to do right by the character. While reviews – especially from critics – were largely mixed for Venom’s franchise, Tom Hardy’s rendition of Eddie Brock and Venom was always a highlight, satisfying most fans with his frenetic depiction. It helped to prove that Venom can exist without Spider-Man given the wall-crawler was nowhere to be seen throughout Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and Venom’s trilogy, though hope remains for a live-action showdown between the two rivals.

Related

Why Tom Hardy’s Venom Is Not In The MCU

Spider-Man: No Way Home confirms Tom Hardy’s Venom isn’t part of the MCU’s future, and here’s why Sony’s big Venom 2 tease wasn’t paid off.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to ignore how Venom mostly outstrips MCU heroes by fewer than three movies, except for Ant-Man. This speaks to the overall quality of his movies (and the cinematic universe in which they are set) failing to hit the mark as well as most MCU characters. Had Venom maintained momentum after scoring a win with his debut, he would have been on a trajectory that might have even rivaled that of Spider-Man. Now that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is no more, it falls to any potential reboot to help place Venom at the top.

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Venom

Venom is a symbiotic alien entity bonded with various human hosts, notably Eddie Brock and later Flash Thompson. It grants superhuman strength, agility, and a shape-shifting black costume. Initially a Spider-Man villain due to its origins, Venom evolved into an antihero, battling both villains and his own dark impulses. The character embodies themes of duality and redemption within the Marvel Universe.

First Appearance

The Amazing Spider-Man

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Vigilante

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