# List of highest-grossing superhero films
The highest-grossing superhero films are ranked by theatrical box office revenue, and the worldwide list is led by *Avengers: Endgame* (2019), which reclaimed the title of highest-grossing film of any kind after a 2026 re-release lifted its lifetime gross to an estimated $2.9255 billion, edging past *Avatar*'s $2.9237 billion.[1](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/avengers-endgame-box-office-record/) Rankings differ by scope: worldwide versus domestic gross, crossover team-ups versus solo films, and whether an animated original such as *Incredibles 2* counts as a superhero movie at all.[2](https://guides.justwatch.com/us/highest-grossing-superhero-movies-ever-marvel-pixar)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| All-time worldwide leader | *Avengers: Endgame* (2019), an estimated $2.9255 billion after the "Encore" re-release added $126 million, surpassing *Avatar* ($2.9237 billion)[1](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/avengers-endgame-box-office-record/) • [3](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/avengers-endgame-avatar-box-office/) |
| Franchise total | The Marvel Cinematic Universe's 38 theatrical releases have generated more than $35 billion worldwide, making it the most successful film franchise in history[1](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/avengers-endgame-box-office-record/) |
| Domestic leader (2026) | *Spider-Man: Brand New Day*, $958.29 million in North America, ahead of *Endgame* ($898.41 million) and *No Way Home* ($814.81 million)[4](https://thehatefuln8.com/records/biggest-superhero-film) |
| Record opening | *Brand New Day* debuted to $355 million domestically and $927 million worldwide, second only to *Endgame*'s $357 million domestic opening[5](https://apnews.com/article/a2c2efb863263ce50bcee1e7db822574) |
| Only non-Marvel entry in the top ten | *Incredibles 2* (2018), a Pixar original rather than a comic adaptation[2](https://guides.justwatch.com/us/highest-grossing-superhero-movies-ever-marvel-pixar) |
| Earlier benchmark | *The Dark Knight* (2008) became the highest-grossing superhero film of all time with a worldwide box office of $1 billion, and was later overtaken[6](https://mcc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/?p=1907) |
| Studio concentration | With Fox's film assets, Disney is responsible for seven of the ten highest-grossing movies of all time[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/avengers-endgame-highest-grossing-movie-ever-avatar-40985/) |
## How the rankings are compiled
Box office trackers do not agree on a single list. [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) maintains separate "Superhero" and "Comic Book Adaptation" genre keywords, and the latter can include films that do not fit every reader's idea of a conventional superhero movie.[8](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/superhero-movies-ranked-by-worldwide-box-office-receipts/) Gross figures also vary by source: *Avengers: Endgame* appears on one list at $2.797 billion, at The Numbers as $2,748,242,781 worldwide, a spread of roughly $50 million on what is nominally the same total.[9](https://comicbookbrain.com/top-earning-super-hero-movies.php) Box Office Mojo reports $2,926,549,214 in worldwide theatrical receipts for *Endgame* across all releases, a figure that includes its re-releases.[8](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/superhero-movies-ranked-by-worldwide-box-office-receipts/) Re-releases complicate matters further, since a film's lifetime gross changes when it returns to theaters, as *Endgame*'s 2026 "Encore" run demonstrated.[3](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/avengers-endgame-avatar-box-office/)
## All-time worldwide leaders
*Avengers: Endgame* has held or reclaimed the worldwide record twice. It first passed *Avatar* in 2019, lost the title when *Avatar* re-released in China in 2021, and took it back in October 2026 after the Encore reissue added $126 million ($36.2 million domestic and $89.8 million overseas).[1](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/avengers-endgame-box-office-record/) • [3](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/avengers-endgame-avatar-box-office/) • [10](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/16/highest-grossing-films-all-time) The reissue featured a tweaked ending and three new mid-credit and post-credit scenes tied to *Avengers: Doomsday*, which arrived in theaters that December.[3](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/avengers-endgame-avatar-box-office/)
Other superhero films above $2 billion worldwide include *Avengers: Infinity War* ($2.05 billion), while the earlier *Avengers* installments grossed less than $2 billion globally, with *The Avengers* earning $1,518,812,988 and *Avengers: Age of Ultron* taking in about $1.4 billion.[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/avengers-endgame-highest-grossing-movie-ever-avatar-40985/) • [11](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/superhero-movies/marvel-fans-dont-think-avengers-doomsday-can-beat-infinity-wars-usd2-billion-box-office-haul-not-a-chance/) • [20](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0848228.htm/) *Spider-Man: No Way Home* made over $1.9 billion to become the eighth-highest earning movie of all time, not accounting for inflation, and the first film since the beginning of the pandemic to cross the $1 billion mark.[5](https://apnews.com/article/a2c2efb863263ce50bcee1e7db822574) *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* (2026) reached $2.45 billion worldwide during its run.[12](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/star-wars-celebrating-spider-man-brand-new-day-surpassing-the-force-awakens-record)
The genre's record-setting history is long. When *The Dark Knight* opened in 2008 it became the highest-grossing superhero film of all time with a worldwide box office of $1 billion, and it was subsequently overtaken by other superhero films in turn.[6](https://mcc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/?p=1907) [Guinness World Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/guinness-world-records) lists *Marvel's The Avengers* (2012) as the most successful superhero movie at the international box office, with $1,519,479,547 in its 22 weeks on general release between 4 May and 4 October 2012; it also set the then-record domestic opening weekend of $207,438,708 from 4,349 cinemas.[13](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/102339-highest-grossing-superhero-movie)
## Domestic rankings
On Box Office Mojo's domestic superhero chart, the leading films by lifetime gross are *Avengers: Endgame* ($858,373,000), *Spider-Man: No Way Home* ($804,793,477), *Black Panther* ($700,059,566), *Avengers: Infinity War* ($678,815,482), *[The Avengers](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-avengers-2012-film)* ($623,357,910), *Incredibles 2* ($608,581,744), and *The Dark Knight* ($533,345,358).[14](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genre/sg2900226305/?view=titles) Updated tallies that include 2026 releases place *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* first domestically at $958.29 million, followed by *Endgame* ($898.41 million), *No Way Home* ($814.81 million), *Black Panther* ($700.06 million), *Infinity War* ($678.82 million), *Deadpool & Wolverine* ($636.75 million), and *The Avengers* ($623.36 million).[4](https://thehatefuln8.com/records/biggest-superhero-film) The Associated Press reported *Brand New Day* at over $854.9 million in North America in late August 2026, on track to pass *Endgame* as the second-highest-grossing domestic release ever, behind *Star Wars: The Force Awakens* ($936.7 million).[15](https://apnews.com/article/a0a87cd3b8c8e64952e16ec4e1cc7090)
**Opening records.** *Brand New Day*'s debut set several marks: a record $168 million opening day from 4,487 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, besting *Endgame*'s $157 million Friday, and a $355 million opening weekend that fell just a few million short of *Endgame*'s $357 million, the previous record. Internationally it made $572 million from over 73,500 screens, with China contributing $121 million.[5](https://apnews.com/article/a2c2efb863263ce50bcee1e7db822574) In a single weekend it became the fastest movie to gross $800 million at the domestic box office.[2](https://guides.justwatch.com/us/highest-grossing-superhero-movies-ever-marvel-pixar)
## Solo films and definitional edge cases
Many of the biggest superhero grosses come from ensemble crossovers such as the *Avengers* films and *Spider-Man: No Way Home*, so lists that exclude team-ups look different. Among non-team-up films, *Iron Man 3* (2013) is the oldest by some distance on one widely read ranking.[16](https://guides.justwatch.com/uk/highest-grossing-superhero-movies) *Incredibles 2* occupies a distinctive place: it is an original Pixar property rather than a comic adaptation, but it is a superhero film by genre, and it is the one exception in a top ten otherwise made up of Marvel films.[2](https://guides.justwatch.com/us/highest-grossing-superhero-movies-ever-marvel-pixar) • [17](https://guides.justwatch.com/uk/incredibles-2-highest-grossing-superhero-movie-not-marvel)
## What the numbers show about the genre
Superhero films occupied a dominant share of the box office through the 2010s, but the distribution has narrowed. A consultant who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe noted that superhero movies no longer drive the box office the way they did before the pandemic, and DC's *[Supergirl](https://www.edgepedia.org/supergirl-2026-film)* opened to $38 million domestically against *Toy Story 5*'s $70 million in June 2026.[18](https://apnews.com/article/49830636c7ab8d0ee53bae541100ce2e) Yet the top of the chart keeps moving: *The Atlantic* observed that *Brand New Day*, with its far less cataclysmic stakes than *Endgame*, could become the first film ever to make $1 billion in the United States and Canada alone, and that if it did not break the all-time worldwide record held by *Avatar* ($2.9 billion), it would at least come close.[19](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/spider-man-superhero-movies-box-office-records/688296/) The same concentration holds at the studio level: Disney is responsible for seven of the ten highest-grossing films of all time, including *Avatar: The Way of Water* ($2.33 billion), *Titanic* ($2.26 billion), and *Avengers: Infinity War* ($2.05 billion).[7](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/avengers-endgame-highest-grossing-movie-ever-avatar-40985/)
## References
1. ['Avengers: Endgame' Surpasses 'Avatar' to Reclaim All-Time Box Office Record, The Walt Disney Company](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/avengers-endgame-box-office-record/)
2. [The 10 Highest-Grossing Superhero Movies Ever, JustWatch](https://guides.justwatch.com/us/highest-grossing-superhero-movies-ever-marvel-pixar)
3. ['Avengers: Endgame' Takes Back the All-Time Box Office Record From 'Avatar' After 'Encore' Reissue, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/avengers-endgame-avatar-box-office/)
4. [Highest-Grossing Superhero Films, Box Office Watch](https://thehatefuln8.com/records/biggest-superhero-film)
5. ['Spider-Man: Brand New Day' nets second best North American opening ever with $355 million, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/a2c2efb863263ce50bcee1e7db822574)
6. [Mapping Contemporary Cinema, Queen Mary University of London](https://mcc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/?p=1907)
7. ['Avengers: Endgame' Overtakes 'Avatar' as Highest-Grossing Movie, Variety Australia](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/avengers-endgame-highest-grossing-movie-ever-avatar-40985/)
8. [Highest-Grossing Superhero Movie: Endgame's Box Office, DocumentaryTube](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/superhero-movies-ranked-by-worldwide-box-office-receipts/)
9. [Top Earning Super Hero Comic Book Movies, Comic Book Brain](https://comicbookbrain.com/top-earning-super-hero-movies.php)
10. [The highest-grossing films of all time, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/16/highest-grossing-films-all-time)
11. [Marvel fans don't think Avengers: Doomsday can beat Infinity War's $2 billion box office haul, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/superhero-movies/marvel-fans-dont-think-avengers-doomsday-can-beat-infinity-wars-usd2-billion-box-office-haul-not-a-chance/)
12. [I Love How Star Wars Is Celebrating Spider-Man: Brand New Day Surpassing A Force Awakens Record, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/star-wars-celebrating-spider-man-brand-new-day-surpassing-the-force-awakens-record)
13. [Highest grossing superhero movie, Guinness World Records](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/102339-highest-grossing-superhero-movie)
14. [Genre Keyword: Superhero, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/genre/sg2900226305/?view=titles)
15. ['Spider-Man' tops box office in fourth weekend; 'The Odyssey' becomes Nolan's highest-grossing film, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/a0a87cd3b8c8e64952e16ec4e1cc7090)
16. [Highest Grossing Superhero Movies Of All Time, JustWatch UK](https://guides.justwatch.com/uk/highest-grossing-superhero-movies)
17. [Highest-Grossing Superhero Movies Are All Marvel - Except Incredibles 2, JustWatch](https://guides.justwatch.com/uk/incredibles-2-highest-grossing-superhero-movie-not-marvel)
18. [In blow to DC Studios, 'Supergirl' is no match for 'Toy Story 5' at box office, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/49830636c7ab8d0ee53bae541100ce2e)
19. [Spidey's Sense for Success, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/08/spider-man-superhero-movies-box-office-records/688296/)
20. [The Avengers - Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0848228.htm/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › National and regional cinemas by year › Box-office and grossing lists › Highest-grossing by genre and other subsets*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license