Superhero movies have been around almost from the beginning of the movie making history, with some dating back as far as the 30’s. But only after the release of Iron Man in 2008 can can talk about a significant growth in the of popularity of the superhero genre.
Of course, there were plenty of popular superhero films in the past, for example, Spider-Man from 2002 – a movie that even today placed 8th on the Top 10 highest grossing superhero films. Honourable mentions also go to the occasional Batman, Superman or X-Men movie, all of which would get some attention.
Yet nothing can compare to how superhero movies are received now.
Why Are Superhero Movies So Popular These Days?
Some people blame the rise in popularity of superhero genre on the great economic crisis, when people needed an escape from the harsh everyday truth, seeking out the ability to imagine a world where there is someone constantly looking out for the common man.
The more “believable” truth is that the generations that were born in ‘70’s to ‘90’s, who have grown up on comic books, are now adults. That is also the reason why most of the movies are no longer targeted at kids and teenagers but have a more serious note.
What Are the Current Ranking of The Top Performing Movies at the Box Office?
In 2017, there were four new entries to the Top 20 list of highest grossing movies, and the list keeps on changing with each new blockbuster. Bear in mind all figures here are US domestic gross and not worldwide!
The top performing entry of last year was DC’s Wonder Woman that is now placed on 5th place with a total gross of $412,563,408.
Next on the list are Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 that made it to 9th place with a total income of $389,813,101.
Spider-Man Homecoming and third movie from Thor series, Thor: Ragnarok have also broken into Top 20 sitting on 13th and 18th place respectively.
However, their positions might change soon with the latest release of Black Panther. The movie is proving to be a huge success among the fans and has already broken numerous records and it came as a very close second to Marvel’s The Avengers ($207,438,708) for the best opening weekend with $201,797,000. It is expected that the Black Panther could enter the Top 5 best performing movies ever.
The Current Top 5 Grossing Superhero Movies
- Marvel’s The Avengers $623,357,910
- The Dark Knight $534,858,444
- Avengers: Age of Ultron $459,005,868
- The Dark Knight Rises $448,139,099
- Wonder Woman $412,563,408
What The Future Brings
2018 brings us plenty of superhero movies and a couple of animated releases such as highly awaited The Incredibles 2 and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (3D). A total of 10 superhero movies in 2018 is sure to please even the most hard-core fans of this genre, with new releases almost through each month of a year.
The most anticipated of them all is probably Avengers: Infinity War, set to be released on May 4. The trailers have slowly started to make a significant hype for a movie with very high expectations. The newest Avengers movie is also dubbed to become one of the highest, if not the highest, grossing movies of the genre. At first, the movie was supposed to be made of two parts, but recent developments suggested that although they will share common elements, they will ultimately be very different.
Not even two weeks after the release of Avengers there is a special treat for all fans of R-rated movies as Deadpool comes back to the theaters with its sequel Deadpool 2. The first movie was a huge success and the expectations for the sequel are held very high.
The rest of the movies include the release of another anti-hero Venom with Tom Hardy as a lead, the sequel to Ant-Man labeled Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as Aquaman. While any of these are unlikely to challenge Infinity War for the top spot, any could reach the top 20, top 10 or even top 5.
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