Marvel’s Biggest Movie of 2025 Just Got Shattered By Zootopia 2’s Historic Box Office Run

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Disney’s 2025 box office predictions have shifted. Surprisingly, the animated sequel Zootopia 2 earned more in its opening weekend than any of the year’s Marvel movies. While Marvel has three big films planned for strong theatrical performance, Zootopia 2, along with other Disney hits like Lilo & Stitch and the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash from 20th Century Studios, are now expected to be bigger draws for audiences, meaning Marvel isn’t Disney’s biggest box office guarantee in 2025.

While The Fantastic Four: First Steps earned a solid $521 million worldwide, it was quickly overshadowed by the massive opening of Zootopia 2, which brought in $556 million – exceeding the biggest weekend haul for any Marvel movie. Zootopia 2 has now reached $662 million globally and is expected to surpass $1 billion by next week (December 8, 2025), thanks to its incredible success in China.

The film had a record-breaking opening weekend in China for a Hollywood movie, bringing in over $217 million in just three days. It quickly reached $271.8 million in five days, making it the second-highest-grossing film of all time in the country, behind only Avengers: Endgame.

The animated film Zootopia 2 had a record-breaking international debut, performing exceptionally well at the box office. This success was particularly notable because Marvel’s 2025 releases, including The Fantastic Four: First Steps, didn’t perform as well, especially in China, where First Steps only earned $5.5 million.

Honestly, it wasn’t surprising to see Zootopia 2 make more at the box office than the new Fantastic Four – TopMob called that one – but the speed at which it happened really stood out to me as a film fan!

While the new Zootopia is a huge box office success, it’s also worth noting that the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2025 performance hasn’t really proven the idea that people are tired of superhero movies wrong.

As a big MCU fan, this year at the box office was really puzzling. Some of the movies were actually pretty good, but they just didn’t make the money you’d expect, which didn’t really make sense to me.

Despite a worldwide gross of $415.1 million, Captain America: Brave New World had a somewhat disappointing start to the year. This was compounded by negative reviews and issues stemming from reshoots, especially considering the huge success of Deadpool & Wolverine, which had already earned $1.3 billion in 2024.

The movie Thunderbolts arrived in May 2025 to positive reviews, earning an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it surprisingly underperformed at the box office, bringing in just $382.4 million worldwide, making it one of Marvel’s lowest-grossing films despite the good reviews.

The first two films didn’t do well in theaters, but Fantastic Four: First Steps performed a little better, though it still didn’t meet sales expectations. First Steps struggled in the competitive summer of 2025, falling behind both Jurassic World: Rebirth ($868.9 million) and Superman ($616.6 million) at the box office.

Disney needs to re-evaluate its strategy for Marvel movies in theaters. While films like Spider-Man, Deadpool, and The Avengers are guaranteed successes, the future of other Marvel properties needs careful consideration.

How the MCU Can Fix Its Box Office

Marvel experienced a downturn in 2025 because three of its films didn’t perform as well as expected, each highlighting a problem with how the Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently structured. Captain America: Brave New World faced challenges, partly due to the absence of Chris Evans, and while it earned more overall than the original Captain America film (without adjusting for inflation), it showed that simply having a well-known title isn’t enough to guarantee success for an MCU movie anymore.

Unlike some superhero movies, Thunderbolts actually received positive reviews from both critics and audiences. However, it struggled to attract large crowds because most people weren’t familiar with the characters or the team. The movie also depended on viewers having seen the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the film Black Widow, both of which had complicated releases due to the pandemic.

Despite being the most successful of the three films, The Fantastic Four: First Steps still faced challenges. It was released during a busy summer movie season, received generally positive but not overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews, and had to overcome the negative reputation of previous Fantastic Four movies.

Even with a famous cast, audiences didn’t think this remake was worth watching, and it made less money than some poorly received Marvel movies like Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Fortunately, Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige recognize what’s been going wrong and are working to improve things for the future. It’s become clear that the strategy of relying on Disney+ hasn’t led to the ticket sales they hoped for with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel is making fewer streaming shows and will more clearly distinguish between stories told on Disney+ and in its movie releases. This change aims to avoid confusing viewers who might feel they need to watch a lot of extra content to understand the films, a problem that affected movies like Thunderbolts.

The studio is significantly simplifying its upcoming movie schedule for 2026 and 2027, keeping only three films: Spider-Man Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, and Secret Wars. Avengers: Secret Wars is intended as a fresh start for the franchise, allowing them to clarify the storyline, bring back popular characters, and make it easier for new viewers to jump in – similar to how the first Avengers movie brought together the initial phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel’s next big challenge is the upcoming reboot of the X-Men, directed by Jake Schreier and slated for release in 2028. This decision shows Marvel is focusing on finding talented directors with a clear vision, rather than simply choosing filmmakers based on their popularity.

It’s understandable that fans are disappointed to hear projects like Blade, Shang-Chi 2, and Doctor Strange 3 are on hold, but this break might actually be a good thing in the long run.

If Marvel continues on this path, it has the potential to bounce back stronger with a clearer plan, paving the way for a successful period leading into the 2030s and its next big storyline.

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2025-12-06 21:06