I can’t believe how many MCU movies the 2018Venommovie made more than when comparing its box office toMarvel’s collective film roster. Combining Tom Hardy’s acting talents with a surprisingly heartwarming and light-hearted take on Marvel’s Venom origin story,Venomlet the titular antihero and sometimes villain take center stage in what would eventually become theVenom movie trilogy. Interestingly, this led to a movie that split critics and broader viewers, withVenomas of 2025 having a 31% critic score compared to its 80% audience score onRotten Tomatoes.
Though this highlighted the potential for the complications that later movies in theSony Spider-Man Universe timelinewould experience, it’s interesting to note that this less positive critical perception doesn’t appear to have hurt the box office results ofVenomitself. WithVenommanaging to still have a higher box office than a wide array of otherMCU movies, its unique place in Marvel’s film landscape and the divided perception of it is all the more interesting.
Venom’s Box Office Is Not That Far Off $1 Billion
As a movie that’s often written off somewhat as a more silly or playful take on the superhero genre and Marvel’s mythos, it’s easy to lose sight of just how successfulVenomwas during its theatrical release - especially because its sequels didn’t quite reach the same financial heights. However,the original 2018Venommovie netted itself a worldwide box office of $856 million(as perThe NumbersandBox Office Mojo), which is not worlds away from having allowed it to join the heights of the superhero movies that grossed $1 billion dollars or more in their box office.
As it stands, being close to this bar still meansVenomhas one of the highest box offices in the superhero genre’s history all the same - and one of the strongest financial results of Marvel’s various cinematic installments. GivenVenomis also reported to have made around $70 million in terms of DVD and Blu-ray sales - close to its reported $100-116 million budget - the overall picture painted of the movie’s financial results a positive one, even if it wasn’t replicated identically by its successors.
Venom’s Box Office Is Higher Than More MCU & Marvel Movies Than You Might Think
Venom’s $856 million box office is impressive in its own right without any comparisons to other Marvel movies, but it’s also undeniable that this result becomes more notable when contrasted to other Marvel films, especially becauseVenommade more than many MCU releases that were massively successful in their own right. As it stands,the 2018Venom’s worldwide box office made more than the vast majority of the MCU’s releases, including all the Thor movies, every Captain America movie barCivil War, all three Ant-Man movies, and the first two Iron Man movies.
Venom’s box office is also over $300 million higher than the movie with the next highest box office in the Sony Spider-Man Universe, which would be its sequel,Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Currently, there are only 15 MCU movies that have higher worldwide box office results than Venom - though it’s also worth noting that 2007’sSpider-Man 3also made more in its own $891-895 million (The NumbersandBox Office Mojo) box office. This also means Venom made more than every X-Men movie other thanDeadpool & Wolverine, which is also a notable feat in its own right.
Why Venom’s Box Office Beating So Many Marvel & MCU Movies Is So Notable
Venomhas historically been disregarded in conversations about “important” or significant superhero movies, with its less serious overall tone and approach to adapting the lore of Marvel’s symbiote antihero - and the fact it exists in the now somewhat notorious Sony Spider-Man Universe - often leading people to discount its significance when looking at the bigger picture in terms of the genre. However, disregarding a movie that netted a higher box office than many more serious or seriously regarded releases seems to ignore the fact that this is arguably a big part of what madeVenomsuccessful in the first place.
Venom’s success is likely in no small part down to the consistent appeal of the Spider-Man mythos, but its jovial attitude towards bringing the comic character to life also seems to have played a considerable part in the initial success of the movie, and the still respectable results of the series' later installments, in spite of the lower trajectory of the rest of the Sony Spider-Man Universe. Certainly, this 2018 box office result is evidence that there’s a broad appeal to the kind of superhero movie thatVenomwas, and that future Marvel movies could continue to replicate what made it work.
