10 Superhero Box Office Flops Everyone Saw Coming

Even the superhero movies of the MCU, the DCU, and beyond sometimes fail at the box office, and it isn’t always particularly surprising. The superhero genre has consistently proven itself one of the most profitable in the film industry, particularly with the movies of the MCU repeatedly breaking box office records since the franchise’s inception. However, there have also been times that movies adapted from the stories of comic book heroes haven’t fared quite so well in a financial sense.

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Particularly in the days before the MCU’s movie timeline began, the superhero genre was something of a risk. There have been many superhero movies that failed to break even at the box office, establishing themselves a reputation as noteworthy flops. In fact, some of these flops proved completely unsurprising, as many had foreseen their box office failure ahead of their release. With that in mind, here are 10 superhero box office flops that everyone saw coming.

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10

Jonah Hex (2010)

Box Office: $11 million

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There was a time when adapting lesser-known heroes and comic book characters was considered a foolproof idea, with Marvel striking gold with some of its early MCU movies. However, DC’s attempt to do so in 2010 with Jonah Hex backfired spectacularly, as the movie earned back just $11 million of its $47 million budget. The film’s status as one of the biggest superhero movie flops of all time surprised practically no one, however, due to choices made by the studio.

In spite of its comparatively moderate budget, Jonah Hex’s financial failings can be attributed to the nature of its theatrical run. After the film’s early domestic take was poor, the studio made the decision not to release the film in theaters internationally. Once this was announced, its status as a failure was confirmed even before its theatrical run ended, and no one was surprised when it proved a massive flop.

9

Elektra (2005)

Box Office: $57 million

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Before the character was redeemed by her appearance as part of Deadpool & Wolverine’s cast, Jennifer Garner’s Elektra claimed the unfortunate accolade of appearing in two of the worst Marvel movies ever made. She made her debut in the role in 2003’s Daredevil, a film which earned the ire of critics and fans alike. When it was announced that she would be returning in a solo spin-off movie, the writing was already on the wall.

2005’s Elektra was a box office disappointment, earning back just $57 million against a production budget of up to $65 million. Considering the critical reception of Daredevil, it surprised no one that Elektra failed to find financial success, with many audiences having already written off the character before her solo movie. Elektra’s box office woes were not only unsurprising, but they were also a logical consequence of Daredevil’s own issues.

8

Catwoman (2004)

Box Office: $82.4 million

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2004 saw the release of Catwoman’s first ever solo movie, with Oscar-winning Halle Berry cast in the title role. Considering the general popularity of the character and the box office pull of Berry at the time, it might have seemed destined for success. Upon its release, however, it swiftly became evident that Catwoman was in actuality set for the exact opposite.

The scathing reviews for Catwoman piled up, and almost immediately upon its release, word spread that it was a truly terrible movie. This poor press naturally led to poor ticket sales, and Catwoman earned back just $82.4 million of its $100 million budget. All things considered, this box office failure isn’t actually all that shocking, as Catwoman has gone down in history as one of the worst superhero movies ever made, and continues to be considered such even more than two decades after its release.

7

The Marvels (2023)

Box Office: $206.1 million

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In late 2023, The Marvels earned itself the unenviable accolade of being the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie, earning back $206.1 million of its $374 million budget. Considering some of the overwhelming success earned by previous movies in the MCU, and the franchise’s continued popularity, The Marvels stands out among its peers for all the wrong reasons. As even the MCU’s worst-rated films were able to achieve some modicum of success, The Marvels being a flop might sound surprising.

In reality, it wasn’t a difficult result to predict. As The Marvels followed two of the MCU’s lowest-rated releases – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion – it’s fair to say that superhero fatigue was at an all-time high at the time of its release. What’s more, movie-only audiences had only seen one of the film’s core three heroes, further explaining why The Marvels seemed destined to flop.

6

The Flash (2023)

Box Office: $271.4 million

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As the live-action solo debut of one of DC’s most beloved heroes, The Flash would once have been considered a sure-fire box office success. However, upon its release in 2023, The Flash earned just $271.4 million, causing projected losses of around $200 million for Warner Bros. and earning it the status of a significant box office bomb. This failure was actually somewhat foreseeable, considering the many factors surrounding the movie’s production.

Ahead of its eventual release, The Flash spent many years in production, with various issues plaguing the movie behind the scenes. After it was announced that Michael Keaton’s Batman would join the DCEU movie timeline in the film, and then subsequently that the DCEU would be imminently ending after its release, confusion regarding The Flash’s canon only hurt its appeal. After a turbulent production and with a confirmed end to its franchise in sight, The Flash being a box office flop was not surprising at all.

5

Morbius (2022)

Box Office: $167.5 million

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By the time Morbius was released in 2022, the movies of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe were fast becoming considered infinitely inferior to other Marvel franchises. Morbius itself went on to earn $167.5 million, which was far lower than its projected box office, earning it the status of a major flop. Though its financial failure could have been much worse, its inability to earn its projected total was actually somewhat predictable.

After the release of Morbius’ trailer, the movie spawned countless memes even ahead of its release. The poor dialogue was evident from the short clips featured in the trailer alone, and the movie’s story was ridiculed ahead of its release. Though leaning into some of these jokes and re-releasing the film after its run ended went some way toward helping Morbius’ underwhelming box office, its failure came as a surprise to practically no one at all.

4

Joker: Folie A Deux (2024)

Box Office: $206.4 million

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At one time, the success of Joker: Folie à Deux seemed a certainty, particularly as its predecessor won multiple awards, including an Oscar for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and another for Best Original Score. The sequel, announced as a musical featuring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, was once a highly-anticipated prospect. However, the early critical reactions after it premiered at Venice Film Festival told a very different story, serving as the harbingers of its doom.

Joker: Folie à Deux was criticized in practically every way, earning the ire of countless critics and failing spectacularly to impress audiences. Considering the initial buzz around the sequel died immediately upon the first early reviews being released, it soon became clear that it would not achieve the success of the original. When Folie à Deux ended its run as a confirmed box office flop, it’s safe to say that no one was entirely surprised.

3

The New Mutants (2020)

Box Office: $49.2 million

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Though Fox’s X-Men movie franchise had many issues, it rarely struggled at the box office. However, when it came to the last movie in the franchise, 2020’s The New Mutants, this turned out to be exactly the case. It earned just $49.2 million of its $80 million budget, cementing it as a major box office bomb and the most financially disappointing movie in Fox’s franchise.

The many factors surrounding The New Mutants’ release made its failure an inevitability. Firstly, it was released shortly after the global outbreak of COVID-19, hurting its chances at genuine box office success. Disney also acquired Fox during its production, and it was established that the X-Men would enter the MCU as a result. As it was confirmed as the last movie in Fox’s franchise – despite featuring an all-new cast of mutants – interest in the film waned, and its financial failure was sealed, to the surprise of no one.

2

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Box Office: $169.6 million

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As the first movie of the DCEU released after restrictions on theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wonder Woman 1984’s failure at the box office was entirely understandable. Though questions were initially asked as to how the movie could be released with theaters around the world closed, Warner Bros. came up with a risky but necessary plan. Wonder Woman 1984 was released in open theaters and on streaming simultaneously.

Being released straight to HBO Max led to incredibly low box office numbers for the DCEU sequel. It earned back $169.6 million of its $200 million budget, which was respectable considering its disadvantages, but still ultimately a financial flop. The HBO Max plan predictably did not work to recoup the losses of the restrictions on Wonder Woman 1984’s theatrical release, and through no real fault of the movie, it ended up one of the DCEU’s biggest box office bombs.

1

Kraven The Hunter (2024)

Kraven The Hunter Was The SSU’s Last Box Office Disappointment

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After spending years in production purgatory, Kraven the Hunter was finally released late in 2024. Leading up to its release, the movie was announced as the end of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, seemingly owing largely to the consistent critical and box office failures of the franchise’s movies. Kraven the Hunter’s opening weekend was incredibly disappointing, with all projections pointing toward the movie being a huge box office flop.

Kraven the Hunter’s box office failings were predicted by many, as announcing that it would end its franchise confirmed that the SSU’s stakes were all but non-existent. Poor critical reactions to the film only furthered its underwhelming take in the early stages of its release, further fueling projections of its considerable losses. With the context of the movie’s release considered, it’s perhaps the least surprising box office flop of all the superhero movies in the MCU, the DCU, and beyond.

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Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
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DC Universe

The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.