Marvel movies are among the biggest spectacles that the silver screen has ever seen. Still very much a major part of the motion picture landscape, they were the undisputed titan of the box office throughout the 2010s when the likes of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were grossing $2 billion. And with two more Avengers movies on the horizon for 2026 and 2027 (as well as an inevitably billion-dollar-grossing Spider-Man movie), you can bet that the next few years will see Marvel back on top.
This superhero success has been largely attributed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (brought to life by Marvel Studios). However, Marvel movies have been made long before Iron Man kickstarted that franchise in 2008. Although there were plenty of success stories in that era, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies and Fox's X-Men franchise, there were also quite a lot of failures.
Now, one of them has randomly become a Netflix phenomenon, two decades after it was initially released.
Elektra makes Netflix's Global Top 10 charts two decades after theatrical release
The Jennifer Garner-led Elektra is overperforming on Netflix. The film arrived on the streamer in various locations around the world (such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, and more) back in August and it and very quickly made an impression. It even entered the streamer's global Top 10 chart, debuting at No. 7 for the week starting August 11, with 5.1 million views and 8.2 million hours viewed for that week. On the day of August 12, it was actually No. 3 on the daily Netflix Top 10 Movies chart.
That's extremely impressive for a movie that was released in 2005 and was widely considered a commercial and critical flop, but it's also an indictor of how superhero movies - and movies in general - can enjoy a renaissance down the line. Even if a movie underperforms at the box office, that doesn't mean that there isn't any interest in it. We've seen this recently when the likes of Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web - both of which notoriously flopped at the box office - were added to Netflix.
Elektra was a spinoff to 2003's Daredevil and it saw Jennifer Garner reprise her role as Elektra Natchios. Although the character did die in Daredevil, she was resurrected by The Hand in the 2005 flick to oversee a new mission - and perhaps achieve some redemption along the way. Unfortunately, Elektra did not enjoy the same levels of success at its predecessor, as it grossed $57 million against a production budget of somewhere between $43–65 million.
Moneywise, it's certainly not a huge loss by today's standards given its relatively low budget, but that - mixed with the negative reviews that it received - were enough to abruptly end Garner's stint as the character. Well, at least it was for almost two decades.
Elektra's long-awaited MCU return could have reignited interest in the 2005 movie
There has been a renewed interest in this classic version of Elektra ever since Jennifer Garner reprised her role in 2024's Deadpool and Wolverine. Part of the MCU, she was joined by Wesley Snipes' Blade, Channing Tatum's Gambit, and Dafne Keen's Laura Kinney / X-23 as heroes from previous Marvel franchises who had been cast out to The Void. They ultimately ended up helping Deadpool and Wolverine escape The Void and defeat Cassandra Nova, seemingly guaranteeing their escape from their imprisonment.
This served as something of a storybook ending to Garner's journey as Elektra, giving her the triumphant send-off that she deserved. That being said, fans are holding out hope that she might have one more chance to reprise her role. With the MCU's Multiverse Saga gearing up to conclude with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, fans are anticipating a multiversal battle featuring characters from previous non-MCU Marvel movies.
With the cast of the X-Men movies - as well as Deadpool and Wolverine's Gambit - confirmed for returns in Doomsday, there is a possibility that we could see Garner's Elektra take part in one of these films too. And that would undoubtedly be an even more perfect storybook ending.
Just in case she does return again, now is the perfect time to catch up on her journey and watch Elektra on Netflix (or wherever it is streaming in your location).