Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been enjoying quite the run at the box office. Although it opened above expectations, its overall momentum was stifled by an unexpectedly sharp drop in its second week. It's still holding on through the weeks, proving that superhero movies do still have legs in today's day and age, but it never completely got over that Week 2 dip, with many regarding it as another underperformance for Marvel.
And yet, Marvel is reportedly happy with its performance - so happy, in fact, that a sequel is reportedly on the cards (after the heroic quartet's return in Avengers: Doomsday next year, as well as their expected involvement in Avengers: Secret Wars). And, again, the film will turn a profit, as it continues to produce solid numbers nearly a month and a half after its theatrical release.
It has continued to make an impact for itself, surpassing some very big movies at the domestic box office. Now, it has overtaken another major movie.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has surpassed Venom: Let There Be Carnage at the global box office
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has officially crossed the $500 million mark. As of this weekend, it has accumulated a worldwide total of $511.3 million, making it the most successful 2025 movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That also means that it has overtaken Venom: Let There Be Carnage at the box office. That might not seem surprising to you on the surface considering that the latter is considered one of the worst movies based on a Marvel Comics character, but the Sony Pictures flick was extremely popular, grossing a global total of $506 million.
Released as part of the Sony Pictures Universe of Spider-Man Characters, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was the second movie in the studio's Venom trilogy and it arrived in movie theaters in 2021. Although that whole live-action Spider-Verse franchise was critically-derided, the Venom movies were easily the crown jewel of the whole saga. Not critical darlings by any stretch of the imagination, they remained fan-favorites with the public both because of the popularity of the Venom character with mainstream audiences and Tom Hardy's hilarious, gripping performance.
The second iteration is arguably the worst of the three, taking a darker turn as it introduced Carnage (portrayed by Woody Harrelson) while also remaining inherently silly, the film scored a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it was a box office success, becoming the 7th-highest-grossing film of 2021.
Fantastic Four surpassing Venom 2 at the box office is a good thing because, not only is the MCU considered stronger, it's a sign of the film's enduring popualrity. Its box office might have taken a hit due to the Week 2 drop, but it continues to perform well in the remaining weeks of its box office run, hanging in there and defying the odds. In recent weeks, it has surpassed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Incredibles' US box office performances (although it will remain behind them in terms of global success). However, it is ahead of Let There Be Carnage on both a domestic and global scale.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps had a budget of $200 million and, when you factor in marketing, it's believed that the film will need to make around $400 - $500 million to break even. It has now exceeded that, meaning that it will become the first Marvel movie this year to turn a profit (after the unfortunate underperformances of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*). It goes without saying that this is a very good thing, especially since there aren't any immediate plans for a digital or Disney Plus streaming debut, meaning that it can continue to add to its box office revenue in the weeks ahead. When you eventually factor in home media releases and digital sales, the film will have generated a lot of money - which is a win Marvel really needed this year!
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters now.