Marvel's First Family returned to the silver screen for their fourth franchise-starting movie this summer (after the 1994 Roger Corman film, the nostalgic 2005 fan-favorite, and the infamous 2015 flop), but this time they did so as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Fantastic Four: First Steps premiered to rave reviews, opening Phase Six on a high and finally welcoming the titular quartet of heroes to the MCU.
It's also been performing well at the box office, opening above $200 million worldwide. Although its second weekend was notorious for a slightly harsher drop than expected, the film has held on well, surpassing $500 million at the box office just this past weekend. It's Marvel Studios' first film to do that this year (and biggest cinematic success story since last year's billion-dollar phenomenon Deadpool and Wolverine), and as a result of that success, this one will break even during its theatrical run.
First Steps has also endeared itself to US audiences so well that it has officially surpassed the MCU that many consider to be objectively the best that the franchise has to offer.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has surpassed Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the domestic box office
With the news that The Fantastic Four: First Steps has grossed a total of $259.76 million in the domestic box office, it has surpassed 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier Stateside. That film also grossed a total of $259.6 million in the domestic market, which means that First Steps has now overtaken it as the 22nd highest-grossing MCU movie in the US. The Winter Soldier still holds the lead over it worldwide, however, as the film grossed a total of $714.4 million, keeping it well above Fantastic Four's total gross of $506 million thus far.
Still though, even if The Winter Soldier might win the long game, it's a pretty big deal that The Fantastic Four is still performing well enough that it managed to exceed that one. The 2014 movie was released at the peak of the MCU's post-Avengers popularity (just as it was skyrocketing towards the $2 billion days of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame). It's also widely-regarded as the MCU's best standalone movie.
The second film in the Captain America franchise, The Winter Soldier revolved around the arrival of the titular warrior, who was eventually revealed to be Steve Rogers' (Chris Evans) best friend, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). The reveal has gone down in history as one of the film series' best moments while both the compelling storyline involving Hydra's commandeering of SHIELD and the action sequences earned it critical acclaim. Scarlett Johansson also stars as Black Widow while future Cap Anthony Mackie makes his debut in the franchise as Sam Wilson / Falcon. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders also reprise their roles as Nick Fury and Agent Maria Hill from previous MCU films.
So, yes, The Fantastic Four's clearing of this one at the domestic box office is pretty impressive considering that second-week drop had fans convinced it was going to drastically underperform. There is clearly some gas left in the tank for Marvel's First Family and that is a very good sign as the franchise heads towards the Multiverse Saga's inevitably game-changing Avengers: Doomsday next year and a potential Fantastic Four sequel in 2028.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters now.