Superhero movie boom goes bust in 2023
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After a decade of dominating the box office, superheroes were knocked off their pop culture throne in 2023.
Why it matters: The underperformance of several blockbuster movies from Marvel and DC has led to fears that the once-bulletproof genre is fading out of the mainstream.
The latest: "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" was the latest superhero film to misfire at the box office, with a disappointing $40 million opening over the four-day Christmas weekend.
- That was below the $67.8 million the first "Aquaman" earned in December 2018.
- The Jason Momoa-led follow-up brought an inglorious end to DC Comics' shared universe of movies that began with Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" in 2013.
The big picture: This year was filled with comic book sequels that drew less money than their predecessors, including new entries for "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Ant-Man" "Shazam!" and "The Flash," the latter of which even brought back Michael Keaton as Batman.
- "The Marvels," the follow-up to 2019's "Captain Marvel," became the lowest-grossing movie in the 15-year history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- The lone new comic book entry, DC's Latino-focused "Blue Beetle," drew only $72 million. Only "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" did worse.
Yes, but: It wasn't a lost year for the comic book genre.
- Sony's animated "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" was a critical and commercial hit, doubling the box office from "Into the Spider-Verse."
Be smart: Overall, it was the highest-grossing domestic box office year since the pandemic, with $8.7 billion, and is well above the past three years. But it's still nowhere close to the $10 billion-$11 billion years from the pre-pandemic days.
- The six-month labor strikes hampered theaters' recovery this year as some big-ticket films like "Dune: Part Two" were pushed into early next year.
- It wasn't just comic books that suffered: Other long-running franchises including "Indiana Jones" and "Mission: Impossible" also disappointed. By contrast, "John Wick," "Scream" and "Creed" saw some of their franchises' best performances.
- The top movies of 2023 — "Barbie" and "Super Mario Bros." — were not comic book sequels — though they were still based on well-known IP.
What's next: The box office isn't giving up superheroes yet, though next year will be somewhat of a break.
- James Gunn is starting a new cinematic universe for DC, which begins in 2025 with "Superman: Legacy."
- Marvel, which only has one movie slated for next year, "Deadpool 3," is reworking its future after parting ways with Jonathan Majors after his domestic violence conviction. Majors was set up to play a major role across multiple future movies.
