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Data Analysis: The Most Successful Marvel Movies Revealed

Tobias Fanta Sports Betting Expert
1 minute read

Following the release of Captain America: Brave New World, VegasInsider’s supercomputer has conducted an analysis to find out what have been the most and least successful movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, assigning points to all 35 of them based on various factors in different categories: worldwide gross, IMDb ratings, Letterboxd ratings, Metacritic score, Rotten Tomatoes score and an estimated return on investment. 

According to the results of the analysis, two movies are tied as the #1 most successful from the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Avengers: Endgame & Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

The supercomputer assigned 1 to 3 points based on a movie's performance in various categories, with higher points indicating better performance: 

  • Metacritic Score: 70 to 79 - 1 point, 80 to 89 - 2 points, 90 to 100 - 3 points
  • Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70 to 79 - 1 point, 80 to 89 - 2 points, 90 to 100 - 3 points
  • IMDb Rating: 7-7.49 - 1 point, 7.5 - 7.99  - 2, points, 8+ = 3 points
  • WW Gross: 700 to 999.999 million - 1point, 1 - 1.5 billion = 2 points, 1.5 billion+ - 3 points
  • ROI: 300%+ - 1 point, 400%+ - 2 points , 500%+ - 3 points
  • Letterboxd Rating: 2.5-2.999 - 1 point, 3.0-3.499 - 2 points, 3.5+ - 3 points 

Avengers: Endgame has a 78 Metacritic score, 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.4/10 rating on IMDb & 3.9/5 on Letterboxd. It grossed 2.799 billion dollars with an estimated ROI of 686% since it had a reported budget of 356 million dollars. In total, the supercomputer assigned Avengers: Endgame 16 points. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home has a 71 Metacritic score, 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.2/10 rating on IMDb & 3.83/5 on Letterboxd. It grossed 1.952 billion dollars with an estimated ROI of 876% since it had a reported budget of 200 million dollars. In total, the supercomputer also assigned Spider-Man: No Way Home 16 points. 

The rest of the top 10 most successful Marvel movies according to the supercomputer are (respectively): The Avengers, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Civil War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Thor: Ragnarok & Spider Man: Far From Home. 

When looking at the other end of the spectrum, 3 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe received 0 points from the supercomputer, thus turning out to be the least successful: The Incredible Hulk, Thor: The Dark World & Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 

To see all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and their results in the various categories, please have a look at the searchable interactive table below. 

You can see the best-performing movies in the various categories that were part of the analysis highlighted below. Feel free to also have a look at our Oscars odds.

WORLDWIDE GROSS 

When it comes to the worldwide box office gross, the top 3 highest-grossing movies are:

  1. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - $2.799 billion WW gross
  2. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - $2.052 billion WW gross
  3. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - $1.952 billion WW gross

On the other hand, the 3 lowest-grossing movies are:

  1. The Marvels (2023) - $206 million WW gross
  2. The Incredible Hulk (2008) - $264 million WW gross
  3. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - $370 million WW gross

In terms of worldwide box office gross, the highest-grossing movie is Avengers: Endgame (2019) with a WW gross of $2.799 billion , while the lowest-grossing movie is The Marvels (2023) with a WW gross of $206 million. 

RETURN ON INVESTMENT


The top 3 movies with the highest estimated return on investment are:

  1. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - 876.37%
  2. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 686.36%
  3. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) - 607.94%

The 3 movies with the lowest return on investment are:

  1. The Marvels (2023) - minus 6.3%
  2. The Incredible Hulk (2008) - 76.51%
  3. Black Widow (2021) - 89.88%

At the top of the return on investment rankings is Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which had a budget of $200 million and went on to make an impressive $1.95 billion globally, resulting in an estimated ROI of 876.37%. Following closely behind at #2 is Avengers: Endgame (2019), which started with a massive $356 million budget and achieved a worldwide gross of $2.8 billion, leading to a 686.36% return. On the other end of the spectrum, The Marvels (2023) sits at the bottom with a negative estimated return on investment of -6.3%, as its $220 million budget resulted in a $206 million global box office gross. 

USER RATING


When looking at the highest-rated movies by users, on IMDb, the top 3 are:

  1. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 8.4 IMDb rating
  2. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - 8.4 IMDb rating
  3. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - 8.2 IMDb rating

The 3 lowest-rated movies on IMDb are:

  1. The Marvels (2023) - 5.5 IMDb rating
  2. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - 6.0 IMDb rating
  3. Captain America: Brave New World (2025) - 6.1 IMDb rating

Meanwhile, on Letterboxd, the top 3 highest-rated movies are:

  1. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - 3.98 Letterboxd rating
  2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) - 3.96 Letterboxd rating
  3. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 3.9 Letterboxd rating

The 3 lowest-rated movies on Letterboxd are:

  1. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - 2.22 Letterboxd rating
  2. Thor: The Dark World (2013) - 2.24 Letterboxd rating
  3. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) - 2.42 Letterboxd rating

For user ratings, Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018) are the highest-rated on IMDb with a rating of 8.4, while The Marvels (2023) is the lowest-rated with an IMDb user rating of 5.5. On Letterboxd, the highest-rated movie is Avengers: Infinity War (2018) with a 3.98 score, whereas the lowest-rated is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) with a 2.22 Letterboxd score.

CRITIC REVIEWS


When looking at the highest-rated movies by critics, on Rotten Tomatoes, the top 3 movies with the highest scores are:

  1. Black Panther (2018) - 96%
  2. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 94%
  3. Iron Man (2008) - 94%

The 3 lowest-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes are:

  1. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - 46%
  2. Eternals (2021) - 47%
  3. Captain America: Brave New World (2025) - 49%

Meanwhile, on Metacritic, the top 3 highest-rated movies are:

  1. Black Panther (2018) - 88 Metacritic score
  2. Iron Man (2008) - 79 Metacritic score
  3. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - 78 Metacritic score

The 3 lowest-rated movies on Metacritic are:

  1. Captain America: Brave New World (2025) - 42 Metacritic score 
  2. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - 48 Metacritic score
  3. The Marvels (2023) - 50 Metacritic score

Lastly, regarding critic reviews, Black Panther (2018) holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes score at 96%, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score at 46%. On Metacritic, Black Panther (2018) also leads with a score of 88, whereas Captain America: Brave New World (2025) ranks the lowest with a score of 42.

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METHODOLOGY

  • In total, 35 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies were part of the analysis, starting with Phase One’s Iron Man (2008)
  • The points were assigned in the following categories: Rotten Tomatoes score, IMDb rating, Letterboxd rating, Metacritic score, reported worldwide gross and an estimated ROI 
  • If a given metric was not available for a movie, it could not gain points in that category and it was left blank
  • Sources of data: IMDb.com, Rottentomatoes.com, Metacritic.com, Letterboxd.com

Tobias Fanta

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