What's Inside?
- Fantastic Four edges past Superman with a $57 million opening, making it the second-biggest debut of 2025 so far.
- Critics and fans praise the reboot, with strong CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes ratings boosting its momentum at the global box office.
- Disney eyes franchise revival as Fantastic Four becomes Marvel’s best opener since Deadpool & Wolverine, proving value in Fox merger. Ask ChatGPT
The MCU may have found a fresh spark in Fantastic Four: First Steps, which burst into theaters with a muscular $57 million opening day across 4,125 screens. Though it narrowly missed dethroning A Minecraft Movie ($57.11 million) for the top spot of 2025’s biggest opening day, it edged past DC’s Superman ($56.1 million), igniting the early stages of a superhero showdown. With strong word-of-mouth and critic approval, Marvel seems to be betting big — and it might just pay off.
Fantastic Four: First Steps– A Fresh Start with Bigger Stakes
What sets Fantastic Four: First Steps apart from its MCU predecessors is its clean break from the tangled Marvel timeline. Unlike the past few entries burdened with interwoven storylines and multiverse fatigue, this reboot — starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach — offers a standalone experience. And audiences appear to be responding positively. CinemaScore gave the film an “A-”, while it holds an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.6/10 on IMDb.
The opening day of ‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR’ grossed more than the entire domestic theatrical run of 2015’s ‘FANTASTIC FOUR’
Read our review: https://t.co/FogbPYj8Kp pic.twitter.com/YbhjeTSrm0
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 26, 2025
Though the film is rooted in Marvel’s legacy, this version marks the first Fantastic Four movie under the Disney umbrella following the 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox. It also stands as the most successful first-day launch for a Marvel film since Deadpool & Wolverine shook the box office a year ago. That success is a significant reassurance for Disney, validating at least part of the $71 billion investment made to bring Fox’s characters home.
Financially, the $200 million production has global momentum on its side. With a reported $106 million already collected worldwide — $57 million domestically and $49.2 million internationally — Fantastic Four is tracking to match Superman’s $125 million opening weekend. However, whether it can maintain that momentum in the coming weeks remains to be seen.
This is A Make-or-Break Moment for Marvel and Disney
Disney has plenty riding on the success of Fantastic Four: First Steps. After the underperformance of Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts — both of which launched to $88.5 million and $76 million, respectively, but failed to break even — this film is seen as a much-needed course correction.
The Matt Shakman-directed reboot arrives during a transitional phase for Marvel Studios. Disney CEO Bob Iger has already made it clear that the company is scaling back its superhero slate. “We’re slowly going to decrease volume,” Iger had informed investors last year. Marvel is now set to limit its output to just two or three films a year, with fewer TV series in the pipeline as well. Following First Steps, Marvel fans will have to wait nearly a year for Spider-Man: Brand New Day in July 2026, followed by Avengers: Doomsday in December.
Meanwhile, competition remains stiff. DC’s Superman may be down 57% in its second Friday with $7.1 million, but it’s still flying high with a projected $289 million domestic haul. Elsewhere, Jurassic World Rebirth is holding steady in third place with $3.6 million on Friday and an expected $301 million cumulative total. Films like F1 and Smurfs are trailing behind, showing varying degrees of staying power.
Still, it’s Fantastic Four that currently has the industry’s attention. As the film continues to draw audiences into theaters, it’s not just another reboot — it’s a litmus test for Marvel’s future strategy.
