Maximus Rex
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Highest Grossing Superhero Movies #5: The Dark Knight (2008) – $1.004 billion
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight was a monster upon release and spread like wildfire. The film set a number of records at the time, including breaking Spider-Man 3‘s highest opening weekend ever record. In addition it set the record for highest opening week, highest Friday and Sunday grosses, and the fastest film to reach $500 million domestically, reaching the mark in 45 days (a record quickly broken, and which Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed in just 10 days). The film also became the highest grossing movie of the year, sitting $215 million ahead of second place, the first Marvel Studios film, Iron Man.
Highest Grossing Superhero Movies #4: The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $1.084 billion
Four years later, the follow-up would arrive in The Dark Knight Rises. Though the film would go on to become the highest grossing Batman film, it set very few records for opening weekend or specific days upon release.
Highest Grossing Superhero Movies #3: Iron Man 3 (2013) – $1.215 billion
When Marvel’s The Avengers came out it was a juggernaut, more on that later, but more importantly it left a year-long gap between the film and its follow-up, the start of Marvel’s Phase Two, Iron Man 3. Robert Downey Jr. started the MCU with his take on Iron Man, and he quickly became the anchor that audiences attached to. Though it couldn’t quite break any of the records set by The Avengers, it did become the highest grossing solo Iron Man movie, outgrossing the second film by over $590 million.
Highest Grossing Superhero Movies #2: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – $1.405 billion
The 2015 follow-up to Marvel’s The Avengers wasn’t as well received critically as the first film, but that didn’t stop it from going wild at the box office. Though the film couldn’t quite catch up with the first movie, it did come within just a few thousand dollars of breaking the first film’s worldwide opening weekend.
Highest Grossing Superhero Movies #1: The Avengers (2012) – $1.519 billion
The big kahuna remains the king of superhero box office grosses. The culmination of five films, it was unclear if Marvel’s big screen plans would work, but it did and it paid off. Avengers broke Spider-Man 3‘s highest Saturday total record and The Dark Knight‘s highest Sunday total in its opening weekend, and would set the record for the highest opening weekend of all time (until 2015’s Jurassic World and then Star Wars: The Force Awakens both broke the record). One record the film still holds however is highest opening in May, an achievement considering the likes of Iron Man, Spider-Man and others that came before.
