Entertainment
The 15 Most Expensive MCU Movies, Ranked
Being one of the most popular film franchises in history — with some of the highest-grossing movies in history — it only makes sense that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would put some major budget into its movies as the company grows more and more successful. Sometimes these investments greatly pay off, like with Avengers: Endgame. Other times, they unfortunately don’t.
Sometimes, they put a high budget into a movie, and for a while, it becomes the highest-grossing release of all time. However, there are other times in which they put these large sums of cash into production, and they lose a ton of money in the process. Regardless of the success or lack thereof, there’s no denying that few studios pour as much cash into their projects as the MCU, and the films on this list are the most expensive in their history so far.
15
‘The Avengers’ (2012) – $220 million
When it came to finishing off Phase One of the MCU, it’s certain that Kevin Feige and the rest of Marvel Studios wanted to invest enough budget into their first big crossover event to ensure that this cinematic universe could continue with the popularity it was gaining. Bringing the likes of Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye together for the first time was going to take some money and effort.
The Avengers was a movie unlike any other, depicting a day unlike any other. Despite the popularity the MCU was gaining at the time, The Avengers was still somewhat of a risk for Marvel Studios. They needed this movie to succeed and secure the popularity of the MCU going forward. It most certainly worked out for them, given how popular this flick ended up being.
14
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ (2026) – $225 million
Spider-Man: Brand New Day was a gigantic success. It’s not even a question that Marvel Studios’ $225 million investment is being paid back in full, and then some. With the fourth Tom Holland solo Spider-Man film becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, there’s zero doubt that the studio is going to continue pumping good money into their Spider-Man franchise.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the definition of an abundant success. Thanks to how well director Destin Daniel Cretton utilized his budget, how great the performances are, and the amount of genuine love, passion, and soul that was put into this flick, Holland’s Spidey outing is everything Marvel Studios needed at this time in their career. It’s thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s success that one can be sure that Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment will be putting an even larger budget into the fifth entry.
13
‘Captain America: Civil War’ (2016) – $230 million
Everyone loves the Steve Rogers Captain America trilogy, thanks to the fact that it gave people one of the most beloved superhero movies of all time: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. While the second is one of the best superhero movies, the third is a legendary one, bringing not just the MCU heroes against each other by adapting the famous “Civil War” comic storyline, but also introducing Spider-Man into the universe.
Despite not being as good as the first sequel, Captain America: Civil War is still a great product and has a huge impact on the cinematic universe as a whole. Having action sequences that have spectacle and others that are extremely personal, Captain America: Civil War feels like another The Avengers film in all the best ways. It keeps the deep emotions a good story needs, while continuing the epic stakes of the other big team-up movies.
12
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ (2023) – $250 million
With how absurdly popular the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise became after the first entry in the series. Thanks to James Gunn, a lot of the Guardians became fan-favorite characters in the MCU. So, it only makes sense that when the final movie in the trilogy was put into production, Marvel Studios was going to invest in making it the best movie it could be.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was made on a $250 million budget, and boy did Gunn use it in the best way he possibly could. This third project is iconic in almost every way. The cinematography by Henry Braham is stellar, the performances from the entire cast are excellent, and the director and writer use this entry to finish up everyone’s arcs with grace and prowess. Safe to say, this investment definitely paid off.
11
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ (2022) – $250 million
Some may be surprised that one of the worst Marvel movies also has one of the largest budgets in the studio’s history. Thor: Love and Thunder‘s $250 million budget, unlike other movies, cannot really be appreciated on the screen. This Taika Waititi movie gets a ton of flak for its abysmal visual effects quality, and rightfully so. There are far too many moments where the visuals are genuinely laughable.
While it was a success at the box office, grossing$760.9 million, it didn’t save Thor: Love and Thunder from the rough reviews it received. So, while it may have been somewhat of a success at the box office, the investment didn’t matter because the film was a flop critically. This negative reception surely contributed to Waititi reportedly not returning for movie five, which is probably for the best.
10
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (2022) – $250 million
A $250 million Marvel Studios film that was far more successful both at the box office and in reviews is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. After the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman, audiences and critics alike were worried about the Black Panther sequel. They wondered if it was going to be possible to pull it off and whether the studio would decide to recast the role of T’Challa or not. Thankfully, the direction they went in not only served the movie well, but also audiences who were grieving Boseman right alongside the cast and crew.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a moving tribute to Boseman and his legacy, while also being a strong and emotionally compelling film. The middle act slightly lags, but outside of that, it’s incredibly well done and one of the best post-Avengers: Endgame movies. Not to forget, it has a phenomenal score — nobody was really surprised — thanks to the efforts of returning composer Ludwig Göransson.
9
‘Eternals’ (2021) – $272.6 million
Not only were fans and critics generally not pleased with 2021’s Eternals, but neither was Marvel. Noted by Forbes as “… one of the biggest failures of the 30 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe”, this project was rough and even considered over-budget by many. Moreover, its worldwide box office was only $402 million… yikes.
It’s honestly quite sad that Eternals didn’t pan out the way Marvel Studios intended, because the director, Chloé Zhao, is extremely talented. She’s behind movies like Hamnet and Nomadland, and if her vision had been better translated, it could have really been something different in the MCU. The Marvel movie should have been more appreciated in general, thanks to the great technical quality — people commonly note Makkari’s (Lauren Ridloff) abilities as one of the best visual representations of super speed in superhero cinema — and the wonderful performances.
8
‘Black Widow’ (2021) – $289 million
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After over a decade of people asking for a movie about Black Widow, fans finally got what they were asking for in 2021 with the aptly titled Black Widow. While it didn’t turn out as well as many would have liked—partially because Marvel Studios questionably decided to wait until after she died in Avengers: Endgame to make her solo movie, lessening the impact of the project by a lot.
While it gave the world the ever-iconic Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and made her a commonly beloved hero in the MCU cast, it didn’t spawn as much good as people expected. This isn’t to say it’s a bad movie, but it certainly was underwhelming for many. It’s not clear whether Marvel Studios was pleased with how much money—$289 million—they put into it, but the result can be assumed.
7
‘The Marvels’ (2023) –$374 million
If anything is certain, it’s that after Avengers: Endgame, Marvel struggled critically and financially. In 2023, they’d experience one of their largest financial losses of all time with the Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels. With a budget of $374 million, the follow-up only brought in a truly painful $206 million. When accounting for the fact that the budget typically doesn’t include the marketing costs for the movie, this number hurts to even think about.
Many will argue, though, that The Marvels didn’t deserve such a reception. Is it perfect? Definitely not, but this project is not nearly as bad as some would say. Many attribute the negativity to a large group who have pretty unfair opinions of both the character and Brie Larson. The film has an audience score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critics’ score of 63%, which is pretty sad, as the movie is, at the very least, fun and not nearly rough enough to warrant such a horrible financial reception. Also, the power gimmick between the three protagonists is unique and makes the fight scenes some of the coolest post-Avengers: Endgame.
6
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018) – $300–400 million
Stepping away from Marvel Studios’ losses, Avengers: Infinity War is one of their biggest successes in the company’s history, and is considered the best film in the Avengers franchise. It’s the first part of the finale to the Infinity Saga and a gigantic accomplishment on the part of directors Joe and Anthony Russo. On paper, it should not have worked as well as it does, but it’s a great example of how studios and filmmakers can correctly utilize a large budget, which in this case comes out to an estimated $300–400 million.
Avengers: Infinity War uses its budget to manage a gigantic cast of main characters alongside huge spectacle action sequences. Thanos (Josh Brolin) is also a fully CGI character and looks convincing and terrifying. Truly, Infinity War has some of the best visual effects in the MCU and even superhero films in general, and it was a huge success, with a worldwide box office of a whopping $2 billion.
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