The Fantastic Four: First Steps Kicks Off MCU Phase 6 With Strong Start at the Box Office, Superman Shoots Past $500M

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has kicked off Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with an impressive $118 million domestic box office haul from opening weekend.

That’s the fourth biggest domestic opening of 2025, behind A Minecraft Movie ($162 million), Lilo & Stitch ($146 million), and Superman ($125 million).

First Steps, starring Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, pulled in $100 million internationally, making for a global tally of $218 million.

That’s the best opening weekend for a Marvel movie since last year’s billion dollar blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine, and is comfortably ahead of this year’s box office disappointments Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.

Fantastic Four’s opening is pretty much kneck and kneck with Superman’s, which managed $217 million globally when it launched. The question for Marvel and parent company Disney will be, can Fantastic Four show staying power at theaters in the weeks and months ahead, long enough to be considered a success theatrically.

All eyes are on Fantastic Four’s performance following Marvel’s recent box office struggles, with the big budget Avengers: Doomsday out late next year. Before that, Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes out July 2026. Then Avengers: Secret Wars launches in 2027.

Meanwhile, Superman is the highest-grossing superhero film of 2025, above both Captain America and Thunderbolts* after three weekends. It’s now up to $502.7 million globally.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.