It's only mid-October, but that's it for new movies and TV shows from Marvel Studios and DC Studios. We still expect plenty of announcements, trailers, and reveals before 2025 is over, of course, and both studios had a busy year.
For DC Studios, it was all about relaunching a brand on its last legs. As for Marvel Studios, the goal was to bounce back after a challenging few years that had been hampered by "superhero fatigue" and a focus on streaming content.
There were successes and failures on both sides, but this genre is clearly going nowhere. Still, it's hard not to wonder which of them "won" 2025. In this feature, we look back at the past 10 months, evaluating what went right and wrong for the MCU and DCU.
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Superman Was The Year's Box Office Winner
The last time a DCEU movie made over $500 million at the worldwide box office was in 2018 when Aquaman exceeded expectations. Shazam! was a moderate hit in 2019, but it was all downhill from there, with as many commercial flops as critical ones.
2023 was a disaster for the DC brand, and even Joker: Folie à Deux crashed and burned last year. Not only did James Gunn deliver a Superman movie that won over fans and critics alike, but it was easily the biggest superhero box office hit of 2025 with over $615 million worldwide.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps couldn't compete with its $520 million haul, while Captain America: Brave New World ($413 million) and Thunderbolts* ($382 million) reached nowhere near the same heights as the Man of Steel.
The MCU Has A More Exciting Future
As we head into 2026, Marvel Studios' slate does appear a little more exciting than what DC Studios currently has planned.
2026 has Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Daredevil: Born Again, VisionQuest, Wonder Man, and new seasons of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and X-Men '97. DC Studios, meanwhile, isn't slacking with Supergirl, Lanterns, and Clayface.
Still, none of those feel like events or even fall into the category of must-see superhero storytelling right now (especially when we keep hearing that Lanterns will be a "grounded" Green Lantern story). They all have potential, but a horror movie set in Gotham City—without Batman—isn't up there with what Marvel Studios is offering fans next year.
Captain America: Brave New World May Have Killed A Franchise
Marvel Studios spent much of 2025 attempting to move on from the "quantity over quality" issues that have plagued the MCU since Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, there was at least one more casualty this year, courtesy of Captain America: Brave New World.
The movie was plagued with issues behind the scenes, and not even some of the studio's most extensive reshoots yet could save a story that clearly never worked. As a result, Sam Wilson's standing as Cap was damaged almost beyond repair, as was a previously $1 billion franchise.
There were elements of Captain America: Brave New World that deserve praise, but ultimately, it was a let-down. What could have been a fun first adventure for Sam proved to be a Winter Soldier wannabe, and left fans eager for Steve Rogers' return.
Daredevil: Born Again Beats Peacemaker
Ironheart didn't leave much of a lasting impact beyond Sacha Baron Cohen's pitch-perfect take on Mephisto. Daredevil: Born Again, however, overcame a creative overhaul to finally bring the Man Without Fear squarely into the MCU.
With a TV-MA rating, it seems fitting to compare the Daredevil revival to Peacemaker Season 2. While they're two very different shows, James Gunn's worst impulses were front and centre—goofy subplots, gratuitous orgy scenes, and hit-or-miss humour—Daredevil: Born Again added to the MCU by establishing a street-level corner that will expand with The Punisher and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Peacemaker introduced some intriguing new ideas, only to waste its talented lead and concepts like Earth-X that made it arguably the DCU's first big misstep. Daredevil: Born Again wasn't perfect, but its upcoming Season 2 is a far more exciting prospect than Peacemaker Season 3...
Thunderbolts* And The Fantastic Four Were A Step In The Right Direction For A Troubled Brand
People like to make it sound like Marvel Studios has been delivering disaster after disaster since Avengers: Endgame, and that simply isn't true. There have been plenty of movies and TV shows just as good, if not better, than those from the Infinity Saga. There have also been some major disappointments.
Regardless, in what proved to be another rocky year for the MCU, Thunderbolts* delivered one of the most moving and impactful stories of the year. Yes, it flopped, but Jake Schreier now being at the helm of the X-Men reboot is a genius move on Kevin Feige's part.
As for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, while it had some issues (it would have benefited from an added 20 minutes on the runtime), it was, in many ways, Marvel Studios back on top form. Marvel's First Family has been given a fresh coat of paint, and this reboot proved there's still plenty of life in the brand.
Superman Was Exactly What The Genre Needed
It's become impossible to deny "superhero fatigue" exists, and in many ways, Superman was the remedy to it. James Gunn did cram in a lot of ideas while establishing his new DCU, but the result was a feel-good movie that even left die-hard Marvel fans grinning from ear to ear.
By embracing the comic books and delivering a hopeful take on this character, the filmmaker delivered a movie that could appeal to the masses and reignite interest in a character that many people felt was outdated and no longer a draw.
We still have some questions and concerns about Gunn's wider plans for the DCU. However, if this is an indication of what's to come from the "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters" slate, not even the odd let-down like Peacemaker Season 2 (which many fans did love) can derail DC Studios. That bodes well for the future.
Who do you think "won" 2025: Marvel Studios or DC Studios? As always, you can let us know your thoughts in the comments section.