Both Marvel Studios and DC Studios released major films in their respective franchises this month, and now that both opening weekends have passed, Superman stands as the winner — though not by much. In its first weekend out, Superman earned $125 million at the domestic box office, and $220 million worldwide. It outpaced The Fantastic Four: First Steps by just a bit in both categories — the Marvel movie earned $117 million domestically, and $216 million worldwide. The narrow margin is an exciting sign for the friendly rivalry between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe going forward, especially with a few weeks to go before the movies both finish their theatrical runs.
Superman premiered on July 11th, giving it a two-week head start on First Steps, which premiered on Friday, July 25th. Their opening weekends were practically neck and neck, but of course, Superman has already pulled ahead in terms of overall profit. At the time of this writing, the movie has an estimated overall profit of $503.6 million — nearly double its production budget of $225 million. There’s no telling if First Steps will be in the same position two weeks from now, nor how long either movie will stay in theaters.
Still, the slight edge gives Superman one major distinction — it currently has the highest-grossing opening weekend of 2025, behind only A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Stitch. That means it’s ahead of every other superhero movie released this year, including Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. From that perspective, DC’s win over Marvel looks much more decisive.
This isn’t the first time DC and Marvel have faced off directly at the box office — in November of 2017, Marvel released Thor: Ragnarok just as DC released Justice League. That showdown had a very different result — Ragnarok exceeded all expectations with a $122.7 million weekend, while Justice League came in far below projections at $93.8 million. This was especially surprising as Thor promised a stand-alone adventure, while Justice League was billed as the DCEU’s first big team-up.
In both cases, comparing the two movies is a bit like comparing apples to oranges, and most fans agree it’s not a competition, anyway. A rising tide lifts all ships in this case, and the superhero genre as a whole will benefit from this influx of new interest. The few fans who turned out for one franchise and not the other could have their minds changed at any moment with the right recommendation from a friend. Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are both playing in theaters now.
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