Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps has logged the weakest five-day debut of any MCU theatrical title released on Disney+, pulling in just 4.9 million views, a shocking figure that puts it at the bottom of the opening weekend viewership for MCU Titles at Disney+.
The number lands 23% below the year’s first Marvel release, Captain America: Brave New World (6.4M), and 10% below Thunderbolts (5.5M), signaling a continuation of audience erosion at a time when Marvel and Disney have wanted the opposite. The film even viewership than the critical and commercial failure that was The Marvels.
For a franchise once hyped as the beginning of a new era, its middling box office performance and even worse streaming figures underscore a concerning lack of urgency from viewers, even with the curiosity that typically surrounds a reboot of one of Marvel’s most iconic teams.
According to Nielsen, The Fantastic Four: First Steps pulled in 556 million viewing minutes, equivalent of 4.9 million views, placing third overall in the Top 10 Movies chart behind Netflix’s Frankenstein and their animated blockbuster KPop Demon Hunters.
While First Steps did enough to rank on both Nielsen’s Original and Movie charts, the debut pales in comparison to other Phase 5 Marvel titles:
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 led its debut week with 1.6 billion minutes viewed.
Deadpool & Wolverine landed 1.34 billion minutes in its first week, topping the charts in November 2024.
Captain America: Brave New World opened at 759 million minutes, also taking the No. 1 spot.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania charted at the second spot with 766 million viewing minutes.
The Marvels reached 558 million minutes but still topped Nielsen’s movie chart the week of its release.
MCU Disney+ First 5-Day Streaming Numbers
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — 14.1M
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — 10.9M
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — 9.7M
- Eternals — 9.2M
- Captain America: Brave New World — 6.4M
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — 6.1M
- Thunderbolts* — 5.5M
- The Marvels — 5.3M
- Black Widow — 5.1M
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps — 4.9M
Despite glowing reviews, at the box office, the could just about get over its breakeven point of $500 million, and could only make $521 million globally. While it is the highest-grossing MCU film of the year, it is also the first time since 2011, an MCU film failed to make the Top 10 at the global box office.
Sure, the fans always appreciate a good film, and both Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps have seen a positive reception by the fans and critics alike, but it just does not seem like the general audience cared much for either of these films. The Fantastic Four’s second weekend drop is hard evidence of this damning fact.
It’s also not a secret that Disney and Marvel Studios are not even in the business of breaking even; they want their films to make them a good amount of profit, and this is the first time they have been in this sort of hot water.
Source: Nielsen, Netflix & Chiffres.