Superheroes continue to be a good attraction for the public. Especially in these times. But not all equally. While the recent Supergirl has had a real hit in theaters, the film box office continues to smile thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which has been smashing records since its premiere on July 29, attracting en masse an audience that was eagerly awaiting the new adventures of Peter Parker played by Tom Holland.
The fourth installment of the saga of the spider hero, with a budget of about 225 million dollars, has exceeded 2,000 million worldwide - specifically it has accumulated 2,340 to date -, it has emerged as the highest-grossing film of 2026 and the second highest grossing in history. In just six days it crossed 1 billion global dollars (the second fastest film to do so, only behind Avengers: Endgame), and in 19 days it surpassed 800 million in the domestic market, the fastest record so far. A stratospheric success that continues to climb to the top and that has given immense joy to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (UCM), which awaits the final climax starting next December 18 with the landing of Avengers: Doomsday, the first of the two Avengers films for Phase 6 that "will leave all viewers speechless," according to Kevin Feige, the head of the studio.
The incredible collection of Spider-Man, with a protagonist separated from his friends and focused on defending New York City alone, adds to that of the select club that includes Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar 2, Titanic, Ne Zha 2, Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. Spider-Man: No way home, released in 2021, closed with 1.9 billion, but did not reach the historic figure due, among other reasons, to the fact that it was not screened in China.
The results of Spider-Man's new adventures contrast with Supergirl's plummet. Directed by Craig Gillespie and with a production budget of about $180 million plus an additional $120 million in marketing expenses, the Warner film starring Milly Alcock landed in theaters on June 26 and has earned just over $126 million worldwide. Something that makes it the worst-grossing DC film since Catwoman (2004) - which amassed only $82 million -, and below other historical failures in superhero cinema such as Morbius (167.5 million) and Joker: Folie à Deux (208 million) with which Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix hit it despite previously triumphing with Joker (2019), which grossed $1,078 million on a budget of around 60 million and gave Phoenix the Oscar for best actor.
The arrival of the last daughter of Krypton in theaters was going to be the big bet of the new DC Universe orchestrated by James Gunn and Peter Safran after the success of Superman (2025) played by David Corenswet, which raised $618.7 million worldwide, generating moderate profits for the studio. However, his run couldn't have been more disappointing. “What fails is that it sought to be something new and in the end it ends up falling into the same traps that almost all superhero films have,” says journalist and film critic Alejandro G. Calvo. Supergirl has barely lasted a month and a half in theaters and since August 11 it has been available on various digital platforms.
"I think Spider-Man is a much more complete film, I remember that I saw it in a cinema in Lanzarote and people screamed with excitement, while Supergirl had many things against it. It didn't have good reviews or good word of mouth. It's a character that basically only the very fans of DC comics know about. The actress is good but little known in a universe that has been reactivated every two or three years and people don't even know where she is. Why is the actor from Aquaman (Jason Momoa) the same one who plays “Wolf?” he asks with a laugh. And he continues: "In addition, Spider-Man belongs to the most successful cinematographic universe of the 21st century. Marvel films will be better or worse but they are stricter in their development. And this fourth installment, without being the bomb, is almost classic cinema, it has a lot of romantic comedy and is made about the characters and not about the spectacular actions, something that has hooked everyone," he argues.
For Calvo, the star of the film is Zendaya – “if she had starred in Supergirl, the box office would have been spectacular” – not Tom Holland who, by the way, is estimated to earn more than $100 million for this single film (for his first foray as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War ten years ago he earned $250,000), which makes him the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, according to The Wrap.
Given the numerous criticisms received for the Kryptonian's space adventures, Safran issued a statement in The New York Times acknowledging that the film "had not met our expectations at the box office, although it is only one component of a broader long-term strategy in which DC Studios continues to trust."
What has happened with Gillespie's film is reminiscent of the fiasco of the production about the Man of Steel cousin starring Helen Slater in 1984 - it amassed just over 14 million of an estimated budget of 35 - and makes it clear that the public is more interested in other DC heroes such as Batman, whose trilogy by Christopher Nolan captured critics and viewers and amassed more than 2.4 billion dollars worldwide. The Batman played by Robert Pattinson in The Batman (2022) didn't do too badly either with 772 million. The second part is expected in February 2028.
