Sony's Spider-Man Universe is now ostensibly defunct after Kraven the Hunter failed to hit the mark and hammered the final nail in the coffin for the franchise. Despite Sony's Venom trilogy keeping the franchise's head above water, the generally middling-to-favorable response to Tom Hardy's adaptation did not translate to the remaining movies.

Suffice it to say, the MCU has consistently fared much better. Even The Marvels, which is the overall success of the MCU and its cast of superheroes who are objectively more popular than the comparatively obscure peripheral characters in Spider-Man's mythos, there is one MCU hero who should be faring much better individually than he has throughout his cinematic career.

The Sony Spider-Man Universe's Box Office Contains Some Of The Lowest Recent Movie Results

Kraven The Hunter Is One Of The Lowest-Grossing Superhero Movies Of All Time

Sony's Spider-Man Universe had been going generally downhill since 2018's Venom grossed $856 million worldwide, according to better-received than Madame Web, however, this did not translate to a superior financial result.

Sony's Spider-Man Universe Movies

Worldwide Box Office

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score

Venom (2018)

$856,081,053

30%

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

$501,546,922

57%

Morbius (2022)

$162,759,437

15%

Madame Web (2024)

$100,298,817

11%

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

$472,447,179

41%

Kraven the Hunter (2024)

$60,011,428

15%

Total Worldwide Box Office: $2,153,144,836

In fact, Kraven the Hunter is one of the lowest-grossing superhero movies of all time. Another well-known Marvel flop, Elektra, banked just $4 million less than Kraven the Hunter when it was released in 2005 (though this didn't prevent the generally well-received cameo from Jennifer Garner's titular hero in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine). I'm not exactly shocked by the result, as Sony's Spider-Man Universe is notoriously prone to spotlighting such obscure characters as Madame Web (who never received a solo comic series), but it's wild that its total box office exceeds a more famous Marvel hero so much.

The Hulk's Box Office Results Are Lower Than The Sony Spider-Man Universe

The Hulk's Solo Cinematic Career Grossed Around $500 Million

The Incredible Hulk is one of Marvel Comics' most illustrious and recognizable characters. The big, green rage monster is so ingrained in the general zeitgeist that phrases like "hulking out" are part of the common vernacular. I would also argue that, while Spider-Man clinches the top spot as Marvel's most famous character, Hulk is at least in the top three. Nevertheless, Spider-Man's solo movie career categorically dwarfs that of his Marvel Comics colleague, who boasts just two theatrical movies, which have modest global box offices, including:

  • 2003's Hulk - $245,031,679
  • 2008's The Incredible Hulk - $265,573,859

Lou Ferrigno's Hulk also starred in a series of TV movies based on the iconic series from the 1970s and 1980s.

Although they are not a part of the same franchise, Hulk's entire solo cinematic career amounts to a relatively paltry $511 million, which pales in comparison to Sony's Spider-Man Universe and its $2.1 billion worldwide gross. Even comparing Hulk's cinematic career to Venom alone shows that the arguably less famous symbiote more than triples Hulk's worldwide gross, with Venom's solo trilogy totaling $1.83 billion. Even Venom's lowest-grossing movie, Venom: The Last Dance, comes close to Hulk's entire solo cinematic career.

Why The Hulk's Box Office Results Are Less Than $1 Billion

The Hulk Only Has Two Solo Movies

Hulk's MCU career also pales in comparison to his fellow "Big Three" Avengers, namely Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. These superheroes boast at least $1 billion each across their solo ventures, even if we discount Captain America: Civil War for being an Avengers movie in disguise and Thor: Ragnarok for also featuring the Hulk. Just by looking at his fellow Avengers' careers and Sony's Spider-Man Universe, the reasons for Hulk's financial shortcomings become eminently clear: Hulk only has two solo theatrical movies, and just one in the MCU.

Hulk excels when he is part of a team - be it the Avengers or the Revengers - so it stands to reason that most of his character development occurs in the MCU's immensely successful Avengers franchise.

Compounding this is that, for quite some time, The Incredible Hulk was the MCU's lowest-grossing movie until 2024's The Marvels clinched that unenviable accolade. The next-lowest-grossing movie in MCU Phase 1, Thor, grossed nearly $200 million more than The Incredible Hulk. Setting aside the complications of Universal owning the distribution rights to Hulk until recently, this would suggest that Hulk is, for some reason, less appealing to audiences than his fellow Marvel superheroes.

Close up of Hulk looking sad with necklaces around his neck in Thor Ragnarok
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1

While I'm personally inclined to disagree with this sentiment, I can see why this might be the case. Hulk excels when he is part of a team - be it the Avengers or the Revengers - so it stands to reason that most of his character development occurs in the MCU's immensely successful Avengers franchise. Still, I think the Jade Giant deserves more, as Bruce Banner is genuinely one of Marvel Comics' most compelling characters, and I maintain hope that Marvel Studios will soon see the light and improve Hulk's fortunes with a new solo movie.

  • Venom (2018) Movie Poster (minimalisitc)
    Sony's Spider-Man Universe
    Created by
    David Michelinie, Todd McFarlane, Roy Thomas, Gil Kane
    First Film
    Venom
    Films
    Kraven the Hunter, The Sinister Six
    TV Shows
    Spider-Noir (2025), Silk: Spider Society
    Latest Film
    Madame Web
    Cast
    Jared Leto, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Woody Harrelson, Matt Smith, Reid Scott

    Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is a media franchise and shared universe centered around various characters associated with Spider-Man, but without including Spider-Man himself as a central figure. The SSU focuses on antiheroes and villains like Venom and Morbius and has expanded to include additional characters like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter. The franchise exists independently of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but has made some minor crossovers.

  • MCU Franchise Poster
    Marvel Cinematic Universe
    Created by
    Kevin Feige
    First Film
    Iron Man
    TV Shows
    Agatha: Coven of Chaos, Vision Quest
    First TV Show
    Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
    Cast
    Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors

    The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.

MCU Movies

Source: The Numbers & Rotten Tomatoes