First Steps' Redeems Its Weak Box Office on Streaming Actorsvaultpro

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now streaming on paid video-on-demand, and it’s putting its own box office to shame. Marvel Studios released three MCU movies this year. Captain America: Brave New World flopped both with critics and at the box office. Thunderbolts* was a roaring success with critics, breathing new life into the long-worn Marvel formula — it’s just a shame that not many people watched it in theaters. The Fantastic Four: First Steps was supposed to put the MCU back in top form at the box office, even against such tough competition as James Gunn’s Superman. While The Fantastic Four was a decent hit at the box office, it’s safe to call the film’s overall performance underwhelming, especially in comparison to past major MCU movies. Thankfully, the film is currently a roaring success on digital.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently available on PVOD on iTunes, Amazon, Disney+, and the countless other major platforms. On the former, First Steps has shot to the top of the paid streaming charts following its digital release. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently the number one movie on iTunes. 2025’s best horror movie so far, Weapons, is in second, with Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning in third. The exact sales figures for The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ digital release haven’t been revealed. But, against such fierce competition, the film clearly has a strong draw on digital.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opened in theaters in July of this year. Two weeks after Superman was released, The Fantastic Four came to bring Marvel supremacy back to theaters. The film pulled a solid box office gross of $520 million. Most movies would kill for that kind of take. But, for a Marvel blockbuster, it’s somewhat low. No one was expecting it to blitz past Avengers: Endgame‘s staggering $2.79 billion. But many assumed that an IP as beloved as The Fantastic Four finally entering the MCU would cross the $1 billion mark. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Why Did ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Underperform at the Box Office?

Walt Disney Pictures

There isn’t a single defining reason as to why The Fantastic Four: First Steps underperformed in theaters. Instead, it’s likely the combination of several factors. The first is the dreaded “superhero fatigue.” Superhero films in general have seen a drastic downturn in popularity following Avengers: Endgame, with only a few outliers breaking that trend. The MCU’s other 2025 entries were more heavily affected by it, with Thunderbolts* grossing just $382 million, and Brave New World taking home $415 million. Again, that sounds like a lot. But in comparison to their production and marketing budgets, it’s not the bank-breaking figure it might seem like.

Then there’s the film’s Multiverse story. The Fantastic Four: First Steps was set in an alternate MCU timeline. Many fans were hoping that the debut of Marvel’s First Family would at least be a part of the core timeline. While the film’s finale may have brought them to Earth—616, the overall negative reception to the Multiverse Saga likely hampered the film’s box office.