Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning VS Marvel: Can Tom Cruise Reclaim The Box Office Throne It Lost To Avengers: Age Of Ultron In 2015?
Tom Cruise returns to the big screen to close out the crucial chapter of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, and quite possibly to “rescue” the theatrical business stateside and abroad. After seven years in production alongside its predecessor, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning faces box office pressure that makes its title feel more literal than narrative. The stakes are high — not just in North America but worldwide — as Cruise and Paramount once again set their sights on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s global earnings.
Despite being the highest-grossing film series of all time, the MCU, and Marvel in general, have been repeatedly defeated at the box office by Mission: Impossible. In fact, until its third billion-dollar flick, the MCU had not beaten the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) in ticket admissions.
Going back to 2000, when Mission: Impossible II registered itself as the 21st century’s first reigning champion at the global box office with $547 million (according to Box Office Mojo), Marvel maintained a low profile, as 21st Century Fox’s X-Men trailed behind with $296 million for a ninth-place finish.
The first collision between Marvel Cinematic Universe and MI occurred in 2011 when, despite a December release, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol made $694 million for a fifth-place finish on the worldwide chart. On the other hand, MCU’s Captain America: The First Avenger ($370 million) and Thor ($449 million) couldn’t even make it into the top 10 despite their summer runs, registering below Cruise’s stunner in both worldwide and domestic ranks, as well as critical reception.
The Mission: Impossible series lost its glory of beating Marvel in 2015 when Avengers: Age of Ultron, the sophomore entry to their crown jewel franchise-within-franchise, bested Rogue Nation’s $682 million with $1.4 billion (according to Box Office Mojo), despite Ant-Man ($519 million) not going out of its way to put butts into theater seats.
The phenomenon returned in 2018 when Avengers: Infinity War ($2 billion) and Black Panther ($1.34 billion) won the box office, while Mission: Impossible—Fallout, despite better critical response and longevity, settled for $791 million, the highest global tally in the franchise at the time.
In 2023, thanks to Barbenheimer, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning ($571 million) registered softly at worldwide ticket windows. While Marvel suffered far worse with two of the biggest box office bombs of all time — Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($476 million) and The Marvels ($206 million) — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($845 million) caused an upset to circumvent the Entity’s threat.
Now, in 2025, amid the underwhelming fan interest and sloppy approach to inserting social messages, Marvel’s untouchable summit has fallen precipitously. It’s Captain America: Brave New World ($415 million) and Thunderbolts* ($278 million worldwide at the time of writing) do not carry the impetus to resist Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning reclaiming its box office crown.
While the Tom Cruise spectacle is all but assured to bring in at least $600 million ($200 million of that within North America), the judgment lies in the hands of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Current murmurs suggest that The Final Reckoning has got it in its pocket, though with Marvel, one never knows.
Note: Box office numbers are attributed to estimates from various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
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