Well, that’s up to interpretation. The latest Marvel movies have been amazing, to say the least. With at least 82% on rotten tomatoes, this is the highest they’ve been in a few years. With Deadpool & Wolverine crossing $1B in the box office, and becoming the highest grossing Rated R movie of all time, it really gave us Marvel fans hope that “Marvel is finally back.” Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps also gave us even more hope, with both of them being above 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Marvel fans had been losing hope after the movies Thor: Love & Thunder (2022), She-Hulk (2022), The Marvels (2023), and Captain America: Brave New World (2025). These movies (and shows) not only were poorly received, but also made significantly less money than previous films.
When asked about the potential comeback, Pitman student Marrtez Portis (11), replied, “It’s going well so far, and the future movies will make it blow up again, for sure, such as Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Secret Wars (2027), Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027), Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), maybe even a Deadpool 4.”
Many people have stated that Post-Endgame Marvel is just simply not what it used to be. For too long, they chose quantity over quality. Kevin Feige (CEO of Marvel Studios) even admitted that they prioritized quantity over quality after Avengers: Endgame.
It clearly affected the general audience, and the box office. A great example of this is Thunderbolts* (2025), which had a 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but flopped in the box office. It just shows that the general audience no longer has the hope in Marvel that they once did.
So to answer the question “Is Marvel back?” Yes, it is. Due to the higher rotten tomatoes and fan ratings, Marvel hasn’t had such a good streak since Avengers: Endgame. While some may be cautious still, a lot of Marvel fans still have hope that our beloved MCU has finally returned.