Many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans weren’t ready to hear this truth about Marvel Studios’ releases in 2025, but IMDb has revealed the truth. After a relatively slow year in 2024, Marvel Studios released three feature films in 2025, developing the stories of heroes such as Sam Wilson’s Captain America, the New Avengers (née the Thunderbolts), and the Fantastic Four. These movies debuted to varying levels of success, but only one has landed on IMDb’s top ten list of Most Popular Movies of 2025.

While the number one spot is filled by the new DC Universe’s Superman reboot, which achieved a rating of 7.1 based on 366k scores. Superman is followed by Weapons, Sinners, One Battle After Another, Jurassic World Rebirth, Frankenstein, and Happy Gilmore 2, while Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* hits the list at number eight. Scored 7.1 based on 249k ratings, Thunderbolts* has surprised some by making this list ahead of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which had a significantly higher box office draw and introduced Marvel’s First Family to the MCU for the first time ever.

Why Thunderbolts* Made IMDb’s List But The Fantastic Four: First Steps Didn’t

Given the disparate box office totals and legacy of the Fantastic Four, some could have assumed The Fantastic Four: First Steps would have been more highly-rated than Thunderbolts*. This is especially true as we’d never had a strong live-action adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four team before, but Matt Shakman had a unique and stylistic tone that gave Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach a great sandbox to play in. Conversely, few had hope for Thunderbolts*, but the crossover movie became one of Marvel Studios’ biggest surprises when it hit theaters in May 2025.

Thunderbolts* brought together antiheroes and reformed villains from the MCU’s past as a brand-new team tasked with stopping the Void—the dark alter ego of new super-soldier Robert Reynolds’ Sentry—and saving New York City. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov’s Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Ava Starr’s Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and John Walker’s US Agent (Wyatt Russell) worked fantastically on-screen, and it was brilliant to see them outed as the New Avengers at the end of the movie. These surprises made Thunderbolts* a surprise hit for the MCU.

While we loved seeing the Fantastic Four enter the MCU officially in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Thunderbolts* will arguably age better as the MCU progresses, and, by introducing the New Avengers, may have even had a bigger impact on the franchise. On IMDb, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is only close behind Thunderbolts*, ranked 6.9 based on 223k ratings, so it surely almost got a spot on the top ten list. While it just missed out, the popularity of both Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps spells good news for the MCU’s future, which has us very excited.

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