One of the most disastrous movies ever to carry the Marvel tag just landed on Disney+. The streamer’s library is stacked with Marvel content, covering everything from MCU blockbusters made in-house by Marvel Studios to other productions from studios like Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox. Most of that catalog is must-watch stuff, especially ahead of December 18’s Avengers: Doomsday, putting some of the best superhero movies ever made right at users’ fingertips. This new addition, however, is remembered as one of the worst superhero movies in recent memory.
Kraven the Hunter is now streaming on Disney+ in the United States, having joined the platform on Sunday, September 13. The timing is no surprise, as under Sony and Netflix’s current streaming deal, Sony’s Marvel movies premiere exclusively on Netflix for an 18-month window after their theatrical run, then move to Disney+ for a second window alongside the rest of the Marvel catalog.
This will also be the case for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, eventually, after it finally stops breaking nearly every box office record.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter hit theaters in December 2024 and became an outright disaster. It opened to just $11 million domestically, the lowest start ever for a Sony Marvel title, and finished its run with only $25 million total domestically and $62 million worldwide, against a reported $110 million budget.
It didn’t help that the film landed a C CinemaScore and 15% critics’ Rotten Tomatoes score, indicating an all-around rejection from fans and pundits alike.
That collapse was the final nail in the coffin for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Sony Pictures CEO Tim Rothman confirmed as much in comments in August, stating that “There are [no Sony Marvel movies] in active development:”
“Right now, we don’t know. We never looked at it as the ‘Sony-Marvel Universe.’ We looked at if there were worthwhile movies to make with other characters. At the moment, there are none in active development.”
He was equally blunt about why the franchise stalled out: “Ultimately, the audience wasn’t satisfied enough with them,”Rothman said, adding, “The audience is the boss, and they didn’t respond. It’s as simple as that.”
Luckily for Rothman and Sony, their partnership with Disney and Marvel Studios is making them one of the most successful studios of 2026, with Brand New Day now passing $2.45 billion globally. It will also be the highest-earning movie ever domestically, projected to hit as much as $960 million.
That doesn’t change the fact that Sony lost around $70 million on 2024’s Kraven the Hunter overall, though its long-term waterfall effect (digital, physical, and streaming sales) will help it not be as much of a failure.
That said, it wasn’t enough to save the SSU’s future on the big screen. In fact, a precursor to Kraven was an even more iconic flop, setting the stage for the spin-off universe’s eventual collapse.
Many past Marvel box office flops on Disney+ prompted the studios to question their direction, leading to canceled sequels, storylines, and entire cinematic universes.
Top 6 Marvel Flops Streaming on Disney+
The Incredible Hulk
First up is a film that isn’t really a financial flop on the surface, only when compared to its MCU counterparts. Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner starred in what remains the only solo Hulk movie in the MCU, and while it made a respectable $264.8 million worldwide against a $150 million budget, it has still been seen as a modest flop.
For about 15 years, The Incredible Hulk sat at the bottom of the MCU’s box office rankings, making it the de facto punching bag, with the character now only being used for crossover events.
Elektra
Jennifer Garner’s Elektra spinoff from 2003’s Daredevil was raked over the coals by critics and audiences alike, earning 11% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and just 29% from audiences, and it’s remembered still as one of the very worst comic book movies.
But its modest $43 million budget kept the damage contained: against a $56.7 million worldwide gross, Elektra likely didn’t lose all that much money at the end of the day, just did damage to the brand.
Garner eventually got her redemption anyway, returning as Elektra in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which held the record for the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever before The Odyssey took it this summer.
Madame Web
Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web became one of those rare films that went viral for being bad, joining Morbius as a punchline the internet couldn’t stop meme-ing, without actually going to the theater.
It pulled in just $100.5 million worldwide on a budget estimated at just less than $100 million, leaving Sony probably having lost more than $70 million. Looking back, Madame Web now just seems like the beginning of the end for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, arriving months before Kraven the Hunter.
Fantastic Four (2015)
Josh Trank’s attempt to reboot the Fantastic Four with a young cast, Miles Teller as Reed Richards, alongside Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell, will be forever remembered as one of the worst-performing comic book movies ever.
It’s hard to get much worse than FAN4STIC: the film made only $168 million worldwide against a $120 million budget, and once marketing and distribution are factored in, the estimated loss lands probably north of $100 million.
Dark Phoenix
Fox’s X-Men franchise didn’t get the ending it wanted. Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey took center stage as the corrupted Dark Phoenix, a storyline already told by Fox over a decade earlier, and the movie (and universe) went out with a thud instead of a bang.
Its $252.4 million worldwide haul isn’t embarrassing on its own, but when stacked against a reported $200 million budget, it left Fox with a major loss as it was being absorbed by the Walt Disney Company.
The timing made it sting even more, too, since 2019 was a massive year at the box office, with the MCU thriving, which made Dark Phoenix’s underperformance look even worse by comparison. Look out for the X-Men’s next chance at box office glory in 2028.
The Marvels
And finally, the biggest financial disaster of them all: Marvel Studios’ The Marvels.
Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel sequel, which teamed up with Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani, made just $206.1 million worldwide against a reported $274.8 million budget, and Deadline reported a net loss of around $237 million. A remarkable step down from 2019’s Captain Marvel, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
A leaked budget report later alleged the real production cost had ballooned to $378 million, which would make the actual loss likely closer to $300 million.
Whatever the true number, The Marvels became one of many major factors in Marvel Studios pulling back its Disney+ and theatrical output. No matter anyone’s opinion of The Marvels, quality (maybe even scarcity) was going to be prioritized over quantity.
