The 10 highest-grossing superhero movies starring people of color
Superhero movies are widely popular these days. However, said films aren’t always the most diverse. Hollywood has issues with diversity in general, and the most famous superheroes were created when FDR or JFK was president. Still, films starring a diverse cast, such as “Black Panther,” have become big hits. Thus, I thought I’d look at the most popular superhero films that feature people of color as the lead character or characters.
Criteria
Information is taken from the website The Numbers. Figures are as of October 12, 2022, and based on worldwide box office figures. Figures aren’t adjusted for inflation.
Also note I’m using the general public/mainstream media definition of “superhero film,” i.e. “characters who live in the Marvel Universe or DC Universe, regardless of their actual genre.” Admittedly, limiting things to traditional costumed superheroes would make this list a lot tougher, which says a lot about the state of diversity in superhero films.
The top 10 superhero films starring people of color
“Black Panther” (2018): $1,336,494,321
“Aquaman” (2018): $1,143,758,700
“Big Hero 6” (2014): $648,415,024
“Hancock” (2008): $624,234,272
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021): $432,243,292
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018): $375,516,704
“Blade 2” (2002): $154,338,601
“Blade: Trinity” (2004): $131,353,165
“Blade” (1998): $131,237,688
“Catwoman” (2004): $82,078,046
Observations
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." (Marvel/Sony)
Unsurprisingly, “Black Panther” is the top-grossing film on the list; it’s also the sixth highest-grossing superhero film of all time. “Black Panther” and “Aquaman” are the only films to gross over $1 billion.
Two animated films make the list; at #3 is “Big Hero 6.” While Baymax the robot usually symbolizes the film’s franchise, his pal Hiro is the main human star of the film. Coming in at #6 is “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” starring Miles Morales.
Some of this list is made up of characters who either aren’t actually superheroes or aren’t traditional costumed superheroes. For starters, the “Blade” trilogy takes up three slots (#7-9). While Blade isn’t a traditional superhero (he’s a vampire slayer), he does live in the Marvel Universe. Similarly, at #5 there’s Shang-Chi, an expert martial artist within the Marvel Universe. At #4 is “Hancock,” a film that’s a deconstruction of the concept of superheroes.
The fact at #10 is Halle Berry’s “Catwoman,” a critical and commercial bomb upon release, also says a lot about the state of things. Though this should change with the releases of “Black Panther 2” and “Black Adam”; I’ll update this post accordingly.
That said, I thought films like “Steel” (1997) or “The Meteor Man” (1993) would rank higher, but apparently not. “Steel” only earned about $1.7 million, while “Meteor Man” only earned about $8 million.