Who Is The Most Valuable Comic Book Movie Character of All? It Might Not Be Who You Think

The Avengers might be the superheroes of the moment, but when it comes to the old, hard world of economics, they still have a little way to reach the top.

24/7 Wall Street recently took a break from analyzing the global stock markets (perhaps the economy is all sorted out now?) to also get involved in all the superhero hype. They took a look at publicly available box office information to create a financial pecking order of caped crusaders and spandex-clad heroes. Their findings might actually surprise you.

It seems that despite this recent lacklustre performance at the box office, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is on top when it comes to stuffing dollar bills into studio execs' wallets. Spidey, when all of his various movies are taken into account, has generated $3.96 billion at the box office - more than any other superhero. In fact, economically speaking, The Avengers are rather low on the list. Let's take a look at the top 10:

1. Spider-Man

Number of Movies: 5
Total Worldwide Gross: $3.96 billion
Top Grossing Movie: Spider-Man 3 (2007) - $890.8 million

2. Batman

Number of Movies: 8
Total Worldwide Gross: $3.8 billion
Top Grossing Movie: The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - $1.08 billion

3. X-Men

Number of Movies: 7
Total Worldwide Gross: $3.05 billion
Top Grossing Movie: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - $748 million

4. Iron Man

Number of Movies: 3
Total Worldwide Gross: $2.42 billion
Top Grossing Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013) - $1.22 billion

5. The Avengers

Number of Movies: 1
Total Worldwide Gross: $1.53 billion
Top Grossing Movie: The Avengers - $1.53 billion

NOTE: The figures for The Avengers do not include The Avengers: Age of Ultron. More on this later.

6. Superman

Number of Movies: 6
Total Worldwide Gross: $1.36 billion
Top Grossing Movie: Man of Steel (2013) - $688 million

=7. Captain America

Number of Movies: 2
Total Worldwide Gross: $1.09 billion
Top Grossing Movie: Captain America: The Winter Soldier - $714.8 million

=7. Thor

Number of Movies: 2
Total Worldwide Gross: $1.09 billion
Top Grossing Movie: Thor: The Dark World - $644.8 million

8. Guardians of the Galaxy

Number of Movies: 1
Total Worldwide Gross: $774.18 million
Top Grossing Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy - $774.18 million

9. The Hulk

Number of Movies: 2
Total Worldwide Gross: $508.76 million
Top Grossing Movie: The Incredible Hulk - $263.43 million

Now, before we all get too excited, let's discuss The Avengers. Yes, they currently only rank 5th in the list, which some might see as inaccurate. Firstly, this figure does not include The Avengers: Age of Ultron (as it is still in theaters), and secondly, some might argue the solo Marvel movies should also be included within the wider Avengers franchise. So let's correct that as best we can.

If we include the current box office takings for just the two The Avengersmovies, we arrive at a grand total of $2.16 billion - which means it still actually lingers down at fifth place. Of course, this is likely to change once its theatrical run is finished. Currently, The Avengers: Age of Ultron is expected to make $1.8 billion worldwide, which would shift the franchise into third place and bring a total of $3.33 billion.

It we include all the current solo movies by the Avengers gang (including the non-MCU Hulk films) then we get a more impressive figure: $7.268 billion. If you want to throw Spidey in there too (since, y'know, he's basically an Avenger now), the gang has made $11.228 billion - a figure that is technically referred to in financial circles as a "sh*t ton."

However, with Batman vs . Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as other big superhero movies planned in the future, do you think this ranking will change in the next few years?

Source: 24/7WallStreet

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