- Retail & merch71%
- Box office24%
- Home video & streaming5.2%
est. 1939
Batman
began as a comic
$29.9Bestimated lifetime revenue
Shelf EmpireRetail and merchandise makes up 71% of the revenue we could break down. We use this label at 60% or more.
No. 12 of 99, ranked by estimated lifetime revenue
What we know
Sources checked to
- Estimated lifetime revenue
- $29.9BMoney taken in before costs. This is not profit or company value.
- Biggest source of revenue
- Retail & merch 71%of the revenue we can break down
- Verified rights holder
- DC ComicsParent group: Warner Bros. Discovery
- Where it began
- 1939 · a comic
- How sure is this estimate?
- Reasonable estimateUseful, but some sources or details are limited.
Reasonable estimatefive checks; the lowest score sets the rating
- Where the number comes from
- scored 2 out of 4
- What the number measures
- scored 3 out of 4
- How recent the estimate is
- scored 4 out of 4
- How much of the total is itemised
- scored 4 out of 4
- Double-counting risk
- scored 1 out of 4
Rights and ownership
Verified current rights holder: DC Comics · parent group: Warner Bros. Discovery
Holds documented current rights (copyright, trademark).
See all verified rights (2)
| Right | Holder | Territory | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copyrightcharacter and publications | DC Comics | Worldwide | 1939 |
| Trademarkbrand | DC Comics | Worldwide | 1939 |
How the money mix changed
began as a comic, 1939
Publishing
biggest revenue source in this data
Retail & merch
100% of the revenue we can break down now comes from outside publishing
Overlapping totals
- Overlaps DC Extended Universe — amount not knownDCEU Batman appearances (e.g. Batman v Superman) are counted in both the Batman franchise total and the DCEU total; no sourced split.
More ways to compare it
We calculate these numbers from the records above. The formulas are on the Receipts page. If the data is not strong enough, we leave a number out.
- Share from merchandise
- 71%
- How varied the revenue is
- 35 / 100
- Revenue beyond where it started
- 100%
- Average revenue per year
- $344M per year
- lifetime average, not the current yearly rate
- Online interest compared with revenue
- not shown: search-interest data was unavailable at snapshot time
Sources and calculationsshow detailshide details
| Channel | Value | Share | Confidence | Source | Checked on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail & merch | $21.3B | 71% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Box office | $7.05B | 24% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Home video & streaming | $1.55B | 5.2% | reasonable estimate | List of highest-grossing media franchises — Wikipedia | 2026-09-03 |
| Total | $29.9B | 100% |
estimated lifetime revenue · checked 2026-09-03