Since the start of the 21st century, the comic book and movie industry giant Marvel has released 44 feature films. Its counterpart DC Comics has produced 17 films since the start of the millenium.

As an 18-year-old, superhero movies have been the main thing that has drawn me to theatres during my lifetime.

The action, the suspense, the fun. What more could someone want from a movie?

My generation knows nothing other than the fact that every year we will either be introduced to someone (or something) new who saves the world and/or universe, or given an extension of a storyline about our favorite warriors in super suits. But just how much longer can this niche keep producing?

If you think saving the world from certain doom is what superheroes do best, you are gravely mistaken. Their strongest power is rescuing dollars in distress from wallets all over the world. Categorized in the action/adventure genre, these movies have produced nearly $100 billion since 1995, according to Statista.

The highest earning superhero film and third highest earning movie of any genre to date is The Avengers (2012), according to Forbes. With a worldwide total of over $1.5 billion in box office sales, this serves as the Holy Grail of superhero movies from a financial aspect.

A production company would create a movie about mac n‘ cheese if it thought that it could make money. There is no end in sight for our friends in tights on the silver screen, as long as they keep producing otherworldly revenue, we will continue to see them do the impossible to save the Earth.

Follow @reidv9 on Twitter.