9720/21, 10:17 PM ‘WIKIPEDIA Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Marvel Cinematic Universe ‘The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The franchise also includes television series, short films, digital series, and literature. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters. The first MCU film is Iron Man (2008), which began the films of Phase One culminating in the erc wer film The Avengers (2012). Phase Two began with Iron Man 3 (2013) and concluded with Ant-Man (2015). Phase Three began with Captain America: Civil War (2016) and concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). The first thre phases in the franchise are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". The films of Phase Four began with Black Widow (2021). Marvel Television expanded the universe to network television with Agents of S.H.LE.L.D. on ABC in 2013, before further expanding to streaming television on Netflix and Hulu, and cable television on Freeform. 1 produced the digital series Agents of S.H.LE.L.D.: Slingshot. Marvel Studios began producing their own television series for streaming on Disney+, starting with WandaVision in 2021 as the beginning of Phase Four. The MCU also includes tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots, and a viral marketing campaign for the films featuring the faux news program WHIH Newsfront. The franchise has been commercially successful and has generally received positive reviews. It has inspired other film and television studios to attempt to create similar shared universes with comic book character adaptations. ‘The MCU has also inspired several themed attractions, an art exhibit, two television specials, guidebooks for each film, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials. Contents Development Films Television Other media expansion hitps len wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_Uriverse Universe el UNIVERSE Marvel Cinematic Universe intertitle from Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe (2014) Created by Marvel Studios Original Iron Man (2008) work Owner The Walt Disney Company Years 2008-present Print publications Book(s) Marvel Cinematic Universe books Comics Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in comies Films and television (5) Marvel Cinematic Universe films Short film(s) Tele seri Marvel One-Shots Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Marvel Cinematic Universe digital series Web series Television Marvel Cinematic special's) Universe television specials Games Video Marvel Cinematic game(s) Universe video game tie-ins Audio Original Music of the Marvel 11832120/2, 10:17 Pm Business practices Feature films Television series Marvel Television series Marvel Studios series Short films Marvel One-Shots 1Am Groot Other media Digital series Comic books Books Music Timeline As depicted in the MCU Codifying attempts Recu g cast and characters Reception Cultural impact Other studios Academia Out: je media Avengers Campus Disney Wish Other live attractions Live-action television specials Documentary series Guide books Video game tie-ins A Mini Marvel Other short films See also Notes References External links Development Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia music Cinematic Universe Miscellancous Theme park Marvel-themed attraction(s) attractions Films By 2005, Marvel Entertainment had begun planning to | "It's never been done before produce its own films independently and distribute them | and that's kind of the spirit through Paramount Pictures.l2] Previously, Marvel had co- | everybody's taking it in. The produced several superhero films with Columbia Pictures, New other filmmakers aren't used hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 21682120/2, 10:17 Pm Line Cinema and others, including a seven-year development deal with 20th Century Fox.!3! Marvel made relatively little profit from its licensing deals with other studios and wanted to get more money out of its films while maintaining artistic control of the projects and distribution (4) Avi Arad, head of Marvel's film division, was pleased with Sam Raimi's Spider- Man films at Sony Pictures, but was less pleased with others. As a result, Arad decided to form Marvel Studios, Hollywood's first major independent film studio since DreamWorks.|5] Kevin Feige, Arad's second-in-command, 5! realized that unlike Spider-Man and the X-Men, whose film rights were licensed to Sony and Fox, respectively, Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers. Feige, a_ self-described "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe, just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s.(6l To raise capital, the studio secured funding from a seven-year, $525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch.!4] Marvel's plan was to release individual films for their main characters and then merge them in a crossover film[7] Arad, who doubted the strategy yet insisted that it was his reputation that helped secure the initial financing, resigned the following year. [5118] In 2007, at 33 years old, Feige was named studio chief. In order to preserve its artistic integrity, Marvel Studios formed a creative committee of six people familiar with its comic book lore: Feige, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito, Marvel Comics! president of publishing Dan Buckley, Marvel's chief creative officer Joe Quesada, writer Brian Keun Feige helped ja_-Michael_Bendis, and Marvel conceive of asharedmedia Entertainment president Alan. universe of Marvel Fine, who oversaw the properties. tel) ts oe committee.'5] Feige initially referred to the shared narrative Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia to getting actors from other movies that —_ other. filmmakers have cast, certain plot lines that are connected or certain locations that are connected, but I think ... everyone was on board for it and thinks that it's fun. Primarily because we've always remained consistent saying that the movie that we are making comes first. All of the connective tissue, all of that stuff is fun and is going to be very important if you want it to be. If the fans want to look further and find connections, then they're there. There are a few big ones obviously, that hopefully the mainstream audience will able to follow as well. But... the reason that all the filmmakers are on board is that their movies need to stand on their own. They need to have a fresh vision, a unique tone, and the fact that they can interconnect if you want to follow those breadcrumbs is a bonus." —Kevin Feige, President of Production for Marvel Studios, on constructing a shared film universe.) continuity of these films as the "Marvel Cinema Universe",!2! but later used the term "Marvel Cinematic Universe"."°l Since the franchise expanded to other media, this phrase has been used by ome to refer to the feature films only.“4] Marvel designated the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Earth-199999 within the continuity of the company’s comic multiverse, a collection of fictional alternate universes.("2] In October 2014, Marvel Studios held a press event to announce the titles of their Phase Three films.'3] By September 2015, after Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios with Feige reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter,"4! the studios’ creative committee had "nominal" input on the films moving forward, though they continued to consult on Marvel Televi ion productions, which remained under Perlmutter’s control.U5161 All key film decisions going forward were to be made by Feige, hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 31639720/21, 10:17 PM Maral Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia D'Esposito and Victoria Alonso.!'5) Feige mentioned that Avengers: Endgame (2019) would provide "a definitive end” to the films and storylines preceding it, with the franchise having "two distinct periods. Everything before [Endgame] and everything after".07] In December 2017, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century Fox.8] The transaction officially closed on March 19, 2019.9] The acquisition saw the return of the film rights of Deadpool, the X-Men characters, and the Fantastic Four charact to Marvel Studios, which would "create richer, more complex worlds of inte: related characters and stories".8) In July 2019, Feige announced the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con, consisting of films and television event series on Disney+.2°] In December 2020, at Disney's Investor Day, Marvel Studios provided updates to previously announced films and series, and announced additional Disney+ series and a special, which were confirmed to be part of Phase Four.(?"II22] Some of the first elements previously controlled by 20th Century Fox to be integrated into the MCU were the organization S.W.O.R.D. in the Disney+ series WandaVision and the fictional country Madripoor in the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.231(24 Television Marvel Television In June 2010, Marvel Television was launched with Jeph Loeb as head.5] By July 2012, Marvel Television had entered into discussions with ABC to create a show set in the MCU;[26] the network ultimately created the series Agents of S.H.LE.L.D., Agent Carter,27] and Inhumans, which was a co-production with IMAX Corporation. [28I[291(30] Ty November 2013, Disney was set to provide Netflix with the live-action series Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, leading up to the miniseries The Defenders./3!) In April 2016, Netflix ordered The Punisher, a spin-off from Daredevil.{321 By February 2019, Netflix had cancelled all of their Marvel series./33] In January 2021, Feige said "never say never" to potentially reviving the series, but noted Marvel Studios was focused on their new Disney+ series announced at that time4) In April 2016, the Disney-owned cable network Freeform announced Cloak & eyed os oxecutive Dagger.!35] In May 2017, Marvel announced that Runaways had producer of every television received a series order from Hulu.[36 In May 2019, Marvel series on ABC, Netflix announced that Helstrom had been greenlit for Hulu,[371 Hulu, and Freeform Former Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb In October 2019, further corporate restructuring saw Feige named Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, with Marvel Television becoming part of Marvel Studios and executives of Marvel Television reporting to Feige.(38] However, in December 2019, Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios, with Marvel Studios taking over production of the current series at the time; no further series from Marvel Television were being considered for development.{39] Marvel Studios By November 2017, Disney was looking to develop a new Marvel television series for their streaming service Disney+.!4°] In July 2018, Feige noted discussions had begun with Disney regarding any potential involvement Marvel Studios could have with the streaming servi Feige felt the service was "an important thing for the company".(4" In September 2018, it was reported that Marvel Studios was developing several limited series centered on "second-tier" hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 41639720/21, 10:17 PM Maral Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia characters from the MCU films who had not and were unlikely to star in their own films. Each series was expected to be six to eight episodes, and would be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, with Feige taking a "hands-on role" in each series’ development./42! Feige noted the series being developed for the streaming service would "tell stories... that we wouldn't be able to tell in a theatrical experience — a longer-form narrative" [43] He also added that being asked by Disney to create these series "energized everyone creatively" within Marvel Studios, since they "could play in a new medium and throw the rules out the window in terms of structure and format".[441 In July 2019, Feige announced event series as part of the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comi Con.!2°! Three additional Disney+ series for the phase were announced at D23 the following month, /45] with four more series announced in December 2020.[21Il22] The Phase Four slate includes What If...?, the first animated series from Marvel Studios, and by July 2021 the studio was creating an "animation branch and mini studio" to focus on more animated content beyond What If...?.'46) Other media expansion In 2008, the first tie-in comic was released.!47] Quesada noted the comics would be set within the continuity of the films, but were not intended to be direct adaptions. Rather, they would explore "something that happened off screen” or flesh out something briefly mentioned. Feige was involved with the creation of the comics, with the film's screenwriters sometimes as well.[48] Marvel Comies worked with Brad Winderbaum, Jeremy Latcham, and Will Corona Pilgrim at Marvel Studios to decide which concepts should be carried over from the Marvel Comies Universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what to show in the tie-in comics, and what to leave for the films.49) Marvel has clarified which of the tie-in comics are considered canonical MCU stories, with the rest merely inspired by the MCU, "where we get to show off all the characters from the film in costume and in comic form".{52] In August 2011, Marvel announced a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One- Shots, 54] the name derived from the label used by Marvel Comics for their one-shot comics,/52] Co-producer Brad Winderbaum called the short films "a fun way to experiment with new characters and ideas" and to expand the MCU.S!] Each short film is designed to be a self- contained story that provides more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films.{53) In March 2015, Marvel's Vice President of Animation Development and Production, Cort Lane, stated that animated tie-ins to the MCU were "in the works".{54] That July, Marvel Studios partnered with Google to produce the faux news program WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart, a series of in-universe YouTube videos serving as the center of a viral marketing campaign to promote the films and universe.{55] In December 2016, a six-part web series, Agents of S.H.LE.L.D.: Slingshot, was revealed, which debuted on ABC.com on December 13, 2016. It follows Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez. on a secret mission, shortly before the start of Agents of S.H.LE.L.D.'s fourth season, with Natalia Cordova-Buckley reprising her role.{5 In September 2019, Sony created a real version of the fictional TheDailyBugle.net website as part of a viral marketing campaign to promote the home media release of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Inspired by real-world "conspiracy-pushing” websites such as that of Alex Jones, the website features J. K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson in a video where he speaks out against Spider-Man before asking viewers to "like and subscribe" [571I58] In December 2020, Marvel Studios announced I Am Groot, a series of photorealistic animated shorts starring Baby Groot for Disney+(591211[60] Business practices hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 51639720/21, 10:17 PM Maral Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Marvel Studios often puts together a "lookbook" of influences from the comics and art by Marvel's visual development department, to create a visual template for a project. These are put together at company retreats, which the studio holds every "18 months or so" to plan out and develop the phases of the MCU. These lookbooks are not always shown to directors, though, with Marvel sometimes preferring to let the director offer their own ideas first.["] When choosing a director for a project, Marvel Studios looks for filmmakers to hire who are able to guide a film, !®2] with some of their choices considered "out-of left-field", given a director's previous work. Feige remarked, "You don't have to have directed a big, giant visual-effects movie to do a big, giant visual-effects movie for us. You just have to have done something singularly sort of awesome."[3] Joss Whedon was a large . . contributor to Phase Two, The studio ensures directors are open to the idea of the shared Sacny croatve insight to universe and are willing to include connective material, such as ij ts fims and launching Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston needing to include Avengers set- the frst MCU television up scenes in Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, series, Agents of respectively.(6) Marvel Studios usually has a big idea they would like S.4.E.L.D., while writing to explore or build to in a project, such as Hydra infiltrating and directing Avengers: S.H.LE.LD. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with it up to Age of Uliron. the filmmakers to interpret and "improv a little bit" to get there.l64] After these ideas have been developed, the creative team then begins to explore ideas happening in other future projects to see how to make any larger universe connections.[®5] There was large amount of collaboration between the Russo brothers and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely with the other Phase Three directors and writers to make sure “everything line[d] up right" for the MCU's "culmination" in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.!©5! Marvel Studios also began contracting their actors for multiple films, including signing actor Samuel L. Jackson to a then "unprecedented" nine-movie contract.{67) Feige said the studio has all actors sign contracts for multiple films, with the norm being for 3 or more, and the 9 or 12 film deals "more rare".{68] Actor's contracts also feature clauses that allows Marvel to use up to three minutes of an actor's performance from one film in another, which Marvel describes as "bridging material”.©] By the start of Phase Four, Marvel Studios was no longer contracting actors for a large number of projects, with deal lengths varying for each actor and project. Feige said the studio was looking for actors who were excited to join the franchise and appear in multiple projects without being locked into contractual obligations. He also noted that they were starting to include theme park attractions in actors’ deals, (69) In August 2012, Marvel signed Joss Whedon to an exclusive contract through June 2015 for film and television. With the deal, Whedon would "contribute creatively" on Phase ‘Two of the MCU and develop the first television series set in the universe.[7°] In April 2017, James Gunn revealed he would be working with Marvel "to help design where [the Guardians of the Galaxy characters'] stories go, and make sure the future of the Marvel Cosmic Universe is as special and authentic and magical as what we have created so far".!7!] By December 2020, because of the impact COVID-19 had on theaters and film studios shifting away from theatrical releases, Marvel Studios began exploring updated contracts for actors, writers, directors, and producers to receive adjusted compensation in the event a film had to debut on Disney+ instead of in theaters. TheWrap reported it was believed the new contracts would only apply to films about to enter production, and was unclear if any adjustments would be made to contracts for films already completed but not yet released.|72] hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 81632120/2, 10:17 Pm Marval Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia For Marvel Television, Loeb explained that they saw themselves as producers providing support to the showrunner: "we're involved in every aspect of the production—whether it's being in the writers' room, editing on set, casting—every step of the production goes through the Marvel team to tell the best story that we can." He added that the studio is able to work on so many acro: different networks and platforms because all they needed was one person from the studio working on each series to help "guide the process".!73] Actors appearing in Marvel Television series, such as Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Daredevil) and Adrianne Palicki (Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), were contractually obliged to appear in a Marvel film if asked.[74Il75] When developing the crossover miniseries The Defenders, showrunner Marco Ramirez consulted with the creators of all the individual Marvel Netflix series, having them read each of the scripts for The Defenders and provide insight into the individual character's world. [76] Feature films Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases".!771I78] Phase One consists of Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and concludes with the crossover film The Avengers (2012).781[79] Phase Two comprises Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and Ant-Man (2015).78) Captain America: Civil War (2016) is the first film of Phase Three, and is followed by Doctor ‘Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).'78! The first three phases are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". Phase Four includes Black Widow (2021) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), which will be followed by Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), The Marvels (2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), and Fantastic Four." Several television event series and a special on Disney+ are also included in the phase.) Television series Marvel Television series Marvel Television produced multiple television series set in the MCU across broadcast, streaming, and cable. The "Marvel Heroes" series~Agents of S.H.LE.L.D. (2013-2020), Agent Carter (2015 2016), and Inhumans (2017)-aired on ABC; the "Marvel Knights" series—Daredevil (2015-2018), Jessica Jones (2015-2019), Luke Cage (2016-2018), Iron Fist (2017-2018), the crossover miniseries The Defenders (2017), and The Punisher (2017-2019)-streamed on Netflix; young adult series included Runaways (2017-2019) streaming on Hulu and Cloak & Dagger (2018- 2019) airing on Freeform; and the Hulu series Helstrom (2020) was originally intended to be the start of a planned "Adventure into Fear" franchise.[82 Marvel Studios series hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 71832120/2, 10:17 Pm Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Phase Four includes the Disney+ series WandaVision (2021), The Faleon and the Winter Soldier (2021), the first season of Loki (2021), and the first season of the animated What If...? (2021), along with the following upcoming series: Hawkeye (2021), Ms. Marvel (2021), Moon Knight (2022), She-Hulk (2022), Secret Invasion (2022), Ironheart, Armor Wars, and a series set in Wakanda. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) will also be included in the phase, in addition to eleven feature films.(®1! Short films Marvel One-Shots ‘Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films that are included as special features in the MCU films’ Blu-ray and digital distribution releases. The films included The Consultant (2011), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2011),54) Item 47 (2012),(83! Agent Carter (2013),|84] and All Hail the King (2014).[851 1 Am Groot 1 Am Groot is a series of photorealistic animated short films for Disney+ starring Baby Groot going on adventures with new and unusual characters.{591[211[60] Other media Digital series WHIH Newsfront (2015-16) is an in-universe current affairs show that serves as a viral marketing campaign for some of the MCU films, created in partnership with Google for YouTube, [55186] The campaign is an extension of the fictional news network WHIH World News, which is seen reporting on major events in many MCU films and television series.{87] Agents of S.H.LE.L.D.: Slingshot (2016) is a digital series created for ABC.com and produced by Marvel Television that is a supplement to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.{56) Comic books ‘Multiple limited series or one-shot comics have been published by Marvel Comies that tie-into the MCU films and tele They are intended to tell additional stories about existing characters, or to make connections between MCU projects, without necessarily expanding the universe or introducing new concepts or characters. |491188] ion seri Books The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond is "a collection of papers, articles, blueprints, and notes amassed throughout history by Wakanda's War Dogs" at the request of Shuri, It is organized by areas of study and covers the technological advancements throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The book, which exists in-universe, was written by Troy Benjamin and published by Epic Ink and Quarto Publishing Group. The Wakanda Files has content printed with UV ink that can be viewed with Kimoyo bead—shaped UV lights included with the book, It was released on October 20, 2020.189) tps fen.wkpesia or wikiMarve_ Cinematic Universe oreo2120/2, 10:17 Pm Marval Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Music Various composers have created the film and television scores of the MCU films, television series, One-Shots, and other related projects of the MCU. Original songs have also been created specifically for use in the franchise, while Brian ‘Tyler and Michael Giacchino have both scored fanfares for the Marvel Studios logo.(2°ll91) Timeline As depicted in the MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline (as of Black Widow)/ 1943-1945 [I] The First Avongor®*) 1946 ff Agent carter 1947-1994 fl 1995 [J captain Marvel®®! 1986-2000 ll 2010 fl ron Manl*00196) Jron Man 20:001I88) The Incredible Hulk!) 2011 A Funny Thing. .{1205 Thor) The Consultant ®°I61] The Avengers\'") 2012 IM item 478i tron Man 3281102) i 25 2013 fl AY Heit the King) The Dark Wonk!) The Winter Soldie®®1121 2014 HM Guardians of the Galaxy'®3 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol, 20241 Age of Utront1 2015 Civil Warl11081 Black Widow! 2016 I Black Panther108 Homecoming!'®9) Doctor Strange (into 2017){"01l19) 2017 il Ragnaron2i8 2016 fl Ant-Man and the wasplt!41 Infinity War"5K018) 2019-2022 I Endgame!" 2023 i WandaVisionl1"7) i The Falcon and the Winter Soldier®") 2024 Far From Homel®®) hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 91632120/2, 10:17 Pm Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia During Phase One of the MCU, Marvel Studios lined up some of their films’ stories with references to one another, though they had no long-term plan for the shared universe's timeline at that point.™8] Jron Man 2 is set six months after the events of Iron Man,!"9] and around the same time as Thor according to comments made by Nick Fury.2281 Several of Marvel's One-Shot films also occur around the events of Phase One films, including The Consultant (set after the events of Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (set before the events of Thor),{5'] Item 47 (set after The Avengers), 83] and Agent Carter (set one year after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger).{841 Wanting to simplify the in-universe timeline,/""8] the Phase Two films were set roughly in real time relating to The Avengers: Iron Man 3 takes place about six months later, during Christmas;(!2°l1021 Thor: The Dark World is set one year later;!21] and Captain America: The Winter Soldier is two years after." Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man ended the phase in 2015,122]L28] with several months passing between those films in-universe as in real life.!1°5) The One-Shot All Hail the King is set after the events of Iron Man 3./85) For Phase Three, directors the Russo brothers wanted to continue using real time, and so Captain America: Civil War begins a year after Age of Ultron,4°5] with Avengers: Infinity War set two years after that.5] However, producer Brad Winderbaum said the Phase Three films would actually "happen on top of each other" while being less “interlocked” as the Phase One films were,24] with Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming respectively beginning a week and several months after Civil War;(?°8I099] Thor: Ragnarok beginning four years after The Dark World and two years after Age of Ultron,2[31 around the same time as Civil War and Homecoming;24) Doctor Strange taking place over a whole year and ending "up to date with the rest of the MCU"; Ant-Man and the Wasp also set two years after Civil War and shortly before Infinity War;"4] and both Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel Vol. 2 being explicitly set in 2014,103][104] which Feige believed would create a four-year gap between Vol. 2 and Infinity War, though the other MCU films up to that point do not specify years onscreen.125) Following Infinity War, the Russo brothers said future films would not necessarily be set according to real time as there are "a lot of very inventive ways of where the story can go from here", with both Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel set earlier in the timeline;!26) the latter is set in 1995/99! Avengers: Endgame begins shortly after Infinity War and ends in 2023 after a five-year time jump.!5] Tt confirms dates for several of the other films, including The Avengers in 2012, Thor: The Dark World in 2013, Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014," Doctor Strange around 2017,!"1°) and Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018 at the same time as Infinity War. Spider-Man: Far From Home begins eight months after Endgame in 2024.(98] With Phase Four, Marvel Studios expanded into television series, which have greater interconnectivity with the MCU feature films than the series from Marvel Television.“27] Many of the properties in the Phase are set after the events of Avengers: Endgame. WandaVision is set three weeks after the events of that film,|#2J and directly sets up Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness;!44) Multiverse of Madness is also set after Endgame and will tie-in with the first season of Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home as well.281l1291[1301 The first season of Loki continues from the 2012 events seen in Endgame, but much of the series exists outside of time and space given the introduction of the Time Variance Authority.'92] What If...? is set after Loki's first season finale, exploring the various branching timelines of the newly created multiverse in which major moments from the MCU films occur differently."3!I(98] The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is set six months after Endgame, 97] while Hawkeye takes place after during the Christmas season.32] Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is also set after Endgame."331 Eternals takes place around the same time as Spider-Man: Far From Home, eight months after Endgame in 2024,34] while Spider-Man: No Way Home is set after Far From Home."'35) Black Widow is set between Civil War and Infinity War, mostly taking place between the main plot of Civil War and its final scene.07] hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 101632120/2, 10:17 Pm Marval Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Codifying attempts External image 5 ai . . fs The official canon tie-in comic Fury's Big Week confirmed 2 The Phase One Timeline (http:/. that The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor all took place annihiLus/wprod/marvelfimg/5/40/4 within a week, a year before the crossover film The Avengers. baad4f8d5ea jpg) infographic Writers Christopher Yost and Erie Pearson tried to follow the released by Marvel in May 201251 Jogi of the films’ timeline when plotting the comic, and received "the seal of approval" from Feige and Marvel Studios on the final timeline.!'36 As promotion for The Avengers, Marvel released an official infographic detailing this timeline in May 2012.90] When Spider-Man: Homecoming was being developed, director and co-writer Jon Watts was shown a scroll detailing the MCU timeline that was created by co-producer Eric Carroll when he first began working for Marvel Studios. Watts said the scroll included both where the continuity of the films lined-up and did not lineup, and when fully unfurled it extended beyond the length of a long conference table. This scroll was used as the basis to weave the continuity of Homecoming into the previous films, such as The Avengers."37] ‘This was labeled in the film with a title card stating that eight years pass between the end of The Avengers and the events of Civil War, which was widely criticized as a continuity error that broke the established MCU timeline, in which only four years should have passed.4'381l139] Additionally, dialogue in Civil War indicates that eight years pass between the end of Iron Man and the events of that film, despite the established continuity being closer to five or six years.{14911141] Infinity War co-director Joe Russo described the Homecoming eight years time jump as "very incorrect",42] and the mistake was ignored in Infinity War which specified that its events were taking place only six years after The Avengers."41] The public response to the Homecoming mistake inspired Marvel Studios to release a new timeline for all three phases,!"39] and in November 2018, a timeline, specifying dates for the events in each film released to that point, was included as part of the sourcebook Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the MCU.443) Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years timeline from November 20181"31 Year(s) Feature films! 1943— 1945 Captain America: The First Avenger 2010 fron Man 2011 fron Man 2, Thor 2012 | The Avengers, Iron Man 3 2013 Thor: The Dark World 2014 Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man 2016 | Captain America: Civil War 2016~ Bory | Doctor Strange 2017 Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War This timeline ignores the two "eight-year" continuity errors, but also contradicts the events of Black Panther and Infinity War by placing them in 2017. Despite the latter apparent mistakes, Thomas Bacon of Screen Rant described the timeline as "the closest Marvel has yet come to making an official statement on just when the different MCU events are set", bringing "some sense of balance to the MCU continuity".{961 hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe ‘1083si20023, 10:17 PM Marval Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia In October 2020, the Marvel section of Disney+ was restructured to include groupings of the films by phase, as well as a grouping that put the films in timeline order.!“44 Bacon felt the placement of Thor: The Dark World between The Avengers and Iron Man 3 and Black Panther after Captain America: Civil War in this timeline corrected "previous issues" with their placement in the November 2018 First 10 Years timeline, and was glad Disney and Marvel "recognize[d] it's possible to watch these movies in anything other than release order", "legitimiz[ing]" this viewing experience. The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Spider-Man: Far From Home were excluded since Disney did not have their distribution rights, but Bacon felt The Incredible Hulk could be viewed after Iron Man 2 since it is simultaneous with that film, Homecoming could come after Black Panther, and Far From Home could be viewed after Avengers: Endgame."45] Julia Alexander at The Verge agreed with Bacon that it "seems like Disney finally understands how [some viewers] want to watch Marvel movies".[2441 As of the release of What [f...2, the Disney+ timeline order is Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Loki, What If...2, WandaVision, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.[951 Recurring cast and characters List indicator(s) ‘This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least three MCU films/series and received main billing credit in at least two franchises. * A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the media, or that the character's presence has not yet been confirmed. « AP indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs. «= AV indicates a voice-only role. hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 121639720/21, 10:17 PM Character Bruce Banner Hulk James "Bucky" Barnes Winter Soldier / White Wolf Clint Barton Hawkeye Peggy Carter Sharon Carter Agent 13/ Power Broker Phil Coulson Carol Danvers Captain Marvel Drax the Destroyer Nick Fury Gamora Groot Heimdall Maria Hill Harold “Happy” Hogan Scott Lang ‘Ant-Man Darcy Lewis Loki Mantis Wanda Maximoff ‘Scarlet Witch Nebula Okoye Peter Parker ‘Spider-Man Marvel Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Television Feature films Shortfilms | Digital series | Animation Edward Norton] 17 Lou Ferrigno“l"47) punions Mark Ruffalol*®9l Mark Ruffalo!"48) Sebastian Sebastian Stan(tI%52) Stan Jeremy irsants¢ Jeremy Renner Renner"®9) Hayley Atwel51271158) Hayley Atwell Emily VanCampl'S7164) Gand VanCampl'58) Clark GreggltS2K160I158), Alexandra Brie Larson!'61) Daniels!1®2) Fred (183](164) Dave Bautistal Tatasciorel"®9] Samuel L. rssirte7165) ‘Samuel L. Jacksonl Jackson!‘5%! Zoe Saldanal*®2ll"64] Vin Diesel¥"701164] Idris Elbal!710172} Cobie 07974) 1. Cobie Smulders! Smuts Jon Favreaul"761‘761 Jon Favreaul5é] Paul Ruda!"771 Paul Ruddl"78150) Kat Dennings!"721*801 Kat Dennings!"881 Tom Hiddleston*®1182] Tom Hiddlestonl"59) Pom Klementiefft'®3Il184) Elizabeth Olsen{*851(152 Karen Gillan{*881(184] Karen Gillan{*®0 Danai Guriral'7il188I11821 Danai Guriral"®8] 1 Hudson (1901191), a ‘Tom Holland! Thames(!221 Gwyneth Paltrow!'93iI194) hitps len wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_Uriverse 131639720/21, 10:17 PM Monica Rambeau James "Rhodey” Rhodes War Machine / Iron Patriot Rocket Steve Rogers Captain ‘America Natasha Romanoff Black Widow Thaddeus Ross Erik Selvig Howard Stark Tony Stark iron Man Dr. Stephen Strange Talos TChalla Black Panther Thor Vision JARVIS. Sam Wilson Falcon / Captain America Wong Marvel Cinematic Universe ~ Chris Prattl!951941 Akira Akbarl!26) Teyonah rrist198) ‘Teyonah Parrisl'97] Parris Terrence Howardl'®9) Don Cheadlel21] Don Cheadlel200) Bradley Cooper"(24I1 Chris Evans(2081204) Scarlett Johansson20812071 William Hurt!202) Stellan Skarsgardl2"9) Gerard Sanders?2"1] John Slattery!2*21 Dominic Cooper!214Il188) Dominic Cooperl2131 Robert Downey “Je215) Benedict Cumberbatch’?171218) Ben Mendelsohn?191201] Chadwick. Boseman2201 Chris Hemsworth221] Paul Bettanyi222I2231(1521 Anthony Mackiel224ll1821 Benedict Wongl225i2281 Wikipedia Brian T Delaney" Don Cheadlel88l Josh Keaton!206 Lake Beti208 Mike MeGill®21 Dominic Coopertt801 Mick Wingert215) Benedict Cumberbatch!*58] Chadwick Bosemant*®l Chris Hemswortht*50] Paul Bettanyl154) Benedict Wongl'38) Additionally, Paul Bettany was the first actor to portray two main characters within the universe, voicing Tony Stark's artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.IS. in the Iron Man and Avengers films, and portraying Vision in Avengers films, Captain America: Civil War, and the miniseries WandaVision.|227ll228][229]152] prior to his death in 2018, Stan Lee, creator or co-creator of many of the characters seen in the MCU, made cameo appearances in all of the feature films and television series except Inhumans. In Iron Fist, it is revealed his on-set photograph cameo in the Marvel Netflix series is as NYPD Captain Irving Forbush.!23°] His cameo in Guardians of the hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 141639720/21, 10:17 PM Maral Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia Galaxy Vol. 2 sees Lee appearing as an informant to the Watchers, discussing previous adventures that include Lee's cameos in other MCU films; he specifically mentions his time as a FedEx delivery man, referring to Lee's cameo in Captain America: Civil War.!23" This acknowledged the fan theory that Lee may be portraying the same cl 232] with writer and director James Gunn noting that "people thought Stan Lee is [Uatu the Watcher] and that all of these cameos are part of him being a Watcher. So, Stan Lee as a guy who is working for the Watchers was something that I thought was fun for the MCU."[23#I[232] Feige added that Lee "clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films. So the notion that he could be sitting there on a cosmic pit stop during the jump gate sequence in Guardians...really says, so wait a minute, he's this same character who's popped up in all these films?"!233] Following Lee's death, Marvel Studios chose not to create any new Lee cameos in future projects.!234] Ny1 news anchor Pat Kiernan has also appeared in multiple MCU films and television series as himself.[235] Reception Jim Vorel of Herald & Review called the Marvel Cinematic Universe "complicated" and "impressive", but said, "As more and more heroes get their own film adaptations, the overall i 36] Kofi Outlaw of Screen Rant stated that while The 287] Some reviewers criticized the fact that the desire to create a shared universe led to films that did not hold as well on their own. In his review of Thor: The Dark World, Forbes critic Scott Mendelson likened the MCU to "a glorified television series", with The Dark World being a "'stand-alone’ episode that contains little long-range mythology".238) Collide Matt Goldberg considered that while Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger were quality productions, "they have never really been their own movies", feeling that the plot detours to S.H.LE.L.D. or lead-ups to The Avengers dragged down the films’ narratives.{2391 ‘The metaphor of the MCU as "the world’s biggest TV show" was discussed again, after the release of Captain America: Civil War, by Emily VanDerWerff of Vox, who felt that film in particular highlighted Marvel's success with the model, saying, "Viewed in complete isolation, the plot of Captain America: Civil War makes little to no sense ... [but] when you think about where [Captain America] has been in earlier Marvel films ... his leeriness about being subject to oversight makes a lot more sense." VanDerWerff continued that when thinking about the MCU as a television series, many "common criticisms people tend to level at it take on a new context" such as complaints that the films are formulaic, lack "vis shoehorn in story elements" that "are necessary to set up future films", all characteristics that "are fairly typical on television, where a director's influence is much lower than that of the showrunner", in this case, Feige. Comparing the films to the series Game of Thrones specifically, VanDerWerff noted that each solo film checks "in on various characters and their individual side stories, before bringing everyone together in the finale (or, rather, an Avengers film)", with Guardians of the Galaxy being equivalent to the character Daenerys Targaryen—"both separated by long distances from everybody else". She noted that this format was an extension of early "IV-like” film franchises such as Star Wars, as well as the format of the comics upon which the films are based. "I say all of this not to suggest that film franchises resembling TV series is necessarily a good trend", VanDerWerff concluded, "For as much as I generally enjoy the Marvel movies, I'm disheartened by the possibility that their particular form might take over the film industry ... But I also don't think it's the end of the world if Marvel continues on ... there's a reason TV has stolen so much of the cultural conversation over the past few decades. There's something legitimately exciting about the way the medium tells stories when it's good, and if nothing else, Marvel's success shows the film world could learn from that."(24°] Following the conclusion of season one of Agents of S.H.I-E.L.D., Mary McNamara at the Los Angeles Times praised the connections between that series and the films, stating that "never before has television been literally married to film, charged with filling in the back story and Itpsien wiped orgtwkiMarve_Cinematc_Unverse 159699720/21, 10:17 PM Maral Cinematic Universe - Wikipedia creating the connective tissue of an ongoing film franchise ... [Agents of S.H.ILE.L.D.] is now not only a very good show in its own right, it's part of Marvel's multiplatform city-state. It faces a future of perpetual re-invention, and that puts it in the exhilarating first car of television's roller- coaster ride toward possible world domination."(244) Terri Schwartz of Zap2it agreed with this sentiment, stating that "the fact that [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] so influenced the show is game-changing in terms of how the mediums of film and television can be interwoven", though "the fault there seems to be that Agents of S.H-LE.L.D. had to bide time until The Winter Soldier's release", which led to much criticis In January 2015, Michael Doran of Newsarama and Graeme McMillian of The Hollywood Reporter had a "point-counterpoint” debate in response to the first Ant-Man trailer. Doran stated, "Marvel has raised the bar sooo high that as opposed to just allowing another film to finish under the [MCU] bar, we're all overly and perhaps even eager to overreact to the first thing that doesn't clear it". MeMillian responded, "at this point, Marvel's brand is such that I'm not sure it can offer up something like [the trailer] without it seeming like a crushing disappointment ... part of Marvel's brand is that it doesn’t offer the kind of run-of-the-mill superhero movie that you're talking about, that it's ... at least different enough to tweak and play with the genre somehow ... The fact that there's such upset about this trailer being ... well, okay ... suggests to me that the audience is expecting something to knock their socks off." Doran concluded, "That does seem to be the point here—the expectations fans now have for everything Marvel Studios ... [and] Marvel is going to eventually falter."[243] After seeing the portrayal of Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, the antagonist of the film, McMillian noted, It's hardly a secret that Marvel Studios has a bit of a problem when it comes to offering up exciting characters for their heroes to fight against ... [their] villains generally fall into one of two camps. There's the Unstoppable Monster ... or there's the Professional White Guy In A Suit With An Ego ... No matter which of the groups the above villains fall into, they share one common purpose: evil. The motivations for evil likely differ— although, invariably, they fall under the umbrella of 'misguided belief in a greater good that doesn't exist'—but that really doesn’t matter, because without fail, there will be so Tittle time in the movie to actually properly explore those motivations, meaning that to all intents and purposes, the villain is being evil for reasons of plot necessity and little else ... The strange thing about this is that Marvel's comic books offer a number of wonderful, colorful bad guys who could step outside the above parameters and offer an alternative to the formulaic villains audiences have gotten used to (and arguably bored with) ... In future movies, we can only hope [they are] treated in such a way that their freak flags are allowed to fly free.(244] Following the release of Jessica Jones, David Priest at CNET wrote about how the series rescues "Marvel from itself... Jessica Jones takes big steps forward in terms of theme, craft and diversity. It's a good story first, and a superhero show second, And for the first time, the MCU seems like it matters. Our culture needs stories like this. Here's hoping Marvel keeps them coming."245) For Paul Tassi and Erik Kain of Forbes, watching the series made them question the MCU, with Kain feeling that the "morally complex, violent, dark world of Jessica Jones has no place in the MCU ... right now, the MCU is holding back shows like Jessica Jones and Daredevil, while those shows are contributing absolutely nothing to the MCU."461 Tassi went so far as to wonder what "the point of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" is, lamenting the lack of major crossovers in the franchise since the Winter Soldier reveal on Agents of S.H.LE.L.D., and saying that Jessica Jones is "so far removed from the world of The Avengers, it might as well not be in the same universe at all ... [I] really don't understand the point of [the MCU] if they're going to keep everything within it separated off in these little boxes” |247] Conversely, Eric Francisco of Inverse called Jessica Jones's hitpsilen wikipedia.orgiwikiMarvel_Cinematie_ Universe 16163