Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise. It is set in a fictional universe with the setting of several superhero movies and television shows made by Marvel Studios, based on characters by Marvel Comics. This shared universe was shown in the movies by using the same characters or mentioning the same events. For example, Tony Stark appears at the end of The Incredible Hulk (2008), even though he has nothing to do with the rest of the story. This is the same way that the comic books were linked into the same universe. The franchise also includes television series, short movies, 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.
| Marvel Cinematic Universe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Marvel Studios |
| Original work | Iron Man (2008) |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Years | 2008–present |
| Print publications | |
| Book(s) | Marvel Cinematic Universe books |
| Comics | Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in comics |
| Films and television | |
| Short film(s) | Marvel One-Shots |
| Television series | Marvel Cinematic Universe television series |
| Web series | Marvel Cinematic Universe digital series |
| Television special(s) | Marvel Studios Special Presentations |
| Theatrical presentations | |
| Musical(s) | Rogers: The Musical |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | Marvel Cinematic Universe video game tie-ins |
| Audio | |
| Original music | Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Theme park attraction(s) | Marvel-themed attractions |
The franchise has been commercially successful, becoming the highest-grossing franchise of all time, and has generally received a positive critical response. It has inspired other movie and television studios with comic book character adaptation rights to attempt to create similar shared universes. The MCU has been the focus of other media, outside of the shared universe, including attractions at various Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, an attraction at Discovery Times Square, a Queensland Gallery of Modern Art exhibit, television specials, guidebooks for each movie, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials.
Movies
The movies in the MCU are organized in sections called Phases. Phase One began in 2008 with the release of Iron Man and ended in 2012 with the release of The Avengers. Phase Two began in 2013 with the release of Iron Man 3 and ended in 2015 with the release of Ant-Man. Phase Three began in 2016 with the release of Captain America: Civil War and ended in 2019 with the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home. The first three phases in the franchise are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga".
Phase Four began with the release of Black Widow in 2021 and ended with the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022. Phase Five began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in 2023 and will end with the release of Thunderbolts* in 2025. Phase Six will begin with The Fantastic Four: First Steps in 2025 and end with the release of Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. The second three phases are collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga".
TV series and specials
Marvel Television expanded the universe to network television with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC in 2013, followed by streaming television with Daredevil on Netflix in 2015 and Runaways on Hulu in 2017, and cable television with Cloak & Dagger on Freeform in 2018. Marvel Television produced the digital series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Marvel Studios themselves expanded to streaming with Disney+, starting with WandaVision in 2021 as the beginning of Phase Four. They also produced television specials known as Marvel Studios Special Presentations, starting with Werewolf by Night (2022) in Phase Four. Soundtrack albums have been released for all the movies and many of the television series, as well as compilation albums containing existing music heard in the movies. The MCU includes tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, while Marvel Studios has produced a series of direct-to-video short movies, called Marvel One-Shots, and a viral marketing campaign for its movies and the universe with the faux news program WHIH Newsfront.
Shorts
| Movie | U.S. release date | Director | Screenwriter | Producer | Home media release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Consultant | September 13, 2011 | Leythum | Eric Pearson | Kevin Feige | Thor |
| A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer | October 25, 2011 | Captain America: The First Avenger | |||
| Item 47 | September 25, 2012 | Louis D'Esposito | Marvel's The Avengers | ||
| Agent Carter | September 3, 2013 (digital)
September 24, 2013 (physical) |
Iron Man 3 | |||
| All Hail the King | February 4, 2014 (digital)
February 25, 2014 (physical) |
Drew Pearce | Thor: The Dark World | ||
| Team Thor | August 28, 2016 (digital)
September 13, 2016 (physical) |
Taika Waititi | Captain America: Civil War | ||
| Team Thor: Part 2 | February 14, 2017 (digital)
February 28, 2017 (physical) |
Doctor Strange | |||
| Team Darryl | February 20, 2018 (digital)
March 6, 2018 (physical) |
Thor: Ragnarok | |||
| Peter's To-Do List | September 17, 2019 (digital)
October 1, 2019 (physical) |
Jon Watts | Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers | Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal | Spider-Man: Far From Home |
Web series
| Web Series | Season | Episodes | Air Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHIH Newsfront | 1 | 5 | July 2, 2015 - July 16, 2015 |
| 2 | 5 | April 22, 2016 - May 3, 2016 | |
| Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot | 1 | 6 | December 13, 2016 |
Recurring cast and characters
List indicator(s)
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least three MCU movies/series and received main billing credit in at least two franchises.
- An empty, grey cell indicates the character was not in the media, or that the character's presence has not yet been confirmed.
- A P indicates an appearance in onscreen photographs.
- A V indicates a voice-only role.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Media
Kevin Feige helped conceive a shared media universe of Marvel properties
Jeph Loeb led Marvel Television and served as executive producer of every television series on ABC, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform
Joss Whedon was a significant contributor to the MCU's Phase Two: he offered creative insight to all of the films; launched the first MCU television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; and wrote and directed the crossover film Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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Notes
- ^ Zak Penn was the first screenwriter of The Incredible Hulk. Edward Norton re-wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym "Edward Harrison". Both drafts were sent to the Writers Guild of America, who ultimately gave sole credit to Penn based on the final cut of the movie.