Claim: The Marvel Cinematic Universe's first film was 2008's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr.
Evidence: The first film released in the MCU was Iron Man -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , which began the first phase of films culminating in the crossover film Marvel 's The Avengers -LRB- 2012 -RRB-.
It stars Robert Downey Jr. , Terrence Howard , Jeff Bridges , Shaun Toub and Gwyneth Paltrow.
It is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.