The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American movie franchise. It produced over twenty movies. 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 movies in the series have made a lot of money and become very popular, and the franchise has made the most money of all the movie franchises as of July 2019.

The movies in the MCU are organized in sections called Phases. So far, Phases One, Two and Three have been released. 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 will begin with the release of Black Widow and is supposed to end with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

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. Soundtrack albums have been released for all the films and many of the television series, as well as compilation albums containing existing music heard in the films. The MCU includes tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, while Marvel Studios has produced a series of direct-to-video short films, called Marvel One-Shots, and a viral marketing campaign for its films and the universe with the faux news program WHIH Newsfront.

The franchise has been commercially successful and has generally received a positive critical response. It has inspired other film 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, two television specials, guidebooks for each film, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials.

Movies

TV Shows

Short movies

Shared characters and actors

Reception

Box office performance

Critical reaction

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.

Sources

Other websites
 A Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline

Marvel Comics
Fictional universes
Series of movies
Marvel Cinematic Universe movies