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 several 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.
Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases", with the first three phases collectively known as "The Infinity Saga" and the following three phases as "The Multiverse Saga". The first MCU film, Iron Man (2008), began Phase One, which culminated in the 2012 crossover film The Avengers. Phase Two began with Iron Man 3 (2013) and concluded with Ant-Man (2015), while Phase Three began with Captain America: Civil War (2016) and concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Black Widow (2021) is the first film in Phase Four, which concluded with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), while Phase Five began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and will conclude with Thunderbolts* (2025). Phase Six will begin with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) and it will conclude with Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Marvel Television expanded the universe to network television with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC in 2013 before further expanding to streaming television on Netflix and Hulu and to cable television on Freeform. They also produced the digital series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (2016). Marvel Studios began producing their own television series for streaming on Disney+, starting with WandaVision in 2021 as the beginning of Phase Four. That phase also saw the studio expand to television specials, known as Marvel Studios Special Presentations, starting with Werewolf by Night (2022). The MCU includes various tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots from 2011 to 2014, and viral marketing campaigns for some films featuring the faux news programs WHIH Newsfront (2015–16) and The Daily Bugle (2019–2022).
The franchise has been commercially successful, becoming one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, and it has received generally positive reviews from critics. The studio attributed several Multiverse Saga projects performing below expectations to the increase in the amount of content being produced after the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame, and began decreasing its content output from 2024. The MCU has inspired other film and television studios to attempt similar shared universes and has also inspired several themed attractions, an art exhibit, television specials, literary material, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials.
By 2005, Marvel Entertainment was planning to produce its own films independently and distribute them through Paramount Pictures. Previously, Marvel had co-produced several superhero films based on Marvel Comics with Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema, 20th Century Fox, and others. Marvel made relatively little profit from these licensing deals and wanted to get more money out of its films while maintaining artistic control of the projects and distribution. Avi Arad, head of Marvel Entertainment's film division known as Marvel Films, was pleased with director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy (2002–2007) at Sony Pictures and Columbia but was less enthused with some of the other films. Arad decided to form Marvel Studios, Hollywood's first major independent film studio since DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1994. Kevin Feige, Arad's second-in-command, realized that unlike Spider-Man, Blade, and the X-Men which were respectively licensed to Sony, New Line, and Fox, Marvel owned the rights to the Avengers team. Feige, a self-described "fanboy", envisioned combining these characters in a shared universe similar to the one created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in the 1960s.
To raise capital, the studio secured funding from a seven-year, $525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch. Marvel planned to release individual films for their main characters and then merge them in a crossover film; Arad, who resigned in 2006, doubted this strategy would work. He insisted that it was his reputation that helped secure the initial financing. In 2007, Feige was named studio chief. 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 Entertainment's chief creative officer Joe Quesada, comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis, and Marvel Entertainment president Alan Fine, who oversaw the committee. Feige initially referred to the shared narrative continuity of the films as the "Marvel Cinema Universe", but later used the term "Marvel Cinematic Universe". Since the franchise expanded to other media, some have used this phrase to only refer to the feature films.
The MCU films are released in groups called "Phases", beginning with Phase One and Phase Two. In December 2009, the Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Disney said future Marvel Studios films would be distributed by its own studio once the prior deal with Paramount expired. The films of Phase Three were announced at a special press event in October 2014. By September 2015, Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios. Feige was reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter, and the creative committee began having only "nominal" input on the films. They continued to consult on Marvel Television productions, which remained under Perlmutter's control. All key film decisions moving forward were to be made by Feige, D'Esposito, and executive vice president Victoria Alonso. The studio went on to establish the Marvel Studios Parliament, a "brain trust" of long-time executives at the company who help to elevate each other's projects where possible. In November 2017, Feige said Avengers: Endgame (2019) would provide a definitive conclusion to the films thus far and begin a new period for the franchise. He later said Phase Three would conclude "The Infinity Saga".
Disney was reportedly developing a Marvel-based television series for their new streaming service Disney+ by November 2017. In July 2018, Feige said discussions had begun with Disney regarding any potential involvement Marvel Studios could have with the streaming service, which he felt was important for the wider company. In September 2018, Marvel Studios was reported to be developing several limited series centered on "second-tier" characters from the MCU films who had not and were unlikely to headline 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. Feige said these series would "tell stories... that we wouldn't be able to tell in a theatrical experience—a longer-form narrative". He 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". Television specials from the studio are marketed as "Marvel Studios Special Presentations". The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), a Special Presentation, was the first project Marvel Studios began planning for Disney+.
In July 2019, Feige announced the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con, consisting of films and, for the first time, television event series on Disney+. 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", known as Marvel Studios Animation, to focus on more animated content beyond What If...?. Alonso said Marvel had around 31 projects in various stages of development by September 2021. In April 2022, Feige said he and Marvel Studios were on a creative retreat to plan and discuss the MCU films for the following 10 years. That July, Feige announced some of the films and series for Phase Five and Phase Six at San Diego Comic-Con, revealing that the second three Phases were collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga". After the "creative experience" of ending Phase Three and "The Infinity Saga" with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame, and the expansion in the number of projects being produced by the studio in a short amount of time, Marvel Studios decided to move away from having an Avengers crossover film at the end of each Phase and instead decided to have a crossover culmination at the end of "The Multiverse Saga" with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). The studio was excited to explore Kang the Conqueror as an overarching villain of the Multiverse Saga after Thanos in the Infinity Saga, because Kang was a different villain in part because he has multiple variants from different timelines within the multiverse. The studio did not initially plan to build the next saga around Kang, and made that decision after seeing actor Jonathan Majors's performance in the first season of the Disney+ series Loki (2021), as well as dailies from the filming of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). After Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment amidst legal issues in December 2023, he was fired by Disney and Marvel Studios. At that time, Marvel was internally referring to The Kang Dynasty as Avengers 5.
Alonso was fired from her role at Marvel Studios in March 2023 for serving as a producer on the Amazon Studios film Argentina, 1985 (2022), in breach of a 2018 agreement between Alonso and Disney to not work for a competing studio. The decision was made by a group that included Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman and Disney's human resources and legal departments. Alonso reportedly did not seek permission to work on the film and was asked by Disney to stop working on it or promoting it. The situation was deemed serious enough that Disney requested a new agreement be signed. The company consistently reminded her of this while she continued to promote the film following its September 2022 premiere, ultimately leading to her firing. Alonso's lawyers refuted these claims, saying Disney was aware of, and agreed to, Alonso's work on Argentina, 1985 and Alonso had been "silenced [and] was terminated when she refused to do something she believed was reprehensible"; this was reported to be a disagreement with a Disney executive over the censoring of gay pride elements in Quantumania so the film could be released in Kuwait in compliance with the country's restrictive anti-LGBTQ laws. A Disney spokesperson reiterated that Alonso was fired due to "an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy" among other factors. Disney and Alonso reached a multi-million dollar compensation settlement in April.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said in July 2023 that the company would be reducing the amount of Marvel content created moving forward, admitting that Marvel Studios' expansion into Disney+ series and more films had "diluted focus and attention" after several underachieving films at the box office. He clarified their plans in May 2024, saying Disney would now release two, or at most three, Marvel films and two Marvel series a year. This was a decrease from up to four films and around four series being released in some recent years. The company was reducing output and focusing on quality across all its divisions, but Iger felt the change was especially needed for Marvel. Feige and D'Esposito said 2023 had been a particularly difficult year and a "rough time" for the studio but they had learned their lesson on trying to make too much content at once. They added that no longer being "on top" of the box office allowed them to be underdogs again, as they had been when starting work on Phase One, and they would be "coming back strong" with the hope of surprising audiences and exceeding expectations. Feige expected the studio to begin releasing two films and three series per year after 2025, when they were planning to release three films and six series that had been in development for a long time and were ready to be released.
In 2024, Marvel Studios introduced their "Marvel Animation" and "Marvel Television" banners for their animated and live-action series, respectively. This was done, along with the previously established Marvel Spotlight banner, to help indicate to audiences that they did not have to watch all of the studio's projects to understand the overall story and could choose which storylines and characters under these banners to follow. At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the fifth Avengers film was retitled Avengers: Doomsday (2026), with Robert Downey Jr. cast as the Multiverse Saga's new antagonist Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom (after previously portraying the superhero Tony Stark / Iron Man in the MCU from 2008 to 2019) for both Doomsday and Secret Wars.
In December 2017, Disney agreed to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox, and finalized the transaction on March 19, 2019. This saw the return of the film rights for Deadpool, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four to Marvel Studios, although Feige explained that despite the acquisition being completed in 2019, access and integration of these characters and concepts were unavailable "for a very long time" because of corporate acquisition laws. Some of the first elements to be integrated into the MCU following the acquisition were the organization S.W.O.R.D. in the Disney+ series WandaVision (2021) and the fictional country Madripoor in the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Additionally, Patrick Stewart appeared as Professor Charles Xavier in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), portraying a different version of the character that he previously played in Fox's X-Men film series, while Kamala Khan was revealed to have a genetic mutation in Ms. Marvel, with star Iman Vellani confirming that she is the first mutant (a term related to the X-Men) in the MCU. Namor is also revealed to be a mutant in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), as he is in the comics. Kelsey Grammer appears as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast in The Marvels (2023), reprising the role from the X-Men films. The film also introduces the mutant Binary, an alternate version of Maria Rambeau, portrayed by Lashana Lynch.
Feige called Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) the true start to Marvel Studios' exploration and use of the Fox characters, and said every project after it would be part of the MCU's "Mutant era". Some of the films between Deadpool & Wolverine and Secret Wars featured additional X-Men characters, with Feige saying the story of Secret Wars would lead into a "new age of mutants" and the X-Men being introduced to the MCU. Doomsday sees additional X-Men film series actors reprising their roles, including Ian McKellen as Erik Lensherr / Magneto, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique, and James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops. Stewart and Grammer also reprise their roles in the film.
Marvel Television was launched in June 2010 with Jeph Loeb as head, and had entered into discussions with ABC to create a show set in the MCU by July 2012; the network went on to release Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, and Inhumans. The latter was a co-production with IMAX Corporation. In November 2013, Disney was set to provide Netflix with the live-action series Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, building up to the crossover miniseries The Defenders. In April 2016, Netflix ordered The Punisher, a spin-off of Daredevil. By February 2019, Netflix had canceled all of its Marvel series. In April 2016, the Disney-owned cable network Freeform announced Cloak & Dagger. In May 2017, Marvel announced that Runaways had received a series order from Hulu. In May 2019, Marvel announced that Helstrom had been greenlit for Hulu.
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. In December 2019, Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios, with Marvel Studios taking over production of the remaining series and no further series expected to be developed by Marvel Television. In January 2021, Feige said "never say never" to potentially reviving the Netflix series, but noted that Marvel Studios was focused on their new Disney+ series. In May 2022, Marvel Studios was revealed to be developing a new Daredevil series for Disney+, which was announced in July as Daredevil: Born Again.
In 2008, the first comic book to tie-into the MCU was released. Quesada explained that these comics would be set within the continuity of the films, but were not intended to be direct adaptations. 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. Marvel Comics worked with Brad Winderbaum, Jeremy Latcham, and Will Corona Pilgrim at Marvel Studios to decide which concepts would be carried over from the Marvel Comics Universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what to show in the tie-in comics, and what to leave for the films. Marvel later clarified which of the tie-in comics are considered canonical MCU stories, with the rest being merely inspired by the MCU "where we get to show off all the characters from the film in costume and in comic form".
In August 2011, Marvel announced a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots. The name was derived from the label used by Marvel Comics for their one-shot comics. Winderbaum said the shorts were "a fun way to experiment with new characters and ideas" and to expand the MCU. Each short was designed to be a self-contained story that provided more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films.
In March 2015, Marvel's vice president of animation development and production, Cort Lane, said animated tie-ins to the MCU were "in the works". 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. In December 2016, a six-part web series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot, debuted on ABC.com. It follows Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez on a secret mission, shortly before the start of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fourth season, with Natalia Cordova-Buckley reprising her role from the series. In September 2019, Sony created a real version of the fictional The Daily Bugle 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 Alex Jones's InfoWars, 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". In December 2020, Marvel Studios announced I Am Groot, a series of photorealistic animated shorts starring Baby Groot for Disney+.
In November 2016, Feige explained that the studio would often put 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 approximately every 18 months to plan out future projects and develop the phases of the MCU. However, these lookbooks are not always shown to directors, 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 can guide a film. Some of their choices for directors have been considered "out-of-left-field based on those director's previous work. On this, Feige remarked that "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."
The studio ensures directors are open to the idea of the shared universe and are willing to include connective material, such as Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston needing to include scenes that set-up The Avengers (2012) in their respective Phase One films Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger (both 2011). Marvel Studios usually has a big idea they would like to explore or build to in a project, such as Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), but they leave it up to the filmmakers to interpret and "improv a little bit" to get that point. After these ideas have been developed, the creative team then begins exploring ideas from other future projects to see how to make any larger universe connections.
In August 2012, Marvel signed The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) director Joss Whedon to an exclusive contract through June 2015 for film and television. With the deal, Whedon contributed creatively to all of the Phase Two films and also developed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the first television series set in the MCU. In April 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) writer and director James Gunn revealed that he would be working with Marvel to help plan future stories for the Guardians of the Galaxy characters and the wider "Marvel Cosmic Universe", although Gunn became the co-CEO of DC Studios in November 2022 and signed a four-year deal to work exclusively on DC Comics-based projects. For Phase Three, there was a large amount of collaboration between the filmmakers of the individual character films and the filmmakers of the crossover films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which were directed by the Russo brothers and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. This was to ensure their storytelling aligned for the Infinity Saga's culmination.
Marvel Studios began contracting their actors for multiple films, including signing actor Samuel L. Jackson to a then-unprecedented nine-film contract. Feige said the studio had all actors sign contracts for multiple films, with the normal number being for three or more while the nine or twelve film deals were rare. The actors' contracts also feature clauses that allow 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. 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 that the new contracts would likely only apply to films about to enter production. It was unclear if any adjustments would be made to contracts for films already completed but not yet released.
For Marvel Television, Loeb said he and his executives were involved in all aspects of 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 said the studio was able to work on so many series across different networks and platforms because all they needed was one person working on each series to help "guide the process". Actors appearing in Marvel Television series, such as Charlie Cox (who portrayed 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. 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 individual characters' worlds. In December 2021, Feige confirmed that Cox would reprise the role of Daredevil in Marvel Studios MCU productions, with Cox first reprising the role in the film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Additionally, Vincent D'Onofrio first reprised his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin from Daredevil in the Disney+ series Hawkeye (2021).
Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases".
The first three phases are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". 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). 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). 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).
The second three phases are collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga", and include television series on Disney+. Phase Four includes Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Phase Five begins with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), The Marvels (2023), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and will conclude with Thunderbolts* (2025). Phase Six begins with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), followed by Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), and will conclude with Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Marvel Television produced multiple television series set in the MCU across broadcast, streaming, and cable. Its ABC series included Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), Agent Carter (2015–2016), and Inhumans (2017); its Netflix series included 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); its 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, but was ultimately "not tied to the MCU", according to showrunner Paul Zbyszewski.
Beginning with Phase Four, television series were included as part of the Phases in addition to their feature films. Each series is released on Disney+. Phase Four includes the series WandaVision (2021), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), the first season of Loki (2021), the first season of the animated series What If...? (2021), Hawkeye (2021), Moon Knight (2022), Ms. Marvel (2022), and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). The television specials Werewolf by Night (2022) and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) are also included in the phase. Phase Five includes Secret Invasion (2023), the second season of Loki (2023), the second season of What If...? (2023), Echo (2024), Agatha All Along (2024), the third season of What If...? (2024), the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025), the first season of Daredevil: Born Again (2025), and Ironheart (2025). Phase Six will include Eyes of Wakanda (2025), Marvel Zombies (2025), Wonder Man (2025), the second season of Born Again (2026), and Vision Quest (2026).
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), Item 47 (2012), Agent Carter (2013), and All Hail the King (2014).
Following the One-Shots becoming available on Disney+ in January 2022, Marvel classified the Team Thor mockumentary shorts as One-Shots. Team Thor is a series of direct-to-video mockumentary short films that were released from 2016 to 2018, consisting of Team Thor, Team Thor: Part 2, and Team Darryl, all written and directed by Taika Waititi.
I Am Groot is a series of photorealistic animated short films for Disney+ starring Baby Groot going on adventures with new and unusual characters. Vin Diesel reprises his role, with five shorts releasing on August 10, 2022. A second season with five additional shorts was released on September 6, 2023.
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. 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. Leslie Bibb reprises her role as Christine Everhart from the Iron Man films.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (2016) is one of several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. web series created for ABC.com and produced by Marvel Television that is a supplement to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with the main cast reprising their roles.
The first two seasons of The Daily Bugle (2019–2022) are an in-universe current affairs show serving as a viral marketing campaign for the films Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the videos released on YouTube and TikTok. It is based on the fictional sensationalist news outlet of the same name that appears in the MCU—itself based on the fictional newspaper agency of the same name appearing in several Marvel Comics publications. J. K. Simmons and Angourie Rice reprise their roles as J. Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant from the Spider-Man films.
Multiple limited series or one-shot comic books that tie into the MCU films and television series have been published by Marvel Comics. 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.
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 MCU. The book, which exists within the 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.
Look Out for the Little Guy, the fictional memoir written by Scott Lang as seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was released by Hyperion Avenue on September 5, 2023. It was created alongside Marvel Studios and the Quantumania filmmakers, and was written by Rob Kutner, featuring "over 20 short pieces exploring different aspects of Scott's experiences" as a father and Avenger. Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness wrote the material from the memoir that was featured in the film.
Various composers have created the film and television scores of the MCU films, television series, One-Shots, Special Presentations, and other related projects of the MCU, primarily released by Marvel Studios's record label Marvel Music. 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 production logo.
The fictional timeline of the MCU includes the feature films, television series, television specials, short films, and the I Am Groot shorts from Marvel Studios and Marvel Television's Netflix series. While the early films of Phase One and Phase Two of the franchise followed each other in the timeline similar to their release order, Phase Three saw many of the films overlapping with each other in the timeline, while also introducing the first prequel property, Captain Marvel. The Phase Three film Avengers: Endgame featured characters traveling into the past and introduced a five-year time jump, with many subsequent releases in Phase Four and Phase Five set after Endgame's events in the timeline. The television series Loki and What If...? were the first properties to occur outside of the main timeline and explore alternative timelines and universes.
There have been numerous attempts by Marvel Studios and others to codify the events of the MCU, which have been subject to perceived continuity errors, resulting in Marvel Studios releasing an official timeline book in 2023 for their first four phases that were designated as part of their "Sacred Timeline". This book did not feature projects produced by other companies, such as Marvel Television's series which all had been loosely connected to the films, however, it was noted all of these outside projects were part of the larger Marvel canon. In early 2024, Marvel Studios formally integrated Marvel Television's group of Netflix series into their Disney+ timeline.
As of the Phase Five film Captain America: Brave New World and the television series Daredevil: Born Again (2025), the "present day" in the MCU is 2027. The following covers and discusses MCU media released by Marvel Studios and the Netflix series by Marvel Television. Loki and What If...? are excluded from the diagram because they occur outside of the main timeline. Werewolf by Night is also excluded given the special explicitly does not indicate where it takes place in the MCU. Disney+'s timeline order places the first seasons of Loki and What If...? between Avengers: Endgame and WandaVision, their second seasons after The Marvels, and Werewolf by Night after Thor: Love and Thunder; Werewolf by Night is also placed here in The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z, Vol. 5, published in 2008, originally designated the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Earth-199999 within the continuity of Marvel's comic multiverse, a collection of fictional alternate universes, although, this designation was rarely used officially outside of the source material. The television series Loki and What If...? were the first to explore the concept of the multiverse within the MCU, as well as the film Spider-Man: No Way Home, which connected the MCU to other Spider-Man film franchises by featuring characters from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films (2012–14), and Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The SSU film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) briefly featured the main universe of the MCU as well. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the main universe of MCU events was designated as Earth-616 (a designation first referenced in Spider-Man: Far From Home), sharing the name of the main Marvel Comics universe, while another universe was designated as Earth-838. Sony's animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) references the events of No Way Home, citing the MCU's primary reality as Earth-199999. 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series (2000–2020) is designated as Earth-10005 in Deadpool & Wolverine. That film features several actors reprising their roles from the X-Men film series along with characters from Fox's films Daredevil (2003) and its spin-off Elektra (2005), Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and New Line Cinema's Blade film trilogy (1994–2004). Phases Four, Five, and Six comprise "The Multiverse Saga".
With the release of The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline in October 2023, Feige wrote in its foreword that Marvel Studios only considered, at that time, projects developed by them in their first four phases as part of their "Sacred Timeline", but acknowledged the history of other Marvel films and television series that would exist in the larger multiverse and said they were "canonical to Marvel". In January 2024, Winderbaum acknowledged that Marvel Studios had previously been "a little bit cagey" about what was part of their Sacred Timeline, noting how there had been the corporate divide between what Marvel Studios created and what Marvel Television created. He continued that as time had passed, Marvel Studios began to see "how well integrated the [Marvel Television] stories are" and personally felt confident in saying Marvel Television's Daredevil was part of the Sacred Timeline.
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.I.S. and portraying Vision. J. K. Simmons became the first actor to reprise a non-MCU role in the MCU when he appeared as J. Jonah Jameson (a role he played in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy from 2002 to 2007) in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Prior to his death in 2018, Stan Lee, the creator or co-creator of many of the characters adapted 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. His cameo in Guardians of the 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. This acknowledged the fan theory that Lee may be portraying the same character in all his cameos, with writer and director James Gunn noting that commentators believed Lee was portraying the character 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." 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?" Following Lee's death, Marvel Studios chose not to create any new Lee cameos in future projects. NY1 news anchor Pat Kiernan has also appeared in multiple MCU films and television series as himself.
Early on, the shared universe element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was criticized by some journalists. Around the release of The Avengers in 2012, 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 universe becomes increasingly confusing." Kofi Outlaw of Screen Rant stated that while The Avengers was a success, "Marvel Studios still has room to improve their approach to building a shared movie universe". 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". Collider's 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.I.E.L.D. or lead-ups to The Avengers dragged down the films' narratives.
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 "visual spark", or "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 "TV-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."
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 creating the connective tissue of an ongoing film franchise ... [Agents of S.H.I.E.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." 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.I.E.L.D. had to bide time until The Winter Soldier's release", which led to much criticism.
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". McMillian 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."
After seeing the portrayal of Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, the antagonist of the film, McMillian noted,
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." 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." 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.I.E.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". Conversely, Eric Francisco of Inverse called Jessica Jones's lack of overt connections to the MCU "the show's chief advantage. Besides demonstrating how physically wide open the MCU's scope really is, Jessica Jones also proves the MCU's thematic durability."
In April 2016, Marvel Studios revealed that Alfre Woodard would appear in Captain America: Civil War, having already been cast as Mariah Dillard in Luke Cage the previous year. This "raised hopes that Marvel could be uniting its film and Netflix universes", with "one of the first and strongest connections" between the two. Civil War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed that Woodard would instead be portraying Miriam Sharpe in the film, explaining that she had been cast on the suggestion of Robert Downey Jr., and they had not learned of her casting in Luke Cage until afterwards. This was not the first instance of actors being cast in multiple roles in the MCU, but this casting was called more "significant", and seen by many as a "disappointing" indication of "the growing divide" and "lack of more satisfying cooperation" between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television following the September 2015 corporate reshuffling of Marvel Entertainment.
Speaking to the 1990s setting of Captain Marvel, "the MCU's first full period piece since Phase One's Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011", Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter felt the return of younger versions of some characters introduced and killed in earlier films "open[ed] up the MCU in a whole new way and broaden[ed] the franchise's mantra of 'it's all connected'". Speaking specifically to Clark Gregg's appearance as Agent Phil Coulson in the film, Newby noted the appearance "doesn't exactly mend fences between Marvel's film and TV divisions, [but] it does strengthen the connective tissue and the sense that these characters still matter in the grand scheme of Marvel's film plans". He also hoped that continuity from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would be maintained in Captain Marvel, especially since Coulson has dealt with the Kree in the series. Newby also added that shifting to different time periods would help Marvel Studios "sustain this cinematic universe for the next 10 years" by allowing them to repeat some of the genres previously used, as they could then feel "fresh" and have "different rules and different restraints", as well as allow them to build upon material established in the television series such as Agent Carter. He concluded,
Likewise, in his review of Avengers: Endgame, Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal acknowledged the unique achievement that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had accomplished:
Many famous filmmakers expressed different views both on the success and quality of MCU. In October 2019, filmmaker Martin Scorsese openly criticized Marvel films in an interview and during a David Lean lecture in London, later expanded in an op-ed in The New York Times, asserting that these films are not cinema, but are instead the equivalent of theme park rides that lack "mystery, revelation or genuine emotional danger". He also stated that such films are corporation products that have been "market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they're ready for consumption", and that the invasion of such "theme park" films in theaters crowded out films by other directors. Scorsese's remarks were dismissed by directors of MCU films such as Joss Whedon and James Gunn, while they were defended by Francis Ford Coppola, who described the potential effect of Marvel films in the film industry as "despicable". In September 2021, director Denis Villeneuve noted that Marvel films "are nothing more than a 'cut and paste' of others" that have "turned us into zombies a bit". In February 2022, director Roland Emmerich felt large blockbuster films such as the MCU and Star Wars films were "ruining our industry a little", since "nobody does anything original anymore". Conversely, George Miller stated, "To me, it's all cinema. I don't think you can ghettoize it and say, oh this is cinema or that is cinema. It applies to all the arts, to literature, the performing arts, painting and music, in all its form. It's such a broad spectrum, a wide range and to say that anyone is more significant or more important than the other, is missing the point. It's one big mosaic and each bit of work fits into it."
Marvel's American audience was studied by Morning Consult in 2021, which found that 9% of Marvel's fan base is Generation Z, 64% of fans are White adults, and 42% of fans live in suburban areas. In 2023, critics began describing the volume of interconnected storylines as a "homework assignment".
After the release of The Avengers in May 2012, Tom Russo of Boston.com noted that aside from the occasional "novelty" such as Alien vs. Predator (2004), the idea of a shared universe was virtually unheard of in Hollywood. Since that time, the shared universe model created by Marvel Studios has begun to be replicated by other film studios that held rights to other comic book characters. In April 2014, Tuna Amobi, a media analyst for Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services, stated that in the previous three to five years, Hollywood studios began planning "megafranchises" for years to come, as opposed to working one blockbuster at a time. Amobi added, "A lot of these superhero characters were just being left there to gather dust. Disney has proved that this [approach and genre] can be a gold mine." With more studios now "playing the megafranchise game", Doug Creutz, media analyst for Cowen and Company, feels the allure will eventually die for audiences: "If Marvel's going to make two or three films a year, and Warner Brothers is going to do at least a film every year, and Sony's going to do a film every year, and Fox [is] going to do a film every year, can everyone do well in that scenario? I'm not sure they can."
In March 2018, Patrick Shanley of The Hollywood Reporter opined that "the key differences between a regular franchise, such as The Fast and the Furious or Pitch Perfect films, and a shared universe is the amount of planning and interweaving that goes into each individual film. Its all too easy to make a film that exists solely for the purpose of setting up future installments and expanding a world, rather than a film that stands on its own merits while deftly hinting or winking at its place in the larger mythos. In that, the MCU has flourished." He felt that Iron Man "itself was aimed at being an enjoyable stand-alone experience, not as an overall advertisement for 17 subsequent movies. That mentality has persisted through most of the MCU films over the past decade, which is all the more impressive as its roster of heroes now exceeds the two-dozen mark."
In October 2012, following its legal victory over Joe Shuster's estate for the rights to Superman, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that it planned to move ahead with its long-awaited Justice League film, uniting such DC Comics superheroes as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The company was expected to take the opposite approach to Marvel, releasing individual films for the characters after they have appeared in a team-up film. The release of Man of Steel in 2013 was intended to be the start of a new shared universe for DC, "laying the groundwork for the future slate of films based on DC Comics". In 2014, Warner Bros. announced that slate of films, similarly to Disney and Marvel claiming dates for films years in advance. That year, DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns stated that the television series Arrow and The Flash were set in a separate universe from the new film one, later clarifying that "We look at it as the multiverse. We have our TV universe and our film universe, but they all co-exist. For us, creatively, it's about allowing everyone to make the best possible product, to tell the best story, to do the best world. Everyone has a vision and you really want to let the visions shine through ... It's just a different approach [from Marvel's]."
Discussing the apparent failure of the cinematic universe's first team-up film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), to establish a successful equivalent to the MCU, Emily VanDerWerff noted that where the MCU has a television-like "showrunner" in Feige, "the visionary behind Marvel's entire slate", the DCEU has director Zack Snyder, whose DC films "seemingly start from the assumption that people have come not to see an individual story but a long series of teases for other ones. It's like he knows what he needs to do but can't focus on the task at hand. TV certainly isn't immune to that problem, but shows that get caught up in high-concept premises and big-picture thinking before doing the necessary legwork to establish characters and their relationships tend to be canceled." Subsequently, in May 2016, Warner Bros. gave oversight of the DCEU to Johns and executive Jon Berg in an attempt to "unify the disparate elements of the DC movies" and emulate Marvel's success. The two were made producers on the Justice League films, on top of Johns' involvement in several "solo" films, such as the post-production process of Suicide Squad (2016) or the writing process of a standalone Batman film. After the successful release of Wonder Woman in June 2017, DC decided to begin deemphasizing the shared nature of their films, with DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson stating, "Our intention, certainly, moving forward is using the continuity to help make sure nothing is diverging in a way that doesn't make sense, but there's no insistence upon an overall story line or interconnectivity in that universe... Moving forward, you'll see the DC movie universe being a universe, but one that comes from the heart of the filmmaker who's creating them." Additionally, DC began focusing on films "completely separate from everything else, set entirely outside" the DCEU as part of a new label, with the first film centered on the Joker. In August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced a 10-year plan for the DC Extended Universe similar to the one that Horn and Iger employed with Feige for the MCU, with James Gunn and Peter Safran appointed in October 2022 to serve as the co-chairmen and co-CEOs of the newly formed DC Studios to develop a new DC shared universe, the first content for which was announced in January 2023.
In November 2012, 20th Century Fox announced plans to create their own shared universe, consisting of Marvel properties that it held the rights to including the Fantastic Four and X-Men, with the hiring of Mark Millar as supervising producer. Millar said, "Fox are thinking, 'We're sitting on some really awesome things here. There is another side of the Marvel Universe. Let's try and get some cohesiveness going.' So they brought me in to oversee that really. To meet with the writers and directors to suggest new ways we could take this stuff and new properties that could spin out of it." X-Men: Days of Future Past, released in 2014, was Fox's first step towards expanding their stable of Marvel properties and creating this universe, ahead of the release of a Fantastic Four reboot film the next year. In May 2014, Days of Future Past and Fantastic Four screenwriter Simon Kinberg stated that the latter film would not take place in the same universe as the X-Men films, explaining that "none of the X-Men movies have acknowledged the notion of a sort of superhero team—the Fantastic Four. And the Fantastic Four acquire powers, so for them to live in a world where mutants are prevalent is kind of complicated, because you're like, 'Oh, you're just a mutant.' Like, 'What's so fantastic about you?' ... they live in discrete universes." In July 2015, X-Men director Bryan Singer said that there was still potential for a crossover between the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises, if reactions to Fantastic Four and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) warranted it.
Feeling that Singer's efforts in Apocalypse to establish a larger world, similar to the MCU, did not meet the standards established by Marvel, VanDerWerff noted that unlike Feige's ability to serve as "pseudo-showrunner", Singer is instead "steeped in film and the way movie stories have always been told", so "when it comes time to have Apocalypse dovetail with story threads from the earlier X-Men: First Class", which was directed by Matthew Vaughn, "both Singer's direction and Simon Kinberg's script rely on hackneyed devices and clumsy storytelling", indicating a lack of "the kind of big-picture thinking this sort of mega franchise requires". In his review of Dark Phoenix, Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal characterized the entire X-Men film series as being a "notoriously erratic franchise". In March 2019, the film rights of Deadpool, the X-Men characters, and the Fantastic Four characters returned to Marvel Studios following the Walt Disney Company's acquisition of 21st Century Fox.
In November 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal announced that the studio intended to expand their universe created within director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films (2012–14), with spin-off adventures for supporting characters, in an attempt to replicate Marvel and Disney's model. The next month, Sony announced Venom and Sinister Six films, both set in the Amazing Spider-Man universe. With this announcement, IGN stated that the spin-offs are "the latest example of what we can refer to as "the Avengers effect" in Hollywood, as studios work to build interlocking movie universes." Sony chose not to replicate the Marvel Studios model of introducing individual characters first before bringing them together in a team-up film, instead making the Spider-Man adversaries the stars of future films. In February 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that the Spider-Man franchise would be retooled, with a new film co-produced by Feige and Pascal being released in July 2017, and the character being integrated into the MCU. Sony Pictures would continue to finance, distribute, own, and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films. With this announcement, sequels to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) were canceled, and by November 2015 the Venom and Sinister Six films, as well as spin-offs based on female characters in the Spider-Man universe, were no longer moving forward. By March 2016, the Venom film had itself been retooled, to start its own franchise unrelated to the MCU Spider-Man. A year later, Sony officially announced the Venom film to be in development, for an October 5, 2018, release, along with a film centered on the characters Silver Sable and Black Cat known as Silver & Black. Both projects were not intended to be a part of the MCU nor spin-offs to Spider-Man: Homecoming, but rather part of an intended separate shared universe known as the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The mid-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) hinted at Eddie Brock / Venom joining the MCU, which was confirmed with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) through an uncredited cameo appearance in its mid-credits scene. Spider-Man: No Way Home also featured the Spider-Man iterations from Sam Raimi and Webb's Spider-Man films, respectively reprised by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.
After Sony canceled their shared universe plans and started sharing the Spider-Man character with Marvel Studios, multiple critics discussed their failure at replicating the MCU. Scott Meslow of The Week noted the perceived flaws of the first Amazing Spider-Man film, outside of its lead performances, and how the sequel "doubles down on all the missteps of the original while adding a few of its own. ...We now have a textbook example of how not to reboot a superhero franchise, and if Sony and Marvel are wise, they'll take virtually all those lessons to heart as they chart Spider-Man's next course." Scott Mendelson noted that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 "was sold as less a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man than a backdoor pilot for Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six. ...Had Sony stuck with the original plan of a scaled-down superhero franchise, one that really was rooted in romantic drama, they would have at least stuck out in a crowded field of superhero franchises. When every superhero film is now going bigger, Amazing Spider-Man could have distinguished itself by going small and intimate." This would have saved Sony "a boatload of money", and potentially reversed the film's relative financial failure.
In September 2014, the University of Baltimore announced a course beginning in the 2015 spring semester revolving around the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to be taught by Arnold T. Blumberg. "Media Genres: Media Marvels" examines "how Marvel's series of interconnected films and television shows, plus related media and comic book sources and Joseph Campbell's monomyth of the 'hero's journey', offer important insights into modern culture" as well as Marvel's efforts "to establish a viable universe of plotlines, characters, and backstories."
After the acquisition by Disney in 2009, Marvel films began to be marketed at the Innoventions attraction in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. For Iron Man 3, the exhibit, entitled "Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries", featured the same armor display that was shown at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, with the Marks I-VII and the new Mark XLII. In addition, there was a simulator game, titled "Become Iron Man", that used Kinect-like technology to allow the viewer to be encased in an animated Mark XLII armor and take part in a series of "tests", in which you fire repulsor rays and fly through Tony Stark's workshop. The game was guided by J.A.R.V.I.S., who is voiced again by Paul Bettany. The exhibit also had smaller displays that included helmets and chest pieces from the earlier films and the gauntlet and boot from an action sequence in Iron Man 3. The exhibit for Thor: The Dark World was called "Thor: Treasures of Asgard", and featured displays of Asgardian relics and transports guests to Odin's throne room, where they were greeted by Thor. Captain America: The Winter Soldier's exhibit, "Captain America: The Living Legend and Symbol of Courage", featured a meet and greet experience.
From May to September 2017, Disneyland Resort featured the "Summer of Heroes", which features members of the Guardians and Avengers appearing throughout the Disneyland Resort. Additionally, the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Dance Off event was featured, which involved Peter Quill / Star-Lord blasting music from his boombox, along with the Avengers Training Initiative, a limited experience where Black Widow and Hawkeye "assemble a group of young recruits to see if they have what it takes to be an Avenger." Marvel-related food and merchandise was also available throughout Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure during the "Summer of Heroes".
In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced three new Marvel-themed areas inspired by the MCU to Disney California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The developments were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with Marvel Studios and Marvel Themed Entertainment. As was established with Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, Avengers Campus exists in its own theme park universe that is inspired by the MCU. Being in the MCU multiverse, Avengers Campus has a shared history with the MCU proper, with a few notable exceptions being the Blip from Avengers: Infinity War did not occur, and some characters who died, such as Tony Stark, are still alive.
In October 2013, the Iron Man Experience attraction was announced for Hong Kong Disneyland. It is set in the Tomorrowland section of the park, with the area built to look like a new Stark Expo created by Tony Stark after the 2010 one, as seen in Iron Man 2, with various exhibit halls that include the Mark III armor from the films. The area also has Iron Man and Marvel-themed merchandise items and memorabilia, plus an interactive game where guests can have the chance to try on Iron Man's armor. Iron Man Experience sees guests assist Iron Man in defeating Hydra throughout Hong Kong, and opened on January 11, 2017.
In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced a new Marvel-themed area inspired by the MCU to Hong Kong Disneyland and a new attraction where guests team up with Ant-Man and the Wasp, to join Iron Man Experience. Inspired by Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! is an enclosed interactive dark ride that sees guests use laser-powered weapons to team up with Ant-Man and the Wasp to defeat Arnim Zola and his army of Hydra swarm bots. Ant Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle! replaces the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride, and opened on March 31, 2019.
By San Diego Comic-Con 2016, the Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure was set to be replaced by a new attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!. Chris Pratt, Zoë Saldaña, Dave Bautista and Benicio del Toro all filmed exclusive footage for the attraction, reprising their roles as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax and Taneleer Tivan / The Collector, respectively. James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel, directed footage for the attraction and consulted on all aspects of it. Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! sees visitors assisting Rocket to rescue the other Guardians from the Collector's fortress, while the attraction features randomized events during the experience and music inspired by the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack. The attraction opened on May 27, 2017.
In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced a new Marvel-themed area inspired by the MCU at Disney California Adventure, anchored by Mission: Breakout!, that sees characters from the MCU such as Iron Man and Spider-Man join the Guardians of the Galaxy in a "completely immersive superhero universe". The area replaced the "A Bug's Land" area, which closed in mid-2018 to start construction on the Marvel area. Tom Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in the attraction Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, in which Parker has set up W.E.B. (the Worldwide Engineers Brigade) to inspire a new generation to use technology to save the world. Riders are recruited by Spider-Man into the initiative to stop his malfunctioning Spider-Bots. Web Slingers was directed by Spider-Man director Jon Watts along with Brett Strong, and was written by Steven Spiegel and featured visual effects by Framestore. A one-act version of Rogers: The Musical premiered at the Hyperion Theater on June 30, 2023, and ran for a limited time until August 31.
In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced a new Marvel-themed area inspired by the MCU to Disneyland Paris' Walt Disney Studios Park. The area includes a reimagined attraction where riders team up with Iron Man and other Avengers on a "hyper-kinetic adventure" on July 20, 2022. The park also hosted the "Summer of Super Heroes" live-action stage show from June–September 2018.
In July 2021, the immersive family dining experience "Avengers: Quantum Encounter" at the Worlds of Marvel restaurant on the Disney Wish cruise ship was announced, which debuted when the cruise began voyages on July 14, 2022. The experience takes place during dinner with interactive elements and a full CGI recreation of the Wish's upper decks. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, Kerry Condon, and Iman Vellani reprised their MCU roles, while Ross Marquand voiced Ultron after previously doing so in What If...?, in which he replaced James Spader. Chris Waitt directed Rudd and Lilly's content, which was written by Steven Spiegel and featured visual effects by Framestore. The Marvels director Nia DaCosta filmed Vellani and Larson's content in London ahead of principal photography for the film.
In September 2023, the Wish's sister ship the Disney Treasure was announced to also include the Worlds of Marvel restaurant with two nights of distinct shows and menus, featuring an appearance by Spider-Man. The Marvel Super Hero Academy is also included on the cruise, where young kids can train to be superheroes with Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Ant-Man. These were available on the Treasure when it began voyages on December 21, 2024.
In May 2014, the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network) exhibit opened at the Discovery Times Square center. The exhibit features replica set pieces and props from the films, mixed with interactive technology and information, crafted through a partnership with NASA and other scientists. Titus Welliver also provides a "debrief" to visitors, reprising his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Felix Blake. Created by Victory Hill Exhibits, Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. cost $7.5 million to create, and ran through early September 2015.
The exhibit also opened in South Korea at the War Memorial of Korea in April 2015, in Paris, France, at Esplanade de La Défense a year later, and in Las Vegas at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in June 2016. The Las Vegas version of the exhibit featured updated character details and corresponding science to incorporate the Marvel films that were released since the original exhibit in New York. Additionally, the Las Vegas version features Cobie Smulders reprising her role as Maria Hill to "debrief" visitors, replacing Welliver.
An art exhibit, titled Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe, was displayed exclusively at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) in Brisbane, Australia, in 2017. The exhibit, which included "300 plus objects, films, costumes, drawings and other ephemera", featured content "from the collection of Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment and private collections" with "significant focus [given] to the creative artists who translate the drawn narrative to the screen through production design and storyboarding, costume and prop design, and special effects and post-production". Marvel: Creating the Cinematic Universe was also extended to GOMA's Australian Cinémathèque with a retrospective of the MCU films.
In October 2019, Marvel Studios and ILMxLAB announced the virtual reality experience Avengers: Damage Control. The experience would be available for a limited time starting in mid-October 2019 at select Void VR locations. Avengers: Damage Control sees players taking control of one of Shuri's Emergency Response Suits–which combine Wakandan and Stark Industries technologies–to defeat a threat alongside Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. Letitia Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Rudd, and Evangeline Lilly all reprise their MCU roles, while Ross Marquand voices Ultron, replacing James Spader. The experience was extended to the end of 2019.
In May 2024, the Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga Concert Experience was announced by Disney Concerts, Marvel Studios, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to premiere on August 30 and 31, 2024, at the Hollywood Bowl. The concert, conducted by the Philharmonic's Music and Artistic director Gustavo Dudamel, features the Philharmonic performing a "specially created score" of music from the Infinity Saga films, such as The Avengers theme and "Portals" from Avengers: Endgame, live to picture. The first half of the concert focused on individual characters from the films, while the second half centered on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. A "post-credits scene" saw the Philharmonic play Michael Giacchino's theme from The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025). The performance also used projection mapping on the proscenium of the Hollywood Bowl while audiences members wore PixMob light-up wrist bands. The concert is set to go on tour globally in 2025.
On March 18, 2014, ABC aired a one-hour television special titled Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe, which documented the history of Marvel Studios and the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and included exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from all of the films, One-Shots, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and sneak peeks of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, unaired episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Ant-Man. Brian Lowry of Variety felt the special, "contains a pretty interesting business and creative story. While it might all make sense in hindsight, there was appreciable audacity in Marvel's plan to release five loosely connected movies from the same hero-filled world, beginning with the cinematically unproven Iron Man and culminating with superhero team The Avengers. As such, this fast-moving hour qualifies as more than just a cut-and-paste job from electronic press kits, although there's an element of that, certainly." The special was released on September 9, 2014, on the home media for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1.
In September 2014, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell stated that to meet production demands and avoid having to air repeat episodes, ABC would likely air a Marvel special in place of a regular installment at some point during the first ten episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s second season. In October, the special was revealed to be Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!, which was hosted by Emily VanCamp, who portrays Agent 13 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and aired on November 4, 2014. The special features behind the scenes footage from Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, as well as footage from the Agent Carter television series previously screened at New York Comic Con. Brian Lowry of Variety felt an hour for the special did not "do the topic justice" adding, "For anyone who has seen more than one Marvel movie but would shrug perplexedly at the mention of Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko, Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp To Pop! should probably be required viewing. Fun, fast-paced and encompassing many of the company's highlights along with a few lowlights, it's a solid primer on Marvel's history, while weaving in inevitable self-promotion and synergistic plugs." Eric Goldman of IGN also wished the special had been longer, adding, "Understandably, the more you already know about Marvel, the less you'll be surprised by Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!, but it's important to remember who this special is really made for – a mainstream audience who have embraced the Marvel characters, via the hugely successful movies, in a way no one could have imagined."
The special Expanding the Universe was released on Disney+ on November 12, 2019. It features a look at the original MCU TV series for Disney+, with interviews and concept art.
A Marvel-themed orchestra performance of an extended version of Brian Tyler's Marvel Studios theme and Alan Silvestri's theme from The Avengers took place during China's Bilibili New Year's Gala on December 31, 2020, to promote the 2021 Marvel Studios film releases.
A special titled Marvel Studios' 2021 Disney+ Day Special, which looked at the future of the MCU on Disney+, was released on the service on November 12, 2021, as part of its "Disney+ Day" celebration.
Announced in December 2020, this series examines individual heroes, villains, moments, and objects from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how they connect, in anticipation of the upcoming stories that will feature them in Phase Four. Marvel Studios: Legends premiered on Disney+ on January 8, 2021, with the release of the first two episodes. Additional episodes were released ahead of a character and objects' appearances in Disney+ series and films.
Announced in February 2021, each special of the documentary series goes behind the scenes of the making of the MCU films and television series with cast members and additional creatives. Marvel Studios: Assembled premiered on Disney+ on March 12, 2021, with the release of the first special, followed by additional specials.
Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever is a three-part documentary series detailing the creation process of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's soundtrack. It premiered on Disney+ on February 28, 2023. The documentary series was originally scheduled to be removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, as part of Disney's efforts to reduce content costs, but ultimately was decided to remain on the service at that time.
In June 2021, Marvel Studios released a casting call for fans of "Marvel's strong women" to be a part of an unscripted Disney+ documentary series showcasing the women who create the MCU in front of and behind the camera, including actors and creatives, and the fans who applied to participate in the series. The series was titled MPower by February 2023 and premiered in its entirety on March 8, 2023, consisting of four episodes titled "The Women of Black Panther", "Captain Marvel", "Scarlet Witch", and "Gamora", which were directed by Quinn Wilson and used archival footage and animation. Its release coincided with International Women's Day. Several MCU actresses were interviewed to discuss what makes their characters compelling to audiences, including Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Florence Kasumba, and Letitia Wright; Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris; Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn, and Kat Dennings; and Zoë Saldaña, who executive produced the series alongside Victoria Alonso. Saldaña said the series was a tribute to the representation and empowerment of women with the intent to "ignite meaningful conversations and drive real change towards a more equal and inclusive world." Other creatives who were interviewed for episodes include Marvel Studios executive Trinh Tran, Black Panther costume designer Ruth E. Carter, production designer Hannah Beachler, and editor Debbie Berman. The documentary series was originally scheduled to be removed from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, as part of Disney's efforts to reduce content costs, but ultimately was decided to remain on the service at that time. The series was produced by Herzog & Co., Saldaña's production company Cinestar Pictures, and Just Entertainment.
Aaron Perine at ComicBook.com believed that the series would have "something for all fans to enjoy" with each character's entry because of the fan appreciation, while BJ Conagelo of /Film stated it was "fantastic to see a thoughtful and in-depth spotlight" of the work by diverse groups of women in the MCU, and found it was "equally as impressive" how much the series analyzed their impact as a "sincere assessment" of the importance of the stories beyond gender representation. Philip Watson at CGMagazine said that while the series seemed focused on "add[ing] depth" to the backstories of the females behind Marvel, a secondary focus was to honor the title and empower women, quoting Kasumba: "You could watch it and think 'people that look like me, we can be Super Heroes too'". Kai Young of Screen Rant felt that the series' exclusion of an episode focused on Scarlett Johansson's MCU character Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow was another "insult against" the character as she was "pivotal to the MCU", and had wanted such an episode to focus on developing Romanoff as an individual beyond her relationships with male characters and alongside her family.
In September 2015, Marvel announced the Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, named as a nod to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Each guidebook is compiled by Mike O'Sullivan and the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe team, with cover art from Mike del Mundo and Pascal Campion, and features facts about the MCU films, film-to-comic comparisons, and production stills. The guidebooks released each month from October 2015 to January 2016 were Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's Iron Man, Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's Incredible Hulk / Marvel's Iron Man 2, Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's Thor, and Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger.
In November 2018, Marvel and Titan Publishing Group released Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years to celebrate the first ten years of the MCU. It features cast interviews, in-depth sections on each film, and an Easter egg guide. In October 2021, a two-volume book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was released, written by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry. This collection features a look at the evolution of Marvel Studios, personal stories from the 23-film "Infinity Saga", and interviews with cast and crew members.
In April 2023, W. W. Norton & Company announced MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, for release on October 10, 2023. The book presents an unauthorized look at "the rise and uncertain reign of the MCU, analyzing Marvel Studios' place as a major player in Hollywood and global pop culture" from Marvel Studios' inception, through events in early 2023, conducted through numerous interviews with those closely associated with the MCU. Norton approached the writers to work on a book centered on the MCU in 2019. Robinson explained that the book was originally meant to be an oral history, until Disney was no longer enthused about the book's publication despite initially being open to it, and told current employees and former stars not to talk to the writers. The writers were able to supplement the interviews they were able to get with those from "cultural critics and comics experts" in addition to years of research. Robinson added that because of the long work put into the book, it was able to cover the studio's expansion to television on Disney+, as well as "this current state of what I like to call a 'wobble' in Marvel's long reign", and provide "a lot of answers about how we got here". Additionally, the book was not deterred by the then-recent firings of Alonso and Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, needing only "a few cosmetic tweaks to weave the whole story together" with Robinson explaining those firings "actually reinforced our sense that we really had captured the story of Marvel in both its triumphs and its stumbling blocks". Robinson was able to interview many of the subjects while Gonazles did the majority of the book's research, with Edwards compiling it all to give the book a "flow".
In February 2024, Abrams Books announced Marvel Studios: The Art of Ryan Meinerding, written by Bennett and Terry. The book includes over 500 of Meinerding's illustrations, from work-in-progress to completed pieces, along with interview material where Meinerding discusses his process and working in Marvel Studios' visual development department. It was released on October 1, 2024.
In February 2016, a commercial for Coca-Cola mini cans aired during Super Bowl 50. A Mini Marvel was created by Wieden+Kennedy for Coca-Cola through a partnership with Marvel, and was directed by the Russo brothers. In the ad, Ant-Man (voiced by Paul Rudd, reprising his role) and the Hulk first fight, and then bond, over a Coke mini can. Luma Pictures provided visual effects for the spot, having worked previously with the two characters in MCU films. For the Hulk, Luma redefined its previous muscular system and simulation process to create and render the character, while Ant-Man received new motion capture. The Super Bowl campaign extended to "limited-edition Coke mini cans [six packs] that are emblazoned with images of Marvel characters, including Hulk, Ant-Man, Black Widow, [Falcon, Iron Man] and Captain America." Consumers had the opportunity to purchase the cans by finding hidden clues in the commercial, though "if the program goes well, Coke will consider making the cans available in stores." The ad had the third most social media activity of all the film-related trailers that aired during the game, and was nominated for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial at the 15th Visual Effects Society Awards.
In June 2021, The Simpsons short film The Good, the Bart, and the Loki was announced, which was released alongside "Journey into Mystery", the fifth episode of Loki on Disney+. The short sees Loki teaming up with Bart Simpson in a crossover that pays homage to the heroes and villains of the MCU. Hiddleston reprises his role as Loki in the short.