Claim: The Marvel Cinematic Universe's first film was 2008's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe -LRB- MCU -RRB- is an American media franchise and shared universe that is centered on a series of superhero films , independently produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics . The franchise has expanded to include comic books , short films , television series and digital series . The shared universe , much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books , was established by crossing over common plot elements , settings , cast , and characters . Phil Coulson , portrayed by Clark Gregg , is an original character to the MCU and the only character to appear across all the different media of the MCU .   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- . Phase Two began with Iron Man 3 -LRB- 2013 -RRB- , and concluded with Ant-Man -LRB- 2015 -RRB- . The films are currently in Phase Three , which began with the release of Captain America : Civil War -LRB- 2016 -RRB- . Marvel Television expanded the universe further , first to network television with Marvel 's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC in the 2013 -- 14 television season , followed by online streaming with Marvel 's Daredevil on Netflix in 2015 , and then to cable television with Marvel 's Cloak & Dagger , which is scheduled to air in 2018 on Freeform . Marvel Television has also produced the digital series Marvel 's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. : Slingshot , which is a supplement to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Soundtrack albums have been released for all of the films , along with many of television series , as well as the release of compilation albums containing existing music heard in the films . The MCU also includes tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics , while Marvel Studios has also produced a series of direct-to-video short films and a viral marketing campaign for its films and the universe with the faux news program WHIH Newsfront .   The franchise has been commercially successful as a multimedia shared universe , though some critics have found that some of its films and television series have suffered in service of the wider universe . It has inspired other film and television studios with comic book character adaptation rights to attempt to create similar shared universes . The MCU has also been the focus of other media , outside of the shared universe , including attractions at the Disneyland Resort and Discovery Times Square , two television specials , guidebooks for each film , a Lego video game , and a commercial with Coca-Cola .