Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (in short: MCU) is the shared universe/film franchise that is the overall setting of the superhero films originally based on Marvel comics. The movies are organized into Sagas and Phases, including the Disney+ TV shows (and retroactively the Netflix TV shows as of 2024https://collider.com/netflix-marvel-series-mcu-canon/). The other TV shows from ABC and Freeform are considered to be in the same universe, but have not been officially recognized as canon by Marvel Studios. 
The major film sub-franchises of the MCU, ordered by date of beginning: 
* Iron Man (2008-2013) 
* The Incredible Hulk (2008) 
* Thor (2010-present) 
* Captain America (2010-2016) 
* The Avengers (2012-present) 
* Guardians of the Galaxy (2014-2023) 
* Ant-Man (2015-2023) 
* Doctor Strange (2016-present) 
* Spider-Man (2017-present) 
* Black Panther (2018-present) 
* Captain Marvel (2019-present) 
* Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings (2021-present) 
* Eternals (2021-present) 
* Deadpool (as of 2024) 
* Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
* Thunderbolts (2025)
* Fantastic Four (2025) 
* Blade (tba) 
For links on fanlore, see the :Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe. For a timeline of the various films and TV shows, see the Timeline of the MCU.
== Canon ==
Central Characters
The Avengers 	The Avengers 	SHIELD 	SHIELD
Tony Stark as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) 	Steve Rogers as Captain America (Chris Evans) 	Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) 	Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson)
Thor Odinson (Chris Hemsworth) 	Bruce Banner as Hulk (Edward Norton, Mark Ruffalo) 	Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) 	Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg)
Natasha Romanova as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) 	Clint Barton as Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) 	Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) 	Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)
Additional Members 	Additional Members 	Main Villains 	Main Villains
James Rhodes as War Machine (Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle)	Sam Wilson as Falcon/Captain America (Anthony Mackie)	Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston) 	Loki Laufeyson (Tom Hiddleston)
Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) 	Wanda Maximoff as Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) 	Ultron (James Spader) 	Ultron (James Spader)
Vision/JARVIS (Paul Bettany) 	Scott Lang as Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) 	Thanos (Josh Brolin) 	Thanos (Josh Brolin)
Guardians of the Galaxy 	Guardians of the Galaxy 	Guardians of the Galaxy 	Guardians of the Galaxy
Peter Quill as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) 	Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) 	Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) 	Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista)
Groot (Vin Diesel) 	Nebula (Karen Gillian) 	Mantis (Pom Klementieff) 	Kraglin (Sean Gunn)
Other Heroes 	Other Heroes 	Other Heroes 	Other Heroes
Peter Parker as Spider-Man (Tom Holland) 	Janet van Dyne as the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) 	T'Challa as Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)	Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)
Stephen Strange as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) 	Wong (Benedict Wong) 	Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) 	Jane Foster as Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman)
This is not an exhaustive list, but is mostly representative of the main characters from the Infinity Saga.
==Fandom==
Fanfiction set in this movieverse focuses on the characters that appear in the movies, often using additional background information from the comics and Norse Mythology. Stories may include characters from other Marvel Comics-related films, such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and The X-Men. These kinds of character crossovers are (for the time being) non-canonical and unofficial as far as the movies are concerned; different film studios own the movie rights to the various characters. Sony owns rights to Spider-Man, Disney (previously Paramount Pictures) owns rights to The Avengers, and Fox owns rights to The X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Fans ignore these limitations, supported in this by the fact that in the Marvel Comics, all the characters of the Marvel Universe interact and often appear in each others' comics. The Fantastic Four and The X-Men have appeared in various fanworks dealing with the MCU, and depending on the author/artist the characters are influenced by their comicsverse, cartoonverse, or movieverse. Both teams have been a part of The Avengers in comics for many years. 
Fanvids and fanart such as picspams also take a similar approach for the MCU fandom, adding additional characters from the other Marvel films.
:See The Avengers Movieverse, Iron Man Movieverse, Captain America Movieverse, Thor Movieverse, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Spider-Man MCU Movieverse, and Captain Marvel for more details about the fandom specific to each sub-series.
===Pairings===
The most popular pairings tend be slash, but there is some change and flexibility in the pairings over time as the universe expands and different characters interact with each other and new characters are introduced, see List of MCU Relationship Names which has a listing for over a hundred pairings and their ship names. The most popular slash pairings as of 2021 are:
*Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers
*Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
*Loki/Thor
*Loki/Tony Stark
*Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
There is also a strong het following, usually around canonical pairings, such as Pepper Potts/Tony Stark and Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, or pairings that had close canonical friendships, the most popular being Clint Barton/Natasha Romanova and Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanova. 
Femslash is considerably smaller than the slash and het fandoms, but it is still fairly large overall compared to other large western media fandoms. There is also a community of femslash fans that encourage the creation of fanworks through challenges and exchanges. The most popular femslash pairings tend to be in the television fandoms, with Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli and Jemma Simmons/Skye being the most popular. On the movie side of the fandom Natasha Romanov tends to be the character most prevalent in femslash, with Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov/Wanda Maximoff and Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov being her most popular pairings.
Fanworks focused on crossover pairings, pairing MCU characters with original characters, and readerfic are also common.
==== Gen ====
* Clint Barton & Natasha Romanova
* Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff
* Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanova
===Challenges===
:For a full listing of Fanlore articles on Marvel challenges see :Category:Marvel Challenges
The Marvel fan community always encouraged the creation of fanworks through challenges, but the number and variety of challenges exploded after the introduction of the MCU, and has consistently expanded over the years, some examples being:
* Avengers Reverse Big Bang
* Marvel Universe Big Bang
* MCU Rolling Remix
* THE MARVEL KINK MEME link
There were also other challenges such as gift exchanges, fanweeks, fests and kink memes. For perspective on the depth of past, and current, challenges see the List of Marvel Challenges
==Fanworks==
===Fanart===
* (Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanoff & Tony Stark) by Gassada
===Fanfiction===
:See also :Category:Marvel Fanfiction
* (Bruce Banner & Everyone) by lettered
* (Pepper Potts/Tony Stark) by copperbadge
*because I love you baby that's no lie by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel (2014). One of the most popular f/f works in the fandom. (Story now deleted - link via webarchive.org)
*Nobody's heroes by boleyn13 (2016). A post-CACW Team Iron Man salt fic.
* (Stony) by blue_jack for Cap_Ironman Bingo & Avengers_Tables
* (Thorki) by basal_ganglia for muld
* (Clint Barton/Everyone) by raiining
* (Peter Quill & Tony Stark) by IcarusLives
* (Dum-E & Hulk) by whitchry9 for avengerkink
* (Clint Barton/Phil Coulson/Steve Rogers) by charis2770
* Avengers: Aftermath by Mattory reylo shipper (MCU) (2019) - Infinity War aftermath focussing on Peter Parker.
===Fanvids===
:See also :Category:Marvel Vids
* by Cantrous
* by Cantrous
* Marvel Cinematic Universe Miltiary Industrial Complex // Hey Ho (Fanlore Page), (Original YouTube) by thuvia parth
* by lim
*Random Edit - Reed Richards and Sue Storm in Captain America: Civil War by Live Breathe Media, where Sue Storm reacts to the news about the events in Lagos.
* Marvel || We Will Rock You by Ak Editx
*Marvel Ladies || Heroes by Evelyn Jackson
*Battle royale by voordeel
*Glitter & Gold by djcprod & Grable424
* (Steve Rogers & Tony Stark) by zombie
* (The Winter Soldier) by Camunki
* (Loki Laufeyson & Thor Odinson) by TheMadiSpaz
===Podfic===
* (Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers) by blackglass
* by sisi_rambles & musesfool
* (Bucky Barnes & Jane Foster) by ifeelbetter & sisi_rambles
==General MCU Communities & Resources==
* /r/marvelstudios, a subreddit for discussing the MCU
*/r/marvelmemes, a subreddit for memes across the MCU
==Meta/Further Reading==
*Captain America and Bucky are Just Friends (2015)
*On Shipping: What’s Disney’s, What’s Yours, and What’s Mine (2015)
*MCU Meta Directory by Domenika Marzione (domarzione)
*MCU fanwork production //Wherefore Art Thou Thor? by yourlibrarian (2015)
*Stuck in the 70s? Pop Music in the MCU by yourlibrarian (2016)
* Marvel Metas, a Tumblr blog collecting various meta pieces about various characters
*Age of Ultron and the Impending Collapse of the MCU by froborr (2015).
*/r/saltierthankrayt - a subreddit that calls out toxic behavior from Stars Wars and MCU fandom.
==References==
Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe
Category:Agent Carter
Category:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Category:Ant-Man
Category:The Avengers (Marvel)
Category:Black Panther
Category:Black Widow
Category:Captain America
Category:Captain Marvel
Category:Daredevil
Category:Doctor Strange
Category:The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Category:Ghost Rider
Category:Guardians of the Galaxy
Category:Hawkeye
Category:Hulk
Category:Iron Fist
Category:Iron Man
Category:Jessica Jones
Category:Luke Cage
Category:Ms. Marvel
Category:Punisher
Category:Runaways
Category:Spider-Man
Category:Thor
Category:WandaVision
Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe Fandom Glossary