Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One

Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero movies produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The phase began in 2008, with the release of Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., followed by The Incredible Hulk (2008), starring Edward Norton. In 2010, Iron Man 2 was released, with Downey Jr. returning as the character. In the movie, Scarlett Johansson makes her first appearance as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow. A year later, in 2011, both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger were released, starring Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans, respectively. The former also marks the first appearance of Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye. 

Downey Jr., Johansson, Hemsworth, Evans, and Renner all returned to star in the 2012 movie The Avengers, while Mark Ruffalo replaced Norton as Bruce Banner / The Hulk. Phase One, along with Phase Two and Phase Three, make up "The Infinity Saga".

 Movies 

+  Movies U.S. release date Director Screenwriter(s) Producer(s) Iron Man  Jon Favreau Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway Avi Arad and Kevin Feige The Incredible Hulk  Louis Leterrier Zak Penn Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd, and Kevin Feige Iron Man 2  Jon Favreau Justin Theroux Kevin Feige Thor  Kenneth Branagh Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne Captain America: The First Avenger  Joe Johnston Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely The Avengers  Joss Whedon

 Short movies 
 Movies U.S. release date Director Screenwriter Producer Home media release The Consultant  Leythum Eric Pearson Kevin Feige Thor A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer  Captain America: The First Avenger Item 47  Louis D'Esposito Marvel's The Avengers

 Recurring cast and characters 

 Character 2008 2010 2011 2012 Iron Man The Incredible Hulk Iron Man 2 Thor Captain America: The Avengers Bruce Banner  Edward NortonLou Ferrigno colspan="3"  Mark Ruffalo Clint Barton colspan="3"  Jeremy Renner  Jeremy Renner Phil Coulson Clark Gregg  Clark Gregg  Clark Gregg Nick Fury Samuel L. Jackson  Samuel L. Jackson Samuel L. Jackson Samuel L. Jackson Loki colspan="3"  Tom Hiddleston  Tom Hiddleston Virginia "Pepper" Potts Gwyneth Paltrow  Gwyneth Paltrow colspan="2"  Gwyneth Paltrow James "Rhodey" Rhodes Terrence Howard  Don Cheadle colspan="3"  Steve Rogers colspan="4"  Chris Evans Natasha Romanoff colspan="2"  Scarlett Johansson colspan="2"  Scarlett Johansson Erik Selvig colspan="3"  Stellan Skarsgård  Stellan Skarsgård Howard Stark Gerard Sanders  John Slattery  Dominic Cooper  Tony Stark Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. colspan="2"  Robert Downey Jr. Thor colspan="3"  Chris Hemsworth  Chris Hemsworth

 Reception 

 Box office 
The Avengers was the first movie of the MCU to reach $1 billion.
 Movie U.S. release date Box office gross All-time ranking Budget  U.S. and Canada Other territories Worldwide U.S. and Canada Worldwide Iron Man  $319,034,126 $266,762,121 $585,796,247 89 190 $140 million The Incredible Hulk  $134,806,913 $129,964,083 $264,770,996 494 625 $137.5–150 million Iron Man 2  $312,433,331 $311,500,000 $623,933,331 95 172 $170–200 million Thor  $181,030,624 $268,295,994 $449,326,618 280 290 $150 million Captain America: The First Avenger  $176,654,505 $193,915,269 $370,569,774 298 394 $140 million Marvel's The Avengers  $623,357,910 $897,180,626 $1,520,538,536 12 10 $220 millionTotal $ $ $ – – $0.956 – 1 billion

 Critical and public response 
+ MovieRotten TomatoesMetacritic Overall Top Critics Iron Man 94% (281 reviews) 90% (70 reviews) 79 (38 reviews) The Incredible Hulk 67% (238 reviews) 53% (58 reviews) 61 (38 reviews)
|  Iron Man 2 72% (302 reviews) 61% (71 reviews) 57 (40 reviews)
|  Thor 77% (291 reviews) 67% (72 reviews) 57 (40 reviews)
|  Captain America: The First Avenger 79% (273 reviews) 74% (69 reviews) 66 (43 reviews)
|  Marvel's The Avengers 91% (363 reviews) 85% (78 reviews) 69 (43 reviews)
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 References 


Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe phases