Avengerverse

The **Avengerverse** is an American media franchise and shared fictional multiverse that is centered on various television series primarily airing on NBC. The series were developed by Kevin Feige, Joss and Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, and Jeph Loeb, and based on characters appearing in publications by Marvel Comics. The shared universe, much like the Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters that span across six live-action television series.

The franchise began with *Iron Man*, based on the character of the same name, which debuted in September 2011. It was followed by *Spider-Man* and *Thor* in 2013. The franchise was further expanded in 2015 with *Captain America*. In 2017, a crossover series *The Defenders*, starring characters from across the four previous series, began. A sixth TV series, *Captain Marvel*, premiered in 2019.

The franchise has been successful, creating a large fandom around the world and has received positive reviews, where critics praised the themes, action sequences, visual effects, and character development.

## Development

In January 2011, NBC ordered a pilot for *Iron Man*, about the Marvel Comics character and developed by Kevin Feieg, Joss Whedon, and Jeph Loeb. In February, Matt Lanter was cast as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Fiege has earlier attempted to produce a film revolving around the character in 2006, but after negotiations fell through, Feige turned to television. After the series was a success, a spin-off began being developed in May 2012. At Comic-Con, it was announced that Logan Lerman would portray Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the second season of *Iron Man*, before transitioning into his own series, to premiere in 2013.

In January 2013, after the successful premiere of *Spider-Man*, NBC ordered a pilot for *Thor*, which premiered that fall. Australian actor Chris Hemsworth was cast as Thor in the series. In March 2014, *Captain America* was revealed to be in development and was ordered to series in May, for a January 2015 premiere date. Justin Hartley was cast as Steve Rogers/Captain America in April, and was revealed to be appearing in a crossover event between the current series in December, before *Captain America* began the next month.

After two years of no new series being developed, it was revealed in early 2017 that a spin-off was in talks, with several cast members from across the series being integrated into the series. By March 2017, when the premise of the crossover for May was revealed, the spin-off was officially confirmed to be working off of the crossover and would revolve around the Defenders, though it would include a much different line-up than the comics. The series was ordered straight-to-series in April for a September premiere date.

In December 2017, a spin-off revolving around Monica Rambeau from *Iron Man* was confirmed to be in development and was ordered to pilot in February 2018. The series was ordered to series in May, for a January 2019 premiere date, to succeed *Iron Man*, which was confirmed to be ending in January as well.

## Television series

### ***Iron Man* (2011–19)**

Billionaire Tony Stark is stranded in Afghanistan while promoting a new weapon made by Stark Enterprises. As he is presumed dead, CFO Obadiah Stane prepares to take over the company until Tony's younger half-sister is discovered. When Tony returns to the United States after a month of being missing, Olivia Stark returns control of the company to him, but Tony must now live with the burden of caring for his sister, along with a powerful exo-suit created in his time as a captive that can be used for good or evil.

### ***Spider-Man* (2013–present)**

A young high school sophomore named Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider while on a field trip to OsCorp. Now, with the help of Tony Stark, Parker must learn how to control his newfound superpowers to help out his neighborhood, while constantly in the shadow of Iron Man.

### ***Thor* (2013–18)**

Thor is the Prince of Asgard, a realm made up of the Norse gods. However, after making a vital mistake, Thor is sent to Earth by his father, King Odin, to show him how to be a worthy king. While on Earth, Thor meets Jane Foster, and her colleagues Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis, who help him on his quest to return to Asgard as a revolution threatens the lives of his entire family.

### ***Captain America* (2015–present)**

Steve Rogers was a heroic World War II hero, who was given a "super-serum" that gave him superhuman abilities. While saving the world, Rogers seemingly died in an explosive plane crash. However, in the present day it is discovered that he was actually trapped under ice the entire time and is brought back to life. Now, Rogers works with the agency S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect the world using modern means.

### ***The Defenders* (2017–present)**

After his family was killed in a dystopian future, Nathan "Cable" Summers travels back to 2017 to prevent the future from happening. After stopping the evil Sentinels from taking over, Cable works with a team of misfit heroes and villains to prevent the Sentinels' creator, Bolivar Trask, from creating a new, worse future.

### ***Captain Marvel* (2019–present)**

Young Monica Rambeau is thrust into protecting the world after her mentor, Tony Stark, dies in a sacrifice for the universe. Rambeau uses her training and super-powers with the help of her newfound allies.