The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films are an American series of superhero films, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced 19 films, with 13 more in various stages of production. The series collectively has grossed over $16.1 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.
Kevin Feige has produced every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avi Arad served as a producer on the two 2008 releases, Gale Anne Hurd also produced The Incredible Hulk and Amy Pascal produced the Spider-Man films. The films are written and directed by a variety of individuals and feature large, often ensemble, casts. Many of the actors, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson signed contracts to star in numerous films.
The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Iron Man (2008), which was distributed by Paramount Pictures. Paramount also distributed Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), while Universal Pictures distributed The Incredible Hulk (2008). Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing the films with the 2012 crossover film The Avengers,[1][2] which concluded Phase One of the franchise. Phase Two includes 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 in the franchise's 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), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), with Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), and an untitled Avengers film (2019) still scheduled for the phase. Sony Pictures distributes the Spider-Man films, which they continue to own, finance, and have final creative control over.[3]
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Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, helped establish the shared universe concept with his inclusion of Samuel L. Jackson in a post-credits scene of the first film.
After Tony Stark reveals himself to be Iron Man, the U.S. government demands he hand over his technology. Meanwhile, a rival industrialist and a Russian scientist conspire to use his own technology against him.[45]
Immediately following the successful release of Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel Studios announced it was developing a sequel, Iron Man 2.[46] Favreau returned as director[10] and Justin Theroux was hired to write the screenplay, which would be based on an original story by Favreau and Downey.[11] In October 2008, Downey signed a new four-picture deal, that retroactively included the first film, to reprise his role and Don Cheadle was hired to replace Terrence Howard as James Rhodes.[47][48] Jackson signed on to reprise his role as Nick Fury from the Iron Man post-credits sequence in up to nine films,[49] and Scarlett Johansson was cast as the Black Widow, as part of a multi-film commitment.[50] Principal photography began April 6, 2009,[51] at the Pasadena Masonic Temple in Pasadena, California.[52] The majority of filming took place at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California.[53] Other locations included Edwards Air Force Base,[54] Monaco,[55] and the Sepulveda Dam.[53] Iron Man 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 26, 2010,[56] and was released internationally between April 28 and May 7 before releasing in North America on May 7.[57]
The film is set six months after the events of Iron Man,[42] and takes place simultaneously with the events of The Incredible Hulk and Thor.[41] The filmmakers continued to refer to other Marvel films by again including Captain America's shield. Favreau explained, "We introduced Captain America's shield briefly in one shot in the last film. So now it really was in his room, so we had to figure out how to deal with the reality that the shield was in his workshop."[31] A scene toward the end of Iron Man 2 in a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house contains several Easter eggs, ranging from footage from The Incredible Hulk displayed on a monitor to pointers on a map indicating several locales related to other Marvel films, including one pointing toward a region of Africa in reference to the Black Panther.[58] A young Peter Parker appears as the child wearing an Iron Man mask who Stark saves from a drone; the appearance was confirmed in June 2017 by Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, Kevin Feige and Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts.[59][60] The film's post-credits scene showed the discovery of Thor's hammer in a crater.[61]
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