Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Marvel Cinematic Universe logo.png
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Developer Marvel Studios
Publisher The Walt Disney Company
Platforms As noted below
Released 2008-present
Added to
Museum
As noted below

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American multimedia series by Marvel Entertainment that is spearheaded by films and television shows created by Marvel Studios. It also includes comics, music, books, toys, and video games.

History

In 1996, Marvel Enterprises went bankrupt. To save the company, the film rights to its most popular characters, including Blade, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Hulk, the Punisher, Spider-Man, X-Men, and other lesser-known characters were sold to various film studios at relatively low prices.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, films were created using these characters. They were ostensibly overseen by Marvel Studios. However, the film studios were given ultimate control of the plot and how the characters were portrayed, to varying results.

After several poorly received films, Marvel Studios opted to create their own film projects rather than outsourcing them. Thus, they could control the plot and portrayal of the Marvel Comics characters for which they retained the film rights.

These films would all be connected in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first films, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, were released in 2008. Nick Fury appeared in a post-credits scene in the former, teasing The Avengers, which was released four years later. Tie-in video games were released alongside the films along with comics set in the MCU that featured the characters that appeared in the films.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe was expanded into television with the formation of the Marvel Television division in 2010 and the premiere of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2013. Marvel Television continued to release television projects set in the MCU until it closed in 2019. After its closure, television series set in the MCU were handled by Marvel Studios. The final Marvel Television series was Helstrom. It was released in 2020, a year after the closure of the television division.

Releases

Phase One

Phase One, also known as Avengers Assemble, is the first third of the Infinity Saga. Nick Fury gathers Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, and Captain America and unites them as The Avengers to stop Loki from using the Chitauri army and space stone within a scepter given to him by Thanos to conquer the Earth in an event known as the Battle of New York.

Films

Title Studio Released Notes
Iron Man Marvel Studios 2008
The Incredible Hulk Marvel Studios 2008
Iron Man 2 Marvel Studios 2010
Thor Marvel Studios 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger Marvel Studios 2011
The Avengers Marvel Studios 2012

Short films

Title Studio Released Notes
The Consultant Marvel Studios 2011 After the events of The Incredible Hulk, agents Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell ask S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant Tony Stark to keep General Ross from making the Abomination part of The Avengers.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer Marvel Studios 2011 Prior to the events of Thor, Phil Coulson stops at a gas station on his way to New Mexico and stops a theft there.
Item 47 Marvel Studios 2012 After the events of The Avengers, a couple finds item 47, a Chitauri gun from the Battle of New York, and uses it to rob banks. Afterward, Jasper Sitwell invites them to join S.H.I.E.L.D. Item 47 helped lead to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show.

Video games

Title Developer Platform Released Notes
Iron Man Secret Level PlayStation 3 2008
The Incredible Hulk Edge of Reality PlayStation 3 2008
Iron Man 2 Sega Studios San Francisco PlayStation 3 2010
Thor: God of Thunder Liquid Entertainment PlayStation 3 2011
Captain America: Super Soldier Next Level Games PlayStation 3 2011
The Avengers: The Mobile Game Gameloft Android 2012
Lego Marvel's Avengers TT Games Windows 2016 The storylines of Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers.

Phase Two

Phase Two is the second third of the Infinity Saga. After Loki's defeat in the Battle of New York, Thanos becomes more directly involved in collecting the infinity stones. The Avengers deal with the repercussions of that battle as new and old threats resurface as well as new heroes and villains.

Films

Title Studio Released Notes
Iron Man 3 Marvel Studios 2013
Thor: The Dark World Marvel Studios 2013
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Studios 2014
Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Studios 2014
Avengers: Age of Ultron Marvel Studios 2015
Ant-Man Marvel Studios 2015

Short films

Title Studio Released Notes
Agent Carter Marvel Studios 2013 After the events of Captain America, Peggy Carter, an SSR agent, successfully takes on a case alone. Afterward, Howard Stark invites her to help him build S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Carter helped lead to the TV show of the same name.
All Hail The King Marvel Studios 2014 After the events of Iron Man 3, Trevor Slattery is visited in prison by a member of the Ten Rings posing as a journalist. He is informed that the Mandarin is real and is not pleased that Slattery posed as him.

Television shows

Title Studio Released Notes
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Seasons 1 - 2 Marvel Television 2013 - 2015
Agent Carter: Season 1 Marvel Television 2015
Daredevil: Season 1 Marvel Television 2015
Jessica Jones: Season 1 Marvel Television 2015
Luke Cage: Season 1 Marvel Television 2015
WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart: Season 1 Marvel Studios 2015

Video games

Title Developer Platform Released Notes
Iron Man 3: The Official Game Gameloft Android 2013
Thor: The Dark World - The Official Game Gameloft Android 2013
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - The Official Game Gameloft Android 2013
Lego Marvel's Avengers TT Games Windows 2016 Includes the storylines of Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Phase Three

Phase Three is the third, and final, part of the Infinity Saga. Thanos completes his goal of attaining all of the infinity stones and uses them to create a world-changing event known as the Blip.

Films

Title Studio Released Notes
Captain America: Civil War Marvel Studios 2016
Doctor Strange Marvel Studios 2016
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Marvel Studios 2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming Marvel Studios 2017
Thor: Ragnarok Marvel Studios 2017
Black Panther Marvel Studios 2018
Avengers: Infinity War Marvel Studios 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp Marvel Studios 2018
Captain Marvel Marvel Studios 2019
Avengers: Endgame Marvel Studios 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home Marvel Studios 2019

Short Films

Title Studio Released Notes
Team Thor Marvel Studios 2016 During the events of Captain America: Civil War, the other Avengers take part in their civil war while Thor takes part in a documentary showing his life with his new roommate Daryl.
Team Thor: Part 2 Marvel Studios 2017 During the events of Captain America: Civil War, the documentary of Thor's life with his roommate Daryl continues.
Team Darryl Marvel Studios 2018 After the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Thor moved out of the apartment, and the documentary focuses on Daryl and his new roommate the Grandmaster.

Television shows

Title Studio Released Notes
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Seasons 3 - 7 Marvel Television 2015 - 2020
Agent Carter: Season 2 Marvel Television 2016
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Slingshot Marvel Television 2016
Daredevil: Seasons 2 - 3 Marvel Television 2016 - 2018
WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart: Season 2 Marvel Studios 2016
The Defenders Marvel Television 2017
Inhumans Marvel Television 2017
Iron Fist Marvel Television 2017 - 2018
The Punisher Marvel Television 2017 - 2019
Runaways Marvel Television 2017 - 2019
Cloak & Dagger Marvel Television 2018 - 2019
Jessica Jones: Seasons 2 - 3 Marvel Television 2018 - 2019
Luke Cage: Season 2 Marvel Television 2018
Helstrom Marvel Television 2020

Video games

Title Developer Platform Released Notes
Spider-Man: Homecoming – Virtual Reality Experience CreateVR Windows 2017
Spider-Man: Far From Home – Virtual Reality Experience CreateVR Windows 2019

Phase Four

Phase Four is the first part of the Multiverse Saga. The world recovers as new heroes and villains arrive to take their place in the vacuum left by the Blip and its undoing. Sylvie Laufeydottir, a female variant of Loki, opens the universe into a multiverse.

The opening of the multiverse led to crossovers with other cinematic universes such as Sony's Spider-Man Universe.

Films

Title Studio Released Notes
Black Widow Marvel Studios 2021
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Marvel Studios 2021
Eternals Marvel Studios 2021
Spider-Man: No Way Home Marvel Studios 2021 Crossed over with multiple iterations of Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Marvel Studios 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder Marvel Studios 2022
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Marvel Studios 2022

Short films

Title Studio Released Notes
I Am Groot: Season One Marvel Studios 2022 Five short films featuring Groot.

Television shows

Title Studio Released Notes
WandaVision Marvel Studios 2021
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Marvel Studios 2021
Loki: Season 1 Marvel Studios 2021
What If...?: Season 1 Marvel Studios 2021
Hawkeye Marvel Studios 2021
Moon Knight Marvel Studios 2022
Ms. Marvel Marvel Studios 2022
She-Hulk Marvel Studios 2022
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Marvel Studios 2022

Video games

Title Developer Platform Released Notes
Eternals: AR Story Experience Disney iOS 2021

Phase Five

Phase Five is the second part of the Multiverse Saga. After Sylvie Laufeydottir opened the multiverse, Loki has to find a way to let the multiverse continue without the Time Variance Authority excessively pruning it.

The further expansion of the multiverse led to crossovers with other cinematic universes such as the 20th Century Studios X-Men universe.

Films

Title Studio Released Notes
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Marvel Studios 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Marvel Studios 2023
The Marvels Marvel Studios 2023
Deadpool & Wolverine Marvel Studios 2024 Crossed over with the 20th Century Studios Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and X-Men universes plus the New Line Cinema Blade universe.
Captain America: Brave New World Marvel Studios 2025
Thunderbolts* Marvel Studios 2025

Short films

Title Studio Released Notes
I Am Groot: Season Two Marvel Studios 2023 Five short films featuring Groot.

Television shows

Title Studio Released Notes
Secret Invasion Marvel Studios 2023
Loki: Season 2 Marvel Studios 2023
What If...?: Season 2 Marvel Studios 2023
Echo Marvel Studios 2024
Agatha All Along Marvel Studios 2024
Eyes of Wakanda Marvel Studios 2025
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Marvel Studios 2025
Daredevil: Born Again Marvel Studios 2025
Ironheart Marvel Studios 2025
Marvel Zombies Marvel Studios TBA

Phase Six

Phase Six is the third part of the Multiverse Saga.

Films

Title Studio Released Notes
The Fantastic Four Marvel Studios 2025
Blade Marvel Studios 2025
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty Marvel Studios 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars Marvel Studios 2027
Armor Wars Marvel Studios TBA
Spider-Man 4 Marvel Studios TBA
Shang-Chi 2 Marvel Studios TBA

Television shows

Title Studio Released Notes
Vision Quest Marvel Studios 2026