Following one of the more memorable marketing campaigns of the franchise ( shout out to Blue Swede), Marvel introduced its next ensemble team of heroes - but this time, without any solo films or general familiarity outside fans to help build awareness. It was the first MCU flick to release outside the summer window and proved the franchise could be viable any time of the year.įor those that still doubted that, August 2014 would silence such claims. The sequel bowed to $85.7 million before finishing its run with $206.4 million domestically and $645 million globally. Later that year, in November, Thor: The Dark World continued the travails of the Asgardian with box office figures that exceeded his own origin film. As what would become the final film in Iron Man‘s solo trilogy, those figures helped the sub-franchise go out on high marks across the board, landing just behind Frozen ($1.28 billion) as the second highest-grossing film of the year in global terms. The goodwill of both the Iron Man films and Avengers itself helped this third solo outing explode with $174.1 million on opening weekend in May 2013 before topping out at $409 million domestically and a stunning $1.2 billion worldwide. Iron Man 3 kicked off the second phase of the MCU with another deep dive into the psyche, and Avengers-related aftermath, of Tony Stark.
As distribution deals with Paramount and Universal had expired, Disney was also now in full control. Naturally, the film’s post-credit scene marked a major turning point for the MCU as it teased the long game of Kevin Feige and the studio: an eventual showdown with Thanos, one of the most complex and popular villains in comic lore, and the promise of a full-blown storytelling arc that would eventually come to be known as The Infinity Saga.Įven though Marvel had firmly established itself as a mega-franchise with an eye extending far out into the future, they didn’t turn away from their solo superhero movies. Avengers was easily the biggest film of the year in box office figures, and back then, trailed only Titanic and Avatar on the all-time charts. Word of mouth was just as hot as the pre-release hype, too, as it legged out to $623.4 million in North America and more than $1.5 billion worldwide.
Thanks to the goodwill of the preceding solo films and a wave of massive buzz leading up to release, the first film crushed box office records in May 2012 and became the first movie to ever clear the $200 million opening weekend threshold ($207.4 million). With the first batch of characters in place, Marvel Studios was ready to assemble its - and the world’s - first A-list ensemble superhero movie, The Avengers. It was a runaway success that had die hard comic lovers and general audiences buzzing and awaiting what the future might hold for a potential franchise, especially after the iconic (and trend-setting) post-credit tease featuring Samuel L. The origin of Tony Stark’s place in the universe propelled to a $102 million opening at the domestic box office, the second best of 2008 behind The Dark Knight, and legged out to $318.6 million - part of a $585 million global haul. in the comeback role to top all comeback roles for the studio’s first venture, Iron Man.
The groundwork was laid by hiring director Jon Favreau and casting Robert Downey, Jr. Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige had a vision, though, of one cohesive franchise uniting many characters to form an episodic story that would play out on the big screen for both long-time comic book readers and a new generation of fans. With that in mind, and as theaters plan their to re-openings and recoveries from the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re taking a look back at the franchise which has consistently defied expectations over the past decade-plus to become a cornerstone of the entertainment industry.īy the mid-2000s, the Marvel brand had already enjoyed stellar success on the big screen thanks to the likes of the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises under Sony and Fox, respectively.
This is now the longest stretch fans have endured between theatrical MCU chapters since the one-year gap between 2012’s The Avengers and 2013’s Iron Man 3. More than a decade later, their superhero cinematic continuity - curated by Marvel Studios mostly under Disney, but with some assistance from Paramount and Universal in the early days - has earned over $22.5 billion at the global box office.Īs we hit the midpoint of what would have been 2020’s summer movie season, we also come upon an unexpected anniversary: it’s been one full year since the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, was released. purchased Marvel Entertainment for the hefty sum of $4 billion.