Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman , and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics .
205-707: Marvel Studios, LLC , formerly known as Marvel Films , is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television series produced by the studio, based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications. The studio was founded in 1993 by Avi Arad as part of Marvel Entertainment and has been led by producer Kevin Feige , who serves as its president, since 2007. The studio originally licensed
410-527: A FedEx delivery man, referring to Lee's cameo in Captain America: Civil War . This acknowledged the fan theory that Lee may be portraying the same character in all his cameos, with writer and director James Gunn noting that commentators believed Lee was portraying the character Uatu the Watcher and "that all of these cameos are part of him being a Watcher . So, Stan Lee as a guy who is working for
615-521: A War Machine film before joining the writers program where he created scripts for the Inhumans ; and Eric Pearson , who was asked to pitch a Cloak and Dagger film and also worked to rewrite a Luke Cage script. After Broussard moved on to the production of Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Marvel Studios hired Nate Moore to oversee the writers program, who at times was assisted by
820-604: A crossover film; Arad, who resigned in 2006, doubted this strategy would work. He insisted that it was his reputation that helped secure the initial financing. In 2007, Feige was named studio chief. To preserve its artistic integrity, Marvel Studios formed a creative committee of six people familiar with its comic book lore: Feige, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito , Marvel Comics' president of publishing Dan Buckley , Marvel Entertainment's chief creative officer Joe Quesada , comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis , and Marvel Entertainment president Alan Fine , who oversaw
1025-489: A "hands-on role" in each series' development. Feige said these series would "tell stories... that we wouldn't be able to tell in a theatrical experience—a longer-form narrative". He added that being asked by Disney to create these series "energized everyone creatively" within Marvel Studios, since they "could play in a new medium and throw the rules out the window in terms of structure and format". Television specials from
1230-414: A 2018 agreement between Alonso and Disney to not work for a competing studio. The decision was made by a group that included Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman and Disney's human resources and legal departments. Alonso reportedly did not seek permission to work on the film and was asked by Disney to stop working on it or promoting it. The situation was deemed serious enough that Disney requested
1435-496: A Marvel film if asked. When developing the crossover miniseries The Defenders , showrunner Marco Ramirez consulted with the creators of all the individual Marvel Netflix series, having them read each of the scripts for The Defenders and provide insight into individual characters' worlds. In December 2021, Feige confirmed that Cox would reprise the role of Daredevil in Marvel Studios MCU productions, with Cox first reprising
1640-717: A Marvel series for television for the 1996–1997 season. By the end of 1993, Arad and 20th Century Fox struck a deal to make a film based on the X-Men . New World Animation and Marvel Films Animation were sold along with the rest of New World by the Andrews Group to News Corporation and Fox as announced in August 1996. As part of the deal, Marvel licensed the rights to Captain America, Daredevil, and Silver Surfer to be on Fox Kids Network and produced by Saban. New World Animation continued producing
1845-462: A big economic luxury to know that a movie's going to get a second and third. This is a business of precedence." According to a Lehman Brothers analysis, Marvel Studios made only $ 62 million for the first two Spider-Man films. Marvel was making more from half the consumer product licensing fees while making relatively little from the films, but was enough for Marvel to regain its financial footing. In October 2002, Marvel Studios announced deals for
2050-679: A big idea they would like to explore or build to in a project, such as Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), but they leave it up to the filmmakers to interpret and "improv a little bit" to get that point. After these ideas have been developed, the creative team then begins exploring ideas from other future projects to see how to make any larger universe connections. In August 2012, Marvel signed The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) director Joss Whedon to an exclusive contract through June 2015 for film and television. With
2255-538: A big studio, they are developing a hundred or 500 projects; you get totally lost. That isn't working for us. We're just not going to do it anymore. Period." Marvel Studios arranged a seven-year development deal with 20th Century Fox to cover markets in the United States and internationally. In December 1996, Marvel Entertainment Group underwent a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan, including Marvel Studios as part of its strategic investment. By 1997, Marvel Studios
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#17328479750172460-507: A big, giant visual-effects movie to do a big, giant visual-effects movie for us. You just have to have done something singularly sort of awesome." The studio ensures directors are open to the idea of the shared universe and are willing to include connective material, such as Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston needing to include scenes that set-up The Avengers (2012) in their respective Phase One films Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger (both 2011). Marvel Studios usually has
2665-774: A deal between MEG and ToyBiz in 1993, Avi Arad of ToyBiz was named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of both the Marvel Films division and New World Family Filmworks, Inc., a New World Entertainment subsidiary. New World was MEG's former parent corporation and later a fellow subsidiary of the Andrews Group. Marvel Productions became New World Animation by 1993 as Marvel would start up Marvel Films, including Marvel Films Animation . Marvel Films Animation shared Tom Tataranowicz with New World Animation as head of development and production. New World Animation ( The Incredible Hulk ), Saban ( X-Men: The Animated Series ) and Marvel Films Animation ( Spider-Man ) each produced
2870-426: A deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $ 4 billion. The deal was completed on December 31, with Marvel Entertainment becoming a subsidiary of Disney. Both Marvel and Disney stated that the merger would not affect any pre-existing deals with other film studios for the time being, although Disney said they would distribute future Marvel projects with their own studio once the deals expired. Maisel stepped down from
3075-457: A deal with then-functional Artisan Entertainment , successful with the low-budget The Blair Witch Project , for a co-production joint venture that included rights to 15 Marvel characters including Captain America, Thor (as a television series), Black Panther (with Snipes attached to produce and star), Deadpool , Iron Fist , Morbius, the Living Vampire , Longshot , Power Pack , Mort
3280-478: A father and Avenger. Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness wrote the material from the memoir that was featured in the film. Various composers have created the film and television scores of the MCU films, television series, One-Shots, Special Presentations, and other related projects of the MCU, primarily released by Marvel Studios's record label Marvel Music . Original songs have also been created specifically for use in
3485-413: A job in a publishing company ... I didn't even know they published comics. I was fresh out of high school, and I wanted to get into the publishing business, if I could. There was an ad in the paper that said, "Assistant Wanted in a Publishing House." When I found out that they wanted me to assist in comics, I figured, 'Well, I'll stay here for a little while and get some experience, and then I'll get out into
3690-467: A lanky 17-year-old in tow. 'This is Stanley Lieber, Martin's wife's cousin,' Uncle Robbie said. 'Martin wants you to keep him busy.'" In an appendix, however, Simon appears to reconcile the two accounts. He relates a 1989 conversation with Lee: Lee: "I've been saying this [classified-ad] story for years, but apparently it isn't so. And I can't remember because I['ve] said it so long now that I believe it." ... Simon: "Your Uncle Robbie brought you into
3895-622: A multi-million dollar compensation settlement in April. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in July 2023 that the company would be reducing the amount of Marvel content created moving forward, admitting that Marvel Studios' expansion into Disney+ series and more films had "diluted focus and attention" after several underachieving films at the box office. He clarified their plans in May 2024, saying Disney would now release two, or at most three, Marvel films and two Marvel series
4100-531: A multimillion-dollar compensation settlement in April. Also at the time of Alonso's firing, criticism from VFX workers was noted, who had raised complaints of Marvel's "demanding post-production schedules". Alonso was described by some as a "kingmaker", and "challenging to work with", with Chris Lee at Vulture reporting that Alonso was "singularly responsible for Marvel's toxic work environment" with VFX workers. Alonso reportedly took days off to produce Argentina, 1985 instead of her post-production commitments for
4305-443: A new agreement be signed. Despite this, Alonso continued to promote the film following its September 2022 premiere, and was consistently reminded of her agreement and breach of contract, ultimately leading to her firing. Alonso's lawyers refuted this claim, stating Disney was aware of, and agreed to, Alonso's work on Argentina, 1985 , and that she was instead "silenced[... and] was terminated when she refused to do something she believed
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#17328479750174510-400: A new agreement be signed. The company consistently reminded her of this while she continued to promote the film following its September 2022 premiere, ultimately leading to her firing. Alonso's lawyers refuted these claims, saying Disney was aware of, and agreed to, Alonso's work on Argentina, 1985 and Alonso had been "silenced [and] was terminated when she refused to do something she believed
4715-577: A new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover. Historian Jess Nevins , conversely, writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this, it was known as 'Red Circle' because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...." The Grand Comics Database identifies 23 issues of Goodman comic books from 1944 to 1959 with Red Circle, Inc. branding, and
4920-473: A producer on the Amazon Studios film Argentina, 1985 (2022); this was a breach of a 2018 agreement between Alonso and Disney which stated employees would not work for a competing studio. Alonso reportedly did not seek permission to work on the film, and was asked by Disney to stop working on the film, as well as not to promote or publicize it, with the situation "deemed serious enough" that Disney requested
5125-475: A publishing company where he worked. The idea of being involved in publishing definitely appealed to me. ... So I contacted the man Robbie said did the hiring, Joe Simon, and applied for a job. He took me on and I began working as a gofer for eight dollars a week.... Joe Simon , in his 1990 autobiography The Comic Book Makers (cited under References, below), gives the account slightly differently: "One day [Goodman's relative known as] Uncle Robbie came to work with
5330-663: A second printing, cover-dated November 1939. The latter is identical except for a black bar over the October date in the inside-front-cover indicia, and the November date added at the end. That sold approximately 800,000 copies. With a hit on his hands, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon as editor. Simon brought along his collaborator, artist Jack Kirby , followed by artist Syd Shores . Goodman then formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. There
5535-502: A second season of The Incredible Hulk for UPN . On August 7, 1996, Marvel Studios was created by Marvel. Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise money to finance the new corporation, Marvel, Isaac Perlmutter 's Zib, Inc. and Avi Arad sold ToyBiz stocks. ToyBiz filed an offering of 7.5 million shares with a closing price of $ 20.125 at the time, making the offering worth approximately $ 150 million. ToyBiz sought to sell 1 million shares. Jerry Calabrese ,
5740-624: A series of direct-to-video short films that are included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases. The films included The Consultant (2011), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2011), Item 47 (2012), Agent Carter (2013), and All Hail the King (2014). Following the One-Shots becoming available on Disney+ in January 2022, Marvel classified
5945-433: A series of photorealistic animated shorts starring Baby Groot for Disney+. In November 2016, Feige explained that the studio would often put together a "lookbook" of influences from the comics and art by Marvel's visual development department, to create a visual template for a project. These are put together at company retreats, which the studio holds approximately every 18 months to plan out future projects and develop
6150-423: A series of in-universe YouTube videos serving as the center of a viral marketing campaign to promote the films and universe. In December 2016, a six-part web series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot , debuted on ABC.com . It follows Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez on a secret mission, shortly before the start of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 's fourth season , with Natalia Cordova-Buckley reprising her role from
6355-525: A single 1948 issue under Red Circle Magazines Corp. Marvel Comics was rechristened Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2 (Dec. 1939); the magazine would continue under that title through #92 (June 1949) before becoming Marvel Tales through #159 (Aug. 1957). Timely began publishing additional series, beginning with Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940), Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940), The Human Torch #2 (premiering Fall 1940 with no cover date and having taken over
Marvel Studios - Misplaced Pages Continue
6560-434: A television division within Marvel Studios called Marvel Television to be headed up by Jeph Loeb as Executive Vice President, under which Marvel Animation would be operated. In October, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights for The Avengers (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2013) from Paramount Pictures with Paramount's logo and credit remaining on those films. In August 2011, at Disney's behest,
6765-477: A year. This was a decrease from up to four films and around four series being released in some recent years. The company was reducing output and focusing on quality across all its divisions, but Iger felt the change was especially needed for Marvel. Feige and D'Esposito said 2023 had been a particularly difficult year and a "rough time" for the studio but they had learned their lesson on trying to make too much content at once. They added that no longer being "on top" of
6970-619: Is also placed here in The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline . The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z , Vol. 5, published in 2008, originally designated the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Earth-199999 within the continuity of Marvel's comic multiverse , a collection of fictional alternate universes, although, this designation was rarely used officially outside of
7175-460: Is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios . The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The franchise also includes several television series , short films, digital series, and literature. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books,
7380-490: Is evidence that "Red Circle Comics", a name that would be used for an unrelated imprint of Archie Comics in the 1970s and 1980s – may have been a term in use as Goodman prepared to publish his first comic book. Historian Les Daniels , referring to Goodman's pulp-magazine line, describes the name Red Circle as "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when
7585-581: Is known as Marvel's " Timely era ", Captain America was licensed out to Republic Pictures for a 1944 serial film only for the free advertising. Timely failed to provide any drawing of Captain America with his shield or any further background, and Republic created a whole new background for the character and portrayed the character using a gun. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, Marvel Comics Group and Marvel Entertainment Group (MEG) sold options to studios to produce films based on Marvel Comics characters . One of Marvel's superheroes, Spider-Man ,
7790-475: Is the creative decision-making committee at Marvel Studios and a "brain trust" of long-time executives who help to elevate each other's projects where possible. The following executives are members of the Parliament: A number of other executives serve as lead producers on films and television series, working on each project from their inception through their release as managers alongside other executives, as part of
7995-582: Is the first mutant (a term related to the X-Men) in the MCU. Namor is also revealed to be a mutant in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), as he is in the comics. Kelsey Grammer appears as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast in The Marvels (2023), reprising the role from the X-Men films series, which also introduces the mutant Binary , an alternate version of Maria Rambeau , portrayed by Lashana Lynch . Feige called Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
8200-424: Is the first animated property produced solely by the studio, through its "mini-studio" Marvel Studios Animation . These films, television series, and television specials all share continuity with each other, along with five short films called Marvel One-Shots produced by the studio that were released from 2011 to 2014. From 2013 until 2020, Marvel Television released 12 television series , which also acknowledge
8405-530: Is the first film in Phase Four , which concluded with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), while Phase Five began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and will conclude with Thunderbolts* (2025). Phase Six will begin with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) and it will conclude with Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Marvel Television expanded
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8610-468: Is why it starts with the flip, but suddenly it's more dimensional as we go through the lettering and it reveals itself with the metallic sheen before settling into the white-on-red, well known Marvel logo, with the added flourish of the arrival and the announcement of the Studios at the bottom of the word Marvel." Imaginary Forces used the same animation technique on the updated logo, as they did when they created
8815-658: The Team Thor mockumentary shorts as One-Shots. Team Thor is a series of direct-to-video mockumentary short films that were released from 2016 to 2018, consisting of Team Thor , Team Thor: Part 2 , and Team Darryl , all written and directed by Taika Waititi . I Am Groot is a series of photorealistic animated short films for Disney+ starring Baby Groot going on adventures with new and unusual characters. Vin Diesel reprises his role, with five shorts releasing on August 10, 2022. A second season with five additional shorts
9020-522: The Fantastic Four to Marvel Studios, although Feige explained that despite the acquisition finalizing in 2019, access and integration of these characters and concepts were unavailable "for a very long time" because of corporate acquisition laws. Some of the first elements to be integrated into the MCU following the acquisition were the organization S.W.O.R.D. in the Disney+ series WandaVision (2021) and
9225-554: The Human Torch , and Paul Gustavson 's costumed detective the Angel . It also contained the first published appearance of Bill Everett 's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner , created for the unpublished movie-theater giveaway comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly earlier that year, with the eight-page original story now expanded by four pages. Also included were Al Anders' Western hero
9430-465: The Iron Man films. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (2016) is one of several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. web series created for ABC.com and produced by Marvel Television that is a supplement to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , with the main cast reprising their roles. The first two seasons of The Daily Bugle (2019–2022) are an in-universe current affairs show serving as a viral marketing campaign for
9635-450: The MCU television series , as it was "very specific... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed." In September 2019, it was announced that Disney and Sony had reached a new agreement allowing for Spider-Man to appear in a third standalone film (produced by Marvel Studios and Feige) and a future Marvel Studios film. Disney was reported to be co-financing 25% of the film in exchange for 25% of
9840-509: The Masked Raider ; the jungle lord Ka-Zar the Great , with Ben Thompson beginning a five-issue adaptation of the story "King of Fang and Claw" by Bob Byrd in Goodman's pulp magazine Ka-Zar #1 (Oct. 1936); the non-continuing-character story "Jungle Terror", featuring adventurer Ken Masters, drawn and possibly written by Art Pinajian under the quirky pseudonym "Tohm Dixon" or "Tomm Dixon" (with
10045-562: The McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. Goodman – whose official titles were editor, managing editor, and business manager , with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher – contracted with the newly formed comic book packager Funnies, Inc. to supply material. His first effort, Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), featured the first appearances of writer-artist Carl Burgos ' android superhero ,
10250-628: The Roman goddess of love, posing as a human reporter. Patsy Walker , Millie the Model , Tessie the Typist and other Timely humor titles also included Harvey Kurtzman 's "Hey Look!" one-pagers in several issues. Future Comic Book Hall of Fame artist Gene Colan , a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, recalled that, "The atmosphere at Timely was very good, very funny. ... [I worked in] a big art room and there were about 20 artists in there, all stacked up. Syd [Shores]
10455-546: The Russo brothers and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely . This was to ensure their storytelling aligned for the Infinity Saga's culmination. Marvel Studios began contracting their actors for multiple films, including signing actor Samuel L. Jackson to a then-unprecedented nine-film contract. Feige said the studio had all actors sign contracts for multiple films, with the normal number being for three or more while
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#173284797501710660-475: The Spider-Man films. Multiple limited series or one-shot comic books that tie into the MCU films and television series have been published by Marvel Comics. They are intended to tell additional stories about existing characters or to make connections between MCU projects, without necessarily expanding the universe or introducing new concepts or characters. The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of
10865-648: The X-Men which were respectively licensed to Sony, New Line, and Fox, Marvel owned the rights to the Avengers team. Feige, a self-described "fanboy", envisioned combining these characters in a shared universe similar to the one created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in the 1960s. "It's never been done before and that's kind of the spirit everybody's taking it in. The other filmmakers aren't used to getting actors from other movies that other filmmakers have cast, certain plot lines that are connected or certain locations that are connected, but I think... everyone
11070-582: The crossover film The Avengers (2012). Phase Two comprises 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 of Phase Three , and is followed by Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of
11275-417: The film rights to several Marvel characters before beginning to produce its own films in 2004, and has since regained many of those rights. The Walt Disney Company acquired the studio in 2009, along with the rest of Marvel, and transferred it in August 2015 to become a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios , where it is part of Disney Entertainment . Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has distributed most of
11480-624: The highest-grossing media franchises of all time, and it has received generally positive reviews from critics. The studio attributed several Multiverse Saga projects performing below expectations to the increase in the amount of content being produced after the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame , and began decreasing its content output from 2024. The MCU has inspired other film and television studios to attempt similar shared universes and has also inspired several themed attractions, an art exhibit, television specials, literary material, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials. By 2005, Marvel Entertainment
11685-586: The untitled fourth Spider-Man film (2026), and will conclude with Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). The planned film Blade is also intended to be part of the phase but does not have a release date. Marvel Television produced multiple television series set in the MCU across broadcast, streaming, and cable. Its ABC series included Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), Agent Carter (2015–2016), and Inhumans (2017); its Netflix series included Daredevil (2015–2018), Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Luke Cage (2016–2018), Iron Fist (2017–2018),
11890-534: The " Marvel Knights " imprint of Marvel Comics . The first film produced under the Marvel Knights banner was Punisher: War Zone (2008), which served as a reboot of the Punisher franchise . This was followed by Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011), which was the second and final title to be released under the Marvel Knights banner. Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU )
12095-625: The 14th floor of the Empire State Building , where it remained until 1951. The superheroes were the products of what Timely referred to as the "adventure" bullpen. The company also developed an "animator" bullpen creating such movie tie-in and original talking animal comics as Terrytoons Comics , Mighty Mouse , All Surprise Comics , Super Rabbit Comics , Funny Frolics , and Funny Tunes, renamed Animated Funny Comic-Tunes . Former Fleischer Studios animator Fago, who joined Timely in 1942, headed this group, which consisted through
12300-419: The 14th floor of the Empire State Building , where it remained until 1951. In 2016, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be the name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics. In 1939, with the emerging medium of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first superheroes setting the trend, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman founded Timely Publications, basing it at his existing company in
12505-535: The 1960s Marvel hero ). Other Timely characters, many seen both in modern-day retroactive-continuity appearances and in flashbacks, include the Angel , the next-most-popular character in terms of number of appearances; the Destroyer , an early creation of future Marvel chief Stan Lee ; super-speedster the Whizzer ; the flying and super-strong Miss America ; the original Vision , who inspired Marvel writer Roy Thomas in
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#173284797501712710-619: The 1960s to create a Silver Age version of the character ; and the Blazing Skull and the Thin Man , two members of the present-day New Invaders . Just as Captain America had his teenage sidekick Bucky and DC Comics' Batman had Robin , the Human Torch acquired a young partner, Toro , in the first issue of the Torch's own magazine. The Young Allies —one of several "kid gangs" popular in comics at
12915-580: The 1990s, starting with the X-Men , the Fantastic Four , Spider-Man , and Daredevil , which were followed by Captain America , Iron Man , Thor , the Hulk , Ant-Man and the Wasp , Black Widow , Luke Cage , the Punisher , Blade , Ghost Rider , Man-Thing , Black Panther , Deadpool , and Prime , among others. In February 2015, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that Spider-Man would appear in
13120-509: The Angel, ended that same month with #92, becoming the horror anthology Marvel Tales beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949). Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company , the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated Nov. 1951. In 2015, Marvel registered the trademark "Timely Comics". The following year, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be
13325-555: The Avengers and Beyond is "a collection of papers, articles, blueprints, and notes amassed throughout history by Wakanda's War Dogs" at the request of Shuri . It is organized by areas of study and covers the technological advancements throughout the MCU. The book, which exists within the universe, was written by Troy Benjamin and published by Epic Ink and Quarto Publishing Group. The Wakanda Files has content printed with UV ink that can be viewed with Kimoyo bead–shaped UV lights included with
13530-620: The Dead Teenager , Ant-Man , and the Punisher . Artisan would finance and distribute while Marvel would develop licensing and merchandising tie-ins. The resulting production library, which would also include television series, direct-to-video films, and internet projects, would be co-owned. By 2001, the success of Marvel Entertainment's Ultimate Marvel imprint comics created leverage in Hollywood for Marvel Studios, pushing more properties into development. The next film licensed from Marvel Studios
13735-661: The Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) are also included in the phase. Phase Five includes Secret Invasion (2023), the second season of Loki (2023), the second season of What If...? (2023), Echo (2024), Agatha All Along (2024), the third season of What If...? (2024), the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025), the first season of Daredevil: Born Again (2025), and Ironheart (2025). Phase Six will include Eyes of Wakanda (2025), Marvel Zombies (2025), Wonder Man (2025), and Vision Quest (2026). Marvel One-Shots are
13940-614: The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). The second three phases are collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga", and include television series on Disney+ . Phase Four includes Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and
14145-854: The Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Phase Five begins with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), The Marvels (2023), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and will conclude with Thunderbolts* (2025). Phase Six begins with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), followed by Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and
14350-652: The MCU continuity. These were produced before that company was folded into Marvel Studios in December 2019 and became a production label. Eleven of Marvel Studios' films are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time. These include: The Avengers , Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and Deadpool & Wolverine ; Avengers: Endgame
14555-410: The MCU films for the following 10 years. That July, Feige announced some of the films and series for Phase Five and Phase Six at San Diego Comic-Con, revealing that the second three Phases were collectively known as " The Multiverse Saga ". After the "creative experience" of ending Phase Three and "The Infinity Saga" with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame , and the expansion in
14760-637: The MCU's primary reality as Earth-199999. 20th Century Fox 's X-Men film series is designated as Earth-10005 in Deadpool & Wolverine . That film features several actors reprising their roles from the X-Men film series along with characters from Fox's films Daredevil and its spin-off Elektra , Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and New Line Cinema 's Blade film trilogy . Phases Four, Five, and Six comprise " The Multiverse Saga ". With
14965-500: The MCU, accompanied by a black screen reading "Thank You Stan". Similarly, the logo was retroactively modified for the Disney+ version of Black Panther (2018) in honor of Chadwick Boseman , who died on August 28, 2020. The logo was altered, replacing the characters with images and footage of T'Challa and Boseman. The logo premiered on November 29, 2020, which would have been Boseman's 44th birthday. Additional modifications include having
15170-532: The MCU, with the character appearing in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Sony releasing Spider-Man: Homecoming , produced by Feige and Amy Pascal , in July 2017. As part of the deal, Sony Pictures would continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films. In June 2015, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal did not allow Spider-Man to appear in any of
15375-419: The MCU. Each short was designed to be a self-contained story that provided more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films. In March 2015, Marvel's Vice President of Animation Development and Production, Cort Lane , said animated tie-ins to the MCU were "in the works". That July, Marvel Studios partnered with Google to produce the faux news program WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart ,
15580-502: The MCU. The logo debuted with Avengers: Infinity War on April 26, 2018, and was used again in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). With the release of Captain Marvel , the current Perception logo was altered at Marvel Studios' behest in honor of Stan Lee ; Lee died on November 12, 2018, just a few months before the release of the film. The logo was altered, replacing the characters with Stan Lee's MCU cameos and other public appearances related to
15785-592: The Merrill Lynch financing deal with Paramount was on as marketer and distributor. Marvel Studios' parent company Marvel Enterprises, Inc. then changed its name to Marvel Entertainment, Inc. to reflect the change to self-production. The studio moved to a new location over a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Beverly Hills . Maisel was also named vice-chairman of the studio, but reported to Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter . In November 2005, Michael Helfant joined
15990-472: The Multiverse Saga after Thanos in the Infinity Saga, because Kang was a different villain in part because he has multiple variants from different timelines within the multiverse. The studio did not initially plan to build the next saga around Kang, and made that decision after seeing actor Jonathan Majors 's performance in the first season of the Disney+ series Loki (2021), as well as dailies from
16195-457: The Multiverse Saga's new antagonist Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom (after previously portraying the superhero Tony Stark / Iron Man in the MCU from 2008 to 2019) for both Doomsday and Secret Wars . In December 2017, Disney agreed to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox . The transaction officially closed on March 19, 2019. This saw the return of the film rights for Deadpool , the X-Men, and
16400-553: The Netflix series by Marvel Television. Loki and What If...? are excluded from the diagram because they occur outside of the main timeline. Werewolf by Night is also excluded given the special explicitly does not indicate where it takes place in the MCU. Disney+'s timeline order places the first seasons of Loki and What If...? between Avengers: Endgame and WandaVision , their second seasons after The Marvels , and Werewolf by Night after Thor: Love and Thunder ; Werewolf by Night
16605-660: The Pelican Postman" in Krazy Komics and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; "Tubby an' Tack", in various comics; and the most popular of these features, Jaffee's " Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal " and Hart's " Super Rabbit ", the cover stars of many different titles. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton 's best-known features, Powerhouse Pepper . The first issue, cover-dated January 1943, bore no number, and protagonist Pepper looked different from his more familiar visualization (when
16810-579: The Phases in addition to their feature films. Each series is released on Disney+. Phase Four includes the series WandaVision (2021), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), the first season of Loki (2021), the first season of the animated series What If...? (2021), Hawkeye (2021), Moon Knight (2022), Ms. Marvel (2022), and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). The television specials Werewolf by Night (2022) and The Guardians of
17015-524: The Production and Development group. Some of these executives include: The Visual Development group is an in-house group of artists who work on a film from its start to provide a consistent look for the studio. In addition to Meinerding, the group includes Andy Park , Director of Visual Development and Production Illustrator Additionally, Sarah Halley Finn has served as a frequent casting director for several MCU films and television series. Starting with
17220-486: The Sub-Mariner and Prime with Universal Pictures . In contrast to the original storylines of DC Comics ' Superman and Batman films, Marvel films often emphasized more fidelity to their comics, applying set pieces, scenes, plots, and dialogue drawn from them. In 2003, David Maisel approached Arad about earning Marvel more for their films. Maisel, Arad, and Perlmutter met, leading to Maisel being hired as president and chief operating officer (COO). The studio's office
17425-453: The United States and Canada and $ 131,183,530 worldwide. Blade was followed by X-Men , which was directed by Bryan Singer and was released on July 14, 2000. X-Men grossed $ 157,299,717 in the United States and Canada and $ 296,250,053 worldwide. Blade and X-Men demonstrated that widely popular films could be made out of comic book characters not familiar to the general public. Leading up to X-Men 's release, Marvel Studios negotiated
17630-555: The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $ 4 billion. Disney said future Marvel Studios films would be distributed by its own studio once the prior deal with Paramount expired. The films of Phase Three were announced at a special press event in October 2014. By September 2015, Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios . Feige was reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter , and
17835-727: The Watchers was something that I thought was fun for the MCU." Feige added that Lee "clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films. So the notion that he could be sitting there on a cosmic pit stop during the jump gate sequence in Guardians ...really says, so wait a minute, he's this same character who's popped up in all these films?" Following Lee's death, Marvel Studios chose not to create any new Lee cameos in future projects. NY1 news anchor Pat Kiernan has also appeared in multiple MCU films and television series as himself. Timely Comics Founded in 1939, during
18040-408: The actors who portrayed the characters in the films expected to reprise their roles for the limited series. Each series was expected to be six to eight episodes, with a "hefty [budget] rivaling those of a major studio productions". The series would be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, with Feige taking a "hands-on role" in each series' development. In October 2019, Feige was given
18245-438: The also newly hired executive Jodi Hildebrand. Particular properties Feige was interested in having screenplays for were Black Panther, Iron Fist, and Blade. The program was shut down in 2014 before being revived in 2016. In early 2009, Sony returned all Spider-Man television rights (including live-action) in exchange for an adjustment to the film rights. On August 31, 2009, the Walt Disney Company announced that it had reached
18450-549: The beginning of Phase Four. That phase also saw the studio expand to television specials, known as Marvel Studios Special Presentations , starting with Werewolf by Night (2022). The MCU includes various tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots from 2011 to 2014, and viral marketing campaigns for some films featuring the faux news programs WHIH Newsfront (2015–16) and The Daily Bugle (2019–2022). The franchise has been commercially successful, becoming one of
18655-582: The book. It was released on October 20, 2020. Look Out for the Little Guy , the fictional memoir written by Scott Lang as seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , was released by Hyperion Avenue on September 5, 2023. It was created alongside Marvel Studios and the Quantumania filmmakers, and was written by Rob Kutner , featuring "over 20 short pieces exploring different aspects of Scott's experiences" as
18860-594: The box office allowed them to be underdogs again, as they had been when starting work on Phase One, and they would be "coming back strong" with the hope of surprising audiences and exceeding expectations. Feige expected the studio to begin releasing two films and three series per year after 2025, when they were planning to release three films and six series that had been in development for a long time and were ready to be released. In 2024, Marvel Studios introduced their "Marvel Animation" and "Marvel Television" banners for their animated and live-action series, respectively. This
19065-400: The brand and the iconic characters into a single image, showcasing the heroes within the letterforms of the Marvel logo." The Perception team settled on a concept they dubbed "How to Build a Universe", which "was designed to pay tribute to [the filmmaking] process by touching on" how a film's origins are inspired by the comics, which then results in a script, followed by concept art, resulting in
19270-399: The camera moves around them." Finally, over 70 pieces of footage from the 13 films that had been released at that time were included, with Perception arranging them in a way they called the "vault" "where luminescent footage plays on the interior walls of the "Marvel" logotype." A modified version of Perception's logo was introduced at the 2017 D23 Expo to commemorate the 10th anniversary of
19475-497: The cancellation of Captain America Comics at issue #75 (Feb. 1950) – by which time the series had already been Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale featuring merely anthological horror/suspense tales and no superheroes. Sub-Mariner Comics and Human Torch Comics had already ended with #32 (June 1949) and #35 (March 1949) respectively, and the company's flagship title, Marvel Mystery Comics , starring
19680-465: The character rights Artisan held, except Punisher, revert to Marvel. Marvel Studios partnered with Lionsgate in 2004 to produce eight animated films, called Marvel Animated Features , for the direct-to-DVD market with Lionsgate Home Entertainment handling distribution. The line was a proof of concept for Maisel's later plan. Eric Rollman was hired by Marvel as Executive Vice President of home entertainment & TV production for Marvel Studios to oversee
19885-531: The characters who disappeared in the Blip removed for Avengers: Endgame ; an additional Boseman tribute one for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022); and an all-Guardians of the Galaxy opening for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). A shortened sequence opening was used for the Disney+ series Secret Invasion (2023). " What If... Strange Supreme Intervened? " (2023), the What If...? season two finale, replaced
20090-407: The committee. Feige initially referred to the shared narrative continuity of the films as the "Marvel Cinema Universe", but later used the term "Marvel Cinematic Universe". Since the franchise expanded to other media, some have used this phrase to only refer to the feature films. The MCU films are released in groups called "Phases", beginning with Phase One and Phase Two . In December 2009,
20295-551: The company who help to elevate each other's projects where possible. In November 2017, Feige said Avengers: Endgame (2019) would provide a definitive conclusion to the films thus far and begin a new period for the franchise. He later said Phase Three would conclude " The Infinity Saga ". Disney was reportedly developing a Marvel-based television series for their new streaming service Disney+ by November 2017. In July 2018, Feige said discussions had begun with Disney regarding any potential involvement Marvel Studios could have with
20500-424: The company's properties over eight years, according to the parameters of the original deal. Those characters were Ant-Man , the Avengers , Black Panther, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger , Doctor Strange , Hawkeye , Nick Fury , Power Pack , and Shang-Chi . Ambac insured the films would succeed or they would pay the interest payment on the debt and get the film rights as collateral. Initially, Marvel Studios
20705-455: The concept art images, Perception looked "through a massive archive of concept art and "The Art Of..." books, to select the most iconic images for each beloved character. Utilizing the original digital paintings themselves, the Perception team animated each image being painted from scratch. The final touch was mapping this artwork onto 3D models to giving these once 2D paintings a sense of depth as
20910-477: The creative committee began having only "nominal" input on the films. They continued to consult on Marvel Television productions, which remained under Perlmutter's control. All key film decisions moving forward were to be made by Feige, D'Esposito, and executive vice president Victoria Alonso . The studio went on to establish the Marvel Studios Parliament , a "brain trust" of long-time executives at
21115-670: The creator or co-creator of many of the characters adapted in the MCU, made cameo appearances in all of the feature films and television series except Inhumans . In Iron Fist , it is revealed his on-set photograph cameo in the Marvel Netflix series is as NYPD Captain Irving Forbush . His cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 sees Lee appearing as an informant to the Watchers , discussing previous adventures that include Lee's cameos in other MCU films; he specifically mentions his time as
21320-554: The crossover miniseries The Defenders (2017), and The Punisher (2017–2019); its young adult series included Runaways (2017–2019) streaming on Hulu and Cloak & Dagger (2018–2019) airing on Freeform ; and the Hulu series Helstrom (2020) was originally intended to be the start of a planned "Adventure into Fear" franchise, but was ultimately "not tied to the MCU", according to showrunner Paul Zbyszewski . Beginning with Phase Four, television series were included as part of
21525-766: The crossover miniseries The Defenders . In April 2016, Netflix ordered The Punisher , a spin-off of Daredevil . By February 2019, Netflix had canceled all of its Marvel series. In April 2016, the Disney-owned cable network Freeform announced Cloak & Dagger . In May 2017, Marvel announced that Runaways had received a series order from Hulu . In May 2019, Marvel announced that Helstrom had been greenlit for Hulu. In October 2019, further corporate restructuring saw Feige named Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, with Marvel Television becoming part of Marvel Studios and executives of Marvel Television reporting to Feige. In December 2019, Marvel Television
21730-475: The deal allows Marvel to use Lee's name, voice, likeness, signature, and existing images and archival material. In June 2023, the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk reverted from Universal back to Marvel and Disney. By October 2023, Marvel Studios was planning to hire dedicated executives to focus on their television efforts, as part of their larger plan to change their approach to their television series . Production and development executive Richie Palmer
21935-420: The deal with Lionsgate. Maisel was hired in 2004 as president and chief operating officer of Marvel Studios as he had a plan for the studio to self-finance its films. Marvel entered into a non-recourse debt structure with Merrill Lynch that was collateralized by certain film rights to a total of ten characters from Marvel's vast vault. Marvel received $ 525 million to make a maximum of ten films based on
22140-463: The deal, Whedon contributed creatively to all of the Phase Two films and also developed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , the first television series set in the MCU. In April 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) writer and director James Gunn revealed that he would be working with Marvel to help plan future stories for the Guardians of the Galaxy characters and
22345-498: The era called the Golden Age of comic books , "Timely" was the umbrella name for the comics division of pulp magazine publisher Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities all producing the same product. The company's first publication in 1939 used Timely Publications , based at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. In 1942, it moved to
22550-553: The era fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books . Rival publishers National Comics Publications / All-American Comics , the sister companies that would evolve into DC Comics , likewise had their own "big three": Superman and Batman plus the soon-to-debut Wonder Woman . Timely's other major competitors were Fawcett Publications (with Captain Marvel , introduced in 1940); Quality Comics (with Plastic Man and Blackhawk , both in 1941); and Lev Gleason Publications (with Daredevil , introduced in 1940 and unrelated to
22755-404: The event a film had to debut on Disney+ instead of in theaters. TheWrap reported that the new contracts would likely only apply to films about to enter production. It was unclear if any adjustments would be made to contracts for films already completed but not yet released. For Marvel Television, Loeb said he and his executives were involved in all aspects of production: "whether it's being in
22960-555: The fictional country Madripoor in the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Additionally, Patrick Stewart appeared as Professor Charles Xavier in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), portraying a different version of the character that he previously played in Fox's X-Men film series , while Kamala Khan was revealed to have a genetic mutation in Ms. Marvel , with star Iman Vellani confirming that she
23165-762: The film in China in tandem with Disney. In April 2013, Marvel Studios moved its executive production offices from the Manhattan Beach Studios Media Campus to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California . In July 2013, Disney purchased the distribution rights to Iron Man , Iron Man 2 , Thor , and Captain America: The First Avenger from Paramount. In September 2014, TNT acquired the cable rights for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and three other films, to air on
23370-434: The film's profits in the new agreement, while retaining the merchandising rights to the character. In November 2021, Pascal announced plans for a fourth Spider-Man film set in the MCU, in addition to long-term plans for a new trilogy of films with Marvel Studios, with said film entering active development the following month. Sony's agreement specifies that production has to start on a film within three years and nine months of
23575-489: The film's screenwriters sometimes as well. Marvel Comics worked with Brad Winderbaum , Jeremy Latcham , and Will Corona Pilgrim at Marvel Studios to decide which concepts would be carried over from the Marvel Comics Universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what to show in the tie-in comics, and what to leave for the films. Marvel later clarified which of the tie-in comics are considered canonical MCU stories, with
23780-495: The filming of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). After Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment amidst legal issues in December 2023, he was fired by Disney and Marvel Studios. At that time, Marvel was internally referring to The Kang Dynasty as Avengers 5 . Alonso was fired from her role at Marvel Studios in March 2023 for serving as a producer on the Amazon Studios film Argentina, 1985 (2022), in breach of
23985-403: The films Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk , with additional films to be named later. Following the successful opening weekend of Iron Man in May 2008, Maisel had his contract extended through 2010 and Feige was promoted to president of Marvel Studios. In November, Marvel Studios signed a lease with Raleigh Studios to host its headquarters and production offices and film the next four films on
24190-488: The films Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home , with the videos released on YouTube and TikTok . It is based on the fictional sensationalist news outlet of the same name that appears in the MCU—itself based on the fictional newspaper agency of the same name appearing in several Marvel Comics publications. J. K. Simmons and Angourie Rice reprise their roles as J. Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant from
24395-480: The films, however, it was noted all of these outside projects were part of the larger Marvel canon. In early 2024, Marvel Studios formally integrated Marvel Television's group of Netflix series into their Disney+ timeline. As of the Phase Five television series Secret Invasion and the film The Marvels , the "present day" in the MCU is 2026. The following covers and discusses MCU media released by Marvel Studios and
24600-420: The final film. Perception looked to the initial "flipbook" logo for inspiration, and paid tribute to it in the new opening, as it opens identically to the flipbook logo. Next, the opening includes "various lines lifted directly from the script pages of various Marvel screenplays", with Perception picking "both iconic fan-favorites, as well as lines that helped establish the breadth of the Marvel Universe." To add in
24805-412: The first animated series from Marvel Studios, and by July 2021 the studio was creating an "animation branch and mini studio", known as Marvel Studios Animation , to focus on more animated content beyond What If...? . Alonso said Marvel had around 31 projects in various stages of development by September 2021. In April 2022, Feige said he and Marvel Studios were on a creative retreat to plan and discuss
25010-414: The first version in 2002. They were given a few hundred comic books to select images from, and ultimately chose 120 that were "universal and not specific to one character" and created a narrative "where each image spoke to the one before it and after." The new logo appeared on all subsequent studio productions set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe through Captain America: Civil War . With the addition of
25215-424: The franchise, while Brian Tyler and Michael Giacchino have both scored fanfares for the Marvel Studios production logo . The fictional timeline of the MCU includes the feature films, television series, television specials, short films, and the I Am Groot shorts from Marvel Studios and Marvel Television's Netflix series. While the early films of Phase One and Phase Two of the franchise followed each other in
25420-517: The live-action footage of the logo with animated images from What If...? . Television specials from Marvel Studios, which are marketed as " Marvel Studios Special Presentation ", feature a special multicolored intro with bongo drum music, reminiscent of the CBS Special Presentation theme featured before animated holiday specials of the 1980s and 1990s. The intro was also designed by Perception, with Giacchino (who directed and composed for
25625-611: The main universe of the MCU as well. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , the main universe of MCU events was designated as Earth-616 (a designation first referenced in Spider-Man: Far From Home ), sharing the name of the main Marvel Comics universe , while another universe was designated as Earth-838 . Sony's animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse references the events of No Way Home , citing
25830-521: The name in 1961. This brand extended to the company's short-lived editorial advisory board in 1948 in an effort to compete with other publishers like DC Comics and Fawcett Comics , and used the moniker Marvel Comic Group in its editorials. List of characters making multiple appearances, either in Timely Comics solely or in Timely and subsequent companies Atlas Comics and Marvel Comics . I applied for
26035-564: The name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics. Publisher Martin Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of companies all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies under which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt
26240-452: The network two years after their theatrical releases. The films had previously aired on FX since 2008. In August 2015, Marvel Studios was placed into Walt Disney Studios , with Feige reporting directly to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter. Marvel Television and subsidiary Marvel Animation were left under Marvel Entertainment and Perlmutter's control. As of April 2017, Marvel Studios
26445-508: The new logo, Marvel Studios also added a fanfare to accompany the logo, composed by Brian Tyler , who wrote the scores to Iron Man 3 , Thor: The Dark World , and Avengers: Age of Ultron . It was featured on the films Thor: The Dark World , Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). In July 2016, another new logo and opening were introduced, featuring an updated fanfare, composed this time by Michael Giacchino , who first worked with Marvel Studios on
26650-402: The nine or twelve film deals were rare. The actors' contracts also feature clauses that allow Marvel to use up to three minutes of an actor's performance from one film in another, which Marvel describes as "bridging material". By the start of Phase Four, Marvel Studios was no longer contracting actors for a large number of projects, with deal lengths varying for each actor and project. Feige said
26855-475: The number of projects being produced by the studio in a short amount of time, Marvel Studios decided to move away from having an Avengers crossover film at the end of each Phase and instead decided to have a crossover culmination at the end of "The Multiverse Saga" with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). The studio was excited to explore Kang the Conqueror as an overarching villain of
27060-435: The numbering from the unsuccessful Red Raven ), and Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Going on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and already showing the hero punching Hitler , that first issue sold nearly one million copies. With the hit characters Human Torch and Sub-Mariner now joined by Simon and Kirby's seminal patriotic hero Captain America , Timely had its "big three" stars of
27265-459: The overall viability of an industry-wide unionization push", particularly at the post-production effect houses. All of the workers who participated in the election vote that concluded in early September voted unanimously to form a union with IATSE, with the union then set to enter into collective bargaining negotiations with Marvel, beginning at an unspecified date. Marvel had licensed out the film rights to many of their characters to other studios in
27470-451: The phases of the MCU. However, these lookbooks are not always shown to directors, with Marvel sometimes preferring to let the director offer their own ideas first. When choosing a director for a project, Marvel Studios looks for filmmakers to hire who can guide a film. Some of their choices for directors have been considered "out-of-left-field based on those director's previous work. On this, Feige remarked that "you don't have to have directed
27675-436: The post-war era found superheroes falling out of fashion. Television and mass market paperback books now also competed for readers and leisure time . Goodman began turning to a wider variety of genres than ever, emphasizing horror , Westerns , teen humor, crime and war comics, and introducing female heroes to try to attract girls and young women to read comics. In 1946, for instance, the superhero title All Select Comics
27880-522: The preschool animated series Spidey and His Amazing Friends , starting from its second season; the first season was produced under the Marvel Entertainment banner. The "Marvel Animation" name and banner was used for the division's projects by May 2024. In March 2023, Alonso was fired from her role at Marvel Studios by a group including Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman and Disney's human resources and legal departments for serving as
28085-435: The president of Marvel Entertainment Group, and Avi Arad, head of Marvel Films and a director of ToyBiz, were assigned tandem control of Marvel Studios. Under Calabrese and Arad, Marvel sought to control pre-production by commissioning scripts, hiring directors, and casting characters, providing the package to a major studio partner for filming and distribution. Arad said of the goal for control, "When you get into business with
28290-450: The previous one, and release within five years and nine months, otherwise the rights revert to Marvel. Sony has access to 856 characters within their agreement, including Kingpin , who is able to be used by both Sony and Marvel Studios. In March 2023, Citigroup financial analyst Jason Bazinet felt Disney may try to include the distribution rights to the Hulk and Namor in any potential sale of
28495-474: The production of the Marvel Television series inherited by Marvel Studios. In May 2022, Marvel Studios signed a 20-year licensing deal with Stan Lee Universe to license the name and likeness of Lee for use in future films, television series, Disney theme parks and cruises, various "experiences", and merchandising. A digitally recreated Lee was not expected to make cameo appearances in future projects, rather
28700-505: The projects and distribution. Avi Arad , head of Marvel Entertainment's film division known as Marvel Films , was pleased with director Sam Raimi 's Spider-Man film trilogy (2002–2007) at Sony Pictures and Columbia but was less enthused with some of the other films. Arad decided to form Marvel Studios , Hollywood's first major independent film studio since DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1994. Kevin Feige , Arad's second-in-command, realized that unlike Spider-Man , Blade , and
28905-485: The published signature smudged); "Now I'll Tell One", five single-panel, black-and-white gag cartoons by Fred Schwab , on the inside front cover; and a two-page prose story by Ray Gill , "Burning Rubber", about auto racing . A painted cover by veteran science-fiction pulp artist Frank R. Paul featured the Human Torch, looking much different from the interior story. That initial comic, cover-dated October 1939, quickly sold out 80,000 copies, prompting Goodman to produce
29110-407: The real world.' ... I just wanted to know, 'What do you do in a publishing company?' How do you write? ... How do you publish? I was an assistant. There were two people there named Joe Simon and Jack Kirby—Joe was sort-of the editor/artist/writer, and Jack was the artist/writer. Joe was the senior member. They were turning out most of the artwork. Then there was the publisher, Martin Goodman... And that
29315-547: The reason that all the filmmakers are on board is that their movies need to stand on their own. They need to have a fresh vision, a unique tone, and the fact that they can interconnect if you want to follow those breadcrumbs is a bonus." —Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige on constructing a shared film universe To raise capital, the studio secured funding from a seven-year, $ 525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch . Marvel planned to release individual films for their main characters and then merge them in
29520-459: The release of Spider-Man in 2002, Marvel Studios introduced its "flipbook" production logo , created by Imaginary Forces. This logo was accompanied by music from the film's score, sound effects or a song, to lead into the beginning of the film. This was the logo seen in front of all of the studio's films until 2013, when the logo was updated with the release of Thor: The Dark World , again created by Imaginary Forces. Feige stated that since Marvel
29725-533: The release of The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline in October 2023, Feige wrote in its foreword that Marvel Studios only considered, at that time, projects developed by them in their first four phases as part of their " Sacred Timeline ", but acknowledged the history of other Marvel films and television series that would exist in the larger multiverse and said they were "canonical to Marvel". In January 2024, Winderbaum acknowledged that Marvel Studios had previously been "a little bit cagey" about what
29930-429: The rest being merely inspired by the MCU "where we get to show off all the characters from the film in costume and in comic form". In August 2011, Marvel announced a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots . The name was derived from the label used by Marvel Comics for their one-shot comics . Winderbaum said the shorts were "a fun way to experiment with new characters and ideas" and to expand
30135-526: The role in the film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Additionally, Vincent D'Onofrio first reprised his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin from Daredevil in the Disney+ series Hawkeye (2021). Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases". The first three phases are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". Phase One consists of Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and concludes with
30340-437: The score to Doctor Strange (2016). The new opening begins with comic book panels seen in the previous two openings but transitions into footage and art of the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. It was first seen in front of Doctor Strange . The updated logo was created by Perception , which was first approached in January 2016 by Marvel to update their logo. Feige specifically requested Perception "to combine
30545-484: The series returned for four issues, May–Nov. 1948) as the bullet-headed naif in the striped turtleneck sweater. Additionally, Timely in 1944 and 1945 initiated a sitcom selection of titles aimed at female readers: Millie the Model , Tessie the Typist and Nellie the Nurse . The company continued to pursue female readers later in the decade with such superheroines as Sun Girl ; the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora ; and Venus ,
30750-543: The series. In September 2019, Sony created a real version of the fictional The Daily Bugle website as part of a viral marketing campaign to promote the home media release of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Inspired by real-world "conspiracy-pushing" websites such as Alex Jones 's InfoWars , the website features J. K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson in a video where he speaks out against Spider-Man before asking viewers to "like and subscribe". In December 2020, Marvel Studios announced I Am Groot ,
30955-470: The source material. The television series Loki and What If...? were the first to explore the concept of the multiverse within the MCU, as well as the film Spider-Man: No Way Home , which connected the MCU to other Spider-Man film franchises by featuring characters from Sam Raimi 's Spider-Man trilogy , Marc Webb 's The Amazing Spider-Man films , and Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The SSU film Venom: Let There Be Carnage briefly featured
31160-511: The special Werewolf by Night ) once again creating the music. Jamie Lovett at ComicBook.com called the Marvel Studios Special Presentation intro "more colorful" and its fanfare "more playful" than the normal Marvel Studios intro. —Includes theatrical reissue(s). Marvel Knights was a production arm of Marvel Studios intended to be used to produce some of Marvel's darker and lesser-known titles. The name originated from
31365-475: The story from the two characters' different perspectives). After the Simon and Kirby team moved to DC late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (Jan. 1942), Al Avison and Syd Shores became regular pencilers on the title, with one generally inking over the other. Stan Lee (né Stanley Lieber), a cousin of Goodman's by marriage who had been serving as an assistant since 1939, at age 16,
31570-443: The streaming service Hulu to Comcast , the owner of Universal Pictures through NBCUniversal . In June 2023, the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk reverted from Universal back to Marvel and Disney. The following table details the rights that have returned to Marvel along with the studios from which they returned and the year in which they returned. The " Marvel Studios Parliament ", otherwise known as "The Parliament",
31775-418: The streaming service, which he felt was important for the wider company. In September 2018, Marvel Studios was reported to be developing several limited series centered on "second-tier" characters from the MCU films who had not and were unlikely to headline their own films. Each series was expected to be six to eight episodes and would be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, with Feige taking
31980-426: The studio are marketed as " Marvel Studios Special Presentations ". The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), a Special Presentation, was the first project Marvel Studios began planning for Disney+. In July 2019, Feige announced the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con , consisting of films and, for the first time, television event series on Disney+. The Phase Four slate includes What If...? ,
32185-523: The studio as president and chief operating officer. Also that month, Marvel gained the film rights to Iron Man from New Line Cinema . Marvel then revealed that it had regained the film rights to the Hulk from Universal in February 2006, in exchange for letting Universal own the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk (2008) and the right of first refusal to pick up the distribution rights to any future Marvel Studios-produced Hulk films. In April 2006, Thor
32390-571: The studio dismissed most of its marketing department, including EVP of Worldwide Marketing Dana Precious, VP of Worldwide Marketing Jeffrey Stewart, and Manager of Worldwide Marketing Jodi Miller. Disney subsequently began marketing Marvel's films. In April 2012, the Walt Disney Company China, Marvel Studios, and DMG Entertainment announced an agreement to co-produce Iron Man 3 in China. DMG partly financed, produced in China with Marvel, and handled co-production matters. DMG also distributed
32595-476: The studio following the sale to Disney. In April 2010, rumors circulated that Marvel was looking to create $ 20–40 million films based on properties such as Doctor Strange, Ka-Zar , Luke Cage, Dazzler , and Power Pack. Feige responded by saying, while budgets are generally never discussed early in development, Marvel was considering films for all characters mentioned in the rumor, except Dazzler, whose rights were at Fox. In June 2010, Marvel Entertainment set up
32800-406: The studio was creating an "animation branch and mini-studio" to focus on more animated content beyond What If...? . Marvel Studios outsources the animation for its animated series to third-party animation studios, though executive Brad Winderbaum indicated Marvel would work with fellow Disney studios Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios "under the right circumstances". In September 2021, Alonso
33005-501: The studio was looking for actors who were excited to join the franchise and appear in multiple projects without being locked into contractual obligations. He also noted that they were starting to include theme park attractions in actors' deals. By December 2020, because of the impact COVID-19 had on theaters and film studios shifting away from theatrical releases, Marvel Studios began exploring updated contracts for actors, writers, directors, and producers to receive adjusted compensation in
33210-451: The studio's films since The Avengers (2012). Since 2008, Marvel Studios has released 34 films within the MCU , from Iron Man (2008) to Deadpool & Wolverine (2024); 11 television series since 2021, from WandaVision (2021) to Agatha All Along (2024); and two television specials : Werewolf by Night (2022) and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). The television series What If...? (2021–present)
33415-637: The studios' slate, including Iron Man 2 (2010) and Thor (2011), at their Manhattan Beach Studios Media Campus facilities. By September 2008, Paramount added five additional Marvel films' foreign distribution to its domestic film distribution contract. In 2009, producer Stephen Broussard was tasked with forming a writers program for the studio. The writers were hired for a year to be on call to do emergency script polishes for films in production, as well as develop scripts based on some lesser-known properties, such as Black Panther, Cable , Iron Fist, Nighthawk , and Vision . Writers included: Edward Ricourt, who
33620-465: The timeline similar to their release order, Phase Three saw many of the films overlapping with each other in the timeline, while also introducing the first prequel property, Captain Marvel . The Phase Three film Avengers: Endgame featured characters traveling into the past and introduced a five-year time jump, with many subsequent releases in Phase Four and Phase Five set after Endgame ' s events in
33825-627: The timeline. The television series Loki and What If...? were the first properties to occur outside of the main timeline and explore alternative timelines and universes. There have been numerous attempts by Marvel Studios and others to codify the events of the MCU, which have been subject to perceived continuity errors , resulting in Marvel Studios releasing an official timeline book in 2023 for their first four phases that were designated as part of their " Sacred Timeline ". This book did not feature projects produced by other companies, such as Marvel Television's series which all had been loosely connected to
34030-569: The time—debuted under the rubric the Sentinels of Liberty in a text story in Captain America Comics #4 (June 1941) before making it to the comics pages themselves the following issue, and then eventually into their own title. Seeing a natural "fire and water" theme, Timely was responsible for comic books' first major crossover, with a two-issue battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner that spanned Marvel Mystery Comics #8–9 (telling
34235-551: The title of Chief Creative Officer , Marvel, and would oversee the creative direction of Marvel Television and Marvel Family Entertainment , with both being returned to being under the Marvel Studios banner. Two months later, Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios, with Marvel Studios overseeing development of all the Marvel Television series in production at the time of its closing. Karim Zreik , Marvel Television's senior vice president of current programming and production, would join Marvel Studios alongside his team to oversee
34440-408: The true start to Marvel Studios' exploration and use of the Fox characters, and said every project after it would be part of the MCU's "Mutant era". Some of the films between Deadpool & Wolverine and Secret Wars featured additional X-Men characters, with Feige saying the story of Secret Wars would lead into a "new age of mutants" and the X-Men being introduced to the MCU. Marvel Television
34645-411: The universe to network television with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC in 2013 before further expanding to streaming television on Netflix and Hulu and to cable television on Freeform . They also produced the digital series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (2016). Marvel Studios began producing their own television series for streaming on Disney+ , starting with WandaVision in 2021 as
34850-446: The various MCU projects, which in turn resulted in the need to delay several projects in 2022 and 2023. However, Alonso was also described as the "epitome of professional" and supportive on set, with Joanna Robinson of The Ringer describing the reports as a "gross mischaracterization" and the opposite of Alonso's work. Following Alonso's firing, visual effects vendors for the various MCU projects were working with producer Jen Underdahl,
35055-705: The vice president of visual effects and stereo. In August 2023, a group of 52 on-set VFX workers at Marvel Studios filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for an election to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) labor union the VFX Union . This was the first time any workers in the visual effects industry had petitioned for union recognition. Lee believed if this group of workers were able to secure union recognition, it "would stand as proof of concept for
35260-412: The wider "Marvel Cosmic Universe", although Gunn became the co-CEO of DC Studios in November 2022 and signed a four-year deal to work exclusively on DC Comics -based projects. For Phase Three, there was a large amount of collaboration between the filmmakers of the individual character films and the filmmakers of the crossover films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame , which were directed by
35465-671: The writers' room, editing, on set, casting—every step of the production goes through the Marvel team to tell the best story that we can". He said the studio was able to work on so many series across different networks and platforms because all they needed was one person working on each series to help "guide the process". Actors appearing in Marvel Television series, such as Charlie Cox (who portrayed Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Daredevil ) and Adrianne Palicki ( Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ), were contractually obliged to appear in
35670-530: The years of such writer/artists as Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (né Carino), Bob Deschamps , Chad Grothkopf , Pauline Loth , Jim Mooney , Moss Worthman a.k.a. Moe Worth, and future Mad magazine cartoonists Dave Berg and Al Jaffee . Features from this department include "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" in Terrytoons Comics ; "Floop and Skilly Boo" in Comedy Comics ; "Posty
35875-403: Was Spider-Man (2002) by Columbia Pictures , directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man . The film was released on May 3, 2002, grossing $ 403,706,375 in the United States and Canada and $ 821,708,551 worldwide. The early success of Spider-Man led the film's studio to issue a seven-figure advance for a sequel. Arad spoke of the deal, "Movies make sequels. Therefore, it's
36080-446: Was "forced out" of the studio while Maisel was named chairman and Kevin Feige was named president of production to replace Helfant as Iron Man (2008) began filming. In January 2008, Marvel Animation was incorporated to direct Marvel's efforts in animation and home entertainment markets including then animation efforts with Lionsgate and Nickelodeon . In March, the company agreed to a five picture basic cable distribution with FX for
36285-515: Was a box-office flop . MEG was purchased by New World Entertainment in November 1986 and moved to produce films based on the Marvel characters. It released The Punisher (1989) before MEG was sold to Ronald Perelman 's Andrews Group . Two other films were produced: Captain America (1990) released in the United Kingdom on screens and direct to video in the United States, and The Fantastic Four (1994), not intended for release. Following
36490-563: Was about the only staff that I was involved with. After a while, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left. I was about 17 years old [sic], and Martin Goodman said to me, 'Do you think you can hold down the job of editor until I can find a real person?' When you're 17, what do you know? I said, 'Sure! I can do it!' I think he forgot about me, because I stayed there ever since. However, in his 2002 autobiography, Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (cited under References, below), he says: My uncle, Robbie Solomon, told me they might be able to use someone at
36695-530: Was actively pursuing various film productions based on Marvel characters, including the eventual films X-Men (2000), Daredevil (2003), Elektra (2005), and Fantastic Four (2005). Unproduced projects included Prince Namor , based on the character Namor and to be directed by Philip Kaufman , and Mort the Dead Teenager , based on the comic book of the same name and written by John Payson and Mort creator Larry Hama . Marvel's Captain America animated series with Saban Entertainment for Fox Kids Network
36900-415: Was announced in July as Daredevil: Born Again . In 2008, the first comic book to tie-into the MCU was released. Quesada explained that these comics would be set within the continuity of the films, but were not intended to be direct adaptions. Rather, they would explore "something that happened off screen" or flesh out something briefly mentioned. Feige was involved with the creation of the comics, with
37105-460: Was announced to be a Marvel Studios production, while Lions Gate Entertainment subsequently dropped the Black Widow film it had in development since 2004 and returned the rights to Marvel. Maisel and Arad fought over the rate of film releases and the strength of characters in the film lineup. Perlmutter supported Maisel and thus, in May 2006, Arad quit as studio chair and CEO. In March 2007, Helfant
37310-493: Was changed to Blonde Phantom Comics , and now starred a masked secretary who fought crime in an evening gown . That same year, Kid Komics eliminated its stars and became Kid Movie Comics . All Winners Comics became All Teen Comics in January 1947. Timely eliminated virtually all its staff positions in 1948. The precise end-point of the Golden Age of comics is vague, but for Timely, at least, it appears to have ended with
37515-410: Was done, along with the previously established Marvel Spotlight banner, to help indicate to audiences that they did not have to watch all of the studio's projects to understand the overall story and could choose which storylines and characters under these banners to follow. At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the fifth Avengers film was retitled Avengers: Doomsday (2026), with Robert Downey Jr. cast as
37720-531: Was encouraged to write a script for Luke Cage as it was of high interest to the studio; Nicole Perlman , who chose to write a script based on the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy team ; Christopher Yost , who was asked to pitch a Black Panther film for his interview, and took interest in writing scripts about the Thunderbolts , Power Pack , and Brian Braddock / Captain Britain ; Joe Robert Cole , who initially pitched
37925-632: Was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters. Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases", with the first three phases collectively known as "The Infinity Saga" and the following three phases as "The Multiverse Saga". The first MCU film, Iron Man (2008), began Phase One which culminated in the 2012 crossover film The Avengers . Phase Two began with Iron Man 3 (2013) and concluded with Ant-Man (2015), while Phase Three began with Captain America: Civil War (2016) and concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Black Widow (2021)
38130-433: Was folded into Marvel Studios, with Marvel Studios taking over production of the remaining series and no further series expected to be developed by Marvel Television. In January 2021, Feige said "never say never" to potentially reviving the Netflix series, but noted that Marvel Studios was focused on their new Disney+ series. In May 2022, Marvel Studios was revealed to be developing a new Daredevil series for Disney+, which
38335-623: Was housed on the second floor of the Frank G. Wells Building at the Disney studio lot. Fast Company ranked Marvel Studios number eleven on its 2018 World's Most Innovative Companies list. In September 2018, it was reported that Marvel Studios was developing several limited series for the streaming service Disney+ , to be centered on "second tier" characters from the MCU films who had not and were unlikely to star in their own films. Characters being considered for series included Loki and Scarlet Witch , with
38540-511: Was in talks with Universal Pictures as a possible distributor, because Universal owned the film rights to both the Hulk and Namor during that time. Negotiations dragged on, so the studio began talks with Paramount Pictures . In the second quarter of 2005, Merrill attempted to back out of full financing of each film, demanding that Marvel finance one-third of the budget. Marvel took back rights in five foreign territories from Paramount for pre-sell to meet that demand. In September 2005, Marvel announced
38745-405: Was in the last row on my side, and there was another row on the other side. Dan DeCarlo was there, several other people – Vince Alascia was an inker; Rudy LaPick sat right behind me," with Mike Sekowsky "in another room". Yet after the wartime boom years – when superheroes had been new and inspirational, and comics provided cheap entertainment for millions of children, soldiers and others –
38950-510: Was launched in June 2010 with Jeph Loeb as head, and had entered into discussions with ABC to create a show set in the MCU by July 2012; the network went on to release Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , Agent Carter , and Inhumans . The latter was a co-production with IMAX Corporation . In November 2013, Disney was set to provide Netflix with the live-action series Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage , and Iron Fist , building up to
39155-415: Was now their own entity within the Walt Disney Company, it "felt like the time to update it and have something that is more substantial as a standalone logo in front of our features" instead of having it be accompanied by Marvel's studio or distribution partners' logos. Feige added that they "didn't want to re-invent the wheel [with the new logo], but we wanted it to feel bigger, to feel more substantial, which
39360-452: Was on board for it and thinks that it's fun. Primarily because we've always remained consistent saying that the movie that we are making comes first. All of the connective tissue, all of that stuff is fun and is going to be very important if you want it to be. If the fans want to look further and find connections, then they're there. There are a few big ones obviously, that hopefully the mainstream audience will [be] able to follow as well. But...
39565-451: Was optioned in the late 1970s, and rights reverted to Marvel without a film having been produced within the allocated time frame. From 1986 to 1996, most of Marvel's major characters were optioned, including the Fantastic Four , X-Men , Daredevil , the Hulk , Silver Surfer , and Iron Man . Marvel's first big-screen adaptation of one of its properties was the 1986 film Howard the Duck , which
39770-634: Was part of their Sacred Timeline, noting how there had been the corporate divide between what Marvel Studios created and what Marvel Television created. He continued that as time had passed, Marvel Studios began to see "how well integrated the [Marvel Television] stories are" and personally felt confident in saying Marvel Television's Daredevil was part of the Sacred Timeline. This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least three MCU films/series and received main billing credit in at least two franchises. Additionally, Paul Bettany
39975-416: Was planning to produce its own films independently and distribute them through Paramount Pictures . Previously, Marvel had co-produced several superhero films based on Marvel Comics with Columbia Pictures , New Line Cinema , 20th Century Fox , and others. Marvel made relatively little profit from these licensing deals and wanted to get more money out of its films while maintaining artistic control of
40180-419: Was promoted to President of Physical, Post Production, VFX and Animation. In November 2021, Marvel Studios announced the animated series X-Men '97 (2024–present), a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) that is set in that series' continuity. The animation branch of Marvel Studios and "mini-studio" is known as Marvel Studios Animation. By April 2022, Marvel Studios had taken over production of
40385-696: Was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's World War II military service . The staff at that time, Fago recalled, was, " Mike Sekowsky . Ed Winiarski . Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart and Kin Platt were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein , Syd Shores, Vince Alascia , Dave Gantz , and Chris Rule were there, too". In 1942, Goodman moved his publisher operations to
40590-447: Was released on September 6, 2023. WHIH Newsfront (2015–16) is an in-universe current affairs show that serves as a viral marketing campaign for some of the MCU films, created in partnership with Google for YouTube . The campaign is an extension of the fictional news network WHIH World News, which is seen reporting on major events in many MCU films and television series. Leslie Bibb reprises her role as Christine Everhart from
40795-486: Was reprehensible"; this was reported to be a disagreement with a Disney executive over the censoring of gay pride elements in Quantumania so the film could be released in Kuwait in compliance with the country's restrictive anti-LGBTQ laws . A Disney spokesperson reiterated that Alonso was fired due to "an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy" among other factors. Disney and Alonso reached
41000-464: Was reprehensible"; this incident was reported to be a disagreement with a Disney executive over the censoring of gay pride elements in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) to release the film in Kuwait and comply with its restrictive anti-LGBTQ laws . A Disney spokesperson reiterated the notion that she was fired due to "an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy" among other "key factors". Disney and Alonso reached
41205-464: Was serving as a television executive by January 2024. In May 2024, Marvel Studios revealed that its live-action Disney+ series would be released under a new " Marvel Television " banner, separate from the previous company of the same name, starting with Agatha All Along later in 2024. In June 2021, ahead of Marvel Studios' first solely produced animated series What If...? , executive vice president of film production Victoria Alonso noted that
41410-425: Was set to premiere in late 1998. However, due to the bankruptcy, the series was canceled after only character designs and a one-minute promotional reel were made. The first film packaged and licensed by Marvel Studios was Blade (1998), based on the vampire hunter Blade . The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and starred Wesley Snipes as Blade . It was released on August 21, 1998, grossing $ 70,087,718 in
41615-531: Was small on Santa Monica Boulevard , with around a dozen staff members. Kevin Feige , who later became the president of Marvel Studios, was then a junior executive generating script notes to the licensed studios. In January 2003, Marvel, the Sci-Fi Channel , and Reveille Productions agreed to develop two pilot films based on Brother Voodoo and Strikeforce: Morituri . In December 2003, Lionsgate purchased Artisan Entertainment and they decided to let all of
41820-678: Was the highest-grossing film of all time from July 2019 until March 2021. In addition to the MCU, Marvel Studios has also been involved with the production of other Marvel-based film franchises that have grossed over $ 1 billion at the box office, including the X-Men and Spider-Man multi-film franchises, as well as eight direct-to-video short films with Marvel Animation called Marvel Animated Features that were released from 2006 until 2011. Since 2024, Marvel Studios has used "Marvel Television" and "Marvel Animation" banners to release their television and animated projects, respectively. During what
42025-471: Was the first actor to portray two main characters within the universe, voicing Tony Stark's artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. and portraying Vision. J. K. Simmons became the first actor to reprise a non-MCU role in the MCU when he appeared as J. Jonah Jameson (a role he played in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy from 2002 to 2007) in Spider-Man: Far From Home . Prior to his death in 2018, Stan Lee,
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