Marvel Cinematic Universe

Over the decades, Marvel had given the film rights of its comic book heroes to various Hollywood studios. As is usual with comic book or book adaptations, the publisher had only received license revenues for these films. As long as the films had mediocre success at the box office, there was nothing wrong with that from Marvel's point of view. However, some film projects had failed in the 1990s, with concepts for Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, for example, moving from studio to studio. After the huge success of 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series (starting in 2000) and Sony's Spider-Man (2002), Marvel decided on a new strategy for future comic book adaptations. The publisher wanted to produce feature films themselves in the future. This way, they could retain creative control while capturing all the profits for themselves. After all, little had been earned from the new "hit movies." As Lehman Brothers calculated, Marvel received 62 million dollars from the 2.5 billion US dollar profit of the first three Spider-Man films.

In spring 2005, Marvel announced for the first time that it intended to produce films itself via its subsidiary Marvel Studios. Paramount Pictures would act as the distribution partner, and Marvel took out a loan of 525 million US dollars with Merrill Lynch to finance this project. The first project to be realized was Captain America. Between November 2005 and April 2006, the rights to Iron Man, Hulk and Thor also reverted to Marvel. In April 2006, Ant-Man was also confirmed as a planned production. For this reason, some originally announced lesser-known projects (Shang-Chi, Power Pack) were not pursued further. In addition, efforts were focused on the original Avengers members and the idea of a shared film universe was floated for the first time. Initially, solo films of the heroes were to be released, eventually bringing them together in a crossover.

So far, 23 films in the series have been released. A number of comics have also been released to accompany the film universe, featuring the storylines of other characters, such as Black Widow, alongside the films and are also considered an integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie universe will also be split into phases, with the first phase consisting of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Marvel's The Avengers. It is particularly marked by the introduction of the heroes and clarifies their backstory and the formation of the Avengers.

Phase 2 consists of Iron Man 3, Thor - The Dark Kingdom, The Return of the First Avenger, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man. It develops the existing characters further, for example by showing various problems related to their actions, and introduces new ones.

The third phase began with The First Avenger: Civil War and also consists of Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Judgment Day, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

It is already known that a third Guardians of the Galaxy installment and a sequel to Black Panther will be released after the third phase. Likewise, a film starring Marvel heroine Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow and a sequel to Doctor Strange will also be released. In September 2018, it was also revealed that a movie about the Eternals, who are also known as "Homo Immortalis", is planned. Likewise, the Asian hero Shang-Chi is expected to get his own movie. At San Diego Comic-Con International 2019, the plans for the fourth phase were first revealed, which will include Black Widow, the Eternals, Shang-Chi, as well as sequels to Doctor Strange, Thor: Judgment Day, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. In addition, for the first time, Marvel Studios itself, rather than Marvel Television, will produce series that are officially part of the fourth phase and feature heroes from the film series as protagonists.

In March 2019, producer Kevin Feige revealed that the first 22 films, or the first three phases together, will be called The Infinity Saga. In April 2019, it was revealed that the third phase would end not with Avengers: Endgame, but with Spider-Man: Far From Home, ending after eleven films instead of ten. Even before Far From Home's theatrical release, Feige confirmed that this film would be counted as part of the saga.

Three more films are expected to be released in 2023. Disney has announced July 28, October 6, and November 10 as additional release dates.