List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films

Marvel Cinematic Universe films
File:Marvel Cinematic Universe - Phase One.jpg Packaging for the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Phase One: Avengers Assembled Blu-ray box set
Produced by	Kevin Feige Avi Arad (IM & TIH) Gale Anne Hurd (TIH) Amy Pascal (SM) Stephen Broussard (AM&W)
Starring	See below
Production companies	Marvel Studios Columbia Pictures (SM)
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (2008–2011) Universal Pictures (TIH) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2012–present) Sony Pictures Releasing (SM)
Release date	2008–present
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	Total (21 films): $3.905–4.201 billion
Box office	Total (21 films): $18.309 billion

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films are an American series of superhero films based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The MCU is the shared universe in which all of the films are set. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced and released 21 films, with 10 more in various stages of production. It is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $18.3 billion at the global box office.

Kevin Feige has produced every film in the series, alongside Avi Arad for the first two releases, Gale Anne Hurd for The Incredible Hulk, Amy Pascal for the Spider-Man films, and Stephen Broussard for Ant-Man and the Wasp. The films are written and directed by a variety of individuals and feature large, often ensemble, casts. Many of the actors, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson signed contracts to star in numerous films.

The first film in the series was Iron Man (2008), which was distributed by Paramount Pictures. Paramount also distributed Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), while Universal Pictures distributed The Incredible Hulk (2008). Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing the films with the 2012 crossover film The Avengers, which concluded Phase One of the franchise. Phase Two includes Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and Ant-Man (2015).

Captain America: Civil War (2016) is the first film in the franchise's Phase Three, and is followed by Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Captain Marvel (2019), with Avengers: Endgame (2019) still scheduled for the phase. The first three phases have collectively been called "The Infinity Saga". Spider-Man: Far From Home has also been scheduled for 2019, beginning Phase Four. Two untitled films are scheduled for 2020, three for 2021, and three for 2022. Sony Pictures distributes the Spider-Man films, which they continue to own, finance, and have final creative control over.

Phase One

Film	U.S. release date	Director	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)
Iron Man	May 2, 2008 (2008-05-02)	Jon Favreau	Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway	Avi Arad and Kevin Feige
The Incredible Hulk	June 13, 2008 (2008-06-13)	Louis Leterrier	Zak Penn	Avi Arad, Gale Anne Hurd and Kevin Feige
Iron Man 2	May 7, 2010 (2010-05-07)	Jon Favreau	Justin Theroux	Kevin Feige
Thor	May 6, 2011 (2011-05-06)	Kenneth Branagh	Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz and Don Payne
Captain America: The First Avenger	July 22, 2011 (2011-07-22)	Joe Johnston	Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Marvel's The Avengers	May 4, 2012 (2012-05-04)	Joss Whedon

Iron Man (2008)

Main article: Iron Man (2008 film)

Avi Arad, who helped secure early financing, produced Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.

Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark builds himself a suit of armor after he is taken captive by a terrorist organization. Free from his captors, he decides to upgrade and don his armor in order to hunt down weapons that were sold under the table.

In April 2006, Marvel hired Jon Favreau to direct Iron Man, with the writing teams of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby writing competing scripts. Favreau consolidated both into one script, which was then polished by John August. Robert Downey, Jr. was cast in the title role in September 2006, after growing out a goatee and working out to convince the filmmakers he was right for the part. Principal photography began on March 12, 2007, with the first few weeks spent on Stark's captivity in Afghanistan, which was filmed in Inyo County, California. Production also occurred on the former Hughes Company soundstages in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California, with additional filming at Edwards Air Force Base and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Iron Man premiered at the Greater Union theater in George Street, Sydney, on April 14, 2008, and was released internationally on April 30, and in the United States on May 2.

The film ends with a post-credits scene featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who approaches Stark regarding the "Avenger Initiative". Favreau said that he included the scene as "a little tip of the hat for the fans...a way to sort of tee up The Avengers." Jackson was only on set for a day, with a skeleton crew to avoid the news of his cameo leaking. Captain America's shield is also visible in the background of a scene; it was added by an ILM artist as a joke, and Favreau decided to leave it in the film.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Main article: The Incredible Hulk (film)

After being exposed to gamma radiation that causes him to transform into the monstrous Hulk, scientist Bruce Banner goes on the run and isolates himself from his love, Betty Ross. Hunted by the military, Banner seeks to cure himself and prevent his condition from being weaponized.

In January 2006, Marvel reclaimed the film rights for the Hulk character from Universal Pictures after Universal failed to meet a deadline to develop a sequel to director Ang Lee's 2003 film Hulk. Universal retained distribution rights for future Hulk films. Instead of moving forward with a sequel, Marvel hired Louis Leterrier to direct The Incredible Hulk, a reboot. Leterrier initially turned down the job out of respect for Lee, but later reconsidered and signed on. The script was written by Zak Penn, who drafted a treatment for the 2003 film. In April 2006, Edward Norton entered negotiations to portray Bruce Banner and rewrite Penn's script, although Penn received sole credit for the screenplay. Production began on July 9, 2007 and filming primarily took place in Toronto, with additional filming in New York City and Rio de Janeiro. The film premiered at the Gibson Amphitheatre on June 8, 2008, and was released on June 13.

The film takes place simultaneously with the events of Iron Man 2 and Thor, the former of which is set six months after the events of Iron Man. Downey briefly reprised his role from Iron Man as Tony Stark in a cameo appearance at the end of the film. Downey said that the filmmakers "were just cross-pollinating our superheroes. It happens to be a scene where I basically approach [actor William Hurt's character General Ross], and we may be considering going into some sort of limited partnership together. The great thing is he—and I don't want to give too much away—but he's in disrepair at the time I find him. It was really fun seeing him play this really powerful character who's half in the bag." In addition, Captain America is briefly seen frozen in ice in an alternate opening of the film, included in the DVD release.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Main article: Iron Man 2

Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, helped establish the shared universe concept with his inclusion of Samuel L. Jackson in a post-credits scene of the first film.

After Tony Stark reveals himself to be Iron Man, the U.S. government demands he hand over his technology. Meanwhile, a rival industrialist and a Russian scientist conspire to use his own technology against him.

Immediately following the successful release of Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel Studios announced it was developing a sequel, Iron Man 2. Favreau returned as director and Justin Theroux was hired to write the screenplay, which would be based on an original story by Favreau and Downey. In October 2008, Downey signed a new four-picture deal, that retroactively included the first film, to reprise his role and Don Cheadle was hired to replace Terrence Howard as James Rhodes. Jackson signed on to reprise his role as Nick Fury from the Iron Man post-credits sequence in up to nine films, and Scarlett Johansson was cast as the Black Widow, as part of a multi-film commitment. Principal photography began April 6, 2009, at the Pasadena Masonic Temple in Pasadena, California. The majority of filming took place at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California. Other locations included Edwards Air Force Base, Monaco, and the Sepulveda Dam. Iron Man 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 26, 2010, and was released internationally between April 28 and May 7 before releasing in the United States on May 7.

The film is set six months after the events of Iron Man, and takes place simultaneously with the events of The Incredible Hulk and Thor. The filmmakers continued to refer to other Marvel films by again including Captain America's shield. Favreau explained, "We introduced Captain America's shield briefly in one shot in the last film. So now it really was in his room, so we had to figure out how to deal with the reality that the shield was in his workshop." A scene toward the end of Iron Man 2 in a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house contains several Easter eggs, ranging from footage from The Incredible Hulk displayed on a monitor to pointers on a map indicating several locales related to other Marvel films, including one pointing toward a region of Africa in reference to the Black Panther. A young Peter Parker appears as the child wearing an Iron Man mask whom Stark saves from a drone; the appearance was confirmed in June 2017 by Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, Kevin Feige and Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts. The film's post-credits scene showed the discovery of Thor's hammer in a crater.

Thor (2011)

Main article: Thor (film)

Thor, crown prince of Asgard, is banished to Earth and stripped of his powers after he reignites a dormant war. As his brother, Loki, plots to take the throne for himself, Thor must prove himself worthy and reclaim his hammer Mjölnir.

Mark Protosevich was hired to develop a script for Thor in April 2006, after the rights were acquired from Sony Pictures. In August 2007 Marvel hired Matthew Vaughn to direct the film, however he exited the project in May 2008. In September 2008, Kenneth Branagh entered into negotiations to replace Vaughn. In May 2009, Chris Hemsworth was in negotiations to portray the titular character, and Tom Hiddleston was set to play his brother, Loki. Both actors were contracted to star in several films. Marvel hired the writing team of Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz to write a new script for the film, which was then rewritten by Don Payne. Production began on January 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, before moving to Galisteo, New Mexico in March. Thor had its world premiere on April 17, 2011 at the Event Cinemas theatre in George Street, Sydney and a U.S. premiere on May 2 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The film was released internationally from April 21 to 30, and on May 6 in the United States.

The film takes place simultaneously with the events of The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, the latter of which is set six months after the events of Iron Man. Clark Gregg, who appeared in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, reprised the role in Thor. About his role in Thor he stated, "Agent Coulson was one of the guys who wasn't really in the comic books, and he [had] a very kind of small role in Iron Man. And I was just very lucky that they chose to expand that character and [chose] to put him more into the universe of it." After signing on to appear as Clint Barton / Hawkeye in The Avengers, Jeremy Renner made a cameo appearance as the character during a scene in Thor. Branagh said that they "were always going to have a guy in a basket above the action where Thor breaks in the S.H.I.E.L.D. camp", and that he was thrilled when the producers told him they wanted to use Renner's Hawkeye for that role. The film ends with a post-credits scene featuring Loki, watching as Erik Selvig and Nick Fury discuss the Tesseract. The scene was directed by Joss Whedon, who directed The Avengers. Stellan Skarsgård, who played Selvig, said the scene was not included when he first read the screenplay for Thor, and that he was sent pages for the scene after agreeing to appear in The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Main article: Captain America: The First Avenger

In 1942, Steve Rogers is deemed physically unfit to enlist in the U.S. Army and fight the German Reich in World War II. Recruited for a secret military operation, he is physically transformed into a super-soldier dubbed Captain America and must battle the Red Skull, head of a Nazi science division known as Hydra.

In April 2006, Marvel hired David Self to write the script for a Captain America film. Joe Johnston signed on to direct in November 2008, and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely were hired to rewrite the script. In March 2010, Chris Evans was cast as Captain America and Hugo Weaving was cast as the Red Skull. Production began on June 28, 2010 in the United Kingdom, with locations in London, Caerwent, Manchester and Liverpool. The film premiered on July 19, 2011, at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was released in the United States on July 22, and in international markets starting July 27.

The Tesseract from the Thor post-credits scene appears as a MacGuffin in Captain America: The First Avenger. In the film, Dominic Cooper portrays a young Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark, who hosts an early version of the Stark Expo, the fair Tony hosts in Iron Man 2. The final scene of the film includes a brief appearance by Jackson's Nick Fury followed by a teaser trailer for Marvel's The Avengers after the credits.

Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

Main article: The Avengers (2012 film)

Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., gathers the superheroes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye to fight Thor's brother Loki, who plots to subjugate the Earth.

Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk, was hired to write a script for The Avengers in June 2007. In April 2010, Joss Whedon closed a deal to direct the film, and to rework Penn's script. Marvel announced that Edward Norton would not be reprising the role of Bruce Banner / Hulk, and in July 2010, Mark Ruffalo was cast in his place. Downey, Evans, Hemsworth, Johansson, Renner, Hiddleston and Jackson reprised their respective roles from previous films. Principal photography began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in August, and New York City in September. The premiere was held on April 11, 2012 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and the film was released in the United States on May 4.

Gwyneth Paltrow, who portrayed Pepper Potts in Iron Man and Iron Man 2, was included in the film at Downey's insistence. Prior to this, Whedon had not intended the film to include supporting characters from the heroes' individual films, commenting, "You need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team." Avi Arad said that Sony Pictures and Disney discussed incorporating the OsCorp Tower from The Amazing Spider-Man into the climax of The Avengers, but Feige said that "the deal was never close to happening." The supervillain Thanos appears in a mid-credits scene, portrayed by Damion Poitier.

Phase Two

Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Producer
Iron Man 3	May 3, 2013 (2013-05-03)	Shane Black	Drew Pearce and Shane Black	Kevin Feige
Thor: The Dark World	November 8, 2013 (2013-11-08)	Alan Taylor	Christopher L. Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Captain America: The Winter Soldier	April 4, 2014 (2014-04-04)	Anthony and Joe Russo	Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Guardians of the Galaxy	August 1, 2014 (2014-08-01)	James Gunn	James Gunn and Nicole Perlman
Avengers: Age of Ultron	May 1, 2015 (2015-05-01)	Joss Whedon
Ant-Man	July 17, 2015	Peyton Reed	Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Main article: Iron Man 3

Kevin Feige has produced every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Tony Stark faces a powerful enemy, the Mandarin, who attacks and destroys his mansion. Left to his own devices and battling posttraumatic stress disorder, Stark struggles to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious explosions.

In late 2010, Marvel and Disney announced that they were developing a third Iron Man film. In February 2011, Marvel hired Shane Black to direct Iron Man 3. Black co-wrote the film's script with Drew Pearce. Downey, Paltrow, and Cheadle reprised their roles from Iron Man 2, while Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley joined the cast as Aldrich Killian and Trevor Slattery, respectively. Filming began in May 2012, in North Carolina. Additional filming took place in southern Florida, China, and Los Angeles. Iron Man 3 premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris, France on April 14, 2013 and at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 24. The film was released internationally on April 25, and in the United States on May 3.

The film is set in December 2013, after the events of The Avengers. In the film Tony Stark experiences PTSD-like symptoms following the Battle of New York in The Avengers. Black explained, "that's an anxiety response to feeling inferior to The Avengers, but also to being humbled by sights he cannot possibly begin to understand or reconcile with the realities he's used to... There's a line in the movie about 'ever since that big guy with the hammer fell out of the sky, the rules have changed'. That's what we're dealing with here." Bruce Banner appears in a post-credits scene, with Ruffalo reprising the role. About the scene, Ruffalo said "They were about to wrap the movie and I saw Robert [Downey, Jr.] at the Academy Awards... and he said, 'What do you think about coming and doing a day?' I said, 'Are you kidding me? Bang, let's do it!' We sort of spitballed that scene, then I came in and we shot for a couple of hours and laughed."

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Main article: Thor: The Dark World

Thor reunites with astrophysicist Jane Foster as a series of portals, linking worlds at random, begin to appear. He discovers that Malekith and his army of Dark Elves have returned after thousands of years, and they seek a powerful weapon known as the Aether. Thor must join forces with his now-imprisoned brother Loki to stop them.

A sequel to Thor was first announced in June 2011, with Hemsworth reprising his role as Thor. Hiddleston confirmed he would return as Loki in September, and Alan Taylor signed on to direct the film in December. The film's title was announced as Thor: The Dark World in July 2012 at the San Diego Comic-Con International, and Christopher Eccleston was cast as Malekith a month later. Production started in September 2012 in Bourne Wood, Surrey, with additional filming taking place in Iceland and London. The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on October 22, 2013. It was internationally released on October 30, 2013 and on November 8, 2013 in the United States.

The film is set one year after the events of The Avengers. Evans briefly makes a cameo appearance in the film as Captain America when Loki shapeshifts into him while mocking Thor. Hiddleston wore the Captain America costume while standing in for Evans, before Evans came to shoot the scene. Hiddleston said, "I did an impression of Loki in the Captain America costume, and then they showed Chris [Evans] my performance on tape. It's him doing an impression of me doing an impression of him. And it's brilliant." James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, directed the mid-credits scene that featured the Collector, played by Benicio del Toro. Asked about shooting the scene, Gunn said, "I got the script that morning, and I did it in two hours at the end of a day of second unit shooting [for Guardians of the Galaxy]."

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Main article: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Steve Rogers, now working with S.H.I.E.L.D., teams up with Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow and Sam Wilson / Falcon to expose a deep conspiracy which involves a mysterious assassin known only as the Winter Soldier.

A sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger was announced in April 2012. Anthony and Joe Russo were hired to direct in June, and in July it was officially titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Evans and Jackson were set to reprise their respective roles as Captain America and Nick Fury, and Johansson would again play the Black Widow. Sebastian Stan, who portrayed Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger, returned as the Winter Soldier. Production started in April 2013 in Manhattan Beach, California, and filming also took place in Washington, D.C. and Cleveland, Ohio. The film premiered in Los Angeles on March 13, 2014. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released internationally on March 26 and in the United States on April 4.

The film is set two years after the events of The Avengers. Stephen Strange, the alter-ego of the Marvel superhero Doctor Strange, is mentioned by name in the film by the character Jasper Sitwell. A remodeled Stark Tower from The Avengers, now known as Avengers Tower, also makes an appearance in the film. Whedon directed a post-credits scene featuring Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), List (Henry Goodman), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The revelation in the film that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra informed the final six episodes of the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a television series set in the MCU.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Main article: Guardians of the Galaxy (film)

Peter Quill / Star-Lord and a group of misfits, including Gamora, Rocket, Drax the Destroyer and Groot, fight to keep a powerful orb from the clutches of the villainous Ronan.

Nicole Perlman began writing a screenplay in 2009. Marvel Studios announced it was developing a Guardians of the Galaxy film in July 2012. The film is directed by James Gunn, based on his and Perlman's screenplay. In February 2013, Chris Pratt was cast in the lead role, as Peter Quill / Star-Lord. The film was shot at Shepperton Studios and in London from July to October 2013, and post-production work was completed on July 7, 2014. The film premiered on July 21, 2014 in Hollywood. Guardians of the Galaxy was released in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2014, and in the United States on August 1.

The film is set in 2014. Josh Brolin provides the voice and performance capture for Thanos, the supervillain who appeared in The Avengers mid-credits scene. Gunn noted that the film would be connected to Avengers: Infinity War. Several other objects of significance appear in the Collector's museum, including a Chitauri from The Avengers and a Dark Elf from Thor: The Dark World, among other characters. About their appearances Gunn said, "There's a lot of stuff in the Collector's Museum. And for me, it was mostly just really fun. As a Marvel fan, giving the actual fans something that they can freeze frame on their Blu-Ray at home and just kind of pick out everything that's in there. So there are, I mean, seriously all those boxes have something interesting in them, so it's pretty fun." Ronan's race, the Kree, were first introduced in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "T.A.H.I.T.I.".

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Main article: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Joss Whedon, writer and director of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron

Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye must work together as the Avengers to defeat Ultron, a technological enemy bent on human extinction, while encountering the powerful twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, as well as the new entity Vision.

A sequel to The Avengers was announced by Disney in May 2012, shortly after the first film's release. In August 2012, Joss Whedon was signed to return as writer and director. In June 2013, Downey signed a deal to reprise the role of Iron Man for the second and third Avengers films. On July 20, 2013, at San Diego Comic-Con International, Whedon announced that the subtitle of the film would be Age of Ultron. In August 2013, James Spader was announced to portray Ultron. Second unit filming began on February 11, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Principal photography began in March 2014 at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, with additional footage filmed at Fort Bard and various other locations in the Aosta Valley region of Italy, and Seoul, South Korea. Filming was completed on August 6, 2014. Avengers: Age of Ultron had its world premiere in Los Angeles on April 13, 2015, and was released internationally beginning April 22, and on May 1 in the United States.

The film confirms that the gem in Loki's scepter is an Infinity Stone, specifically the Mind Stone, and Brolin reappears as Thanos in the mid-credit scene wielding an Infinity Gauntlet. It also features references to Vibranium and Wakanda, both connections to Black Panther, introducing both to the universe ahead of Black Panther's solo film. Additionally, Andy Serkis portrays Ulysses Klaue in the film, traditionally a Black Panther antagonist.

Ant-Man (2015)

Main article: Ant-Man (film)

Thief Scott Lang must aid his mentor Dr. Hank Pym in safeguarding the mystery of the Ant-Man technology, which allows its user to decrease in size but increase in strength, from various menaces and plot a heist to defend the Earth.

Ant-Man is directed by Peyton Reed with a screenplay written by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd, from a story by Wright & Cornish, that includes both Scott Lang and Hank Pym. Edgar Wright was initially slated to direct and write the film, but left the project in May 2014 due to creative differences. In January 2013, Feige stated that Ant-Man would be the first film in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, in October 2014, it was revealed that the film would be the last film of Phase Two. Pre-production started in October 2013, and principal photography took place from August to December 2014, in San Francisco, Fayette County, Georgia at Pinewood Atlanta, and Downtown Atlanta. In December 2013, Rudd was cast as Ant-Man, followed in January 2014 with the casting of Michael Douglas as Pym and the confirmation of Rudd as Lang. Ant-Man had its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 29, 2015, and was released in France on July 14, and in the United States on July 17.

The film is set several months after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Scott Lang attempts to infiltrate the new Avengers headquarters in Upstate New York featured in Age of Ultron, and confronts Sam Wilson / Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie. McKay and Rudd decided to add Falcon to Ant-Man after watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Russo brothers filmed the post-credit scene, which was footage from Captain America: Civil War, and features Mackie as Falcon, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier.

Phase Three

Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)
Captain America: Civil War	May 6, 2016 (2016-05-06)	Anthony and Joe Russo	Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely	Kevin Feige
Doctor Strange	November 4, 2016 (2016-11-04)	Scott Derrickson	Jon Spaihts and Scott Derrickson & C. Robert Cargill
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05)	James Gunn
Spider-Man: Homecoming	July 7, 2017 (2017-07-07)	Jon Watts	Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and Jon Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers	Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal
Thor: Ragnarok	November 3, 2017 (2017-11-03)	Taika Waititi	Eric Pearson and Craig Kyle & Christopher L. Yost	Kevin Feige
Black Panther	February 16, 2018 (2018-02-16)	Ryan Coogler	Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole
Avengers: Infinity War	April 27, 2018 (2018-04-27)	Anthony and Joe Russo	Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Ant-Man and the Wasp	July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06)	Peyton Reed	Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Paul Rudd & Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari	Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard
Captain Marvel	March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08)	Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck	Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet	Kevin Feige

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Main article: Captain America: Civil War

Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, also return for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

The Avengers become fractured into two opposing teams, one led by Captain America and another by Iron Man, after extensive collateral damage prompts politicians to pass an act regulating superhuman activity with government oversight and accountability for the Avengers while also facing against a new enemy, Helmut Zemo, who seeks revenge upon the Avengers.

By January 2014, Anthony and Joe Russo had signed on to return to direct a third Captain America installment, which they confirmed in March 2014, with Chris Evans returning as Captain America, Feige returning to produce, and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely writing the screenplay. In October 2014, the title was officially announced as Captain America: Civil War along with the reveal that Downey would appear in the film as Tony Stark / Iron Man. The film is an adaptation from the "Civil War" storyline in the comics. It is also the first film of Phase Three. Filming began in April 2015 at Pinewood Atlanta, and concluded in August 2015. Captain America: Civil War had its premiere in Hollywood on April 12, 2016, was released internationally beginning April 27, and was released on May 6 in the United States.

The film is set one year after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Captain America: Civil War introduces Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther to the MCU, who appear in solo films in 2017 and 2018, respectively. William Hurt reprises his role as Thunderbolt Ross from The Incredible Hulk, and is now the US Secretary of State. For the mid-credits scene, in which Black Panther offers Captain America and Bucky Barnes asylum in Wakanda, Joe and Anthony Russo received input from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler on the look and design of Wakanda.

Doctor Strange (2016)

Main article: Doctor Strange (2016 film)

After Stephen Strange, the world's top neurosurgeon, is involved in a car accident that ruins his career, he sets out on a journey of healing, where he encounters the Ancient One, who teaches Strange the use of Mystic Arts and to defend the Earth from mystical threats.

In June 2010, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer were hired to write the screenplay for a film starring the character Doctor Strange. In January 2013, Kevin Feige confirmed that Doctor Strange would be a part of their Phase Three slate of films. In June 2014, Scott Derrickson was hired to direct. In December 2014, Benedict Cumberbatch was cast in the eponymous role, and Jon Spaihts was confirmed to rewrite the script. In December 2015, C. Robert Cargill revealed he was a co-writer on the film, and the following April, revealed that Derrickson also wrote the script. Pre-production began in June 2014, with filming beginning in November 2015 in Nepal, before moving to Longcross Studios in the UK later in the month. Filming concluded in New York City in April 2016. Doctor Strange had its premiere in Hong Kong on October 13, 2016, and was released in the United Kingdom on October 25, 2016, and on November 4 in the United States.

Derrickson stated that the events of the film take "roughly" a year, ending "up to date with the rest of the MCU". Doctor Strange introduces the Eye of Agamotto, a mystical relic that can manipulate time and is revealed to be an Infinity Stone at the end of the film, specifically the Time Stone. The film's mid-credits scene features a cameo appearance by Hemsworth as Thor, meeting with Strange, which was footage from Thor: Ragnarok. The scene was directed by Ragnarok director Taika Waititi.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Main article: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequels

The Guardians of the Galaxy travel throughout the cosmos and struggle to keep their newfound family together while helping Peter Quill learn more about his true parentage and facing against new enemies.

In July 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman confirmed that Gunn would return to write and direct the sequel. Chris Pratt returns for the sequel as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, along with the other Guardians from the first film as well as additional cast members. They are joined by Pom Klementieff as Mantis, and Kurt Russell as Ego. In June 2015, the film's title was revealed as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Filming began in February 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta, and concluded in June 2016. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 premiered in Tokyo on April 10, 2017, and was released on May 5, 2017.

The film is set two-to-three months after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy, in 2014. One of the film's post-credit sequences hints at the introduction of Adam Warlock, after Gunn originally intended for Warlock to make a full appearance in Vol. 2. He noted that Warlock could appear in future Guardians films, and is considered "a pretty important part" of the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Grandmaster, played by Jeff Goldblum, is seen dancing in the end credits, before his appearance in Thor: Ragnarok.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Main article: Spider-Man: Homecoming

Peter Parker tries to balance being the hero Spider-Man with his high school life under guidance of Tony Stark as he deals with the threat of the Vulture.

On February 9, 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel announced that Sony would be releasing a Spider-Man film co-produced by Marvel Studios president Feige and Amy Pascal, with Sony Pictures continuing to own, finance, distribute, and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films. In April 2015, Feige confirmed the character would be Peter Parker and added that Marvel had been working to add Spider-Man to the MCU since at least October 2014, when they announced their full slate of Phase Three films, saying, "Marvel doesn't announce anything officially until it's set in stone. So we went forward with that Plan A in October, with the Plan B being, if [the deal] were to happen with Sony, how it would all shift. We've been thinking about [the Spider-Man film] as long as we've been thinking about Phase Three." In June 2015, Tom Holland was cast in the role of Spider-Man and Jon Watts was hired to direct the film, and the next month, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein were hired to write the screenplay. Additional screenwriters include Watts & Christopher Ford and Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers. In April 2016, the title was revealed to be Spider-Man: Homecoming. Production began in June 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta, and concluded in October 2016. Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered on June 28, 2017 in Hollywood, and was released in the United Kingdom on July 5, and the United States on July 7, 2017.

The film is set several months after the events of Captain America: Civil War, which is eight years after the events of The Avengers. In April 2016, Feige confirmed that characters from previous MCU films would appear in the film, with Robert Downey Jr. confirmed to reprise his role as Tony Stark / Iron Man shortly thereafter. Favreau, Paltrow, and Evans also reprise their roles as Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, and Steve Rogers / Captain America, respectively. The clean-up crew Damage Control appear in the film (after previously being referenced in Iron Man and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) ahead of an intended television series about them. Various weaponry and artifacts from previous films are referenced throughout the film that Toomes and his crew repurpose for their weapons. In Parker's high school, one of his classes has a lesson about the Sokovia Accords, and portraits of Bruce Banner, Howard Stark and Abraham Erskine are seen within the school.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Main article: Thor: Ragnarok

Thor, trapped on another world without Mjölnir, must survive a gladiatorial duel against the Hulk and return to Asgard in time to stop the villainous Hela and the impending Ragnarök.

In January 2014, Marvel announced that a third Thor film was in development, with Craig Kyle and Christopher L. Yost writing the screenplay, and was officially announced as Thor: Ragnarok in October 2014. By October 2015, Taika Waititi entered in negotiations to direct Thor: Ragnarok. In December 2015, Stephany Folsom was hired to rewrite the script. A year later, in January 2017, it was revealed that Eric Pearson wrote the screenplay, with Kyle, Yost and Folsom receiving story credit. Pearson, Kyle and Yost would ultimately receive screenwriting credit for the film. Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins reprise their roles as Thor, Loki, Heimdall and Odin, respectively, and are joined by Cate Blanchett as Hela. Production began in July 2016 in Australia at Village Roadshow Studios, and wrapped in late October 2016. Thor: Ragnarok premiered in Los Angeles on October 10, 2017, began its international release on October 24, 2017 in the United Kingdom, and was released on November 3, 2017 in the United States.

The film is set four years after the events of Thor: The Dark World, two years after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and around the same time period as Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Producer Brad Winderbaum noted that "Things happen on top of each other now in Phase Three. They're not as interlocked as they were in Phase One." Mark Ruffalo and Benedict Cumberbatch appear in the film as Bruce Banner / Hulk and Doctor Stephen Strange, respectively. The film reveals that the Infinity Gauntlet first seen in Odin's vault in Thor was a fake, while also introducing Thanos' ship Sanctuary II in a post-credits scene.

Black Panther (2018)

Main article: Black Panther (film)

T'Challa returns home as sovereign of the nation of Wakanda only to find his dual role of king and protector challenged by a long-time adversary in a conflict that has global consequences.

Documentary filmmaker Mark Bailey was hired to write a script for Black Panther in January 2011. In October 2014, the film was announced and Chadwick Boseman was revealed to be portraying T'Challa / Black Panther. In January 2016, Ryan Coogler was announced as director, and the following month, Joe Robert Cole was confirmed as the film's screenwriter. In April 2016, Feige confirmed that Coogler was a co-screenwriter. Filming began in January 2017 at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Atlanta, and concluded in April 2017. Black Panther premiered in Los Angeles on January 29, 2018, and began its international release on February 13, 2018, and was released on February 16, 2018 in the United States. The film also had a "cross-nation release" in Africa, a first for a Disney film.

The film is set one week after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Florence Kasumba, Serkis, Martin Freeman, and John Kani reprise their roles as Ayo, Ulysses Klaue, Everett K. Ross and T'Chaka respectively from previous MCU films. The film's post-credits scene features a cameo appearance by Sebastian Stan, reprising his role as Bucky Barnes.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Main article: Avengers: Infinity War

The Avengers join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to try to stop Thanos from collecting all of the Infinity Stones.

The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 1. In April 2015, Marvel announced that Anthony and Joe Russo would direct the film and in May, that Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely would write the screenplay. In July 2016, Marvel revealed the title would be shortened to simply Avengers: Infinity War. Brolin reprises his role as Thanos, and is part of an ensemble cast featuring many actors who have appeared in other MCU films. Filming for Infinity War began in January 2017 in Atlanta, and lasted until July 2017. Additional filming also took place in Scotland. Avengers: Infinity War premiered in Los Angeles on April 23, 2018. It was released worldwide on April 27, 2018, with a few debuts beginning as early as April 25 in a handful of countries.

The film is set two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Marvel had been planting the seeds for Infinity War since their early films, by introducing the Infinity Stones as MacGuffins: the Tesseract / Space Stone in Captain America: The First Avenger, Loki's Scepter / Mind Stone in The Avengers, the Aether / Reality Stone in Thor: The Dark World, the Orb / Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Eye of Agamotto / Time Stone in Doctor Strange. Additionally, Thanos is shown holding an empty Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger appears in the film, played by Ross Marquand instead of Hugo Weaving, and is the keeper of the final Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone. The post-credits scene features Nick Fury transmitting a distress signal on a device, which has the insignia of Captain Marvel.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Main article: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Peyton Reed, director of Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp

Scott Lang tries to balance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, when Hope van Dyne and Hank Pym present him with a new mission, requiring him to team up with Van Dyne as the Wasp.

Ant-Man and the Wasp was announced in October 2015. Peyton Reed confirmed that he would return to direct in November 2015, and that Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly would reprise their roles as Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope van Dyne / Wasp, respectively. In December 2015, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, and Rudd were confirmed to write the screenplay, with Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers revealed to have also contributed to the script in August 2017. In February 2017, Michael Douglas confirmed he would reprise his role as Hank Pym in the film. Michelle Pfeiffer was revealed as having been cast as Janet van Dyne in July 2017. Filming began in August 2017 in Atlanta with additional filming in San Francisco, and ended in November 2017. Stephen Broussard also served as a producer on the film. Ant-Man and the Wasp had its premiere in Hollywood on June 25, 2018, and was released in the United States on July 6, 2018.

The film is set two years after the events of Captain America: Civil War and before the events of Avengers: Infinity War. In the mid-credits scene, Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne and Janet van Dyne are disintegrated as a result of the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Main article: Captain Marvel (film)

Carol Danvers becomes Captain Marvel, one of the galaxy's strongest heroes, after the Earth is caught in the center of an intergalactic conflict between two alien worlds.

In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel had a working script for Ms. Marvel. In October 2014, Marvel announced the film would be titled Captain Marvel and feature Carol Danvers. In April 2015, Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve were announced as screenwriters. At the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, Brie Larson was confirmed to play the role of Carol Danvers. In April 2017, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were hired to direct. That August, Geneva Robertson-Dworet was revealed to be taking over as the film's screenwriter, replacing Perlman and LeFauve. Boden, Fleck, and Robertson-Dworet received final screenplay credits on the film. Location filming occurred in January 2018, while principal photography began in March in Los Angeles and concluded in July. The film was released on March 8, 2019.

The film is set in 1995. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, and Clark Gregg reprise their roles as Nick Fury, Korath, Ronan the Accuser, and Phil Coulson, respectively, while the Skrull species are introduced to the MCU. The Russo brothers filmed the mid-credits scene, which was footage from Avengers: Endgame, and features Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner. The post-credits scene shows Goose throwing up the Tesseract on Fury's desk after swallowing it during the film's third act.

Timeline

External image
The Phase One Timeline infographic released by Marvel in May 2012

During Phase One of the MCU films, Marvel Studios realized that they could line-up some of their films with Easter eggs and references, such as having Nick Fury discuss the events of Thor during Iron Man 2. The events of those two films and The Incredible Hulk were ultimately set around the same time, six months after the events of Iron Man. This was not part of Marvel's long-term plans for the shared universe, especially as the studio became busy making more films per year. The official tie-in comic Fury's Big Week confirmed that The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor all took place within a week, a year before the modern-day scenes from Captain America: The First Avenger which led into the crossover film The Avengers. Writers Chris Yost and Eric Pearson tried to follow the logic of the films' timeline when plotting the comic, and received "the seal of approval" from Feige and Marvel Studios on the final timeline. As promotion ahead of the release of The Avengers, Marvel released an official infographic detailing this timeline in May 2012.

With Marvel no longer trying to complicate their timeline, the Phase Two films were set roughly in real time relating to The Avengers: Iron Man 3 takes place during Christmas about six months after that film, Thor: The Dark World is set one year after it, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier is two years after. Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man ended the phase in 2015, with several months passing between those films in-universe as in real life. For Phase Three, directors the Russo brothers wanted to continue using real time, and so Captain America: Civil War begins a year after Age of Ultron, with Avengers: Infinity War set two years after that. However, producer Brad Winderbaum said the Phase Three films would actually "happen on top of each other" while being less "interlocked" as the Phase One films were, with Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming beginning a week and several months, respectively, after Civil War; Thor: Ragnarok beginning four years after The Dark World and two years after Age of Ultron, which Winderbaum said was around the same time as Civil War and Homecoming; Doctor Strange taking place over a whole year and ending "up to date with the rest of the MCU"; Ant-Man and the Wasp also set two years after Civil War and shortly before Infinity War; and both Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel Vol. 2 being explicitly set in 2014, which Feige believed would create a four year gap between Vol. 2 and Infinity War, though the other MCU films do not specify years onscreen.

When Spider-Man: Homecoming was being developed, director and co-writer Jon Watts was shown a scroll detailing the MCU timeline that was created by co-producer Eric Carroll when he first began working for Marvel Studios. Watts said the scroll included both where the continuity of the films lined-up and did not line-up, and when fully unfurled it extended beyond the length of a long conference table. This scroll was used as the basis to weave the continuity of Homecoming into the previous films, such as connecting it to The Avengers. This was labelled in the film with a title card stating that eight years pass between the end of The Avengers and the events of Civil War, which was widely criticized as a continuity error that broke the established MCU timeline in which only four years should have passed. Additionally, dialogue in Civil War indicates that eight years pass between the end of Iron Man and the events of that film, which also does not line-up with the established continuity which was closer to five-and-a-half years. Infinity War co-director Joe Russo described the Homecoming eight years time jump as "very incorrect", and the mistake was ignored in Infinity War which specified that its events were taking place only six years after The Avengers. The public response to the Homecoming mistake inspired Marvel Studios to release a new timeline for all three phases, and in November 2018, a timeline specifying dates for the films' events released to that point was included as part of the sourcebook Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the MCU.

Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years timeline from November 2018

Year(s)	Feature films
1943–45	Captain America: The First Avenger
2010	Iron Man
2011	Iron Man 2, Thor
2012	The Avengers, Iron Man 3
2013	Thor: The Dark World
2014	Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man
2016	Captain America: Civil War
2016–17	Doctor Strange
2017	Black Panther, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War
Notes: The events of The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Ant-Man and the Wasp are not included in this timeline, despite these films being highlighted in the Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years sourcebook.

This timeline ignores the two "eight-year" continuity errors, but also contradicts the events of Black Panther and Infinity War by placing them in 2017. Despite the latter apparent mistakes, Thomas Bacon of Screen Rant described the timeline as "the closest Marvel has yet come to making an official statement on just when the different MCU events are set", bringing "some sense of balance to the MCU continuity". Following Infinity War, the Russo brothers said future films would not necessarily be set according to real time as there are "a lot of very inventive ways of where the story can go from here", with both Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel set earlier in the timeline.

Recurring cast and characters

Further information: List of Marvel Cinematic Universe film actors

List indicator(s)

• This table only includes characters which have appeared in multiple film franchises within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and have appeared in the billing block for at least two films. (see FAQ)
• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the franchise, or that the character's presence in a film of the franchise has not yet been announced.
• A ^V indicates a voice-only role

Character	Ant-Man films	Avengers films	Black Panther	Captain America films	Captain Marvel	Doctor Strange	Guardians of the Galaxy films	The Incredible Hulk	Iron Man films	Spider-Man films	Thor films
Bruce Banner Hulk		Mark Ruffalo			Mark Ruffalo			Edward Norton Lou FerrignoV	Mark Ruffalo		Mark Ruffalo
James "Bucky" Barnes Winter Soldier	Sebastian Stan
Clint Barton Hawkeye		Jeremy Renner		Jeremy Renner							Jeremy Renner
Peggy Carter	Hayley Atwell			Hayley Atwell
Phil Coulson		Clark Gregg			Clark Gregg				Clark Gregg		Clark Gregg
Carol Danvers Captain Marvel		Brie Larson			Brie Larson
Drax the Destroyer		Dave Bautista					Dave Bautista
Nick Fury		Samuel L. Jackson		Samuel L. Jackson					Samuel L. Jackson
Gamora		Zoe Saldana					Zoe Saldana
Groot		Vin DieselV					Vin DieselV
Heimdall		Idris Elba									Idris Elba
Maria Hill		Cobie Smulders		Cobie Smulders						Cobie Smulders
Harold "Happy" Hogan		Jon Favreau							Jon Favreau
Korath					Djimon Hounsou		Djimon Hounsou
Scott Lang Ant-Man	Paul Rudd			Paul Rudd
Loki		Tom Hiddleston									Tom Hiddleston
Mantis		Pom Klementieff					Pom Klementieff
Wanda Maximoff Scarlet Witch		Elizabeth Olsen		Elizabeth Olsen
Nebula		Karen Gillan					Karen Gillan
Okoye		Danai Gurira
Peter Parker Spider-Man		Tom Holland		Tom Holland					Max Favreau	Tom Holland
Virginia "Pepper" Potts		Gwyneth Paltrow							Gwyneth Paltrow
Peter Quill Star-Lord		Chris Pratt					Chris Pratt
James "Rhodey" Rhodes War Machine / Iron Patriot		Don Cheadle		Don Cheadle					Terrence Howard Don Cheadle
Rocket		Bradley CooperV					Bradley CooperV
Steve Rogers Captain America	Chris Evans			Chris Evans						Chris Evans
Natasha Romanoff Black Widow		Scarlett Johansson		Scarlett Johansson					Scarlett Johansson
Ronan the Accuser					Lee Pace		Lee Pace
Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross		William Hurt		William Hurt				William Hurt
Erik Selvig		Stellan Skarsgård									Stellan Skarsgård
Shuri		Letitia Wright
Tony Stark Iron Man		Robert Downey, Jr.		Robert Downey, Jr.				Robert Downey, Jr.
Stephen Strange		Benedict Cumberbatch				Benedict Cumberbatch					Benedict Cumberbatch
T'Challa Black Panther		Chadwick Boseman
Thor		Chris Hemsworth				Chris Hemsworth					Chris Hemsworth
Taneleer Tivan The Collector		Benicio del Toro					Benicio del Toro				Benicio del Toro
Vision		Paul Bettany		Paul Bettany
Sam Wilson Falcon	Anthony Mackie			Anthony Mackie
Wong		Benedict Wong				Benedict Wong

Release

Home media

In June 2012, Marvel announced a 10-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled", for release on September 25, 2012. The box set includes all six of the Phase One films—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Marvel's The Avengers—on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D, in a replica of Nick Fury's briefcase from The Avengers. In August 2012, luggage company Rimowa GmbH, who developed the briefcase for The Avengers, filed suit against Marvel Studios and Buena Vista Home Entertainment in U.S. federal court, complaining that "Marvel did not obtain any license or authorization from Rimowa to make replica copies of the cases for any purpose." The set was delayed to early 2013 for the packaging to be redesigned. The box set, with a redesigned case, was released on April 2, 2013. In addition, the box set included a featurette on the then-upcoming Phase Two films, showing footage and concept art, as well as previously unreleased deleted scenes from all of the Phase One films.

In July 2015, Marvel announced a 13-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", for release on December 8, 2015, exclusive to Amazon.com. The box set includes all six of the Phase Two films—Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man—on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and a digital copy, in a replica of the Orb from Guardians of the Galaxy, plus a bonus disc and exclusive memorabilia. Material on the bonus disc includes all of the Marvel One-Shots with commentary, deleted scenes and pre-production creative features for each of the films, featurettes on the making of the post-credit scenes for the films, and first looks at Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

IMAX 10th anniversary festival

From August 30 to September 6, 2018, in conjunction with Marvel Studios' 10 year anniversary celebrations, all 20 films released at the time (Iron Man through Ant-Man and the Wasp) were screened in IMAX. The films were shown in release order, with four films per day. The final days of the festival were theme related, with one showing "origin" films (Iron Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange), one showing "team-ups" (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers, and Avengers: Infinity War), and the final day showing Iron Man and The Avengers as chosen by the fans. The festival also saw Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America: The First Avenger released in IMAX for the first time.

Reception

Box office performance

Each film is linked to the "Box office" section of its article.

Film	U.S. release date	Box office gross			All-time Ranking		Budget	Ref(s)
		U.S. and Canada	Other territories	Worldwide	U.S. and Canada	Worldwide
Iron Man	May 2, 2008	$318,412,101	$266,762,121	$585,174,222	65	158	$140 million
The Incredible Hulk	June 13, 2008	$134,806,913	$128,620,638	$263,427,551	433	542	$150 million
Iron Man 2	May 7, 2010	$312,433,331	$311,500,000	$623,933,331	70	139	$200 million
Thor	May 6, 2011	$181,030,624	$268,295,994	$449,326,618	246	241	$150 million
Captain America: The First Avenger	July 22, 2011	$176,654,505	$193,915,269	$370,569,774	262	323	$140–216.7 million
Marvel's The Avengers	May 4, 2012	$623,357,910	$895,455,078	$1,518,812,988	7	6	$220 million
Iron Man 3	May 3, 2013	$409,013,994	$805,797,258	$1,214,811,252	26	17	$178.4 million
Thor: The Dark World	November 8, 2013	$206,362,140	$438,209,262	$644,571,402	193	130	$152.7 million
Captain America: The Winter Soldier	April 4, 2014	$259,766,572	$454,497,695	$714,264,267	110	105	$177 million
Guardians of the Galaxy	August 1, 2014	$333,176,600	$440,152,029	$773,328,629	57	90	$195.9 million
Avengers: Age of Ultron	May 1, 2015	$459,005,868	$946,397,826	$1,405,403,694	16	8	$365.5 million
Ant-Man	July 17, 2015	$180,202,163	$339,109,802	$519,311,965	248	196	$109.3 million
Captain America: Civil War	May 6, 2016	$408,084,349	$745,220,146	$1,153,304,495	27	19	$230 million
Doctor Strange	November 4, 2016	$232,641,920	$445,076,475	$677,718,395	145	118	$165–236.6 million
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	May 5, 2017	$389,813,101	$473,942,950	$863,756,051	34	65	$200 million
Spider-Man: Homecoming	July 7, 2017	$334,201,140	$545,965,784	$880,166,924	55	56	$175 million
Thor: Ragnarok	November 3, 2017	$315,058,289	$538,918,837	$853,977,126	69	68	$180 million
Black Panther	February 16, 2018	$700,059,566	$646,853,595	$1,346,913,161	3	9	$200–210 million
Avengers: Infinity War	April 27, 2018	$678,815,482	$1,369,544,272	$2,048,359,754	4	4	$316–400 million
Ant-Man and the Wasp	July 6, 2018	$216,648,740	$406,025,399	$622,674,139	170	140	$162 million
Captain Marvel	March 8, 2019	$270,079,899	$509,100,000	$779,179,899	101	88	$97.8–152 million
Total		$7,139,625,207	$11,169,360,430	$18,308,985,637	1	1	$3.905–4.201 billion

Critical response

Each film is linked to the "Critical response" section of its article.

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
Iron Man	93% (274 reviews)	79 (38 reviews)
The Incredible Hulk	67% (227 reviews)	61 (38 reviews)
Iron Man 2	73% (287 reviews)	57 (40 reviews)
Thor	77% (281 reviews)	57 (40 reviews)
Captain America: The First Avenger	80% (262 reviews)	66 (43 reviews)
Marvel's The Avengers	92% (342 reviews)	69 (43 reviews)
Iron Man 3	80% (310 reviews)	62 (44 reviews)
Thor: The Dark World	67% (263 reviews)	54 (44 reviews)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier	90% (287 reviews)	70 (48 reviews)
Guardians of the Galaxy	91% (311 reviews)	76 (53 reviews)
Avengers: Age of Ultron	75% (349 reviews)	66 (49 reviews)
Ant-Man	82% (303 reviews)	64 (44 reviews)
Captain America: Civil War	91% (388 reviews)	75 (53 reviews)
Doctor Strange	89% (344 reviews)	72 (49 reviews)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	83% (375 reviews)	67 (48 reviews)
Spider-Man: Homecoming	92% (361 reviews)	73 (51 reviews)
Thor: Ragnarok	92% (382 reviews)	74 (51 reviews)
Black Panther	97% (459 reviews)	88 (55 reviews)
Avengers: Infinity War	85% (422 reviews)	68 (53 reviews)
Ant-Man and the Wasp	88% (379 reviews)	70 (56 reviews)
Captain Marvel	79% (424 reviews)	64 (55 reviews)
Average	84%	68

Future

Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)	Status
Phase Three
Avengers: Endgame	April 26, 2019 (2019-04-26)	Anthony and Joe Russo	Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely	Kevin Feige	Post-production
Phase Four
Spider-Man: Far From Home	July 5, 2019 (2019-07-05)	Jon Watts	Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers	Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal	Post-production

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Main article: Avengers: Endgame

Following the events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe lies in shambles and the remaining Avengers and their allies must reassemble to repair the damage caused by Thanos and bring harmony back to the universe.

The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2. In April 2015, it was revealed that Anthony and Joe Russo would direct the film and in May, that Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely would write the screenplay. In July 2016, Marvel revealed the title would be changed, being known simply at that time as the Untitled Avengers film. Its title was revealed as Avengers: Endgame in December 2018. Brolin reprises his role as Thanos, and is part of an ensemble cast featuring many actors who have appeared in other MCU films. Filming began in August 2017 in Atlanta, and ended in January 2018. The film is scheduled to be released on April 26, 2019.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Jon Watts, director of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home

Main article: Spider-Man: Far From Home

Peter Parker goes on a school trip to Europe with his friends. While abroad, he is recruited by Nick Fury to team up with Mysterio to battle the Elementals.

In December 2016, Sony Pictures scheduled a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming for release on July 5, 2019. A year later, Watts was confirmed to be returning to direct the film. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, two of the writers of the first film, returned to write the script. Holland revealed the film's title as Spider-Man: Far From Home in late June 2018. Filming began in July 2018, in England, with filming also occurring in the Czech Republic, Venice, and New York City. and lasted until October 2018.

The film is set after Avengers: Endgame. Jackson and Cobie Smulders reprise their roles as Nick Fury and Maria Hill, respectively, from previous MCU films.

Other projects

Disney has scheduled multiple release dates for untitled Marvel Studios films. These include May 1 and November 6, 2020; February 12, May 7, and November 5, 2021; and February 18, May 6, and July 29, 2022. Marvel had previously dated an untitled film for July 31, 2020, before removing it from their schedule in October 2018. In October 2016, Feige said it was a combination of knowing what films would occupy the 2020 dates and allowing some flexibility, saying, "We know what [films] we'd like them to be for 2020. Over the years, where we're aiming we've been lucky enough that it's usually been the same thing but we always leave ourselves the opportunity to bob and weave and adapt if we have to. But we know where we're headed for 2020 and we have ideas and we're beginning to solidify the years beyond that." Feige and Marvel have additional storylines planned through 2028, resulting in 20 films "on the docket that are completely different from anything that's come before—intentionally."

In October 2014, in terms of Phase Four films, Feige said, for the time being, "We're not going to talk specifically about the story of any of those films, the plot of any of those films, what happens to any of the characters in any of those films. In fact, even to talk about any of those characters – who will be involved in those movies – will be a bit of a spoiler as to what may or may not happen to them in earlier movies." In April 2016, Feige added, "We're only working on what's been announced through the end of 2019. And it is still a big chess board for 2020 and beyond." A year later, Feige noted, "We have an idea [of what the MCU looks like post-Infinity War], and it's gonna be very, very different", but cautioned that Marvel would not be "actively discussing anything past [Avengers: Endgame]" besides dating the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming and that James Gunn would be working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He also was not sure if Marvel would continue to group the films in phases once Phase Three concluded, that "it might be a new thing", but Marvel was said to be using the term Phase Four in December 2018.

Feige noted Marvel hoped to reveal additional films after the release of Avengers: Endgame. A second sequel to Homecoming is planned. Other potential film projects include:

• Black Widow: In February 2014, Feige stated that after exploring Black Widow's past in Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film. Marvel has done some development work for the potential film, including a "pretty in depth" treatment by Nicole Perlman, and by May 2016, Feige stated that Marvel was "creatively and emotionally" committed to creating the solo film. By January 2018, Jac Schaeffer was hired to write the script. That July, Cate Shortland was hired to direct, with Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow. By February 2019, Ned Benson was hired to rewrite the script. Filming is expected to begin in June 2019 in the United Kingdom and last until that September.
• The Eternals: By April 2018, Marvel had met with multiple screenwriters to craft a film based on the Eternals, with a focus on the character Sersi. Feige stated that a film based on the group was "one of many many many things that we are actively beginning to have creative discussions about to see if we believe in them enough to put them on a slate." A month later, Matthew and Ryan Firpo were hired to write the script for the project. By late-September, Marvel hired Chloé Zhao to direct the film. Filming will begin in August 2019 in Atlanta.
• Untitled Doctor Strange sequel: By December 2018, Scott Derrickson had completed a deal to return to direct a sequel to Doctor Strange. Marvel was beginning to search for a writer, with a plan to begin filming in early 2020. Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise his role.
• Untitled Black Panther sequel: By October 2018, Ryan Coogler had completed a deal to write and direct a sequel to Black Panther.
• Shang-Chi: By December 2018, Marvel was "fast-tracking" development on a Shang-Chi film, which would be their first Asian-led film. Chinese-American writer David Callaham was hired to work on the screenplay, with Marvel Studios looking to hire an Asian or Asian-American filmmaker to direct. By March 2019, Marvel hired Destin Daniel Cretton to direct the film.
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: In April 2016, Kevin Feige stated that "Guardians 3 is [one film that's] up there" being considered for release beyond 2019. In March 2017, Gunn stated that a third Guardians film would happen "for sure", and the following month confirmed he would return to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. However, in July 2018, Disney and Marvel severed ties with Gunn following the resurfacing of controversial tweets from 2008 and 2009 making light of topics such as rape and pedophilia. Marvel planned to continue to use Gunn's script for the film. Production was put on hold in August 2018, ahead of the planned start of filming in January or February 2019, and later delayed to February 2021. In March 2019, Disney and Marvel reversed course and reinstated Gunn as the director of the film. Filming will begin once he has completed his work for the DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad.
• Blade: In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel had a working script for a Blade film. In July 2015, Wesley Snipes, who played Blade in three films before the character's rights reverted to Marvel, stated that he had discussions with Marvel to reprise the role.

Repurposed projects

Further information: Runaways (TV series) and Inhumans (TV series)

A film based on the Runaways went through a number of iterations. Brian K. Vaughan was originally hired to write a screenplay based on the property in May 2008. In April 2010, Marvel hired Peter Sollett to direct the film, and Drew Pearce was hired to write a script in May. The following October, development on the film was put on hold, with Pearce revealing in September 2013 that the Runaways film had been shelved in favor of The Avengers, with the earliest it could release being Phase Three. In October 2014, after announcing all of Marvel's Phase Three films without Runaways, Feige stated the project was "still an awesome script that exists in our script vault", adding, "We'd love to do something with Runaways some day. In our television and future film discussions, it's always one that we talk about, because we have a solid draft there. But again, we can't make them all." In August 2016, Marvel Television announced Marvel's Runaways from the streaming service Hulu, with the series receiving a full season order in May 2017. It premiered in November 2017.

In April 2013, Feige mentioned the Inhumans as a property out of which he was "confident" a film would be made. Inhumans as a concept would first be introduced to the MCU in 2014 through the second season of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. By August 2014, the studio was ready to move forward in development with the film, with a screenplay written by Joe Robert Cole. In October 2014, the film was announced for Phase Three and scheduled for release July 2019. By October 2015, Cole was no longer involved with the film and any potential drafts that he may have written would not be used. In April 2016, Inhumans was removed from the release schedule, and would no longer be a part of Phase Three. In July 2016, Feige said Inhumans would "certainly" be a part of the discussion regarding the film ideas for 2020 and 2021, adding the following November that he was still optimistic the film could be released in Phase Four. In November 2016, Marvel Television announced the series Marvel's Inhumans, which premiered on ABC in September 2017, after the first two episodes were screened in IMAX. The series was not intended to be a reworking of the film. ABC canceled Inhumans after one season in May 2018.

See also

• List of films based on Marvel Comics
• Outline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe