Kevin Feige, Arad's second-in-command,[4] realized that unlike Spider-Man, Blade, and the X-Men which were respectively licensed to Sony, New Line, and Fox, Marvel owned the rights to the Avengers team.

Feige was reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter,[17] and the creative committee began having only "nominal" input on the films.

[38] 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 the filming of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).

They added that no longer being "on top" of 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.

[62][38] 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.

[70][71][72] 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 the crossover miniseries The Defenders.

[90] That July, Marvel Studios partnered with Google to produce the faux news program WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart, a series of in-universe YouTube videos serving as the center of a viral marketing campaign to promote the films and universe.

It was created alongside Marvel Studios and the Quantumania filmmakers,[139] and was written by Rob Kutner,[140] featuring "over 20 short pieces exploring different aspects of Scott's experiences" as a father and Avenger.

[323] Prior to his death in 2018, Stan Lee, 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.

"[335] Terri Schwartz of Zap2it agreed with this sentiment, stating that "the fact that [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] so influenced the show is game-changing in terms of how the mediums of film and television can be interwoven", though "the fault there seems to be that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"[337] After seeing the portrayal of Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, the antagonist of the film, McMillian noted, It's hardly a secret that Marvel Studios has a bit of a problem when it comes to offering up exciting characters for their heroes to fight against ... [their] villains generally fall into one of two camps.

"[342] In April 2016, Marvel Studios revealed that Alfre Woodard would appear in Captain America: Civil War, having already been cast as Mariah Dillard in Luke Cage the previous year.

[346]Likewise, in his review of Avengers: Endgame, Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal acknowledged the unique achievement that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had accomplished: These are difficult times for big-screen entertainment.

When the final battle comes at the end of Avengers: Endgame, it's inevitably unwieldy—every Marvel character you can think of from the past decade shows up for one more assault on cosmic evil—but thrilling all the same, and followed by a delicate coda.

[362] That year, DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns stated that the television series Arrow and The Flash were set in a separate universe from the new film one,[363] later clarifying that "We look at it as the multiverse.

"[334] Subsequently, in May 2016, Warner Bros. gave oversight of the DCEU to Johns and executive Jon Berg in an attempt to "unify the disparate elements of the DC movies" and emulate Marvel's success.

[368] In November 2012, 20th Century Fox announced plans to create their own shared universe, consisting of Marvel properties that it held the rights to including the Fantastic Four and X-Men, with the hiring of Mark Millar as supervising producer.

[54][55] In November 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal announced that the studio intended to expand their universe created within director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films (2012–14), with spin-off adventures for supporting characters, in an attempt to replicate Marvel and Disney's model.

[358] In February 2015, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that the Spider-Man franchise would be retooled, with a new film co-produced by Feige and Pascal being released in July 2017, and the character being integrated into the MCU.

In addition, there was a simulator game, titled "Become Iron Man", that used Kinect-like technology to allow the viewer to be encased in an animated Mark XLII armor and take part in a series of "tests", in which you fire repulsor rays and fly through Tony Stark's workshop.

[401] In March 2018, the Walt Disney Company announced a new Marvel-themed area inspired by the MCU to Hong Kong Disneyland and a new attraction where guests team up with Ant-Man and the Wasp, to join Iron Man Experience.

is an enclosed interactive dark ride that sees guests use laser-powered weapons to team up with Ant-Man and the Wasp to defeat Arnim Zola and his army of Hydra swarm bots.

Chris Pratt, Zoë Saldaña, Dave Bautista and Benicio del Toro all filmed exclusive footage for the attraction, reprising their roles as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax and Taneleer Tivan / The Collector, respectively.

[415] Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, Kerry Condon, and Iman Vellani reprised their MCU roles,[416][417] while Ross Marquand voiced Ultron after previously doing so in What If...?, in which he replaced James Spader.

[420] In September 2023, the Wish's sister ship the Disney Treasure was announced to also include the Worlds of Marvel restaurant with two nights of distinct shows and menus, featuring an appearance by Spider-Man.

While it might all make sense in hindsight, there was appreciable audacity in Marvel's plan to release five loosely connected movies from the same hero-filled world, beginning with the cinematically unproven Iron Man and culminating with superhero team The Avengers.

[440] In October, the special was revealed to be Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!, which was hosted by Emily VanCamp, who portrays Agent 13 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and aired on November 4, 2014.

[447][448] Announced in December 2020, this series examines individual heroes, villains, moments, and objects from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how they connect, in anticipation of the upcoming stories that will feature them in Phase Four.

[459] Several MCU actresses were interviewed to discuss what makes their characters compelling to audiences, including Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Florence Kasumba, and Letitia Wright; Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris; Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn, and Kat Dennings; and Zoë Saldaña,[457] who executive produced the series alongside Victoria Alonso.

[496] The Super Bowl campaign extended to "limited-edition Coke mini cans [six packs] that are emblazoned with images of Marvel characters, including Hulk, Ant-Man, Black Widow, [Falcon, Iron Man] and Captain America."