Other individuals have also produced select MCU films, including Gale Anne Hurd for The Incredible Hulk; Amy Pascal for the Spider-Man films; Lauren Shuler Donner, Ryan Reynolds, and Shawn Levy for Deadpool & Wolverine; and Anthony and Joe Russo for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing the series with the crossover film The Avengers (2012), which concluded Phase One.

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).

For example, he noted how the studio's 2016 releases, Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange, were "completely different movies".

[13] On expanding the number of characters in the universe and letting individual films breathe and work on their own, as opposed to having Avenger team-ups outside of Avengers films, Feige said they planned to teach general audiences "about the notion of the characters existing separately, coming together for specific events and going away and existing separately in their own worlds again.

"[14] Discussing how much story is developed for future MCU films, Feige said in September 2015 that "broad strokes" and occasionally "super-specific things" are determined far in advance.

He said there was enough leeway to "have room to sway and to move and to go and to surprise ourselves in places that we end up" and that each film would feel satisfying on its own, but still interconnected to the larger universe and as if it had been planned years ahead of time.

The studio has contingency plans for times when they are unable to secure a certain actor to reprise a role, and are able to respond to surprises such as the film rights to use Spider-Man becoming available in February 2015.

[17] Feige mentioned that Avengers: Endgame would provide "a definitive end" to the films and storylines preceding it, with the franchise having "two distinct periods.

[18] In July 2019, Feige announced the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con, consisting of films and television event series for the streaming service Disney+.

[26] In February 2025, producer Nate Moore said that work on some projects, such as Armor Wars, had slowed down since the studio began reducing content output and focusing on quality.

[120] In September 2022, Marvel Studios decided to rework the series into a feature film, with Cheadle and Lester remaining with the project.

[125][126] Mahershala Ali, who played Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in Marvel Television's Luke Cage (2016–18), approached Marvel Studios in February 2019 about starring in a new Blade film, which Feige announced at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) that July with Ali as Blade;[127] he first had an uncredited voice cameo in Eternals (2021).

[128] Multiple filmmakers were attached in the following years, including directors Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange, while the production experienced several delays.

[129][130] Eric Pearson was rewriting the script by June 2024, when Marvel was searching for a new director,[111] and Blade was removed from the release schedule in October 2024.

[26] In December 2021, a sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) was announced to be in development, with Destin Daniel Cretton returning to write and direct.

[131] In September 2024, Cretton was chosen to direct the fourth MCU Spider-Man film which was a higher priority for Marvel Studios than the Shang-Chi sequel.

[194] According to The Hollywood Reporter, a potential reason why Marvel has not bought the film distribution rights to the Hulk as they did with Paramount for the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America films is that Universal holds the theme park rights to several Marvel characters that Disney wants for its own theme parks.

[200] In June 2015, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal does not apply to the MCU television series, as it was "very specific ... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed".

Instead, Sony hoped to keep the terms of the previous agreement (Marvel receiving 5% of the film's first dollar gross), with Disney refusing.

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.

[220] In March 2008, Marvel Studios presold the US cable broadcast rights to FX for five of their films, including Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, for four years.

[230] The Incredible Hulk became available on Disney+ in the United States on June 16, 2023, following the film's distribution rights reverting to Marvel Studios.

[196][197] 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.

[231][232] The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time worldwide, both unadjusted and adjusted-for-inflation, having grossed over $31.2 billion at the global box office.

Sony Pictures Group President Sanford Panitch acknowledged this confusion and said there was a plan to clarify the relationship between the two universes.

He believed it was already "getting a little more clear for people [as to] where we're headed" at that time and added that the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021 would reveal more of this plan.

Vary commented that the apparent introduction of multiverse elements in No Way Home could be what would allow Holland to appear in both the MCU and the SSU.

[431] The following month, Feige said he would not "rule anything out completely" in terms of additional Sony-controlled characters appearing in Marvel Studios films.

[436] The mid-credits scenes of Morbius revealed that Toomes was accidentally transported from the MCU to the SSU following Strange's second spell.