By Giana Haynia
Since the release of “Iron Man” in 2008, Marvel has been a powerhouse when it comes to superhero movies and their comic book counterparts. Marvel Comics was founded in 1939 when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the iconic characters Iron Man, Spiderman, Captain America, and Doctor Strange, that grace our film screens today. In an effect to broadcast their characters to a wider audience, Marvel Studios was founded in 1993. They’ve produced successful movie after movie such as “Iron Man,” “Thor,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “The Avengers,” and 18 more. They’ve created the Marvel Cinematic Universe where every story and character are connected.
“I think Marvel made people respect superhero movies more. They made audiences realize that superhero movies aren’t just for kids, and they can actually be interesting and have good stories,” Whitney Bryan, junior, said.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU, caught public attention with the release of “Iron Man” on May 2, 2008 which earned a rating of 95%, making it the best reviewed movie of the year. At that time, Marvel Studios was at the brink of bankruptcy due to failed movies such as “Daredevil,” “Elektra,” “Fantastic Four,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Spider-Man 2,” and “Spider-Man 3.” “Iron Man” helped dig them out from that hole with box office earnings of $585 million worldwide.
It’s sequel, “Iron Man 2,” was released on May 7, 2010. Although, it generated over $600 million, it wasn’t as favorably reviewed as its predecessor. This didn’t stop Marvel Studios from moving forward with their plans for the future; “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” were released the following year. Both made over $200 million worldwide and received favorable reviews. These movies set the foundation for the creation and release of “The Avengers” on May 4, 2012. “The Avengers” was an idea that seemed impossible, but Marvel made that impossible idea a very successful reality. It generated over a billion dollars worldwide in just two weeks, a box office record. These movies set up what Marvel has dubbed Phase One of the MCU.
“I think what makes Marvel so different from any other company is how versatile they are. Nowhere else can you see a green monster, a guy with a shield, and a Russian spy working on the same team,” Elizabeth Aguilar, senior, said.
The first three movies in the next phase were “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World,” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” These revisited Tony Stark, Thor, and Steve Rogers after the events of “The Avengers” and showed fans how they’ve dealt with the events, something rarely done. “The Winter Soldier” reintroduced Bucky Barnes, Rogers’ childhood best friend who was presumed dead after falling offa train during “The First Avenger.” The film itself had a different feeling than any other Marvel film; it felt more like a political thriller than a traditional superhero film. Marvel managed to adapt the storyline from the comics for the film without a hitch or an inaccuracy. Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky, portrayed the Winter Soldier side of the character with minimal dialogue.
Phase Two introduces new characters in two movies that will be part of future installments, such as “Avengers: Infinity War.” One of those movies is “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Galaxy presented audiences with fresh heroes and a setting we’ve only seen in “Thor.” The new setting enabled moviegoers to see new characters such as aliens and hybrid raccoons as heroes. Guardians also let us see the villain of “Avengers: Infinity War,” the third Avengers movie, in more detail and with more screen time. The most recent ensemble movie, “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” while keeping characters already established in Phase One, brought in two classic characters from the comics: Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.
The final movie in this phase was “Ant-Man,” which was released on July 17, 2015. The box office earnings and the ratings were higher than expected. The story strayed away a bit from the comic origin of Ant-Man in the way that Scott Lang wasn’t the first Ant-Man but maintained the spirit of the story. It was an unexpected hit; by the end of its run in theaters, “Ant-Man” had accumulated about $519 million with a rating of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie established Lang to audiences before his appearance in “Captain America: Civil War” earlier this year.
“Ant-Man felt like a more human and genuine story than Age of Ultron. In a way, you could relate and sympathize with Scott because he becomes a hero to protect his daughter,” Sammy Jensen, sophomore, said.
Phase Three, Marvel’s current phase, starts with movies such as “Captain America: Civil War” and “Doctor Strange” that are already released with eight more scheduled until May 2019. One is “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the first Spider-Man movie to be released since Marvel bought back the rights to the character in January 2015. It has a release date of July 7, 2017 and Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige, established that it will not be an origin story. “Captain Marvel,” the first Marvel female hero to get her own solo movie, will be released on March 8, 2019. Feige announced that Danvers is the strongest hero in the MCU. “Black Panther” is another first for Marvel, T’Challa is the first African superhero in mainstream comics, and the first to get a solo film. It is scheduled for release on July 6, 2018. This phase is set to end on May 3, 2019 with another Avengers film yet to be named.
“Beginning with Age of Ultron, Marvel has gotten much darker and grimmer than anything else they’ve done. Civil War was so intense in the way that instead of solely fighting the villain, they fought each other,” Mr. Bzinak, math teacher, said.
