When Iron Man first kicked off the MCU in 2008, fans knew right off the bat that they were in for something special. Not only was the movie itself excellent, the franchise clearly held a lot of promise. Marvel had obvious intentions continuing past this film.
After Disney got involved in the MCU, properties just began flying into their possession and they have been able to acquire nearly all of Marvel at this point. With so much to pull from, the MCU has only been expanding further and further, changing with each film added to the universe.
10 Included Marvel One-Shots
After the movies first kicked off, somebody involved in the MCU came up with the brilliant idea of introducing Marvel One-Shots. These — typically humorous — short films go in between the main movies and provide small glimpses into the MCU's cast.
The first Marvel One-Shot, The Consultant, was released after Thor in September, 2011. After that, MCU fans got A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer, Item 47, Agent Carter, and All Hail the King. As if that wasn’t enough, it was announced in December of 2020 that a series of short films starring Baby Groot, entitled I Am Groot, were coming to Disney+.
9 Continued Onto ABC
Agent Phil Coulson was killed in 2012's The Avengers, devastating fans who had gotten to know the Captain America fanboy as an audience surrogate. The character was revived in the MCU’s first show on ABC, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which ran from September of 2013 until August of 2020.
There, Phil Coulson was even more fleshed out as his own character, and fans began to like him — and the other titular agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — even more. Soon after, Agent Carter ran on ABC from January of 2015 until March of 2016, and Inhumans ran from September of 2017 until November of 2017. These additional shows provided a lot more extra weekly content for MCU fans at the time.
8 Expanded Onto Streaming Services Like Netflix
As more and more people started signing up for streaming services, the MCU followed audiences and started airing shows on Netflix, rather than exclusively on ABC. Daredevil came first, receiving three seasons between April of 2015 and October of 2018.
The rest of the Defenders got their own shows, too: Jessica Jones ran November of 2015 until June of 2019, Luke Cage ran September, 2016 until June, 2018, and Iron Fist ran March, 2017 until September, 2018. The Defenders only got one season in August, 2017, before Marvel stopped airing Netflix shows with The Punisher, which ran from November, 2017 until January, 2019.
7 Struggling With Television
After realizing how successful their Netflix shows were, the MCU decided to spread onto other platforms. However, this was not considered a success overall. Hulu ran Runaways from November, 2017 until December, 2019, but the show never really hit the mainstream. Helstrom got an even worse reception, with mostly negative reviews and only one season, airing in its entirety on October 16th, 2020.
At the same time, Freeform attempted to run Cloak & Dagger, but only aired for two seasons from June of 2018 until May of 2019 before it, too, was cancelled. The Infinity Saga was starting to struggle, and the MCU realized they needed to work harder on the television aspect of the universe.
6 Making Their Way Onto Disney+
Disney is now attempting to pull all of their Marvel television properties together. Rather than having shows spread out across multiple platforms, the MCU is now exclusively focusing on Disney+. They have a full slate ahead already, fully integrating their television slate into the next phase of the MCU. Shows like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki, with countless more on their way. This is both exciting and something fans could never have predicted at the beginning of the franchise.
5 Divided Into Phases
Unlike most major franchises, the MCU divides itself into phases. The DCEU has done no such thing, nor have past superhero sagas or massive universes. The argument could be made that nobody has produced anything quite like the MCU in cinematic history, so it is truly setting its own precedent.
The MCU is divided into four phases currently. Phase One ran from Iron Man to The Avengers; Phase Two ran from Iron Man 3 to Ant-Man; and Phase Three ran from Captain America: Civil War to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Phase Four’s official first movie will be Black Widow, and likely will continue through Fantastic Four, at least — a fitting end to Phase “Four.”
4 Expanded Beyond The Original Six Avengers
The first six Avengers introduced to the MCU were Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. While Iron Man, Cap, and Thor were the obvious golden boys, these six characters became the MCU’s priority quick.
However, fans had many favorites throughout the MCU, and this helped the creators realize some more balance was needed. As the MCU expanded, more and more characters were introduced to the Avengers. Famous Marvel heroes like Black Panther and the Scarlet Witch have since joined the team, among countless others.
3 Introduced Characters Fans Thought They Would Never Seen In The MCU
While fans were expecting characters like Iron Man and Captain America to feature heavily in the MCU, there have been a fair few surprises along the way. When the first trailers started dropping for Guardians of the Galaxy, fans were incredulous that the Guardians were getting their own movie.
While they’re liked well enough, they’re not as popular as the Avengers and it seemed that it would take some time for them to get a movie — if they ever did. However, not only did Guardians of the Galaxy come out in August of 2014, they have been integral to the MCU ever since.
2 Combined Every Plot Into One Massive Narrative
The world's introduction to the MCU, Iron Man, made it obvious that the film was part of something larger. The very first post-credits scene has Nick Fury revealing himself to Tony Stark and asking if he could discuss the Avengers Initiative. Fury tells Tony that Iron Man is not the only superhero in the world, and that there are others out there like him.
Fans thought this was cool at the time, but had no idea what was to come. Each movie in the MCU slowly pieced together the franchise until Avengers: Infinity War, when every character came together and were impacted together by the same universal event: Thanos and his intended Snap.
1 Letting Go Of The Big Three
The golden trio of the MCU are undoubtedly Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor. They are the only characters who have gotten their own trilogies to date. However, now that Tony Stark has passed away and Steve Rogers has functionally retired, Thor is the only one left — and he’s not really committed to the whole Avengers thing anymore.
Now is the time for other characters to shine, with multiple heroes – such as Spider-Man – building their way up to their own trilogies. Letting go of the big three and giving other characters space is something the MCU has slowly been able to do, and beginning to excel at.