After nearly 15 years and over 30 titles in its catalog, it's safe to say that there's never been a movie franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only is it one of the most successful movie series ever mounted, but it's also an impressive feat in terms of what it set out to do.

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Currently, the MCU has released 27 movies and 6 series on Disney+, all of which are interconnected yet independent. Whether as a whole or individually, these components of the MCU achieved things that no other movie series did before.

10 Consistently Dominate The Box Office With Every Entry

The Multiverse Breaks Open In Spider Man No Way Home

Every franchise runs out of steam at some point, and this is best reflected in its gradually dwindling box office returns. Take the otherwise profitable Resident Evil movies, for example. After peaking with a $300 million worldwide take with Resident Evil: Afterlife, Alice's zombie-slaying days slowly faded and closed out weakly with The Final Chapter. 

The MCU, impressively, never suffered a flop. At worst, some movies performed lesser than expected, like how The Incredible Hulk holds the weakest box office return at $265 million. Meanwhile, the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home became the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time.

9 Top The Most Recent Big Event In Terms Of Scale And Scope

The Surviving Avengers Assemble In Avengers Endgame

The problem with some franchises is that they peak too early. This was the case for The Terminator, which only went downhill after the legendary Terminator 2: Judgment Day blew everyone's minds. Many thought that the MCU would follow a similar trajectory but, instead, it proved these doubts unfounded time and time again.

A good case study of this would be The Avengers movies. Each epic crossover was thought to be the MCU's peak, but every succeeding Avengers movie equaled or outdid its immediate predecessor. Even the weaker Age Of Ultron was far from a failure. Although Endgame may seem impossible to follow up on, never say never.

8 Keep A Consistent Level Of Quality

The Eternals Stand Together In Eternals

The rule of thumb states that the longer a movie franchise drags on, the worse its installments get. Even a franchise as popular and nostalgic as the James Bond movies suffered this fate. Where specific entries like From Russia With Love or Skyfall are regarded as classics, others like Die Another Day or Moonraker are considered to be embarrassing low points.

RELATED: 10 Things About Eternals That Make No Sense

Despite releasing almost 20 movies over roughly two decades, the MCU continues to go strong. Some installments were inevitably better than others, but even the MCU's most divisive movies (like Eternals) were still well-made and entertaining. The MCU has yet to hit a theatrical roadblock, and it's unlikely it will any time soon.

7 Unite Different Filmmaking Genres And Styles Under One Franchise

Nick Fury, Captain America, and Black Widow stand in front of a helicarrier explosion.

Generally speaking, a movie franchise has to conform to a set genre and style. Even though the Predator movies consistently changed their settings and tones, they were all grim action-horror hybrids starring a Yautja hunter at their core. This is why The Predator's choice to deviate from this by being a farce forced the series into its current rebooted state.

Fortunately, the MCU was never constrained by these kinds of demands. Though all MCU movies are superhero stories, they're given the freedom to dabble in different genres and styles. For example, if the new Spider-Man trilogy was allowed to be a youth-centric high school story, the later Captain America movies were their own political thrillers.

6 Maintain A Sprawling Multimedia Continuity

The poster for WandaVision

Every franchise has its side series, spin-offs, or supplementary material but rarely do the mainline movies acknowledge these because of how daunting it is to balance everything. Star Wars is the most recognizable example of this, as it's currently buckling under the weight of the old and new canons, plus the original Expanded Universe.

The MCU only recently started doing this with its Disney+ shows, but its cinematic canon can stand strong without them. In fact, it's flexible enough to add the (currently) non-canon Netflix shows if needs be. Where Star Wars series like The Mandalorian exist to fill in the blanks, the likes of WandaVision complement what came before.

5 Give Almost Every Named Character A Compelling Arc And Story

Clint And Kate Team Up In Hawkeye

The reality of franchises is that some characters will inevitably fade into the background, regardless of how important they were in one entry. This is the unfortunate case for many Harry Potter characters, especially the teachers. Even though Professor Lupin was integral to The Prisoner Of Azkaban, it doesn't mean he'll get the spotlight later on.

Thanks to its wide reach in just about every medium, the MCU has the freedom to give almost every character a story of their own. Someone as seemingly insignificant as Hawkeye wasn't just given bigger parts in each succeeding movie, but he even got his own miniseries. Though it may have taken nearly ten years to get to this point, it was worth the wait.

4 Revive Interest In Decades-Old Comics And Stories

Tony Stark Becomes A Hero In Iron Man

These days, it's easy to forget a time when Marvel Comics were ignored, obscure, and mocked. In the early 2000s, the best that Marvel's characters and storylines could hope for were cartoons and the odd reference in a Kevin Smith movie. More often than not, they were punchlines on Robot Chicken or similarly satirical works.

RELATED: 10 Best Marvel Comics That Were Cut Short

After Iron Man's release, the superhero genre wasn't just given the respect it was denied for decades, but it enjoyed newfound interest. This is something that few movie series achieved, especially newer ones. These days, franchises like Ghostbusters are more interested in revering the past, not welcoming newcomers in the way the MCU did.

3 Improve On Its Source Material In Countless Ways

Civil War As A Movie And Comic

One of the most enduring complaints about superhero comics is how impenetrable they are. Besides endless reboots and alternate timelines that keep restarting characters' stories, none of these matter since everything can be undone if a new writer so chooses. Thankfully, the MCU isn't intent on adapting this part of the comics.

Unlike the comics, the MCU told a singular coherent story starring modernized heroes and villains with consistent characterization. In contrast, other series based on pre-existing material like The Chronicles Of Narnia or The Hunger Games are always regarded as inferior to their original books, despite their own accomplishments.

2 Remain Accessible Despite A Seemingly Endless Number Of Installments

Thor Fights In Sakaar In Thor Ragnarok

Because of how broad and flexible it is in terms of story and style, anyone can get into the MCU by starting with any movie or series they want. Of course, watching everything from the start will be rewarding, but missing the first two Thor movies won't affect a newcomer's enjoyment of Thor: Ragnarok or any of the Avengers movies.

In a very literal sense, the MCU has something for everyone, which is something few other franchises can claim. Equally long-running series like Godzilla and A Nightmare On Elm Street may experiment with different styles and stories too but, in the end, they're acquired tastes that only a very specific group of genre aficionados would be interested in.

1 Capture The Entire World's Imagination

TChalla Leads Wakanda In Black Panther

Since superheroes are practically an American institution, it may be easy to underestimate just how big of a deal the MCU is overseas. Marvel movies may just be blockbusters to Americans, but they're massive in other countries. If Black Panther was a landmark movie in America, it was a cultural movement in Africa.

The MCU successfully turned its stable of heroes and villains into worldwide fixations and icons, which is impressive given how many of these characters were almost forgotten in their country of origin. Contrast this to DC Comics' movies, where everyone who wasn't as established as Batman or the Joker continues to be a cult favorite at most.

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