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The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The franchise also includes television series, short films, digital series, and literature. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.

Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases", with the first three phases collectively known as "The Infinity Saga" and the following three phases as "The Multiverse Saga". The first MCU film, ''Iron Man'' (2008), began Phase One, which culminated in the 2012 crossover film '' The Avengers''. Phase Two began with ''Iron Man 3'' (2013) and concluded with ''Ant-Man'' (2015). Phase Three began with '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) and concluded with '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019). Phase Four began with ''Black Widow'' (2021) and concluded with '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' (2022). '' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'' (2023) will begin Phase Five, which will end with ''Blade'' (2024), and Phase Six will begin with ''Deadpool 3'' (2024). Phase Six and "The Multiverse Saga" will conclude with '' Avengers: The Kang Dynasty'' (2025) and '' Avengers: Secret Wars'' (2026).

Marvel Television expanded the universe to network television with ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' on ABC in 2013 before further expanding to streaming television on Netflix and Hulu and to cable television on Freeform. They also produced the digital series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot''. Marvel Studios began producing their own television series for streaming on Disney+, starting with ''WandaVision'' in 2021 as the beginning of Phase Four. They also expanded to television specials in Phase Four, known as Marvel Studios Special Presentations, the first of which was ''Werewolf by Night'' (2022). The MCU also includes tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots, and viral marketing campaigns for the films featuring the faux news programs ''WHIH Newsfront'' and '' The Daily Bugle''.

The franchise has been commercially successful and generally received positive reviews. It has inspired other film and television studios to attempt similar shared universes, and has also inspired several themed attractions, an art exhibit, television specials, guidebooks for each film, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials.

Development

Films and Disney+ series

By 2005, Marvel Entertainment had begun planning to produce its own films independently and distribute them through Paramount Pictures. Previously, Marvel had co-produced several superhero films with Columbia Pictures, New Line Cinema and others, including a seven-year development deal with 20th Century Fox. Marvel made relatively little profit from its licensing deals with other studios and wanted to get more money out of its films while maintaining artistic control of the projects and distribution. Avi Arad, head of Marvel's film division, was pleased with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films at Sony Pictures, but was less pleased with others. As a result, Arad decided to form Marvel Studios, Hollywood's first major independent film studio since DreamWorks. Kevin Feige, Arad's second-in-command, realized that unlike Spider-Man and the X-Men, whose film rights were licensed to Sony and Fox, respectively, Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers. Feige, a self-described "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe, just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s.

To raise capital, the studio secured funding from a seven-year, $525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch. Marvel's plan was to release individual films for their main characters and then merge them in a crossover film. Arad doubted the strategy, but insisted that it was his reputation that helped secure the initial financing. He resigned the following year. In 2007, at 33 years old, Feige was named studio chief. In order to preserve its artistic integrity, Marvel Studios formed a creative committee of six people familiar with its comic book lore: Feige, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito, Marvel Comics' president of publishing Dan Buckley, Marvel's chief creative officer Joe Quesada, writer Brian Michael Bendis, and Marvel Entertainment president Alan Fine, who oversaw the committee. Feige initially referred to the shared narrative continuity of these films as the "Marvel Cinema Universe", but later used the term "Marvel Cinematic Universe". Since the franchise expanded to other media, this phrase has been used by some to refer to the feature films only.

In October 2014, Marvel Studios held a press event to announce the titles of their Phase Three films. By September 2015, after Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios with Feige reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter, the studios' creative committee had "nominal" input on the films moving forward, though they continued to consult on Marvel Television productions, which remained under Perlmutter's control. All key film decisions going forward were to be made by Feige, D'Esposito and Victoria Alonso. Feige mentioned that '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019) would provide "a definitive end" to the films and storylines preceding it, with the franchise having "two distinct periods. Everything before 'Endgame''and everything after". He later said Phase Three would conclude "The Infinity Saga".

By November 2017, Disney was looking to develop a new Marvel television series for their streaming service Disney+. In July 2018, Feige noted discussions had begun with Disney regarding any potential involvement Marvel Studios could have with the streaming service, since Feige felt the service was "an important thing for the company". In September 2018, it was reported that Marvel Studios was developing several limited series centered on "second-tier" characters from the MCU films who had not and were unlikely to star in their own films. Each series was expected to be six to eight episodes, and would be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, with Feige taking a "hands-on role" in each series' development. Feige noted the series being developed for the streaming service would "tell stories... that we wouldn't be able to tell in a theatrical experience – a longer-form narrative". He also added that being asked by Disney to create these series "energized everyone creatively" within Marvel Studios, since they "could play in a new medium and throw the rules out the window in terms of structure and format". ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'' (2022), a Marvel Studios Special Presentation, was the first piece of content Marvel Studios planned to create for Disney+.

In July 2019, Feige announced the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con, consisting of films and, for the first time, television event series on Disney+. The Phase Four slate includes '' What If...?'', the first animated series from Marvel Studios, and by July 2021 the studio was creating an "animation branch and mini studio" to focus on more animated content beyond ''What If...?''. In April 2022, Feige said he and Marvel Studios were on a creative retreat to plan and discuss the MCU films for the following 10 years. That July, Feige announced some of the films and series for Phase Five and Phase Six at San Diego Comic-Con, revealing that the second three Phases were collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga". Feige explained that Marvel Studios realized during development on Phase Four that it would be different from the first three phases, with more projects over a shorter period of time. This also came after the "creative experience" of ending Phase Three and "The Infinity Saga" with '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018) and ''Avengers: Endgame''. Therefore, instead of "culminat ngevery 10 months in an Avengers movie" they decided to leave that culmination until the end of "The Multiverse Saga", with the second three phases all building to '' Avengers: The Kang Dynasty'' and '' Avengers: Secret Wars'' (2026). Television specials from the studio are marketed as "Marvel Studios Special Presentations".

In December 2017, the Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century Fox. The transaction officially closed on March 19, 2019. The acquisition saw the return of the film rights of Deadpool, the X-Men characters, and the Fantastic Four characters to Marvel Studios, which would "create richer, more complex worlds of inter-related characters and stories". Some of the first elements previously controlled by 20th Century Fox to be integrated into the MCU were the organization S.W.O.R.D. in the Disney+ series ''WandaVision'' and the fictional country Madripoor in the series ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier''. Additionally, Patrick Stewart appeared as Earth-838 Professor Charles Xavier in ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' (2022), portraying a different version of the character that he previously played in 20th Century Fox's ''X-Men'' film series, while Kamala Khan was revealed to have a genetic mutation in ''Ms. Marvel'', with star Iman Vellani confirming she was the first mutant in the MCU.

Marvel Television

In June 2010, Marvel Television was launched with Jeph Loeb as head. By July 2012, Marvel Television had entered into discussions with ABC to create a show set in the MCU; the network ultimately created the series ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', '' Agent Carter'', and ''Inhumans'', which was a co-production with IMAX Corporation. In November 2013, Disney was set to provide Netflix with the live-action series ''Daredevil'', ''Jessica Jones'', ''Luke Cage'', and ''Iron Fist'', leading up to the miniseries '' The Defenders''. In April 2016, Netflix ordered ''The Punisher'', a spin-off of ''Daredevil''. By February 2019, Netflix had cancelled all of its Marvel series. In April 2016, the Disney-owned cable network Freeform announced '' Cloak & Dagger''. In May 2017, Marvel announced that ''Runaways'' had received a series order from Hulu. In May 2019, Marvel announced that '' Helstrom'' had been greenlit for Hulu.

In October 2019, further corporate restructuring saw Feige named Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, with Marvel Television becoming part of Marvel Studios and executives of Marvel Television reporting to Feige. In December 2019, Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios, with Marvel Studios taking over production of the current series at the time; no further series from Marvel Television were being considered for development. In January 2021, Feige said "never say never" to potentially reviving the Netflix series, but noted Marvel Studios was focused on their new Disney+ series announced at that time. In May 2022, it was revealed that Marvel Studios was developing a new ''Daredevil'' series for Disney+, which was announced in July as '' Daredevil: Born Again''.

Other media expansion

In 2008, the first tie-in comic was released. Quesada noted the comics would be set within the continuity of the films, but were not intended to be direct adaptions. Rather, they would explore "something that happened off screen" or flesh out something briefly mentioned. Feige was involved with the creation of the comics, with the film's screenwriters sometimes as well. Marvel Comics worked with Brad Winderbaum, Jeremy Latcham, and Will Corona Pilgrim at Marvel Studios to decide which concepts should be carried over from the Marvel Comics Universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what to show in the tie-in comics, and what to leave for the films. Marvel has clarified which of the tie-in comics are considered canonical MCU stories, with the rest merely inspired by the MCU, "where we get to show off all the characters from the film in costume and in comic form".

In August 2011, Marvel announced a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots, the name derived from the label used by Marvel Comics for their one-shot comics. Co-producer Brad Winderbaum called the short films "a fun way to experiment with new characters and ideas" and to expand the MCU. Each short film is designed to be a self-contained story that provides more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films.

In March 2015, Marvel's Vice President of Animation Development and Production, Cort Lane, stated that animated tie-ins to the MCU were "in the works". 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. In December 2016, a six-part web series, '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot'', was revealed, which debuted on ABC.com on December 13, 2016. It follows Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez on a secret mission, shortly before the start of ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''s fourth season, with Natalia Cordova-Buckley reprising her role. In September 2019, Sony created a real version of the fictional '' The Daily Bugle'' website as part of a viral marketing campaign to promote the home media release of '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019). Inspired by real-world "conspiracy-pushing" websites such as that of Alex Jones, the website features J. K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson in a video where he speaks out against Spider-Man before asking viewers to "like and subscribe". In December 2020, Marvel Studios announced ''I Am Groot'', a series of photorealistic animated shorts starring Baby Groot for Disney+.

Business practices

Marvel Studios often puts together a "lookbook" of influences from the comics and art by Marvel's visual development department, to create a visual template for a project. These are put together at company retreats, which the studio holds every "18 months or so" to plan out and develop the phases of the MCU. These lookbooks are not always shown to directors, though, with Marvel sometimes preferring to let the director offer their own ideas first. When choosing a director for a project, Marvel Studios looks for filmmakers to hire who are able to guide a film, with some of their choices considered "out-of-left-field", given a director's previous work. Feige remarked, "You don't have to have directed a big, giant visual-effects movie to do a big, giant visual-effects movie for us. You just have to have done something singularly sort of awesome."

The studio ensures directors are open to the idea of the shared universe and are willing to include connective material, such as Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston needing to include ''Avengers'' set-up scenes in ''Thor'' and ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', respectively. Marvel Studios usually has a big idea they would like to explore or build to in a project, such as Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. in ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', with it up to the filmmakers to interpret and "improv a little bit" to get there. After these ideas have been developed, the creative team then begins to explore ideas happening in other future projects to see how to make any larger universe connections. There was large amount of collaboration between the Russo brothers and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely with the other Phase Three directors and writers to make sure "everything line up right" for the MCU's "culmination" in ''Avengers: Infinity War'' and ''Avengers: Endgame''.

Marvel Studios also began contracting their actors for multiple films, including signing actor Samuel L. Jackson to a then "unprecedented" nine-movie contract. Feige said the studio has all actors sign contracts for multiple films, with the norm being for 3 or more, and the 9 or 12 film deals "more rare". Actor's contracts also feature clauses that allows Marvel to use up to three minutes of an actor's performance from one film in another, which Marvel describes as "bridging material". By the start of Phase Four, Marvel Studios was no longer contracting actors for a large number of projects, with deal lengths varying for each actor and project. Feige said the studio was looking for actors who were excited to join the franchise and appear in multiple projects without being locked into contractual obligations. He also noted that they were starting to include theme park attractions in actors' deals.

In August 2012, Marvel signed Joss Whedon to an exclusive contract through June 2015 for film and television. With the deal, Whedon would "contribute creatively" on Phase Two of the MCU and develop the first television series set in the universe. In April 2017, James Gunn revealed he would be working with Marvel "to help design where he Guardians of the Galaxy characters'stories go, and make sure the future of the Marvel Cosmic Universe is as special and authentic and magical as what we have created so far". By December 2020, because of the impact COVID-19 had on theaters and film studios shifting away from theatrical releases, Marvel Studios began exploring updated contracts for actors, writers, directors, and producers to receive adjusted compensation in the event a film had to debut on Disney+ instead of in theaters. ''TheWrap'' reported it was believed the new contracts would only apply to films about to enter production, and was unclear if any adjustments would be made to contracts for films already completed but not yet released.

For Marvel Television, Loeb explained that they saw themselves as producers providing support to the showrunner: "we're involved in every aspect of the production—whether it's being in the writers' room, editing on set, casting—every step of the production goes through the Marvel team to tell the best story that we can." He added that the studio is able to work on so many series across different networks and platforms because all they needed was one person from the studio working on each series to help "guide the process". Actors appearing in Marvel Television series, such as Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock / Daredevil in ''Daredevil'') and Adrianne Palicki ( Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird in ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''), were contractually obliged to appear in a Marvel film if asked. When developing the crossover miniseries ''The Defenders'', showrunner Marco Ramirez consulted with the creators of all the individual Marvel Netflix series, having them read each of the scripts for ''The Defenders'' and provide insight into individual characters' worlds. In December 2021, Feige confirmed that Cox would reprise the role of Daredevil in Marvel Studios MCU productions, with Cox first reprising the role in the film '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021). Additionally, D'Onofrio first reprises his role as Kingpin in the Disney+ series '' Hawkeye'' (2021).

Feature films

Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases".

The Infinity Saga

The first three phases are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". Phase One consists of ''Iron Man'' (2008), ''The Incredible Hulk'' (2008), ''Iron Man 2'' (2010), ''Thor'' (2011), and '' Captain America: The First Avenger'' (2011), and concludes with the crossover film '' The Avengers'' (2012). 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). '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016) is the first film of Phase Three, and is followed by '' Doctor Strange'' (2016), ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' (2017), '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'' (2017), '' Thor: Ragnarok'' (2017), ''Black Panther'' (2018), '' Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' (2018), '' Captain Marvel'' (2019), '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019), and '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' (2019).

The Multiverse Saga

The second three phases are collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga", and include television series on Disney+. Phase Four includes ''Black Widow'' (2021), ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021), '' Eternals'' (2021), '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' (2021), ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' (2022), '' Thor: Love and Thunder'' (2022), and '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' (2022). Phase Five begins with '' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'' (2023), followed by ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (2023), ''The Marvels'' (2023), '' Captain America: New World Order'' (2024), '' Thunderbolts'' (2024), and ''Blade'' (2024). Phase Six begins with ''Deadpool 3'' (2024), followed by ''Fantastic Four'' (2025), and will conclude with '' Avengers: The Kang Dynasty'' (2025) and '' Avengers: Secret Wars'' (2026).

Television series and specials

Marvel Television series

Marvel Television produced multiple television series set in the MCU across broadcast, streaming, and cable. The "Marvel Heroes" series–''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2013–2020), '' Agent Carter'' (2015–2016), and ''Inhumans'' (2017)–aired on ABC; the "Marvel Knights" series–''Daredevil'' (2015–2018), ''Jessica Jones'' (2015–2019), ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018), ''Iron Fist'' (2017–2018), the crossover miniseries '' The Defenders'' (2017), and ''The Punisher'' (2017–2019)–streamed on Netflix; young adult series included ''Runaways'' (2017–2019) streaming on Hulu and '' Cloak & Dagger'' (2018–2019) airing on Freeform; and the Hulu series '' Helstrom'' (2020) was originally intended to be the start of a planned "Adventure into Fear" franchise. Upon ''Helstrom''s release, showrunner Paul Zbyszewski noted the series was "not tied to the MCU".

Marvel Studios series

Beginning with Phase Four, television series, which released on Disney+, were included as part of the Phases in addition to their feature films. Phase Four includes the series ''WandaVision'' (2021), ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' (2021), the first season of ''Loki'' (2021), the first season of the animated series '' What If...?'' (2021), '' Hawkeye'' (2021), ''Moon Knight'' (2022), ''Ms. Marvel'' (2022), and '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'' (2022). The television specials ''Werewolf by Night'' (2022) and ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'' (2022) are also included in the phase. Phase Five includes the second season of '' What If...?'' (2023), ''Secret Invasion'' (2023), the second season of ''Loki'' (2023), '' Ironheart'' (2023), ''Echo'' (2023), '' Agatha: Coven of Chaos'' (2023), and '' Daredevil: Born Again'' (2024).

Short films

Marvel One-Shots

Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films that are included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases. The films included '' The Consultant'' (2011), ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer'' (2011), ''Item 47'' (2012), '' Agent Carter'' (2013), and ''All Hail the King'' (2014).

Following the One-Shots becoming available on Disney+ in January 2022, Marvel classified the ''Team Thor'' mockumentary shorts as One-Shots. ''Team Thor'' is a series of direct-to-video mockumentary short films that were released from 2016 to 2018, consisting of ''Team Thor'', ''Team Thor: Part 2'', and ''Team Darryl'', all written and directed by Taika Waititi.

''I Am Groot''

''I Am Groot'' is a series of photorealistic animated short films for Disney+ starring Baby Groot going on adventures with new and unusual characters. Vin Diesel reprises his role, with five shorts releasing on August 10, 2022. Five additional shorts are in development.

Other media

Digital series

''WHIH Newsfront'' (2015–16) is an in-universe current affairs show that serves as a viral marketing campaign for some of the MCU films, created in partnership with Google for YouTube. The campaign is an extension of the fictional news network WHIH World News, which is seen reporting on major events in many MCU films and television series. Leslie Bibb reprises her role as Christine Everhart from the ''Iron Man'' films.

'' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot'' (2016) is a digital series created for ABC.com and produced by Marvel Television that is a supplement to ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', with the main cast reprising their roles.

The first two seasons of '' The Daily Bugle'' (2019–present) are an in-universe current affairs show serving as viral marketing campaign for the films ''Spider-Man: Far From Home'' and ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', with the videos released on YouTube and TikTok. It is based on the fictional sensationalist news outlet of the same name that appears in the MCU—itself based on the fictional newspaper agency of the same name appearing in several Marvel Comics publications. J. K. Simmons and Angourie Rice reprise their roles as J. Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant from the ''Spider-Man'' films.

Comic books

Multiple limited series or one-shot comics have been published by Marvel Comics that tie-into the MCU films and television series. They are intended to tell additional stories about existing characters, or to make connections between MCU projects, without necessarily expanding the universe or introducing new concepts or characters.

Books

''The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond'' is "a collection of papers, articles, blueprints, and notes amassed throughout history by Wakanda's War Dogs" at the request of Shuri. It is organized by areas of study and covers the technological advancements throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The book, which exists in-universe, was written by Troy Benjamin and published by Epic Ink and Quarto Publishing Group. ''The Wakanda Files'' has content printed with UV ink that can be viewed with Kimoyo bead–shaped UV lights included with the book. It was released on October 20, 2020.

Music

Various composers have created the film and television scores of the MCU films, television series, One-Shots, Special Presentations, and other related projects of the MCU. Original songs have also been created specifically for use in the franchise, while Brian Tyler and Michael Giacchino have both scored fanfares for the Marvel Studios production logo.

Timeline

As depicted in the MCU

During Phase One of the MCU, Marvel Studios lined up some of their films' stories with references to one another, though they had no long-term plan for the shared universe's timeline at that point. ''Iron Man 2'' is set six months after the events of ''Iron Man'', and around the same time as ''Thor'' according to comments made by Nick Fury. Several of Marvel's One-Shot films also occur around the events of Phase One films, including '' The Consultant'' (set after the events of ''Iron Man 2'' and ''The Incredible Hulk''), ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer'' (set before the events of ''Thor''), ''Item 47'' (set after ''The Avengers''), and '' Agent Carter'' (set one year after the events of '' Captain America: The First Avenger'').

Wanting to simplify the in-universe timeline, the Phase Two films were set roughly in real time relating to ''The Avengers'': ''Iron Man 3'' takes place about six months later, during Christmas; '' Thor: The Dark World'' is set one year later; and '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' is two years after. '' Avengers: Age of Ultron'' and ''Ant-Man'' ended the phase in 2015, with several months passing between those films in-universe as in real life. The One-Shot ''All Hail the King'' is set after the events of ''Iron Man 3''.

For Phase Three, directors the Russo brothers wanted to continue using real time, and so '' Captain America: Civil War'' begins a year after ''Age of Ultron'', with '' Avengers: Infinity War'' set two years after that. Producer Brad Winderbaum said the Phase Three films would actually "happen on top of each other" while being less "interlocked" as the Phase One films were, with ''Black Panther'' and '' Spider-Man: Homecoming'' respectively beginning a week and several months after ''Civil War''; '' Thor: Ragnarok'' beginning four years after ''The Dark World'' and two years after ''Age of Ultron'', around the same time as ''Civil War'' and ''Homecoming''; '' Doctor Strange'' taking place over a whole year and ending in late 2016, "up to date with the rest of the MCU"; ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' also set two years after ''Civil War'' and shortly before ''Infinity War''; and both ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' and its sequel '' Vol. 2'' being explicitly set in 2014, which Feige believed would create a four-year gap between ''Vol. 2'' and ''Infinity War'', though the other MCU films up to that point do not specify years onscreen. Following ''Infinity War'', the Russo brothers said future films would not necessarily be set according to real time as there are "a lot of very inventive ways of where the story can go from here", with both ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' and '' Captain Marvel'' set earlier in the timeline; the latter is set in 1995. '' Avengers: Endgame'' begins shortly after ''Infinity War'' and ends in 2023 after a five-year time jump. It confirms dates for several of the other films, including ''The Avengers'' in 2012, ''Thor: The Dark World'' in 2013, ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' in 2014, ''Doctor Strange'' around 2017, and ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' in 2018 before ''Infinity War''. '' Spider-Man: Far From Home'' begins eight months after ''Endgame'' in 2024.

With Phase Four, Marvel Studios expanded into television series, which have greater interconnectivity with the MCU feature films than the series from Marvel Television. Many of the properties in the Phase are set after the events of ''Avengers: Endgame''. ''WandaVision'' is set three weeks after the events of that film, and directly sets up ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness''; ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' is set six months after ''Endgame''. ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' is also set after ''Endgame'' during the days leading to the Qingming Festival in early April, with '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'' set "a relatively short amount of time" after ''Shang-Chi''. '' Eternals'' takes place around the same time as ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' and ''Spider-Man: Far From Home'', six to eight months after ''Endgame'' in 2024, while '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' begins immediately after ''Far From Home'', and continues over late 2024. '' Hawkeye'' takes place one year after the events of ''Endgame'' during the 2024 Christmas season.

''Moon Knight'' is set after ''Hawkeye'' in early 2025, while ''Multiverse of Madness'' is set after ''Spider-Man: No Way Home''. ''Ms. Marvel'' is set after ''Moon Knight'', one to two years after ''Endgame''. '' Thor: Love and Thunder'' is set after ''Endgame'', eight and a half years after Thor broke up with Jane, which had occurred by ''Ragnarok'', and "a few weeks" since Thor joined the Guardians of the Galaxy. According to producer Nate Moore, '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' is set after ''No Way Home'' and ''Eternals'', "potentially concurrent" with ''Love and Thunder'' and '' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania''. ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'' is set "a fairly long time" after the events of ''Love and Thunder'' and before the events of ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3''.

The first season of ''Loki'' continues from the 2012 events seen in ''Endgame'', but much of the series exists outside of time and space given the introduction of the Time Variance Authority. '' What If...?'' is set after ''Loki''s first season finale, exploring the various branching timelines of the newly created multiverse in which major moments from the MCU films occur differently. ''Black Widow'' is set between ''Civil War'' and ''Infinity War'', mostly taking place between the main plot of ''Civil War'' and its final scene. The ''I Am Groot'' shorts are set between the end of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' and the start of ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'', and the end of ''Vol. 2'' and its mid-credits scene. The special ''Werewolf by Night'' exists within the MCU but does not state "when, how or why". The director Michael Giacchino has "a very specific idea" of how the special fits into the MCU that had not been discussed with Marvel Studios.

In Phase Five, ''Secret Invasion'' is set after the events of ''Far From Home''.

Codifying attempts

The official canon tie-in comic '' Fury's Big Week'' confirmed that ''The Incredible Hulk'', ''Iron Man 2'', and ''Thor'' all took place within a week, a year before the crossover film '' The Avengers''. Writers Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson tried to follow the logic of the films' timeline when plotting the comic, and received "the seal of approval" from Feige and Marvel Studios on the final timeline. As promotion for ''The Avengers'', Marvel released an official infographic detailing this timeline in May 2012.

When ''Spider-Man: Homecoming'' was being developed, director and co-writer Jon Watts was shown a scroll detailing the MCU timeline that was created by co-producer Eric Carroll when he first began working for Marvel Studios. Watts said the scroll included both where the continuity of the films lined-up and did not lineup, and when fully unfurled it extended beyond the length of a long conference table. This scroll was used as the basis to weave the continuity of ''Homecoming'' into the previous films, such as ''The Avengers''. This was labeled in the film with a title card stating that eight years pass between the end of ''The Avengers'' and the events of ''Civil War'', which was widely criticized as a continuity error that broke the established MCU timeline, in which only four years should have passed. Additionally, dialogue in ''Civil War'' indicates that eight years pass between the end of ''Iron Man'' and the events of that film, despite the established continuity being closer to five or six years. ''Infinity War'' co-director Joe Russo described the ''Homecoming'' eight years time jump as "very incorrect", and the mistake was ignored in ''Infinity War'' which specified that its events were taking place only six years after ''The Avengers''. The public response to the ''Homecoming'' mistake inspired Marvel Studios to release a new timeline for all three phases, and in November 2018, a timeline, specifying dates for the events in each film released to that point, was included as part of the sourcebook ''Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years'', celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the MCU.

This timeline ignores the two "eight-year" continuity errors, but also contradicts the events of ''Black Panther'' and ''Infinity War'' by placing them in 2017. Despite the latter apparent mistakes, Thomas Bacon of ''Screen Rant'' described the timeline as "the closest Marvel has yet come to making an official statement on just when the different MCU events are set", bringing "some sense of balance to the MCU continuity".

In October 2020, the Marvel section of Disney+ was restructured to include groupings of the films by phase, as well as a grouping that put the films in timeline order. Bacon felt the placement of ''Thor: The Dark World'' between ''The Avengers'' and ''Iron Man 3'' and ''Black Panther'' after ''Captain America: Civil War'' in this timeline corrected "previous issues" with their placement in the November 2018 ''First 10 Years'' timeline, and was glad Disney and Marvel "recognize it's possible to watch these movies in anything other than release order", "legitimiz ng this viewing experience. ''The Incredible Hulk'', ''Spider-Man: Homecoming'', and ''Spider-Man: Far From Home'' were excluded since Disney did not have their distribution rights, but Bacon felt ''The Incredible Hulk'' could be viewed after ''Iron Man 2'' since it is simultaneous with that film, ''Homecoming'' could come after ''Black Panther'', and ''Far From Home'' could be viewed after ''Avengers: Endgame''. Julia Alexander at ''The Verge'' agreed with Bacon that it "seems like Disney finally understands how ome viewerswant to watch Marvel movies". In June 2022, ''Homecoming'' became available on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Australia, while ''Far From Home'' became available on Disney+ in Japan the following month; both were added to the Disney+ timeline in those territories. By August 2022, ''The Incredible Hulk'' was added to the Disney+ timeline in territories it was available in such as Spain and Japan.

By August 2022, Marvel Studios had hired an individual to keep track of the placement of the studio's projects in the MCU timeline. With the release of ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' on Disney+ in September 2022, Bacon and his colleague Molly Jae Weinstein noted how the film's placement in the timeline order section on the platform seemed incorrect, with Bacon saying it made "no sense" given dialogue and events in the film that contradicted this placement, and also pointing out how ''Shang-Chi'' and ''Moon Knight''s placements also ignored dating information given in each. Bacon said, "The MCU's timeline is now complicated by the sheer volume of Marvel films and TV shows currently in production, because even Marvel's key decision-makers don't really know quite what order things will be released." Unlike the earlier phases where each new project was the next chronological title in the timeline, Phase Four "has hopped around the timeline with impunity", which in turn made it "rather messy". Bacon added how viewers have noted the Disney+ timeline was "deeply flawed" with "numerous contradictions". With the release of ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'', Bacon believed its placement on the Disney+ timeline "fixed" ''Love and Thunder''s placement, thinking that film should be placed in late 2024 on the timeline. He also pointed out how projects typically appear at the end of the Disney+ timeline, "even when such placements can't possibly be right". In November 2022, Bacon noted how ''Far From Home''s appearance in the Disney+ timeline between ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' and ''Shang-Chi'' could not be correct given story points in each of those projects indicating where they fell in the timeline, and hoped Marvel would correct these mistakes as it had done previously with ''Black Widow'' and ''Black Panther''.

As of ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special'', the Disney+ timeline order is ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', ''Agent Carter'', ''Captain Marvel'', ''Iron Man'', ''Iron Man 2'', ''The Incredible Hulk'', ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer'', ''Thor'', ''The Consultant'', ''The Avengers'', ''Item 47'', ''Thor: The Dark World'', ''Iron Man 3'', ''All Hail the King'', ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', ''I Am Groot'' episode 1, ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'', ''I Am Groot'' episodes 2–5, ''Avengers: Age of Ultron'', ''Ant-Man'', ''Captain America: Civil War'', ''Black Widow'', ''Black Panther'', ''Spider-Man: Homecoming'', ''Doctor Strange'', ''Thor: Ragnarok'', ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'', ''Avengers: Infinity War'', ''Avengers: Endgame'', ''Loki'', ''What If...?'', ''WandaVision'', ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'', ''Spider-Man: Far From Home'', ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'', ''Eternals'', ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'', ''Hawkeye'', ''Moon Knight'', ''She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'', ''Ms. Marvel'', ''Thor: Love and Thunder'', ''Werewolf by Night'', and ''The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special''.

Multiverse

The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z'', Vol. 5, published in 2008, originally designated the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Earth-199999 within the continuity of Marvel's comic multiverse, a collection of fictional alternate universes, although this designation was rarely used officially outside of the source material. The television series ''Loki'' and ''What If...?'' were the first to explore the concept of the multiverse within the MCU, as well as the film ''Spider-Man: No Way Home'', which connected the MCU to other Spider-Man film franchises by featuring characters from Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy, Marc Webb's ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' films, and Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The SSU film '' Venom: Let There Be Carnage'' briefly featured the main universe of the MCU as well. In ''Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'', the main universe of MCU events was designated as Earth-616 (a designation first referenced in ''Spider-Man: Far From Home''), sharing the name of the main Marvel Comics universe, while another universe was designated as Earth-838. Phases Four, Five, and Six will comprise " The Multiverse Saga".

Recurring cast and characters

Additionally, Paul Bettany was the first actor to portray two main characters within the universe, voicing Tony Stark's artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. in the ''Iron Man'' and ''Avengers'' films, and portraying Vision in ''Avengers'' films, ''Captain America: Civil War'', and the miniseries ''WandaVision''. J. K. Simmons became the first actor to reprise a non-MCU role in the MCU when he appeared as J. Jonah Jameson (a role he played in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy from 2002 to 2007) in ''Spider-Man: Far From Home''.

Prior to his death in 2018, Stan Lee, creator or co-creator of many of the characters seen in the MCU, made cameo appearances in all of the feature films and television series except ''Inhumans''. In ''Iron Fist'', it is revealed his on-set photograph cameo in the Marvel Netflix series is as NYPD Captain Irving Forbush. His cameo in ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' sees Lee appearing as an informant to the Watchers, discussing previous adventures that include Lee's cameos in other MCU films; he specifically mentions his time as a FedEx delivery man, referring to Lee's cameo in ''Captain America: Civil War''. This acknowledged the fan theory that Lee may be portraying the same character in all his cameos, with writer and director James Gunn noting that "people thought Stan Lee is Uatu the Watcher] and that all of these cameos are part of him being a Watcher. So, Stan Lee as a guy who is working for the Watchers was something that I thought was fun for the MCU." Feige added that Lee "clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films. So the notion that he could be sitting there on a cosmic pit stop during the jump gate sequence in ''Guardians''...really says, so wait a minute, he's this same character who's popped up in all these films?" Following Lee's death, Marvel Studios chose not to create any new Lee cameos in future projects. NY1 news anchor Pat Kiernan has also appeared in multiple MCU films and television series as himself.

Reception

Early on, the shared universe element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was criticized by some journalists. Around the release of ''The Avengers'' in 2012, Jim Vorel of ''Herald & Review'' called the Marvel Cinematic Universe "complicated" and "impressive", but said, "As more and more heroes get their own film adaptations, the overall universe becomes increasingly confusing." Kofi Outlaw of ''Screen Rant'' stated that while ''The Avengers'' was a success, "Marvel Studios still has room to improve their approach to building a shared movie universe". Some reviewers criticized the fact that the desire to create a shared universe led to films that did not hold as well on their own. In his review of ''Thor: The Dark World'', ''Forbes'' critic Scott Mendelson likened the MCU to "a glorified television series", with ''The Dark World'' being a "'stand-alone' episode that contains little long-range mythology". Collider's Matt Goldberg considered that while ''Iron Man 2'', ''Thor'' and ''Captain America: The First Avenger'' were quality productions, "they have never really been their own movies", feeling that the plot detours to S.H.I.E.L.D. or lead-ups to ''The Avengers'' dragged down the films' narratives.

The metaphor of the MCU as "the world's biggest TV show" was discussed again, after the release of ''Captain America: Civil War'', by Emily VanDerWerff of '' Vox'', who felt that film in particular highlighted Marvel's success with the model, saying, "Viewed in complete isolation, the plot of ''Captain America: Civil War'' makes little to no sense ... utwhen you think about where aptain Americahas been in earlier Marvel films ... his leeriness about being subject to oversight makes a lot more sense." VanDerWerff continued that when thinking about the MCU as a television series, many "common criticisms people tend to level at it take on a new context" such as complaints that the films are formulaic, lack "visual spark", or "shoehorn in story elements" that "are necessary to set up future films", all characteristics that "are fairly typical on television, where a director's influence is much lower than that of the showrunner", in this case, Feige. Comparing the films to the series ''Game of Thrones'' specifically, VanDerWerff noted that each solo film checks "in on various characters and their individual side stories, before bringing everyone together in the finale (or, rather, an Avengers film)", with ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' being equivalent to the character Daenerys Targaryen—"both separated by long distances from everybody else". She noted that this format was an extension of early "TV-like" film franchises such as ''Star Wars'', as well as the format of the comics upon which the films are based. "I say all of this not to suggest that film franchises resembling TV series is necessarily a good trend", VanDerWerff concluded, "For as much as I generally enjoy the Marvel movies, I'm disheartened by the possibility that their particular form might take over the film industry ... But I also don't think it's the end of the world if Marvel continues on ... there's a reason TV has stolen so much of the cultural conversation over the past few decades. There's something legitimately exciting about the way the medium tells stories when it's good, and if nothing else, Marvel's success shows the film world could learn from that."

Following the conclusion of season one of ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', Mary McNamara at the ''Los Angeles Times'' praised the connections between that series and the films, stating that "never before has television been literally married to film, charged with filling in the back story and creating the connective tissue of an ongoing film franchise ... 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''is now not only a very good show in its own right, it's part of Marvel's multiplatform city-state. It faces a future of perpetual re-invention, and that puts it in the exhilarating first car of television's roller-coaster ride toward possible world domination." 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.'' had to bide time until ''The Winter Soldier''s release", which led to much criticism.

In January 2015, Michael Doran of Newsarama and Graeme McMillian of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' had a "point-counterpoint" debate in response to the first ''Ant-Man'' trailer. Doran stated, "Marvel has raised the bar high that as opposed to just allowing another film to finish under the CUbar, we're all overly and perhaps even eager to overreact to the first thing that doesn't clear it". McMillian responded, "at this point, Marvel's brand is such that I'm not sure it can offer up something like he trailer it seeming like a crushing disappointment ... part of Marvel's brand is that it offer the kind of run-of-the-mill superhero movie that you're talking about, that it's ... at least different enough to tweak and play with the genre somehow ... The fact that there's such upset about this trailer being ... well, okay ... suggests to me that the audience expecting something to knock their socks off." Doran concluded, "That does seem to be the point here—the expectations fans now have for everything Marvel Studios ... ndMarvel going to eventually falter."

After seeing the portrayal of Yellowjacket in ''Ant-Man'', the antagonist of the film, McMillian noted,

Following the release of ''Jessica Jones'', David Priest at '' CNET'' wrote about how the series rescues "Marvel from itself ... ''Jessica Jones'' takes big steps forward in terms of theme, craft and diversity. It's a good story first, and a superhero show second. And for the first time, the MCU seems like it matters. Our culture needs stories like this. Here's hoping Marvel keeps them coming." For Paul Tassi and Erik Kain of ''Forbes'', watching the series made them question the MCU, with Kain feeling that the "morally complex, violent, dark world of ''Jessica Jones'' has no place in the MCU ... right now, the MCU is holding back shows like ''Jessica Jones'' and ''Daredevil'', while those shows are contributing absolutely nothing to the MCU." Tassi went so far as to wonder what "the point of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" is, lamenting the lack of major crossovers in the franchise since the ''Winter Soldier'' reveal on ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', and saying that ''Jessica Jones'' is "so far removed from the world of ''The Avengers'', it might as well not be in the same universe at all ... really don't understand the point of he MCUif they're going to keep everything within it separated off in these little boxes". Conversely, Eric Francisco of Inverse called ''Jessica Jones''s lack of overt connections to the MCU "the show's chief advantage. Besides demonstrating how physically wide open the MCU's scope really is, ''Jessica Jones'' also proves the MCU's thematic durability."

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. This "raised hopes that Marvel could be uniting its film and Netflix universes", with "one of the first and strongest connections" between the two. ''Civil War'' writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed that Woodard would instead be portraying Miriam Sharpe in the film, explaining that she had been cast on the suggestion of Robert Downey, Jr., and they had not learned of her casting in ''Luke Cage'' until afterwards. This was not the first instance of actors being cast in multiple roles in the MCU, but this casting was called more "significant", and seen by many as a "disappointing" indication of "the growing divide" and "lack of more satisfying cooperation" between Marvel Studios and Marvel Television following the September 2015 corporate reshuffling of Marvel Entertainment.

Speaking to the 1990s setting of '' Captain Marvel'', "the MCU's first full period piece since Phase One's ''Captain America: The First Avenger'' in 2011", Richard Newby of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' felt the return of younger versions of some characters introduced and killed in earlier films "open dup the MCU in a whole new way and broaden dthe franchise's mantra of 'it's all connected. Speaking specifically to Clark Gregg's appearance as Agent Phil Coulson in the film, Newby noted the appearance "doesn't exactly mend fences between Marvel's film and TV divisions, utit does strengthen the connective tissue and the sense that these characters still matter in the grand scheme of Marvel's film plans". He also hoped that continuity from ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' would be maintained in ''Captain Marvel'', especially since Coulson has dealt with the Kree in the series. Newby also added that shifting to different time periods would help Marvel Studios "sustain this cinematic universe for the next 10 years" by allowing them to repeat some of the genres previously used, as they could then feel "fresh" and have "different rules and different restraints," as well as allow them to build upon material established in the television series such as ''Agent Carter''. He concluded,

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:

Many famous filmmakers expressed different views both on the success and quality of MCU. In October 2019, filmmaker Martin Scorsese openly criticized Marvel films in an interview and during a David Lean lecture in London, later expanded in an op-ed in ''The New York Times'', asserting that these films are not cinema, but are instead the equivalent of theme park rides that lack "mystery, revelation or genuine emotional danger". He also stated that such films are corporation products that have been "market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they're ready for consumption", and that the invasion of such "theme park" films in theaters crowded out films by other directors. Scorsese's remarks were dismissed by directors of MCU films such as Joss Whedon and James Gunn, while they were defended by Francis Ford Coppola, who described the potential effect of Marvel films in the film industry as "despicable". In September 2021, director Denis Villeneuve noted that Marvel films "are nothing more than a 'cut and paste' of others" that have "turned us into zombies a bit". In February 2022, director Roland Emmerich felt large blockbuster films such as the MCU and ''Star Wars'' films were "ruining our industry a little", since "nobody does anything original anymore". Conversely, George Miller stated, "To me, it's all cinema. I don't think you can ghettoize it and say, oh this is cinema or that is cinema. It applies to all the arts, to literature, the performing arts, painting and music, in all its form. It's such a broad spectrum, a wide range and to say that anyone is more significant or more important than the other, is missing the point. It's one big mosaic and each bit of work fits into it."

Marvel's audience was studied by Morning Consult, which found that only 9% of Marvel's fan base is Gen Z, 64% of fans are White adults, and 42% of fans live in suburban areas.

Cultural impact

Other studios

After the release of ''The Avengers'' in May 2012, Tom Russo of ''Boston.com'' noted that aside from the occasional "novelty" such as ''Alien vs. Predator'' (2004), the idea of a shared universe was virtually unheard of in Hollywood. Since that time, the shared universe model created by Marvel Studios has begun to be replicated by other film studios that held rights to other comic book characters. In April 2014, Tuna Amobi, a media analyst for Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services, stated that in the previous three to five years, Hollywood studios began planning "megafranchises" for years to come, opposed to working one blockbuster at a time. Amobi added, "A lot of these superhero characters were just being left there to gather dust. Disney has proved that this pproach and genrecan be a gold mine." With more studios now "playing the megafranchise game", Doug Creutz, media analyst for Cowen and Company, feels the allure will eventually die for audiences: "If Marvel's going to make two or three films a year, and Warner Brothers is going to do at least a film every year, and Sony's going to do a film every year, and Fox sgoing to do a film every year, can everyone do well in that scenario? I'm not sure they can."

In March 2018, Patrick Shanley of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' opined that "the key differences between a regular franchise, such as ''The Fast and the Furious'' or ''Pitch Perfect'' films, and a shared universe is the amount of planning and interweaving that goes into each individual film. Its all too easy to make a film that exists solely for the purpose of setting up future installments and expanding a world, rather than a film that stands on its own merits while deftly hinting or winking at its place in the larger mythos. In that, the MCU has flourished." He felt that ''Iron Man'' "itself was aimed at being an enjoyable stand-alone experience, not as an overall advertisement for 17 subsequent movies. That mentality has persisted through most of the MCU films over the past decade, which is all the more impressive as its roster of heroes now exceeds the two-dozen mark."

DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures

In October 2012, following its legal victory over Joe Shuster's estate for the rights to Superman, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that it planned to move ahead with its long-awaited Justice League film, uniting such DC Comics superheroes as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The company was expected to take the opposite approach to Marvel, releasing individual films for the characters after they have appeared in a team-up film. The release of '' Man of Steel'' in 2013 was intended to be the start of a new shared universe for DC, "laying the groundwork for the future slate of films based on DC Comics". In 2014, Warner Bros. announced that slate of films, similarly to Disney and Marvel claiming dates for films years in advance. That year, DC CCO Geoff Johns stated that the television series ''Arrow'' and ''The Flash'' were set in a separate universe from the new film one, later clarifying that "We look at it as the multiverse. We have our TV universe and our film universe, but they all co-exist. For us, creatively, it's about allowing everyone to make the best possible product, to tell the best story, to do the best world. Everyone has a vision and you really want to let the visions shine through ... It's just a different approach o Marvel's"

Discussing the apparent failure of the cinematic universe's first team-up film, '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'', to establish a successful equivalent to the MCU, Emily VanDerWerff noted that where the MCU has a television-like "showrunner" in Feige, "the visionary behind Marvel's entire slate", the DCEU has director Zack Snyder, whose DC films "seemingly start from the assumption that people have come not to see an individual story but a long series of teases for other ones. It's like he knows what he needs to do but can't focus on the task at hand. TV certainly isn't immune to that problem, but shows that get caught up in high-concept premises and big-picture thinking before doing the necessary legwork to establish characters and their relationships tend to be canceled." 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. The two were made producers on the ''Justice League'' films, on top of Johns' involvement in several "solo" films, such as the post-production process of ''Suicide Squad'' or the writing process of a standalone Batman film. After the successful release of ''Wonder Woman'' in June 2017, DC decided to begin deemphasizing the shared nature of their films, with DC Entertainment president Diane Nelson stating, "Our intention, certainly, moving forward is using the continuity to help make sure nothing is diverging in a way that doesn't make sense, but there's no insistence upon an overall story line or interconnectivity in that universe... Moving forward, you'll see the DC movie universe being a universe, but one that comes from the heart of the filmmaker who's creating them." Additionally, DC began focusing on films "completely separate from everything else, set entirely outside" the DCEU as part of a new label, with the first film centered on the Joker. In August 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced a 10-year plan for the DC Extended Universe similar to the one that Horn and Iger employed with Feige for the MCU.

20th Century Fox

In November 2012, 20th Century Fox announced plans to create their own shared universe, consisting of Marvel properties that it holds the rights to including the Fantastic Four and X-Men, with the hiring of Mark Millar as supervising producer. Millar said, "Fox are thinking, 'We're sitting on some really awesome things here. There is another side of the Marvel Universe. Let's try and get some cohesiveness going.' So they brought me in to oversee that really. To meet with the writers and directors to suggest new ways we could take this stuff and new properties that could spin out of it." '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', released in 2014, was Fox's first step towards expanding their stable of Marvel properties and creating this universe, ahead of the release of a ''Fantastic Four'' reboot film the next year. In May 2014, ''Days of Future Past'' and ''Fantastic Four'' screenwriter Simon Kinberg stated that the latter film would not take place in the same universe as the ''X-Men'' films, explaining that "none of the ''X-Men'' movies have acknowledged the notion of a sort of superhero team—the Fantastic Four. And the Fantastic Four acquire powers, so for them to live in a world where mutants are prevalent is kind of complicated, because you're like, 'Oh, you're just a mutant.' Like, 'What's so fantastic about you?' ... they live in discrete universes." In July 2015, ''X-Men'' director Bryan Singer said that there was still potential for a crossover between the ''X-Men'' and ''Fantastic Four'' franchises, if reaction to ''Fantastic Four'' and '' X-Men: Apocalypse'' warranted it.

Feeling that Singer's efforts in ''Apocalypse'' to establish a larger world, similar to the MCU, did not meet the standards established by Marvel, VanDerWerff noted that unlike Feige's ability to serve as "pseudo-showrunner", Singer is instead "steeped in film and the way movie stories have always been told", so "when it comes time to have ''Apocalypse'' dovetail with story threads from the earlier '' X-Men: First Class'' irected by Matthew Vaughn">Matthew_Vaughn.html" ;"title="irected by Matthew Vaughn">irected by Matthew Vaughn/nowiki>, both Singer's direction and Simon Kinberg's script rely on hackneyed devices and clumsy storytelling", indicating a lack of "the kind of big-picture thinking this sort of mega franchise requires". In his review of ''Dark Phoenix (film)">Dark Phoenix