List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films are an American series of superhero films, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced ten films, with seven more in various stages of production. The series has collectively grossed over $7 billion at the global box office, making it the second highest-grossing film franchise, behind Harry Potter.

Kevin Feige has produced every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avi Arad served as a producer on the two 2008 releases, and Gale Anne Hurd also produced The Incredible Hulk. The films are written and directed by a variety of individuals and feature large, often ensemble, casts. Many of the actors, including Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson, signed contracts to star in numerous films.

The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was 2008's Iron Man, which was distributed by Paramount Pictures. Paramount also distributed Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), while Universal Pictures distributed The Incredible Hulk (2008). Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures began distributing the films with the 2012 crossover film Marvel's The Avengers, which concluded Phase One of the franchise. Phase Two includes Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), which is currently in post-production. Ant-Man (2015), which is currently filming, is planned to be the first film in the franchise's Phase Three, followed by Captain America 3 (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017). Two more films are scheduled for release in 2017, with three more in 2018, and another in 2019.

Iron Man (2008)
Billionaire industrialist Tony Stark builds himself a suit of armor after he is taken captive by a terrorist organization. Free from his captors, he decides to upgrade and don his armor as Iron Man in order to hunt down weapons that were sold under the table.

In April 2006, Marvel hired Jon Favreau to direct Iron Man, with Arthur Marcum and Matt Holloway, and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby writing competing scripts. Favreau consolidated both into one script, which was then polished by John August. Robert Downey, Jr. was cast in the title role in September 2006, after growing out a goatee and working out to convince the filmmakers he was right for the part. Principal photography began on March 12, 2007, with the first few weeks spent on Stark's captivity in Afghanistan, which was filmed in Inyo County, California. Production also occurred on the former Hughes Company soundstages in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California, with additional filming at Edwards Air Force Base and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Iron Man premiered at the Greater Union theater in George Street, Sydney, on April 14, 2008, and was released internationally on April 30, and in North America on May 2.

The film ended with a post-credits scene featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who approaches Stark regarding the "Avenger Initiative". Favreau said that he included the scene as "a little tip of the hat for the fans [...] a way to sort of tee up The Avengers." Jackson was only on set for a day, with a skeletal crew to avoid the news of his cameo leaking. Captain America's shield was also visible in the background of a scene; it had initially been inserted by an ILM artist as a joke, but Favreau decided to leave it in the film.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)
After being exposed to gamma radiation that causes him to transform into the monstrous Hulk, scientist Bruce Banner goes on the run and isolates himself from his love, Betty Ross. Hunted by the military, Banner seeks to cure himself and prevent his condition from being weaponized.

In January 2006, Marvel reclaimed the film rights for the Hulk character from Universal Pictures after Universal failed to meet a deadline to develop a sequel to director Ang Lee's 2003 film Hulk. Universal retained distribution rights for future Hulk films. Instead of moving forward with a sequel, Marvel hired Louis Leterrier to direct The Incredible Hulk, a reboot. Leterrier initially turned down the job out of respect for Lee, but later reconsidered and signed on. The script was written by Zak Penn, who drafted a treatment for the 2003 film. In April 2006, Edward Norton entered negotiations to portray Bruce Banner and rewrite Penn's script, although Penn received sole credit for the screenplay. Production began on July 9, 2007 and filming primarily took place in Toronto, with additional filming in New York City and Rio de Janeiro. The film premiered at the Gibson Amphitheatre on June 8, 2008, and was released on June 13.

Downey briefly reprised his role from Iron Man as Tony Stark in a cameo appearance at the end of the film. Downey said that the filmmakers "were just cross-pollinating our superheroes. It happens to be a scene where I basically approach [actor William Hurt's character General Ross], and we may be considering going into some sort of limited partnership together. The great thing is he—and I don't want to give too much away—but he's in disrepair at the time I find him. It was really fun seeing him play this really powerful character who's half in the bag." In addition, Captain America is briefly seen frozen in ice in an alternate opening of the film, included in the DVD release.

Iron Man 2 (2010)
After Tony Stark reveals himself to be Iron Man, the U.S. government demands he hand over his technology. Meanwhile, a rival industrialist and a Russian scientist conspires to use his own technology against him.

Immediately following the successful release of Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel Studios announced it was developing a sequel, Iron Man 2. Favreau returned as director and Justin Theroux was hired to write the screenplay, which would be based on an original story by Favreau and Downey. In October 2008, Downey signed a new four-picture deal, that retroactively included the first film, to reprise his role and Don Cheadle was hired to replace Terrance Howard as James Rhodes. Jackson signed on to reprise his role as Nick Fury from the Iron Man post-credits sequence in up to nine films, and Scarlett Johansson was cast as the Black Widow, as part of a multi-film commitment. Principal photography began April 6, 2009, at the Pasadena Masonic Temple in Pasadena, California. The majority of filming took place at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California. Other locations included Edwards Air Force Base, Monaco, and the Sepulveda Dam. Iron Man 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 26, 2010, and was released internationally between April 28 and May 7 before releasing in North America on May 7.

The filmmakers continued to reference other Marvel films by again including Captain America's shield. Favreau explained, "We introduced Captain America's shield briefly in one shot in the last film. So now it really was in his room, so we had figure out how to deal with the reality that the shield was in his workshop." A scene toward the end of Iron Man 2 in a S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse contains several Easter eggs, ranging from footage from The Incredible Hulk displayed on a monitor to pointers on a map indicating several locales related to other Marvel films, including one pointing toward a region of Africa in reference to the Black Panther. The film's post-credits scene showed the discovery of Thor's hammer in a crater.

Thor (2011)
Thor, crown prince of Asgard, is banished to Earth and stripped of his powers after he reignites a dormant war. As his brother, Loki, plots to take the throne for himself, Thor must prove himself worthy and reclaim his hammer Mjolnir.

Mark Protosevich was hired to develop a script for Thor in April 2006, after the rights were acquired from Sony Pictures. In August 2007 Marvel hired Matthew Vaughn to direct the film, however he exited the project in May 2008. In September 2008, Kenneth Branagh entered into negotiations to replace Vaughn. In May 2009, Chris Hemsworth was in negotiations to portray the titular character, and Tom Hiddleston was set to play his brother, Loki. Both actors were contracted to star in several films. Marvel hired Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz to write a new script for the film, which was then rewritten by Don Payne. Production began on January 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, before moving to Galisteo, New Mexico in March. Thor had its world premiere on April 17, 2011 at the Event Cinemas theatre in George Street, Sydney and a U.S. premiere on May 2 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The film was released internationally from April 21 to 30, and on May 6 in North America.

Clark Gregg, who appeared in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson, reprised the role in Thor. About his role in Thor he stated, "Agent Coulson was one of the guys who wasn't really in the comic books, and he [had] a very kind of small role in Iron Man. And I was just very lucky that they chose to expand that character and [chose] to put him more into the universe of it." After signing on to appear as Hawkeye in The Avengers, Jeremy Renner made a cameo appearance as the character during a scene in Thor. Branagh said that they "were always going to have a guy in a basket above the action where Thor breaks in the S.H.I.E.L.D. camp", and that he was thrilled when the producers told him they wanted to use Renner's Hawkeye for that role. The film ends with a post-credits scene featuring Loki, watching as Erik Selvig and Nick Fury discuss the Tesseract. The scene was directed by Joss Whedon, who directed The Avengers. Stellan Skarsgård, who played Selvig, said the scene was not included when he first read the screenplay for Thor, and that he was sent pages for the scene after agreeing to appear in The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
In 1942, Steve Rogers is deemed physically unfit to enlist in the U.S. Army and fight the Nazis in World War II. Recruited for a secret military operation, he is physically transformed into a super-soldier dubbed Captain America and must battle the Red Skull, head of a Nazi weaponry division known as Hydra.

In April 2006, Marvel hired David Self to write the script for a Captain America film. Joe Johnston signed on to direct in November 2008, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were hired to rewrite the script. In March 2010, Chris Evans was cast as Captain America and Hugo Weaving was cast as the Red Skull. Production began on June 28, 2010 in the United Kingdom, with locations in London, Caerwent, Manchester and Liverpool. The film premiered on July 19, 2011, at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was released in North America on July 22, and in international markets starting July 27.

The Tesseract from the Thor post-credits scene appears as a macguffin in Captain America: The First Avenger. In the film, Dominic Cooper portrays a young Howard Stark, the father of Tony Stark, who hosts an early version of the Stark Expo, the fair Tony hosts in Iron Man 2. The final scene of the film includes a brief appearance by Jackson's Nick Fury followed by a teaser trailer for Marvel's The Avengers after the credits.

Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., gathers the superheroes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye to fight Thor's brother Loki, who plots to subjugate the Earth.

Zak Penn, who wrote The Incredible Hulk, was hired to write a script for The Avengers in June 2007. In April 2010, Joss Whedon closed a deal to direct the film, and to rework Penn's script. Marvel announced that Edward Norton would not be reprising the role of Bruce Banner / The Hulk, and in July 2010, Mark Ruffalo was cast in his place. Downey, Evans, Hemsworth, Johansson, Renner, Hiddleston and Jackson reprised their respective roles from previous films. Principal photography began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in August, and New York City in September. The premiere was held on April 11, 2012 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and the film was released in North America on May 4.

Gwyneth Paltrow, who portrayed Pepper Potts in Iron Man and Iron Man 2, was included in the film at Downey's insistence. Prior to this, Whedon had not intended the film to include supporting characters from the heroes' individual films, commenting, "You need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team." Avi Arad said that Sony Pictures and Disney discussed incorporating the OsCorp Tower from the The Amazing Spider-Man into the climax of The Avengers, but Feige said that "the deal was never close to happening." The supervillain Thanos appears in a mid-credits scene, portrayed by Damion Poitier.

Iron Man 3 (2013)
Tony Stark faces a powerful enemy, the Mandarin, who attacks and destroys his mansion. Left to his own devices and battling posttraumatic stress disorder, Stark struggles to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious explosions.

In late 2010, Marvel and Disney announced that they were developing a third Iron Man film. In February 2011, Marvel hired Shane Black to direct Iron Man 3. Black co-wrote the film's script with Drew Pearce. Downey, Paltrow, and Cheadle reprised their roles from Iron Man 2, while Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley joined the cast as Aldrich Killian and Trevor Slattery, respectively. Filming began in May 2012, in North Carolina. Additional filming took place in southern Florida, China, and Los Angeles. Iron Man 3 premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris, France on April 14, 2013 and at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on April 24. The film released internationally on April 25 and in the U.S. on May 3.

The film is set six months after the events that occurred in The Avengers. In the film Tony Stark experiences PTSD-like symptoms following the Battle of New York in The Avengers. Black explained, "that's an anxiety response to feeling inferior to The Avengers, but also to being humbled by sights he cannot possibly begin to understand or reconcile with the realities he's used to... There's a line in the movie about 'ever since that big guy with the hammer fell out of the sky, the rules have changed'. That's what we're dealing with here." Dr. Bruce Banner appears in a post-credits scene, with Ruffalo reprising the role. About the scene, Ruffalo said "They were about to wrap the movie and I saw Robert [Downey Jr.] at the Academy Awards... and he said, 'What do you think about coming and doing a day?' I said, 'Are you kidding me? Bang, lets do it!' We sort of spitballed that scene, then I came in and we shot for a couple of hours and laughed."

Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Thor reunites with astrophysicist Jane Foster as a series of portals, linking worlds at random, begin to appear. He discovers that Malekith and his army of Dark Elves intend to destroy the universe utilizing a powerful artifact. Thor must join forces with his now-imprisoned brother Loki to stop them.

A sequel to Thor was first announced in June 2011, with Hemsworth reprising his role as Thor. Hiddleston confirmed he would return as Loki in September, and Alan Taylor signed on to direct the film in December. The film's title was announced as Thor: The Dark World in July 2012 at the San Diego Comic-Con International, and Christopher Eccleston was cast as Malekith a month later. Production started in September 2012 in Bourne Wood, Surrey, with additional filming taking place in Iceland and London. The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on October 22, 2013. It was internationally released on October 30, 2013 and on November 8, 2013 in North America.

The film is set one year after the events of The Avengers. Evans briefly makes a cameo appearance in the film as Captain America when Loki shapeshifts into him while mocking Thor. Hiddleston wore the Captain America costume while standing in for Evans, before Evans came to shoot the scene. Hiddleston said, "I did an impression of Loki in the Captain America costume, and then they showed Chris [Evans] my performance on tape. It's him doing an impression of me doing an impression of him. And it's brilliant." James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, directed the mid-credits scene which featured the Collector, played by Benicio del Toro. Asked about shooting the scene, Gunn said, "I got the script that morning, and I did it in two hours at the end of a day of second unit shooting [for Guardians of the Galaxy]."

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Steve Rogers, now working with S.H.I.E.L.D., teams up with Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow and Sam Wilson / Falcon to expose a deep conspiracy which involves a mysterious assassin known only as the Winter Soldier.

A sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger was announced in April 2012. Anthony and Joe Russo were hired to direct in June, and in July it was officially titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Evans and Jackson were set to reprise their respective roles as Captain America and Nick Fury, and Johansson would again play the Black Widow. Sebastian Stan, who portrayed Bucky in Captain America: The First Avenger, returned as the Winter Soldier. Production started in April 2013 in Manhattan Beach, California, and filming also took place in Washington, D.C. and Cleveland, Ohio. The film premiered in Los Angeles on March 13, 2014. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released internationally on March 26 and in North America on April 4.

The film is set two years after the events of The Avengers. Stephen Strange, the alter-ego of the Marvel superhero Doctor Strange, is mentioned by name in the film by the character Jasper Sitwell. A remodeled Stark Tower from The Avengers, now known as Avengers Tower, also makes an appearance in the film. Whedon directed a post-credits scene featuring Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who are scheduled to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The revelation in the film that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra informed the final six episodes of the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a television series set in the MCU.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)


Peter Quill / Star-Lord and a group of misfits, including Gamora, Rocket, Drax the Destroyer and Groot, fight to keep a powerful orb from the clutches of the villainous Ronan.

Nicole Perlman began writing a screenplay in 2009. Marvel Studios announced it was developing a Guardians of the Galaxy film in July 2012. The film is directed by James Gunn, based on his and Perlman's screenplay. In February 2013, Chris Pratt was cast in the lead role, as Peter Quill. The film was shot at Shepperton Studios and in London from July to October 2013, and post-production work was completed on July 7, 2014. The film premiered on July 21, 2014 in Hollywood. Guardians of the Galaxy was released in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2014, and in North America on August 1.

Josh Brolin provides the voice and performance capture for Thanos, the supervillain who appeared in The Avengers mid-credits scene. Gunn noted that the film would be connected to Avengers 3. Several other objects of significance appear in the Collector's museum, including a Chitauri from The Avengers and a Dark Elf from Thor: The Dark World, among other characters. About their appearances Gunn said, "There's a lot of stuff in the Collector's Museum. And for me, it was mostly just really fun. As a Marvel fan, giving the actual fans something that they can freeze frame on their Blu-Ray at home and just kind of pick out everything that's in there. So there are, I mean, seriously all those boxes have something interesting in them, so it's pretty fun."

Recurring cast and characters
 List indicator(s)
 * This table only includes characters which have appeared in multiple film franchises within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and have appeared in the billing block for at least one film. (see FAQ)
 * A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced.
 * A indicates a voice-only role
 * A indicates an uncredited cameo role

Home media
In June 2012, Marvel announced the release of a 10-disc Blu-ray box set titled Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled, for September 25, 2012. The box set includes the first six films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Marvel's The Avengers—in a replica of Nick Fury's briefcase from The Avengers. In August 2012, luggage company Rimowa GmbH, who developed the briefcase for The Avengers, filed suit against Marvel Studios and Buena Vista Home Entertainment in U.S. federal court, complaining that "Marvel did not obtain any license or authorization from Rimowa to make replica copies of the cases for any purpose". The set was delayed and the packaging was redesigned for 2013. The box set, with a redesigned case, was released on April 2, 2013. In addition, the box set included a featurette on the upcoming Phase Two movies, showing footage and concept art, as well as previously unreleased deleted scenes from all of the Phase One films.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye must reassemble as the Avengers to defeat Ultron, a technological enemy bent on human extinction, while encountering the powerful twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, as well as the familiar Vision.

A sequel to The Avengers was announced by Disney in May 2012, shortly after the first film's release. It is set for release on May 1, 2015. In August 2012, Joss Whedon was signed to return as writer and director. In June 2013, Robert Downey, Jr. signed a deal to reprise the role of Iron Man for the second and third films. On July 20, 2013, at San Diego Comic-Con International, Whedon announced that the subtitle of the film would be Age of Ultron. In August 2013, James Spader was announced as portraying Ultron. Second unit filming began on February 11, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Principal photography began in March 2014 at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, with additional footage filmed at Fort Bard and various other locations in the Aosta Valley region of Italy, and Seoul, South Korea. Filming was completed on August 6, 2014.

Ant-Man (2015)
Con-man Scott Lang must aid his mentor Dr. Hank Pym in safeguarding the mystery of the Ant-Man technology, which allows its user to decrease in size but increase in strength, from various menaces and plot a caper to defend the Earth.

Ant-Man will be directed by Peyton Reed with a screenplay written by Gabriel Ferrari, Andrew Barrer, and Adam McKay that includes both Scott Lang and Hank Pym. Edgar Wright was initially slated to direct and write the film, but left the project in May 2014 due to creative differences. It is set for release on July 17, 2015, and Feige confirmed that it will be the first film in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Pre-production started in October 2013, and principal photography began on August 18, 2014 in San Francisco. Filming will also occur in Fayette County, Georgia at Pinewood Atlanta, and Downtown Atlanta. In December 2013, Paul Rudd was cast as Ant-Man, followed in January 2014 with the casting of Michael Douglas as Pym and the confirmation of Rudd as Lang.

Captain America 3 (2016)
By January 2014, Anthony and Joe Russo had signed on to return to direct a third Captain America installment, which they confirmed in March 2014, with Chris Evans returning as Captain America, Feige returning to produce, and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely writing the screenplay. According to  Variety, the film is intended to be adapted from the Civil War storyline in the comics with Downey entering final negotiations to reprise the role of Iron Man. The film will be part of Phase Three and will be released on May 6, 2016. Filming is expected to begin in April 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Doctor Strange (2016)
In June 2010, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer were hired to write a screenplay for the character Doctor Strange. In January 2013, Kevin Feige confirmed that Doctor Strange would be a part of their Phase Three slate of movies. In June 2014, Scott Derrickson was hired to direct, and later in the month, Jon Spaihts entered negotiations to rewrite the script. Pre-production began in June 2014, with filming scheduled to begin in May 2015 at Pinewood-Shepperton in the UK. Doctor Strange is scheduled to be released on July 8, 2016.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
In July 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy co-writer Nicole Perlman confirmed that Gunn would return to write and direct the sequel. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is scheduled to be released on July 28, 2017.

Other potential projects
Marvel has announced six release dates for untitled projects: May 5 and November 3, 2017; May 4, July 6, and November 2, 2018; and May 3, 2019. Feige said that any official announcements regarding future projects would not be made until mid-2014 at the earliest, and also stated that the studio knows which films will premiere on each release date, that it was only a matter of when they choose to announce them. Feige and Marvel have films and story lines planned through 2028.

In January 2014, Marvel announced that a third Thor film was in the works, with Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost writing the screenplay. In July 2014, Feige said that the story was in the process of being outlined. In February 2014 Feige stated that after exploring Black Widow's past in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film. Marvel has done some development work for the potential film, including a "pretty in depth" treatment by Nicole Perlman.

A film based on The Runaways went through a number of iterations. Brian K. Vaughan was originally hired to write a screenplay based on the property in May 2008. In April 2010, Marvel hired Peter Sollett to direct the film, and Drew Pearce was hired to write the script in May. However, in September 2013 Pearce revealed that The Runaways film had been shelved in favor of The Avengers, with the earliest it could release being Phase Three.

Marvel has hired screenwriters for a number of other properties: Andrew W. Marlowe was hired to write a script for Nick Fury in April 2006; Rich Wilkes was hired to write a screenplay for Iron Fist in August 2010; and documentary filmmaker Mark Bailey was hired to write a script for Black Panther in January 2011. In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel had working scripts for Blade and Ms. Marvel. Feige mentioned Inhumans as a property out of which he was "confident" a film would be made, and by August 2014, the studio was ready to move forward in development with the film, with a screenplay written by Joe Robert Cole.