The Infinity Saga

Development

Initial development work for the Infinity Saga

By 2005, Marvel Entertainment had begun planning to produce its own films independently and distribute them through Paramount Pictures. In June 2007, Marvel Studios secured funding from a $525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch. Marvel planned to release individual films for their main characters and then merge them in a crossover film.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in November 2013 that releases each year would ideally include one film based on an existing character and one featuring a new character, feeling that would be "a nice rhythm", although, this was not always the case as shown by the sequels Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World being released in 2013. Feige elaborated in July 2014 that this model was being followed for 2014 and 2015, and he felt it would be fun to continue. After the reveal that month of multiple release dates for films through 2019, in which some years had three films scheduled, Feige said there was no "number cruncher" telling the studio to increase their film output and the change was based on them "managing [existing] franchises, film to film, and when we have a team ready to go, why tell them to go away for four years just because we don't have a slot? We'd rather find a way to keep that going." After the titles for these films were revealed in October 2014, Feige said the studio was "firing on all cylinders right now" and this made them comfortable with increasing to three films a year in 2017 and 2018 without changing their production approach. On the potential for so-called "superhero fatigue", Feige stated that, although each film is based on Marvel Comics and features the "Marvel Studios" logo, he believed each film had unique qualities that differentiated them from the others and from non-Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) superhero films. For example, he noted how the studio's 2016 releases, Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange, were "completely different movies". The studio hoped to continue to surprise audiences and "not [fall] into things becoming too similar".

In February 2014, Feige said Marvel Studios wanted to mimic the "rhythm" of comic book releases by having characters appear in their own films and then come together for crossover events, with Avengers films acting as "big, giant linchpins" within the shared universe. On expanding the number of characters in the universe and letting individual films breathe and work on their own, as opposed to having Avenger team-ups outside of Avengers films, Feige said they planned to teach general audiences "about the notion of the characters existing separately, coming together for specific events and going away and existing separately in their own worlds again. Just like comic readers have been doing for decades... people sort of are accepting that there's just a time when they should be together and there's a time when they're not." Discussing how much story is developed for future MCU films, Feige said in September 2015 that "broad strokes" and occasionally "super-specific things" are determined far in advance. He said there was enough leeway to "have room to sway and to move and to go and to surprise ourselves in places that we end up" and that each film would feel satisfying on its own, but still interconnected to the larger universe and as if it had been planned years ahead of time. The studio has contingency plans for times when they are unable to secure a certain actor to reprise a role, and can respond to surprises such as the film rights to use Spider-Man becoming available in February 2015.

Expansion to the Multiverse Saga and shifting approach

In July 2019, Feige announced the Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con, consisting of films and television event series for the streaming service Disney+. In December 2020, at Disney's Investor Day, Marvel provided updates to previously announced films for the Phase. In late June 2022, Feige said audiences would begin to see where the next saga of the MCU would be heading as Phase Four neared its conclusion, adding that there had been many clues throughout the Phase to what that would be. He said Marvel Studios would be a "little more direct" on their future plans in the following months to provide audiences with "the bigger picture". In July 2022, Feige unveiled the Phase Five and Six slates at San Diego Comic-Con, similarly consisting of films and Disney+ series, and revealed that these three Phases would make up "The Multiverse Saga".

In May 2024, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company planned to release two, or at most three, Marvel films a year moving forward, down from four films being released in some recent years, as part of Disney's larger strategy to reduce its content output and focus on quality. At that time, four films were still expected to be released in both 2025 and 2026. Iger said Marvel content would continue to balance sequels with new franchises. Later in 2024, Disney removed the long-in-development film Blade from its 2025 release date and also removed an unspecified Marvel film that was scheduled for July 2026, which was replaced by Sony Pictures's Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Feige said the three films that were still scheduled for 2025 had been in development for a long time and were ready for release. He expected Marvel Studios to start releasing two films a year from 2026, but said there was potential for anywhere between one and three films in some years. In May 2025, Iger called Thunderbolts* the "first and best example" of Marvel Studios' refocusing efforts.

Further changes to Marvel Studios' release slate resulted in over a year gap between The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) and Brand New Day; this would be the longest gap between MCU film releases since the gap between Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Black Widow (2021), which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2025, Feige said the studio was working to reduce its film budgets, which had increased since Endgame in part due to the pandemic. He said the budgets for their 2024 and 2025 films were a third lower than those for 2022 and 2023. Marvel Studios executives met with the creative team behind the film The Creator (2023) to understand how that film was made with a relatively low $80 million budget. Additionally, Feige stated that Marvel Studios had made a deal to film many of their then-upcoming films at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom, where several of their other films had previously been shot. He said Marvel Studios anticipated utilizing studio space in Georgia and New York as well, rather than California, because of those states' production tax credits. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Marvel would largely forego shooting in Georgia because of its rising costs, instead choosing to shoot in the United Kingdom because it had become cheaper to do so.

Films

Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases", with three phases making up a "Saga".

The Infinity Saga

The films from Phases One, Two, and Three are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga".

The Multiverse Saga

The films from Phases Four, Five, and Six are collectively known as "The Multiverse Saga". These phases also include television series and television specials streaming on Disney+.

Phase Seven

After the Multiverse Saga, the next MCU saga is expected to center on characters that Marvel Studios inherited during the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, including the X-Men. Feige reportedly had a 10-year plan for the X-Men in the MCU by May 2025.

At SDCC in July 2019, Kevin Feige said mutants, which include the X-Men, would be introduced to the MCU, and they would differ from 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series. Michael Lesslie entered negotiations to write a new X-Men film in May 2024, and was confirmed to be writing it a year later. Jake Schreier was announced as director following positive responses to his film Thunderbolts* (2025). After bringing back actors from Fox's X-Men films for the Multiverse Saga, Feige said this film would feature a recast X-Men team following the MCU's "reset" in Secret Wars. He said it would be "a very youth-oriented, focused and cast movie". Schreier revealed in April 2026 that Joanna Calo and Lee Sung Jin were writing a new draft of the script after they collaborated with him on Thunderbolts* and the television series Beef (2023–present). Following an active casting process, the first actors were announced in August 2026, including Sadie Sink reprising her role as Jean Grey from the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). The film is scheduled for release on May 5, 2028.

The film rights to the character Ghost Rider reverted to Marvel Studios from Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures in May 2013. Those companies produced the films Ghost Rider (2007) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011), both starring Nicolas Cage as the Johnny Blaze incarnation of the character. After Ryan Gosling publicly expressed interest in portraying Ghost Rider in the MCU in 2022, Feige suggested that he was open to that. At SDCC in July 2026, Gosling was confirmed to be starring in a new Ghost Rider film to be directed by Shawn Levy and written by Jonathan Tropper. Levy previously directed Deadpool & Wolverine for Marvel Studios, and worked with Gosling and Tropper on the film Star Wars: Starfighter (2027). Gosling was reported to be portraying Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider. The film is scheduled to be released on July 28, 2028.

By November 2022, writer and director Ryan Coogler had discussed a potential third Black Panther film with Feige. Former Marvel Studios executive Nate Moore–who left the studio in March 2025–returned to produce the film alongside Marvel Studios. In November 2025, Coogler confirmed that Black Panther III would be his next film and said development had begun. At SDCC in July 2026, Feige and Coogler announced that David Jonsson had been cast as an adult version of T'Challa II / Toussaint, who was introduced as a child in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and would take on the mantle of Black Panther in Black Panther III. The film is scheduled for release on December 15, 2028.

Future

Disney has reserved release dates for unspecified Marvel Studios films on May 4, July 13, and November 9, 2029.

At any given time, Marvel Studios has future films planned around five to six years out from what they have announced. In July 2025, Feige said they had a seven-year plan through 2032 with potential films on magnets that could be moved around. Marvel Studios was looking to release one to three films a year at that point. A year later, he said potential films were planned through 2042.

In February 2025, producer Nate Moore said work on some projects, such as Armor Wars, had slowed down since the studio began reducing content output and focusing on quality. By that May, Marvel Studios was set to gauge the interest of frequent writer Eric Pearson in projects that were planned for after Avengers: Secret Wars.

James Rhodes must confront one of Tony Stark's greatest fears when Stark's tech falls into the wrong hands.

In December 2020, Marvel Studios announced Armor Wars as a Disney+ series based on the 1987–1988 comic book storyline "Armor Wars", with Don Cheadle reprising his role as James Rhodes / War Machine. In August 2021, Yassir Lester was hired as the series' head writer. In September 2022, Marvel Studios decided to rework the series into a feature film, with Cheadle and Lester remaining with the project. Development had slowed down by February 2025.

Armor Wars is set after the events of Secret Invasion (2023). Walton Goggins was set to reprise his role as Sonny Burch from Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018).

A television series featuring the character Richard Rider / Nova was revealed to be in development in March 2022, with Sabir Pirzada writing. Development had slowed down by February 2023 amid Disney's larger decision to scale back content output and costs. In July 2024, Feige confirmed the series would feature Rider and anticipated that it would be released three or four years later. That December, Ed Bernero was hired as writer and showrunner, but the series was put on pause in February 2025. Michael Waldron was revealed in July 2026 to be writing a script for a Nova film that was in early development as a reworking of the series. Waldron was also considering directing the film if it were to move forward.

Release

Theatrical distribution

Over time, the distribution rights to Marvel Studios' films have changed hands on multiple occasions. In November 2006, Universal Pictures announced that it would distribute The Incredible Hulk (2008), in an arrangement separate from Marvel's 2005 deal with Paramount, which was distributing Marvel's other films. In September 2008, after the international success of Iron Man (2008), Paramount signed a deal to have worldwide distribution rights for Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and The Avengers (2012).

In late December 2009, the Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Additionally, in October 2010, Walt Disney Studios bought the distribution rights for The Avengers and Iron Man 3 from Paramount Pictures, with Paramount's logo remaining on the films, as well as for promotional material and merchandise, although Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is the only studio credited at the end of these films. Disney has distributed all subsequent Marvel Studios films. In July 2013, Disney purchased the distribution rights to Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger from Paramount. The Incredible Hulk was not part of the deal at the time, due to an agreement between Marvel and Universal, where Marvel owns the film rights and Universal owns the distribution rights, for this film as well as the right of first refusal to distribute future Hulk films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a potential reason why Marvel has not bought the film distribution rights to the Hulk as they did with Paramount for the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America films is that Universal holds the theme park rights to several Marvel characters that Disney wants for its own theme parks. In June 2023, the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk reverted from Universal back to Marvel Studios and Disney.

In April 2026, Disney announced their "Infinity Vision" certification for premium large formats, informing audiences which theaters offer "the biggest, brightest, and most immersive cinematic experiences" and meet certain technical standards. The re-release of Endgame in September 2026 will be Marvel Studios' first film in Infinity Vision, followed by Doomsday in December 2026.

In February 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios announced a licensing deal that would allow Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the character first appearing in Captain America: Civil War. Spider-Man films produced by Marvel Studios would continue to be financed, distributed, and controlled by Sony Pictures. In June 2015, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal does not apply to the MCU television series, as it was "very specific ... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed". Both studios can terminate the agreement at any point, and no money was exchanged with the deal. However, a small adjustment was made to a 2011 deal formed between the two studios (where Marvel gained full control of Spider-Man's merchandising rights, in exchange for making a one-time payment of $175 million to Sony and paying up to $35 million for each future Spider-Man film, and forgoing receiving their previous 5% of any Spider-Man film's revenue), with Marvel getting to reduce their $35 million payment to Sony if Spider-Man: Homecoming grossed more than $750 million. Marvel Studios still received 5% of first dollar gross for the film. Sony also paid Marvel Studios an undisclosed producer fee for Homecoming.

Home media

In June 2012, Marvel announced a 10-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled", for release on September 25, 2012. The box set includes all six of the Phase One films—Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers—on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D, 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 to early 2013 for the packaging to be redesigned. The box set, with a redesigned case, was released on April 2, 2013. In addition, the box set included a featurette on the then-upcoming Phase Two films, showing footage and concept art, as well as previously unreleased deleted scenes from all of the Phase One films.

In July 2015, Marvel announced a 13-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", for release on December 8, 2015, exclusive to Amazon.com. The box set includes all six of the Phase Two films—Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man—on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and a digital copy, in a replica of the Orb from Guardians of the Galaxy, plus a bonus disc and exclusive memorabilia. Material on the bonus disc includes all of the Marvel One-Shots with commentary, deleted scenes and pre-production creative features for each of the films, featurettes on the making of the post-credit scenes for the films, and first looks at Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

In September 2019, Feige indicated a box set with all 23 films of "The Infinity Saga" would be released, with the set including previously unreleased deleted scenes and other footage, such as an alternate take of the Nick Fury post-credits scene from Iron Man which references Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men. The box set, featuring all 23 films on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray, a bonus disc, a letter from Feige, and a lithograph art piece by Matt Ferguson, was released on November 15, 2019, exclusively at Best Buy.

In March 2008, Marvel Studios presold the US cable broadcast rights to FX for five of their films, including Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, for four years. FX also acquired the rights to Iron Man 3 in May 2013. In September 2014, TNT acquired the US cable broadcast rights to five Marvel Studios films, beginning with Avengers: Age of Ultron, for broadcast two years after their theatrical release.

IMAX 10th anniversary festival

From August 30 to September 6, 2018, in conjunction with Marvel Studios' 10-year anniversary celebrations, all 20 films released at the time (Iron Man through Ant-Man and the Wasp) were screened in IMAX. The films were shown in release order, with four films per day. The final days of the festival were theme-related, with one showing "origin" films (Iron Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange), one showing "team-ups" (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers, and Avengers: Infinity War), and the final day showing Iron Man and The Avengers as chosen by the fans via a Twitter poll. The festival also saw Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America: The First Avenger released in IMAX for the first time.

Reception

Box office performance

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time worldwide, both unadjusted and adjusted-for-inflation, having grossed over $34.8 billion at the global box office. Several of its sub-series such as the Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Spider-Man film series are among the most successful film series of all time. From July 2019 to March 2021, Avengers: Endgame was the highest-grossing film of all time. With the release of Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), the MCU became the first film franchise to cross $30 billion.

Accolades

The films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been nominated for numerous awards, including 27 Academy Awards (winning four).

Repurposed and abandoned projects

The following projects were in development as films from Marvel Studios before becoming television series under Marvel Television:

Runaways: 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. Feige and Marvel Studios producer Jodi Hildebrand envisioned the film as a coming-of-age story in the style of director John Hughes. In April 2010, Marvel hired Peter Sollett to direct the film, and Drew Pearce was hired to write a script in May. The film was developed under the working title Small Faces, referencing the 1960s rock band Small Faces. In October 2010, development on the film was put on hold, with Vaughan later noting Marvel Studios had decided to focus their efforts on a Guardians of the Galaxy film instead. Pearce revealed in September 2013 that the Runaways film had been shelved in favor of The Avengers, with the earliest it could release being Phase Three. Speaking in the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios (2023), producer Craig Kyle noted that the film had been shelved because the New York-based Creative Committee did not believe the film's character make up fit their ideal demographic of what would help sell toys. In October 2014, after announcing all of Marvel's Phase Three films without Runaways, Feige stated the project was "still an awesome script that exists in our script vault", adding, "We'd love to do something with Runaways some day. In our television and future film discussions, it's always one that we talk about, because we have a solid draft there. But again, we can't make them all." In August 2016, Marvel Television announced Marvel's Runaways from the streaming service Hulu, with the series receiving a full season order in May 2017. It premiered in November 2017. Hulu announced in November 2019 that the third season of Runaways would be its last.

Inhumans: In April 2013, Feige mentioned the Inhumans as a property out of which he was "confident" a film would be made. Inhumans as a concept would first be introduced to the MCU in 2014 through the second season of the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. By August 2014, the studio was ready to move forward in development with the film, with a screenplay written by Joe Robert Cole. In October 2014, the film was announced for Phase Three and scheduled for release in July 2019. By October 2015, Cole was no longer involved with the film and any potential drafts that he may have written would not be used. In April 2016, Inhumans was removed from the release schedule, and would no longer be a part of Phase Three. In July 2016, Feige said Inhumans would "certainly" be a part of the discussion regarding the film ideas for 2020 and 2021, adding the following November that he was still optimistic the film could be released in Phase Four. In November 2016, Marvel Television announced the series Marvel's Inhumans, which premiered on ABC in September 2017, after the first two episodes were screened in IMAX. The series was not intended to be a reworking of the film. ABC canceled Inhumans after one season in May 2018.

Connections with other Spider-Man franchises

Following Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' September 2019 agreement, Feige noted that as Sony continued to separately build their own shared universe, Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), it was possible the MCU version of Spider-Man could appear in that universe. This interaction was said to be "a 'call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what ... would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe". In May 2021, Adam B. Vary of Variety called the connections between the two universes perplexing, specifically because if Holland were to appear in an SSU film it would retroactively make any previous SSU films part of the MCU, and because a teaser trailer for the SSU film Morbius (2022) had featured Michael Keaton, who previously played Adrian Toomes / Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Sony Pictures Group President Sanford Panitch acknowledged this confusion and said there was a plan to clarify the relationship between the two universes. He believed it was already "getting a little more clear for people [as to] where we're headed" at that time and added that the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021 would reveal more of this plan. Vary commented that the apparent introduction of multiverse elements in No Way Home could be what would allow Holland to appear in both the MCU and the SSU. The following month, Feige said he would not "rule anything out completely" in terms of additional Sony-controlled characters appearing in Marvel Studios films.

In No Way Home, Stephen Strange casts two spells: one that brings characters from other universes into the MCU and one that sends them back to their own universes. These characters, as depicted in the film, are Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as their versions of Spider-Man from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man films, respectively, alongside Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus, and Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko / Sandman from the Raimi films, as well as Rhys Ifans as Curt Connors / Lizard and Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon / Electro from the Webb films. The mid-credits scene of the SSU film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) shows Eddie Brock and Venom (Tom Hardy) being transported into the MCU from their universe by the first spell and the mid-credits scene of No Way Home shows them being transported back to their own universe by the second spell. A small part of the Venom symbiote is left in the MCU. Feige said there was a lot of coordination between the Let There Be Carnage and No Way Home teams to create the two scenes, with No Way Home director Jon Watts directing both scenes during production of that film. The mid-credits scenes of Morbius revealed that Toomes was accidentally transported from the MCU to the SSU following Strange's second spell. The events of No Way Home are referenced in the animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), which refers to the MCU as "Earth-199999", its designation in the Marvel Comics multiverse. In March 2025, Hardy said a crossover between his Venom and Holland's Spider-Man had been discussed beyond his appearance in No Way Home, but this did not eventuate and was never in development as a film. Holland echoed Hardy's comments in July 2026, saying there had been plans to merge the SSU with the MCU, but Sony never found the proper time to attempt that. Holland added that Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman saw the success of the MCU films and decided for Marvel Studios to "continue on our path" with the character.