Why The Marvel Cinematic Universe Is One Of Cinemas Greatest Achievements

A decade in review...

When it comes to cinematic achievements, we often hear of the usual list: Citizen Kane (1940) for its innovative storytelling and narrative structure; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) for being the first ever feature length animated film; and Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) for its ground breaking use of visual effects. But throughout this past decade, we may have in fact witnessed the greatest one of all. I firmly believe we experienced one of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema, and that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The MCU is a franchise of films produced by Marvel Studios, consisting of 23 films to date which all take place along the same timeline and in the same universe (but most of you probably knew that). Starting in 2008 with Iron Man, the series went on to produce some of the greatest comic book films of all time, and some of the best cinema we have seen in the past decade. The MCU has been immensely successful both financially and critically, and culminated with Avengers: Endgame, a film which became the highest grossing film of all time. It’s hard to put into words just how monumental of an achievement the MCU was, but I think we can look at it from three different angles.

The first being the overall vision and narrative storytelling. Marvel managed to make each film feel unique, and at the same time part of the wider shared universe. Ant Man felt different to Thor, which felt different to The Winter Soldier, which felt different to Doctor Strange, but they all felt like a part of the MCU. The humour, wit, and energy from each film is tonally the same, even when each story is given to us in such a unique way. The MCU also allowed us to connect with individual characters, letting us experience how they grow into the heroes they ultimately became. But they managed to do this whilst also serving the overarching narrative that was the “Infinity Saga”, with each film serving a purpose in the wider narrative. The creative expertise and sheer vision required to pull of something as daring as the MCU is something we have never seen before. The planning, preparation and attention to detail which went into developing the overall story is something to be celebrated, and is evident given the reaction Avengers: Endgame received. Granted, it probably wasn’t the best film of the MCU, bit it was the culmination of the Infinity Saga, a story audiences the world over had invested so deeply in. People cheered, cried, laughed, and mourned just like the characters on screen. The fan service moments in the film were well and truly earned, from Tony Stark meeting his father, all the way to Captain America wielding Mjölnir, fans witnessed things they could only have dreamt of seeing on the big screen. The power to bring people together, to take them on a journey stretching 10 years and 22 films, and to offer the pay-off we got with Endgame…THAT was cinema at is glorious best!

And the world flocked to watch Avengers: Endgame. Cinema’s stayed open 24 hours, whilst fans queued for hours, and the hype spread like wildfire. You can only achieve something like this if people are emotionally invested in the story, and what’s so impressive was how many people were. Endgame obliterated box office records on its way to becoming the highest grossing film of all time, which is the next reason the MCU is such an amazing achievement…it’s box office dominance! At the end of the day, money is ultimately the most important thing for Hollywood, and the MCU’s ability deliver hit after hit is unmatched by any other franchise. Harry Potter, James Bond, and even Star Wars don’t come close to the numbers the MCU has achieved at the box office.

Wrap your head around this…with 23 films making up the MCU, the franchise has a combined total box office of $22.55bn! Yes you read that right, 22 billion dollars! That means the MCU is averaging almost a billion dollars per film. That kind of box office success cannot be found anywhere, and is unlikely to be replicated anytime soon. The MCU is at the point now where every film released (if good) is likely to earn upwards of $700m. We see this with Black Panther and Captain Marvel, films that featured relatively unknown lead superheroes, but made over a billion dollars each. For the best part of a decade, Marvel/Disney owned the first weekend in May, symbolising the start of the summer movie season. The MCU represents guaranteed success, with two films in the $2bn club, and a further 7 films having made over a billion dollars. These numbers speak volumes when you consider the challenges the film industry has faced. With the rise of streaming and abundance of content for consumers to choose from, it’s a testament to the MCU which over 10 years has consistently drawn out large crowds to experience their films on the big screen.

The MCU is unequivocally the envy of every major studio today. What Marvel (and by extension Disney) have managed to pull off is astonishing. And this brings me the final point I feel is worth highlighting…the influence the MCU has had on the film industry. Crossovers are not a new concept, but are extremely hard to pull off, so the idea of a shared cinematic universe would have been difficult for studio executives to fathom a decade ago. But the MCU showed it could work, and almost every major studio has since tried to emulate this success, failing almost every time. Marvel’s comic-book rivals, DC (WarnerBros), tried to create their own shared universe of films, however their films – Man of Steel, Batman Vs Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League – were all very divisive upon release, with only Wonder Women garnering the critical and financial results they had hoped for. This has for now put an end to their shared cinematic universe ambitions, with DC focusing more on individual characters and stories in recent films. Universal also thought the same, openly declaring their ambition of creating a “Dark Universe” around its library of classic monsters e.g. Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, etc. But this plan spectacularly failed, as their reboot of The Mummy flopped at the box office. Other examples include Sony failing in its ambitions of creating a “Spiderverse” of films revolving around the library Spiderman characters, whilst Lionsgate’s attempt at rejuvenating the Power Rangers franchise unfortunately did not click with audiences. It’s unfortunate those studios failed to replicate what Marvel/Disney had done, but this just shows how great of an accomplishment it was.

With all the things that could go wrong into developing a film franchise, it’s actually quite astonishing that the MCU turned out the way it did. Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, deserves immense credit for developing his vision and making it a reality. Working with multiple writers and directors to tell a shared story is far from easy, but the way he managed the pressure and gave audiences the many extraordinary films we got is remarkable. He is arguably the main reason why the MCU became what it is today, and I’m sure an honorary Oscar is well on its way for him.

Through its narrative storytelling, box office success, and influence on the film industry – the MCU is unlike anything we have ever seen on the big screen. What it accomplished from a narrative, financial, and critical perspective is unrivalled, and won’t be replicated for years to come. I could talk all day about how great the MCU is, but I’ll end by saying thank you. Thank you to Kevin Feige for daring to dream of the MCU. Thank you to Disney for supporting his vision. Thank you to all the writers, directors and countless others who worked on developing these films. Thank you to Stan Lee for creating the characters generations of kids have fallen in love with. And thank you to the audiences who have supported these films in whatever way they could. The Marvel Cinematic Universe will go down as one of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema…and I feel so grateful to have experienced why!

This piece is part of a series of blog posts reviewing the decade in film. Click here to discover more posts in this series.