158-664: The Infinity Stones are fictional items in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise , based on the Infinity Gems of the Marvel Comics . As expounded across several interwoven MCU multimedia titles, the six Infinity Stones are reputed to embody and control essential aspects of existence—Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time and Soul—thereby making them critical artifacts in the MCU and, together,
316-543: 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 commentators believed Lee was portraying the character 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
474-581: A Nano Gauntlet to house the Stones, which Banner uses to undo the Blip. An alternate 2014 Thanos, having been alerted by their actions due to Nebula's cybernetic systems connecting with her alternate 2014 self, brings his army to the future, destroying the compound and intending to use the Stones to destroy and recreate the universe out of revenge for the Blip being undone, but is ultimately defeated when Stark sacrifices himself to disintegrate Thanos and his army with
632-604: A crossover film; Arad, who resigned in 2006, doubted this strategy would work. He insisted that it was his reputation that helped secure the initial financing. In 2007, Feige was named studio chief. 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 Entertainment's chief creative officer Joe Quesada , comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis , and Marvel Entertainment president Alan Fine , who oversaw
790-645: A scepter given to Loki in his efforts to get the Space Stone from Earth. The Stone returned within the scepter in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) where it was being used on human test subjects. The Mind Stone was eventually used to give Vision life. Thor: The Dark World (2013) introduced the Reality Stone in its liquid form known as the Aether. It temporarily infected Jane Foster before it
948-496: A "hands-on role" in each series' development. Feige said these series would "tell stories... that we wouldn't be able to tell in a theatrical experience—a longer-form narrative". He 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". Television specials from
1106-512: A 1:1 scale Infinity Gauntlet with the Stones capable of lighting up with the use of embedded LED lights. Lego also released their own Infinity Gauntlet set in 2021 to celebrate the Infinity Saga. The Snap and the Blip entered the popular lexicon as a metaphor for the idea of unilaterally bringing into being one's desired goals through one's force of will alone. In a November 30, 2023, article for SFGate , columnist Drew Magary reacted to
1264-414: A 2018 agreement between Alonso and Disney to not work for a competing studio. The decision was made by a group that included Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman and Disney's human resources and legal departments. Alonso reportedly did not seek permission to work on the film and was asked by Disney to stop working on it or promoting it. The situation was deemed serious enough that Disney requested
1422-504: 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
1580-693: 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 (2014), but they leave it up to the filmmakers to interpret and "improv a little bit" to get that point. After these ideas have been developed, the creative team then begins exploring ideas from other future projects to see how to make any larger universe connections. In August 2012, Marvel signed The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) director Joss Whedon to an exclusive contract through June 2015 for film and television. With
1738-587: 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 scenes that set-up The Avengers (2012) in their respective Phase One films Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger (both 2011). Marvel Studios usually has
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#17327797567971896-691: A brief time before the other Guardians joined with him. They seal the Power Stone in a new Orb and entrust it to the Nova Corps for safekeeping. In 2016, Dr. Stephen Strange finds the Eye of Agamotto, which houses the Time Stone, and learns how to use it to save the Earth from Dormammu by trapping him in a time loop until the demon abandons his plans for Earth. Strange returns the Eye of Agamotto to
2054-450: A critical view of this position, Magary, wrote: "But Musk, who told Sorkin that he believed data to be more valuable than gold, remains committed to the idea that owning X means owning the chief information exchange for all of this planet's 8 billion citizens. He thinks he can Thanos Snap wars and recessions into being merely by posting a recycled Pepe the Frog meme from 2016 on there. There
2212-432: A father and Avenger. Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness wrote the material from the memoir that was featured in the film. 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, primarily released by Marvel Studios's record label Marvel Music . Original songs have also been created specifically for use in
2370-633: A multi-million dollar compensation settlement in April. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in July 2023 that the company would be reducing the amount of Marvel content created moving forward, admitting that Marvel Studios' expansion into Disney+ series and more films had "diluted focus and attention" after several underachieving films at the box office. He clarified their plans in May 2024, saying Disney would now release two, or at most three, Marvel films and two Marvel series
2528-400: A new agreement be signed. The company consistently reminded her of this while she continued to promote the film following its September 2022 premiere, ultimately leading to her firing. Alonso's lawyers refuted these claims, saying Disney was aware of, and agreed to, Alonso's work on Argentina, 1985 and Alonso had been "silenced [and] was terminated when she refused to do something she believed
2686-641: 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
2844-433: A series of photorealistic animated shorts starring Baby Groot for Disney+. In November 2016, Feige explained that the studio would often put 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 approximately every 18 months to plan out future projects and develop
3002-423: 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 , debuted on ABC.com . 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 from
3160-543: A weapon to destroy the Stones called the Infinity Crusher. When the Crusher fails due to it being designed to only work for the Stones in its respective universe, the heroes kill Ultron by uploading Arnim Zola 's analog consciousness into his body. The Stones are nearly taken by Killmonger , but he is stopped by Zola, who tries to take the Stones for himself. Strange Supreme and the Watcher imprison them along with
3318-477: A year. This was a decrease from up to four films and around four series being released in some recent years. The company was reducing output and focusing on quality across all its divisions, but Iger felt the change was especially needed for Marvel. Feige and D'Esposito said 2023 had been a particularly difficult year and a "rough time" for the studio but they had learned their lesson on trying to make too much content at once. They added that no longer being "on top" of
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#17327797567973476-608: Is a left handed metal Gauntlet used to house the six Stones. A right-handed Gauntlet appears in Thor (2011), where it's stored in Odin 's vault, though this one was later revealed to be a fake by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok . The mid-credits scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) revealed Thanos had acquired a left-handed Infinity Gauntlet. In Infinity War , it is revealed Thanos invaded Nidavellir and forced Eitri to create
3634-656: Is also placed here in The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline . 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
3792-465: 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 several television series , short films, digital series, and literature. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books,
3950-474: Is in the comics, to purple in the middle of development on Guardians of the Galaxy because Marvel decided that the Aether was going to be the Reality Stone. In the comics, Thanos is motivated to retrieve and use the Infinity Gems to impress Lady Death as she believed that the universe was overpopulated and headed for mass extinction. In the films, there is no mention of Lady Death, and Thanos wishes to reduce
4108-770: Is keeping a captured Nebula . He uses the Power Stone to torture her in front of Gamora, forcing Gamora to agree to take him to Vormir to find the Soul Stone. On Vormir, they encounter the Stone keeper, Red Skull. Thanos reluctantly sacrifices Gamora to fulfill the requirements to obtain the Soul Stone once the Red Skull explains to them that the Stone requires the sacrifice of a loved one to earn it. Maw gets sucked out of an airlock and his ship takes Stark, Strange, and Parker to Titan , Thanos' home planet, where they run into Quill, Drax, and Mantis. Before Thanos arrives, Strange uses
4266-819: Is killed on Titan by the Illuminati . The Infinity Stones played a big role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 's Infinity Saga , but they were not the original story plan. Despite the Space Stone being introduced in Thor , and the Mind Stone and Thanos debuting in The Avengers , there were no official plans until at least 2012 to make the Stones the MacGuffins of the Saga. James Gunn revealed that it wasn't until after he completed his first draft for Guardians of
4424-582: Is no reasoning with someone who is so megalomaniacal and so, SO stupid." A 2018 article in Extreme Mechanics Letters proposed that Thanos would have needed "a minimum grip strength of over 40,000 tons, which is approximately 750,000 times that of a typical man", to break the Tesseract depicted in the film, presuming that the object was an "all-carbon nano-tesseract or hypercube projected into 3D space". A study published in 2020 focused on
4582-501: Is represented by different gems: The Time Stone is a Colombian emerald nearing 23 carats, the Space Stone is a sapphire from Madagascar, with over 30 carats, the Reality Stone is a natural ruby from Mozambique, Africa with over 15 carats, the Power Stone is a natural amethyst with more than 35 carats, the Soul Stone is spessartite , exceeding 35 carats, and the Mind Stone is a cut yellow diamond , that's close to 35 carats. After Infinity War released in theaters, Hot Toys unveiled
4740-643: Is the first mutant (a term related to the X-Men) in the MCU. Namor is also revealed to be a mutant in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), as he is in the comics. Kelsey Grammer appears as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast in The Marvels (2023), reprising the role from the X-Men films series, which also introduces the mutant Binary , an alternate version of Maria Rambeau , portrayed by Lashana Lynch . Feige called Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
4898-544: Is the first film in Phase Four , which concluded with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), while Phase Five began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and will conclude with Thunderbolts* (2025). Phase Six will begin with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) and it will conclude with Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Marvel Television expanded
Infinity Stones - Misplaced Pages Continue
5056-515: Is unable to complete the removal of the Mind Stone from Vision's head before she is attacked by Glaive. Thanos arrives looking to get the Stone himself, using some of the Stones against the Avengers and Wakandans trying to fight him off. As a result of the Stone still being in Vision's head, Wanda is forced to destroy Vision and the Stone to try to prevent Thanos from getting it, only for Thanos to use
5214-618: The Marvel Legacy series to match the film versions. In the MCU, the Time Stone is housed in the Eye of Agamotto and the Space Stone is housed in the Tesseract. However, the Marvel Comics versions of these two stones have no connections to these relics. The existence of the Infinity Stones in the MCU has been described as the "one driving force that unifies all the robot-alien-hero fighting" by The Verge . The use of
5372-667: 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 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. A second season with five additional shorts
5530-570: The Bifrost . Years later, the Asgardian prophecy of its destruction by the fire demon Surtur comes true. Loki takes the Tesseract from the vault before escaping. The Stone is originally housed in a scepter given to Loki by Thanos and the Other to help locate the Tesseract and conquer Earth with its ability to control people's minds and project energy blasts. After Loki's defeat, it falls into
5688-528: The Collector explains that the Infinity Stones are the remnants of six singularities that existed before the Big Bang , which were compressed into Stones by cosmic entities after the universe began and which were dispersed throughout the cosmos. Four years later, it is further explained by Wong and Stephen Strange that each Infinity Stone embodies and controls an essential aspect of existence. In 1942,
5846-533: The Fantastic Four to Marvel Studios, although Feige explained that despite the acquisition finalizing in 2019, access and integration of these characters and concepts were unavailable "for a very long time" because of corporate acquisition laws. Some of the first elements to be integrated into the MCU following the acquisition were the organization S.W.O.R.D. in the Disney+ series WandaVision (2021) and
6004-670: The Infinity War directors commentary, they confirmed that the Stone has some of the elements of its comic counterpart including "conjuring the spiritual representations of the dead on another plane of existence". At San Diego Comic-Con in 2022, Marvel and East Continental Gems announced the Infinity Collection of Gemstones, a set of six Gem stones representing each Stone and displayed in an Infinity Gauntlet created by Gentle Giant Ltd. All six gems combined are over 150 carats and valued at USD $ 25 million. Each Stone
6162-470: The Iron Man films. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (2016) is one of several Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. web 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 (2019–2022) are an in-universe current affairs show serving as a viral marketing campaign for
6320-556: The MacGuffin of the dedicated Infinity Saga . The Stones, with the exception of the Soul Stone, made their debuts in films leading up to Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The Space Stone, the first Stone to appear, was featured in a post-credit scene for Thor (2011), housed within the Tesseract. The Stone / Tesseract established its significance in the MCU through the antecedent films, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Avengers (2012). In The First Avenger ,
6478-556: The Red Skull steals the Tesseract, which contains the Space Stone, from a church and uses it to power Hydra 's weaponry during World War II . During Steve Rogers 's final fight against Red Skull, the Tesseract transports the latter to the planet Vormir . Afterwards, the Tesseract falls into the Arctic Ocean, where it is later recovered by Howard Stark and taken to a secret base. Dr. Wendy Lawson unsuccessfully tries to use
Infinity Stones - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-623: The Red Skull used the power of the Stone to power Hydra 's weaponry during World War II . In The Avengers , Loki was sent to Earth by Thanos to get the Stone from S.H.I.E.L.D. The Space Stone did not make another appearance until Phase Three , when it made a minor appearance in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and played a major role in Captain Marvel (2019) when it was revealed that the Stone gave Carol Danvers her powers. The Mind Stone first showed up in The Avengers , housed in
6794-494: The Russo brothers and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely . This was to ensure their storytelling aligned for the Infinity Saga's culmination. Marvel Studios began contracting their actors for multiple films, including signing actor Samuel L. Jackson to a then-unprecedented nine-film contract. Feige said the studio had all actors sign contracts for multiple films, with the normal number being for three or more while
6952-481: The Spider-Man films. Multiple limited series or one-shot comic books that tie into the MCU films and television series have been published by Marvel Comics. 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. The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of
7110-653: The X-Men which were respectively licensed to Sony, New Line, and Fox, Marvel owned the rights to the Avengers team. Feige, a self-described "fanboy", envisioned combining these characters in a shared universe similar to the one created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in the 1960s. "It's never been done before and that's kind of the spirit everybody's taking it in. The other filmmakers aren't used to getting actors from other movies that other filmmakers have cast, certain plot lines that are connected or certain locations that are connected, but I think... everyone
7268-552: 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
7426-624: The highest-grossing media franchises of all time, and it has received generally positive reviews from critics. The studio attributed several Multiverse Saga projects performing below expectations to the increase in the amount of content being produced after the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame , and began decreasing its content output from 2024. The MCU has inspired other film and television studios to attempt similar shared universes and has also inspired several themed attractions, an art exhibit, television specials, literary material, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials. By 2005, Marvel Entertainment
7584-591: The second season of What If...? , appearing in the last two episodes. In the season's penultimate episode , Steve Rogers unwillingly strikes the Time Stone while fighting Thanos and in the final episode where the Gauntlet is used by another version of Thanos, who is then killed by Killmonger. A Gauntlet appears in a flashback sequence in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) after Thanos
7742-586: The untitled fourth Spider-Man film (2026), and will conclude with Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). The planned film Blade is also intended to be part of the phase but does not have a release date. Marvel Television produced multiple television series set in the MCU across broadcast, streaming, and cable. Its ABC series included Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), Agent Carter (2015–2016), and Inhumans (2017); its Netflix series included Daredevil (2015–2018), Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Luke Cage (2016–2018), Iron Fist (2017–2018),
7900-475: The Aether, to destroy the Nine Realms . His plan was to return the universe to its pre-Big Bang state, only to be thwarted by Bor , who had it hidden. In 2013, Jane Foster becomes infected by the Aether after coming across its resting place, though Malekith later draws it out of her. After Malekith is defeated by Thor , Sif and Volstagg , they seal the Aether in a lantern-like container and entrust it to
8058-429: The Asgardian ship on its way to Earth after the destruction of Asgard. Thanos kills half of the occupants and threatens to kill Thor as well, but Loki gives up the Tesseract to save his brother's life. Thanos proceeds to crush the Tesseract to acquire the Space Stone. He tells his children to acquire the two Stones on Earth. He then uses the Power Stone to destroy the ship as he teleports his children and himself away with
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#17327797567978216-504: 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 MCU. The book, which exists within the 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
8374-601: The Avengers collected them from. Despite being destroyed, the Stones make appearances in the Multiverse Saga , including in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) in an alternate universe where Thanos was defeated on his home planet of Titan by the Illuminati before he can collect all of the Stones. They also make appearances in several of the MCU television series on Disney+ , between flashbacks in WandaVision (2021) and alternate universes in
8532-651: The Blip, he goes to the Avengers Compound and brings up the idea of a time heist using the Quantum Realm to collect each Stone from different points in time as changing the past does not change the future and instead creates alternate timelines. The surviving Avengers split up into teams to each focus on one Stone. Rogers, Stark, Lang, and Banner travel to an alternate 2012, where the Space, Mind, and Time Stones are all located. Stark and Lang attempt to steal
8690-523: The Blip. However, the strain of channeling the combined powers still causes him considerable pain and leaves him with a crippled right arm. During the battle at the Avengers Compound, an alternate variant of Thanos from 2014 attempts to use the Nano Gauntlet. Although he successfully acquires it, Stark magnetically removes the Stones from the Nano Gauntlet and, wielding a makeshift Gauntlet formed within his armor, uses them to erase Thanos, his army, and
8848-521: The Collector to keep it separate from the Tesseract, as the three of them consider it unwise to have multiple Infinity Stones close to each other. The Aether, once bonded to a host, can turn anything into dark matter as well as suck the life force out of humans and other mortals. The Aether can also disrupt the laws of physics and repel threats if it senses any. Housed in the Orb hidden on the planet Morag ,
9006-522: The Galaxy (2014) that Marvel Studios decided to put a bigger focus on the Stones moving forward. Gunn revealed during the press tour for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) that he wrote the scene introducing the Stones' backstory in an hour and a half starting with the Power Stone being in possession of the Collector at the time. The Power Stone's color had to be changed from red like it
9164-671: The Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) are also included in the phase. Phase Five includes Secret Invasion (2023), the second season of Loki (2023), the second season of What If...? (2023), Echo (2024), Agatha All Along (2024), the third season of What If...? (2024), the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025), the first season of Daredevil: Born Again (2025), and Ironheart (2025). Phase Six will include Eyes of Wakanda (2025), Marvel Zombies (2025), Wonder Man (2025), and Vision Quest (2026). Marvel One-Shots are
9322-569: 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 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
9480-421: The Guardians. After learning about the Power Stone, however, Ronan betrays Thanos and tries to use its destructive power to destroy the planet Xandar . During the battle to protect Xandar, by sharing the burden of the Power Stone's energy, the Guardians are able to use it to kill Ronan. It is later revealed that Peter Quill's half-Celestial physiology was what allows him to withstand the Stone's power on his own for
9638-428: The Infinity Gauntlet by threatening to kill his people, though he did so anyway once it was completed, as well as removing Eitri's hands to prevent his making of anything else. After obtaining all six Infinity Stones, Thanos snaps his fingers in the Gauntlet and erases half of all life in the universe. In Endgame , the Gauntlet is revealed to be burnt and permanently bound to Thanos' swollen arm. After Thor kills Thanos,
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#17327797567979796-411: The Infinity Gauntlet containing the Stones, causing the Blip . Thanos eventually uses the Stones again to destroy them and five years later, the surviving Avengers form a plan to go back in time to collect the Stones from other time periods to undo Thanos' snap. After defeating Thanos and undoing his actions from 2018, Steve Rogers / Captain America returns the Stones to the exact moments in time that
9954-413: The Infinity Stones as a plot device led to fan speculation as to the location of as-yet undiscovered Stones, and the possible appearance of additional Stones. One theory popular with fans was that words describing the nature or location of the Stones spelled out the name "THANOS", and that the as-yet undiscovered Soul Stone was somehow associated with the character Heimdall . Another theory proposed prior to
10112-407: The Infinity Stones for herself. Carter is able to wield the Infinity Stones against Strange alongside Hela's crown and the weapons of some of the freed prisoners. By punching Strange with the Infinity Stones, Carter manages to bring him back to his senses temporarily. On Earth-838 , the Illuminati fought against Thanos on Titan who was in possession of five Infinity Stones. They killed him, leaving
10270-633: 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), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and will conclude with Thunderbolts* (2025). Phase Six begins with The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), followed by Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and
10428-410: 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 ". After the "creative experience" of ending Phase Three and "The Infinity Saga" with Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame , and the expansion in
10586-531: The MCU's primary reality as Earth-199999. 20th Century Fox 's X-Men film series is designated as Earth-10005 in Deadpool & Wolverine . That film features several actors reprising their roles from the X-Men film series along with characters from Fox's films Daredevil and its spin-off Elektra , Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and New Line Cinema 's Blade film trilogy . Phases Four, Five, and Six comprise " The Multiverse Saga ". With
10744-419: The MCU. Each short was designed to be a self-contained story that provided more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films. In March 2015, Marvel's Vice President of Animation Development and Production, Cort Lane , said 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 ,
10902-403: The Masters of the Mystic Arts' secret compound Kamar-Taj in Kathmandu, Nepal, but soon begins wearing it again. An object that has the ability to manipulate the soul and essence of a person, control life and death, and contains a pocket dimension called the Soul World . At some time in the past, Thanos tasks Gamora to find the Soul Stone, as there is little record of its existence compared to
11060-443: The Mind Stone, which itself contains an artificial intelligence that grants sentience to the computer program Ultron, who steals the scepter and removes the Stone to create a newly upgraded body. The Avengers steal the Mind Stone–infused body from Ultron and upload the A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. into it, giving birth to the android Vision . Eons ago, Malekith attempts to use the Reality Stone, appearing in its fluid-like weapon state called
11218-414: The Multiverse Saga after Thanos in the Infinity Saga, because Kang was a different villain in part because he has multiple variants from different timelines within the multiverse. The studio did not initially plan to build the next saga around Kang, and made that decision after seeing actor Jonathan Majors 's performance in the first season of the Disney+ series Loki (2021), as well as dailies from
11376-526: The Multiverse Saga's new antagonist Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom (after previously portraying the superhero Tony Stark / Iron Man in the MCU from 2008 to 2019) for both Doomsday and Secret Wars . In December 2017, Disney agreed to acquire assets from 21st Century Fox . The transaction officially closed on March 19, 2019. This saw the return of the film rights for Deadpool , the X-Men, and
11534-594: The Nano Gauntlet. The original Gauntlet appears in flashback sequences from Infinity War in WandaVision (2021). Alternate versions of the Infinity Gauntlet made brief appearances in What If...? , first in the fifth episode, when a zombified Thanos shows up in Wakanda , and the eighth episode when Thanos arrives on Earth but is swiftly killed by Ultron . The Gauntlet returns in a small capacity during
11692-558: The Netflix series by Marvel Television. Loki and What If...? are excluded from the diagram because they occur outside of the main timeline. Werewolf by Night is also excluded given the special explicitly does not indicate where it takes place in the MCU. Disney+'s timeline order places the first seasons of Loki and What If...? between Avengers: Endgame and WandaVision , their second seasons after The Marvels , and Werewolf by Night after Thor: Love and Thunder ; Werewolf by Night
11850-590: The Phases in addition to their feature films. Each series is released on Disney+. 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
12008-469: The Power Stone is capable of increasing the user's strength and destroy entire civilizations with a single blast. However, the Stone is too much for most mortal beings to physically handle because its power will destroy them on contact. In 2014, Ronan the Accuser seeks the Orb for Thanos, but Peter Quill finds and steals the Orb from Morag's resting spot before Korath can. Ronan eventually steals it from
12166-476: The Space Stone. Thanos' four children split up, with two looking to collect the Time Stone from Strange and the other two going after Vision for the Mind Stone. In New York, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian attempt to steal the Time Stone from Strange, but are foiled by Stark, Parker, and Wong. Strange is teleported up to Maw's ship with Stark and Parker sneaking on board. In Edinburgh, Vision is injured by Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive in their attempts to get
12324-610: The Stone from his head. After the pair are defeated, Vision is taken to Wakanda to have the Stone removed by Shuri , in the hope that Vision would be able to live without it. While his children are on Earth, Thanos acquires the Aether from the Collector on Knowhere and turns it back into the Reality Stone, allowing for him to repel the Guardians of the Galaxy 's attacks by turning Drax to rocks, Mantis into ribbon strips, and causing Peter Quill's gun to shoot bubbles. Thanos then teleports Gamora and himself back to his ship, where he
12482-476: The Stone to the surviving heroes to take to Wakanda, sacrificing himself out of guilt. However, a zombified Thanos arrives in Wakanda, possessing the other five Infinity Stones in his Gauntlet. In another scenario, Thanos once again arrives on Earth with five Stones, only to discover that the Avengers lost to Ultron , who is in possession of Vision's vibranium body and the Mind Stone. Ultron kills Thanos and takes
12640-428: The Stones for himself, using them to conquer and destroy his universe. When this task is complete, Ultron attains a higher level of consciousness and uses the Stones to travel into other dimensions and duel the Watcher . To stop Infinity Ultron expanding into other universes, the Watcher assembles the Guardians of the Multiverse , a team of heroes from various alternate realities, including Strange Supreme, and gifts them
12798-466: The Stones in a pocket dimension, frozen outside of time so that neither they nor the Stones from Ultron's universe can be a threat anymore. In Kahhori 's universe, the Tesseract crashes into a lake in pre-colonial America after surviving Ragnorok and breaks, releasing unmitigated Space Stone energy into the lake's waters. As a result, a portal opens to another dimension called the Sky World, granting
12956-469: The Stones in the Nano Gauntlet. After Stark's funeral, Rogers returns all of the past Stones to the points in time that they were collected from, although without the Tesseract, scepter, Orb, and with the Reality Stone still in its solid form. Three weeks after Thanos' snap is undone, a still grieving Wanda Maximoff uses her connection with the Mind Stone to reanimate a fake Vision. Later on, Agatha Harkness shows Maximoff various points in her past, including
13114-581: The Stones. In an alternate version of World War II , Howard Stark uses the confiscated Tesseract as the power source for the Hydra Stomper . In another universe , T'Challa , rather than Peter Quill, finds the Power Stone on Morag. In an alternate version of 2016 , Stephen Strange attempts to use the Time Stone to prevent the death of Christine Palmer , only to find her death is an absolute point in his universe, meaning no matter what he does, she's destined to die, despite his countless attempts to avert
13272-560: The Tesseract in 1989 to unlock light-speed travel to help the Skrulls find a new home. However, her experiments result in Carol Danvers being granted superhuman strength, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts. Danvers eventually recovers the Tesseract and hands the object over to S.H.I.E.L.D. , but it is temporarily swallowed by a Flerken named Goose , who later vomits it out on Nick Fury 's desk. In 2012, Fury shows
13430-506: The Tesseract to Dr. Erik Selvig , when the Tesseract suddenly opens a portal allowing for Loki to come through. Loki steals the Tesseract and later opens a wormhole , using it to transport the Chitauri army to New York City in an attempt to conquer Earth. After the Avengers repel the invasion, Thor returns the Tesseract to Asgard for safekeeping in Odin's vault, and it is used to repair
13588-443: The Time Stone to look into future timelines and viewing millions of possible outcomes of their conflict, learning of only one future in which they win. Thanos arrives expecting Maw, and fights the Avengers and Guardians using the Stones. He defeats them all, leading Strange to surrender the Time Stone to prevent Thanos from killing Stark to ensure the winning future comes to pass. Thanos' remaining children arrive in Wakanda where Shuri
13746-590: The Time Stone to repair them both and collect the latter. Thanos uses all of the Stones to initiate the Blip , where he is briefly transported into the Soul World and encounters a vision of a young Gamora. He then teleports away with the Space Stone to the Garden . Thanos uses the Stones to destroy them to prevent further use in the future. After Scott Lang is freed from the Quantum Realm five years after
13904-462: The Time Stone, and uses it to save Earth from the demon, Dormammu . The Soul Stone was the last Stone to make an appearance, first showing up in Infinity War when Thanos collects the Stone on Vormir after sacrificing Gamora . Thanos sets out to collect all six Stones to use them to wipe out half of all life in the universe, believing that his plan will save it from extinction. In 2018, Thanos accomplishes his goal and snaps his fingers while wearing
14062-619: The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $ 4 billion. Disney said future Marvel Studios films would be distributed by its own studio once the prior deal with Paramount expired. The films of Phase Three were announced at a special press event in October 2014. By September 2015, Marvel Studios was integrated into Walt Disney Studios . Feige was reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan F. Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter , and
14220-731: 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. Steve Rogers (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
14378-588: The ability to control matter as Thanos does while using the Stones. The researchers found that on a macroscopic level , someone would need a large amount of energy to control matter, similarly to the Stones. However, microscopicly scientists can mimic Thanos' control of matter at the colloidal level. The researchers were able to make billions of colloidal particles with changeable responsiveness, patchiness, shapes, and sizes by manipulating them using triggers, including temperature, pH, and light. Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU )
14536-603: The alternate 2012 Tesseract confiscated by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Later, Loki tries to retrieve the Tesseract only to find that it is powerless in the TVA, along with all the other Stones, in which the TVA has captured dozens of each from other timelines. The Stones are used as paperweights in the TVA, as such the founder of the TVA and his several Kang the Conqueror variants are more powerful than
14694-553: The alternate 2012 Tesseract, but the alternate 2012 Hulk accidentally knocks Stark down and the 2012 Tesseract is taken by the alternate 2012 Loki, who uses it to open a wormhole and escape. Rogers retrieves the scepter containing the 2012 Mind Stone, using it to render his alternate 2012 self unconscious after he mistook him for a disguised Loki. Banner convinces the Ancient One to relinquish that timeline's Time Stone, promising to return it after they are done using it to ensure that
14852-444: The alternate 2014 Peter Quill before taking the 2014 Power Stone in its Orb. Romanoff and Clint Barton travel to Vormir in an alternate 2014, where each attempts to sacrifice themselves to allow the other to return with the Stone, ultimately ending with Romanoff sacrificing herself. All of the Stones are brought back to the present day and removed from their containers while the 2013 Aether is turned into its solid state. Stark creates
15010-462: The alternate timelines will survive. After failing to retrieve the 2012 Space Stone, Stark and Rogers travel to an alternate 1970 and take the alternate 1970 Tesseract from Camp Lehigh, New Jersey and use a stolen briefcase to smuggle it out. Thor and Rocket travel back to Asgard in an alternate 2013 to extract the alternate 2013 Aether from the alternate 2013 Jane Foster. James Rhodes and Nebula travel back to Morag in an alternate 2014, subduing
15168-549: The beginning of Phase Four. That phase also saw the studio expand to television specials, known as Marvel Studios Special Presentations , starting with Werewolf by Night (2022). The MCU includes various tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots from 2011 to 2014, and viral marketing campaigns for some films featuring the faux news programs WHIH Newsfront (2015–16) and The Daily Bugle (2019–2022). The franchise has been commercially successful, becoming one of
15326-599: The book. It was released on October 20, 2020. Look Out for the Little Guy , the fictional memoir written by Scott Lang as seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , was released by Hyperion Avenue on September 5, 2023. It was created alongside Marvel Studios and the Quantumania filmmakers, and was written by Rob Kutner , featuring "over 20 short pieces exploring different aspects of Scott's experiences" as
15484-594: The box office allowed them to be underdogs again, as they had been when starting work on Phase One, and they would be "coming back strong" with the hope of surprising audiences and exceeding expectations. Feige expected the studio to begin releasing two films and three series per year after 2025, when they were planning to release three films and six series that had been in development for a long time and were ready to be released. In 2024, Marvel Studios introduced their "Marvel Animation" and "Marvel Television" banners for their animated and live-action series, respectively. This
15642-468: The charred damaged Gauntlet is left abandoned on the Garden planet. Five years later, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Rocket use nanotechnology to create a right-handed Nano Gauntlet to use the alternate universe versions of the Infinity Stones. Banner in his " Smart Hulk " form, due to being the most immune to the gamma radiation that the Infinity Stones' combined powers emit, uses the Nano Gauntlet to reverse
15800-670: The comics, the gems had other rules, and simply being in possession of one wasn't good enough. Each gem was powered by mastering a primordial force characterized by one of the other gems. For example, mastering the Power Gem was dependent on the user's mastery of the mind, while mastery of the soul correlated with the power of the Mind Gem. The colors of the stones were originally different in the comics. They were purple for Space, yellow for Reality, red for Power, blue for Mind, orange for Time, and green for Soul. The stone colors were updated in
15958-407: The committee. Feige initially referred to the shared narrative continuity of the films as the "Marvel Cinema Universe", but later used the term "Marvel Cinematic Universe". Since the franchise expanded to other media, some have used this phrase to only refer to the feature films. The MCU films are released in groups called "Phases", beginning with Phase One and Phase Two . In December 2009,
16116-551: The company who help to elevate each other's projects where possible. In November 2017, Feige said Avengers: Endgame (2019) would provide a definitive conclusion to the films thus far and begin a new period for the franchise. He later said Phase Three would conclude " The Infinity Saga ". Disney was reportedly developing a Marvel-based television series for their new streaming service Disney+ by November 2017. In July 2018, Feige said discussions had begun with Disney regarding any potential involvement Marvel Studios could have with
16274-525: The conduct of billionaire entrepreneur and Twitter owner Elon Musk , who contended that large advertisers who left Twitter after Musk had praised a tweet espousing the Great Replacement theory as "the actual truth" would be to blame if their exodus bankrupted that company, rather than Musk himself. When New York Times contributor Andrew Ross Sorkin stated that those advertisers would likely dispute this, Musk replied, "Tell it to Earth." Taking
16432-488: The creative committee began having only "nominal" input on the films. They continued to consult on Marvel Television productions, which remained under Perlmutter's control. All key film decisions moving forward were to be made by Feige, D'Esposito, and executive vice president Victoria Alonso . The studio went on to establish the Marvel Studios Parliament , a "brain trust" of long-time executives at
16590-689: The creator or co-creator of many of the characters adapted 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
16748-558: The crossover miniseries The Defenders (2017), and The Punisher (2017–2019); its 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, but was ultimately "not tied to the MCU", according to showrunner Paul Zbyszewski . Beginning with Phase Four, television series were included as part of
16906-772: The crossover miniseries The Defenders . In April 2016, Netflix ordered The Punisher , a spin-off of Daredevil . By February 2019, Netflix had canceled 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
17064-468: The deal, Whedon contributed creatively to all of the Phase Two films and also developed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , the first television series set in the MCU. In April 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) writer and director James Gunn revealed that he would be working with Marvel to help plan future stories for the Guardians of the Galaxy characters and
17222-404: The event a film had to debut on Disney+ instead of in theaters. TheWrap reported that the new contracts would likely only apply to films about to enter production. It was unclear if any adjustments would be made to contracts for films already completed but not yet released. For Marvel Television, Loeb said he and his executives were involved in all aspects of production: "whether it's being in
17380-561: The fictional country Madripoor in the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021). Additionally, Patrick Stewart appeared as Professor Charles Xavier in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), portraying a different version of the character that he previously played in Fox's X-Men film series , while Kamala Khan was revealed to have a genetic mutation in Ms. Marvel , with star Iman Vellani confirming that she
17538-499: 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 would 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 later clarified which of the tie-in comics are considered canonical MCU stories, with
17696-618: The filming of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). After Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment amidst legal issues in December 2023, he was fired by Disney and Marvel Studios. At that time, Marvel was internally referring to The Kang Dynasty as Avengers 5 . Alonso was fired from her role at Marvel Studios in March 2023 for serving as a producer on the Amazon Studios film Argentina, 1985 (2022), in breach of
17854-488: 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
18012-486: The films, however, it was noted all of these outside projects were part of the larger Marvel canon. In early 2024, Marvel Studios formally integrated Marvel Television's group of Netflix series into their Disney+ timeline. As of the Phase Five television series Secret Invasion and the film The Marvels , the "present day" in the MCU is 2026. The following covers and discusses MCU media released by Marvel Studios and
18170-412: The first animated series from Marvel Studios, and by July 2021 the studio was creating an "animation branch and mini studio", known as Marvel Studios Animation , to focus on more animated content beyond What If...? . Alonso said Marvel had around 31 projects in various stages of development by September 2021. In April 2022, Feige said he and Marvel Studios were on a creative retreat to plan and discuss
18328-569: The first seasons of Loki (2021–2023) and What If...? (2021–present). Scientific studies relating to the Stones have been conducted, mostly since the release of Infinity War , including one focusing on the control of matter. The stories of the Stones in the MCU take place in the Earth-616 universe. The fictional information below includes events that happened with the Stones from more than one Earth-616 timeline, as well as events that happened with them in multiple other universes . In 2014,
18486-424: The franchise, while Brian Tyler and Michael Giacchino have both scored fanfares for the Marvel Studios production logo . The fictional timeline of the MCU includes the feature films, television series, television specials, short films, and the I Am Groot shorts from Marvel Studios and Marvel Television's Netflix series. While the early films of Phase One and Phase Two of the franchise followed each other in
18644-613: The gauntlet and the Stones in their responsibility. Two variants of the Reality and Time Stones are shown to be embedded in a sling ring Cassandra Nova had taken from an unidentified variant of Stephen Strange. This allows her to open a portal from the Void to Earth-10005 and allow Deadpool and Wolverine to return to it. She later uses it to send the Deadpool Corps to that timeline to keep them from reaching her. The Infinity Gauntlet
18802-414: The hands of Hydra leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker , who uses it to experiment on people, including siblings Pietro and Wanda Maximoff , who are the only surviving subjects of Strucker's experiments. Von Strucker's experiments cause Pietro to gain superhuman abilities and amplify Wanda's powers. Strucker's base is attacked by the Avengers, who take back the scepter. The Avengers discover that it contains
18960-592: The inhabitants of that world incredible powers. After getting transported into a dying universe in the year 1602, Captain Carter, with the help of Tony Stark, discovers a device powered by the Time Stone that had been caused when Steve Rogers, while fighting Thanos during the Battle of Wakanda, accidentally hit the Time Stone with one of his shields. Using Stark's device and the Time Stone, Carter and Rogers are able to set things right, returning Rogers to his own time and ending
19118-572: 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 . Sony's animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse references the events of No Way Home , citing
19276-507: The moment of Hydra's experimentation with the Stone on her. Maximoff learns that the exposure to the Stone tapped into and amplifyed her innate magic, as well as giving her a prophetic vision of her as the Scarlet Witch. Other versions of the Stones are depicted in the alternate realities of the MCU multiverse. An alternate 2012 Loki, who escaped during the Avengers attempt to collect all the Infinity Stones to undo Thanos' actions has
19434-402: The nine or twelve film deals were rare. The actors' contracts also feature clauses that allow 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
19592-423: The number of projects being produced by the studio in a short amount of time, Marvel Studios decided to move away from having an Avengers crossover film at the end of each Phase and instead decided to have a crossover culmination at the end of "The Multiverse Saga" with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). The studio was excited to explore Kang the Conqueror as an overarching villain of
19750-418: The other Infinity Stones. Gamora finds a map leading to where it was hidden: in a shrine on the planet Vormir, but chooses to destroy the map and not tell Thanos, only telling Nebula of it and swearing her to secrecy, unaware that Thanos wasn't fooled by their lies. Thanos begins his quest to collect all six Stones by decimating Xandar to obtain the Power Stone. He then tracks down the Space Stone and intercepts
19908-451: The phases of the MCU. However, these lookbooks are not always shown to directors, 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 can guide a film. Some of their choices for directors have been considered "out-of-left-field based on those director's previous work. On this, Feige remarked that "you don't have to have directed
20066-955: The population to avoid a repeat of his experience on Titan. Thanos retrieved each gem from a being who held it at the time. The In-Betweener had the Soul Gem, the Champion of the Universe had the Power Gem, the Gardener had the Time Gem, the Collector had the Reality Gem, the Runner had the Space Gem, and the Grandmaster had the Mind Gem. Furthermore, nobody else was even aware of Thanos, therefore no one attempted to stop him. In
20224-557: The projects and distribution. Avi Arad , head of Marvel Entertainment's film division known as Marvel Films , was pleased with director Sam Raimi 's Spider-Man film trilogy (2002–2007) at Sony Pictures and Columbia but was less enthused with some of the other films. Arad decided to form Marvel Studios , Hollywood's first major independent film studio since DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1994. Kevin Feige , Arad's second-in-command, realized that unlike Spider-Man , Blade , and
20382-547: The reason that all the filmmakers are on board is that their movies need to stand on their own. They need to have a fresh vision, a unique tone, and the fact that they can interconnect if you want to follow those breadcrumbs is a bonus." —Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige on constructing a shared film universe To raise capital, the studio secured funding from a seven-year, $ 525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch . Marvel planned to release individual films for their main characters and then merge them in
20540-486: The release of Endgame was that it would involve a seventh Infinity Stone corresponding to an additional Infinity Gem from the comics, the Ego Stone. Charles Pulliam-Moore of Gizmodo thought that the Soul Stone was the least interesting Stone because unlike the others, it was never given a chance to show why it can be formidable on its own like the other Stones had a chance to do in previous MCU films. However, during
20698-533: The release of The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline in October 2023, Feige wrote in its foreword that Marvel Studios only considered, at that time, projects developed by them in their first four phases as part of their " Sacred Timeline ", but acknowledged the history of other Marvel films and television series that would exist in the larger multiverse and said they were "canonical to Marvel". In January 2024, Winderbaum acknowledged that Marvel Studios had previously been "a little bit cagey" about what
20856-429: The rest being 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 was derived from the label used by Marvel Comics for their one-shot comics . Winderbaum said the shorts were "a fun way to experiment with new characters and ideas" and to expand
21014-526: The role in the film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Additionally, Vincent D'Onofrio first reprised his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin from Daredevil in the Disney+ series Hawkeye (2021). Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases". 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
21172-532: The scenario. It becomes the only Stone left in existence in his universe due to his subsequent actions. As one universe suffers from a quantum zombie outbreak , Vision discovers that his Mind Stone can be used to cure the infected. However, it is unable to cure the infected Maximoff, due to her powers coming from the Stone, prompting Vision to initially try and feed other survivors to Maximoff to keep her calm until he can properly cure her. When other heroes find him, Vision accepts that his actions are wrong and he gives
21330-543: The series. 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 Alex Jones 's InfoWars , 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 ,
21488-470: 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
21646-418: The streaming service, which he felt was important for the wider company. In September 2018, Marvel Studios was reported to be developing several limited series centered on "second-tier" characters from the MCU films who had not and were unlikely to headline 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
21804-426: The studio are marketed as " Marvel Studios Special Presentations ". The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), a Special Presentation, was the first project Marvel Studios began planning 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...? ,
21962-501: 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. 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
22120-432: The temporal anomaly that was tearing apart the world. Among Doctor Strange Supreme's prisoners that are released by Captain Carter is a Thanos with a completed Infinity Gauntlet. However, having been freed by Carter, Killmonger disintegrates Thanos with his own set of Infinity Stones. Kahhori is able to use her Tesseract-granted powers to separate Killmonger from his Infinity Armor and teleport him away, allowing Carter to take
22278-471: The timeline similar to their release order, Phase Three saw many of the films overlapping with each other in the timeline, while also introducing the first prequel property, Captain Marvel . The Phase Three film Avengers: Endgame featured characters traveling into the past and introduced a five-year time jump, with many subsequent releases in Phase Four and Phase Five set after Endgame ' s events in
22436-627: The timeline. The television series Loki and What If...? were the first properties to occur outside of the main timeline and explore alternative timelines and universes. There have been numerous attempts by Marvel Studios and others to codify the events of the MCU, which have been subject to perceived continuity errors , resulting in Marvel Studios releasing an official timeline book in 2023 for their first four phases that were designated as part of their " Sacred Timeline ". This book did not feature projects produced by other companies, such as Marvel Television's series which all had been loosely connected to
22594-408: The true start to Marvel Studios' exploration and use of the Fox characters, and said every project after it would be part of the MCU's "Mutant era". Some of the films between Deadpool & Wolverine and Secret Wars featured additional X-Men characters, with Feige saying the story of Secret Wars would lead into a "new age of mutants" and the X-Men being introduced to the MCU. Marvel Television
22752-411: 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 (2016). Marvel Studios began producing their own television series for streaming on Disney+ , starting with WandaVision in 2021 as
22910-468: The wider "Marvel Cosmic Universe", although Gunn became the co-CEO of DC Studios in November 2022 and signed a four-year deal to work exclusively on DC Comics -based projects. For Phase Three, there was a large amount of collaboration between the filmmakers of the individual character films and the filmmakers of the crossover films Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame , which were directed by
23068-748: 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 said the studio was able to work on so many series across different networks and platforms because all they needed was one person working on each series to help "guide the process". Actors appearing in Marvel Television series, such as Charlie Cox (who portrayed 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
23226-415: Was announced in July as Daredevil: Born Again . In 2008, the first comic book to tie-into the MCU was released. Quesada explained that these 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
23384-410: Was done, along with the previously established Marvel Spotlight banner, to help indicate to audiences that they did not have to watch all of the studio's projects to understand the overall story and could choose which storylines and characters under these banners to follow. At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the fifth Avengers film was retitled Avengers: Doomsday (2026), with Robert Downey Jr. cast as
23542-632: 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), while Phase Three began with Captain America: Civil War (2016) and concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Black Widow (2021)
23700-433: Was folded into Marvel Studios, with Marvel Studios taking over production of the remaining series and no further series expected to be developed by Marvel Television. In January 2021, Feige said "never say never" to potentially reviving the Netflix series, but noted that Marvel Studios was focused on their new Disney+ series. In May 2022, Marvel Studios was revealed to be developing a new Daredevil series for Disney+, which
23858-465: Was given to The Collector to keep it separate from the Space Stone. The Power and Time Stones made their debuts in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Doctor Strange (2016) respectively. Ronan the Accuser seeks out the Power Stone for Thanos, but he is defeated by the Guardians of the Galaxy , who entrust the Stone with the Nova Corps . Stephen Strange finds the Eye of Agamotto, which houses
24016-514: Was launched in June 2010 with Jeph Loeb as head, and had entered into discussions with ABC to create a show set in the MCU by July 2012; the network went on to release Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , Agent Carter , and Inhumans . The latter 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 , building up to
24174-452: Was on board for it and thinks that it's fun. Primarily because we've always remained consistent saying that the movie that we are making comes first. All of the connective tissue, all of that stuff is fun and is going to be very important if you want it to be. If the fans want to look further and find connections, then they're there. There are a few big ones obviously, that hopefully the mainstream audience will [be] able to follow as well. But...
24332-641: Was part of their Sacred Timeline, noting how there had been the corporate divide between what Marvel Studios created and what Marvel Television created. He continued that as time had passed, Marvel Studios began to see "how well integrated the [Marvel Television] stories are" and personally felt confident in saying Marvel Television's Daredevil was part of the Sacred Timeline. This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in at least three MCU films/series and received main billing credit in at least two franchises. Additionally, Paul Bettany
24490-416: Was planning to produce its own films independently and distribute them through Paramount Pictures . Previously, Marvel had co-produced several superhero films based on Marvel Comics with Columbia Pictures , New Line Cinema , 20th Century Fox , and others. Marvel made relatively little profit from these licensing deals and wanted to get more money out of its films while maintaining artistic control of
24648-447: Was released on September 6, 2023. 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
24806-490: Was reprehensible"; this was reported to be a disagreement with a Disney executive over the censoring of gay pride elements in Quantumania so the film could be released in Kuwait in compliance with the country's restrictive anti-LGBTQ laws . A Disney spokesperson reiterated that Alonso was fired due to "an indisputable breach of contract and a direct violation of company policy" among other factors. Disney and Alonso reached
24964-476: Was the first actor to portray two main characters within the universe, voicing Tony Stark's artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. and portraying Vision. 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,
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