Welcome to a four-part series detailing the history of Marvel Studios and the legendary Marvel Cinematic Universe. From its extremely humble beginnings to the earth shatteringly huge “Avengers: Infinity War” to be released at the end of April, it’s time to take a look at a studio that can only be called Marvelous.
“Iron Man 2” was quickly put into production in May of 2008 following the success of the first film. Justin Theroux (“Tropic Thunder”) was hired to write the script with Favreau returning to the director’s chair. Samuel L. Jackson was brought on for a full role as Nick Fury, with Scarlett Johansson cast to play Natasha Romanoff.
The biggest shake up for the film in its pre-production was the recasting of Don Cheadle as Colonel Rhodes. Terrence Howard, on the recasting, stated “There was no explanation, apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren't worth the paper that they're printed on sometimes. Promises aren't kept, and good faith negotiations aren't always held up.”
Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell rounded out the cast as the villain Whiplash and the business tycoon Justin Hammer, respectively. Filming began in April 2009 with some scenes filmed on Edwards Air Force Base, Downey Studios and at the Sepulveda Dam.
Marvel announced that the movie would be released in IMAX and shortly after this reshoots began in February of 2010. Industrial Light and Magic along with 10 other visual effects studios worked on the film. At Favreau’s request, they used significantly less practical effects for suits and action during the sequel, requiring more man hours to be put into the movie’s visuals.
“Iron Man 2” was released on May 7, 2010 to a weekend box office of $128 million and landing at the number one spot. It would eventually gross $312.4 million in the U.S. with a worldwide total of $623.9 million. Audience’s showed up in droves for this second Downey super hero flick, but critics were less enthused.
A paltry 79 percent on RottenTomatoes and a 57 on Metacritic contrasted the first film’s 94 percent on RottenTomatoes and 79 Metacritic score. Many critics negatively compared it to superior Superhero sequels “Superman 2” and “Spider-Man 2”, noting those films dove deeper into their heroes and villain’s emotional states.
“Iron Man 2” was praised for its action and performances, but some found the plot to be tired and slow. Many fans criticized the film for forcing in overbearing world-building for the rest of the MCU and sabotaging the movie.
With a solid foundation built, Marvel had to continue to successfully bring its heroes together to achieve its ultimate goal of creating an Avengers team up. And the next character they would attempt to bring to life would prove to be a godly undertaking.
Kenneth Branagh was approached and hired in 2008 to direct a film based on Marvel’s “Thor.” He began moving into pre-production with a January 2010 shooting date. Chris Hemsworth was originally passed over for the role, but was invited back to reread the part before being cast in May of 2009. The day after Hemsworth’s casting announcement, Tom Hiddleston was announced as cast to play Loki, Thor’s brother. This was after Hiddleston auditioned and was turned down for the role of Thor, and offered to audition for Loki.
Natalie Portman was cast as Jane Foster, with Anthony Hopkins as Odin. Shooting began in January. The film was shot at Raleigh Studios, which Marvel had inked a four-picture shooting deal with prior to “Iron Man 2,” before moving to Galisteo, N.M., then ending at northern California in May.
“Thor” was released on May 6, 2011 to the number one spot and a weekend box office gross of $65.7 million, with 60 percent of that coming from 3D screens, a record at the time. It ended its U.S. box office with 268.3 million and a worldwide total of $449.3 million worldwide.
Critics were mostly positive on the film, giving it a 77 percent on RottenTomatoes and a 57 on Metacritic. Praise was directed at the dramatic storyline, as well as the performances of Hemsworth, Hiddleston and the rest of the cast. However, some felt the section of the film located on Earth was extremely weak, as was the film’s special effects.
With the Norse god “Thor” quickly on his way to becoming a household name, Marvel would next look to one of its oldest and most beloved characters to jump to the big screen: Steve Rogers; also known as, Captain America.
John Favreau was picked to direct when the film was in its original 2008 release window. Instead, Favreau left to direct “Iron Man,” and the film was pushed back before Joe Johnston, director of “The Rocketeer,” was brought on board. When Johnston signed on in October of 2008, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely were brought in by him to write. This would be the first of a long list of Marvel collaborations for the duo.
While Marvel’s previous films had been major success across the globe, Avi Arad was asked in a 2007 interview with the now defunct fan site IESB how he though Captain America would do around the globe:
“Captain America stands for freedom for all democracies, for hope all around the world. He was created to stop tyranny and the idea of stopping tyranny is important today as it was then. So I think that we will have some interesting challenges but at the end of the day if the movie is terrific and the movie talks to the world, it's not about one place, it's about the world and I think (on) that basis it will be very successful.”
With a creative team on board and a cast of A-listers assembled including Sebastian Stan, Peggy Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones, production began with a shooting date of April 2010 set. To many fan’s surprise, Captain America himself was to be played by Chris Evans, who had previously played Johnny Storm in the critically panned pre-Marvel Studios films “Fantastic Four” and its sequel “Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
Shooting began in June of 2010 at Raleigh Studios and in locations such as London, Welsh and Liverpool. Filming went smoothly and concluded in November of 2010. In early 2011, it was announced that reshoots would be in the U.K. and Los Angeles in April of 2011, as well as in New York City.
“Captain America: The First Avenger” was released on July 22, 2011, a day after a special screening at San Diego Comic Con. Worldwide, Paramount Pictures offered distributors in foreign markets a choice between two titles to market the film; the original title or the abbreviated “The First Avenger.”
“First Avenger” opened to the number one spot with a weekend total of $65.1 million, for the second biggest opening weekend of 2011, just $.6 million behind “Thor.” It eventually went on to gross $193.9 million in the U.S. and $370.6 worldwide. It is the highest grossing World War 2 film ever, at the time of writing.
Critics responded warmly to the film, with an 80 percent on RottenTomatoes and a 66 Metacritic score. Many compared it to the adventure films and pulp stories of the 70’s and 80’s. Critics praised the action, emotional stakes and the performances of the cast, particularly Evans and Weaving.
Marvel’s biggest and most ambitious project yet, “The Avengers” began development all the way back in 2005, and when “Iron Man” was released, it was given a July 2011 release date. Zak Penn agreed to write the script in June of 2007 and served as a mediator between the various productions to make sure certain elements were included in each.
However, after the cast was assembled and Joss Whedon was hired in July of 2010, he told Marvel that this script had nothing and that they should “pretend this draft never happened.” He went on to write his own treatment for the film and Marvel signed him for writing and directing duties.
Final casting agreements were made and the film began shooting in April of 2011 with a May 2012 release date. Shooting began in New Mexico and continued throughout New York City, Ohio and the NASA Plum Brook Station before concluding in September of 2011. Fourteen visual effects companies worked on the film and numerous companies produced marketing tie-ins to help promote the film.
“The Avengers” was released on May 4, 2012 and managed to gross $207 million dollars in the U.S. during its opening weekend, a record since surpassed by “The Force Awakens,” “The Last Jedi” and “Jurassic World.” Worldwide it grossed a total of $895.5 million. Coupled with its $623.4 million U.S. gross, this made the film the highest grossing film of the year and at the time the highest grossing superhero film ever, until it was passed by “Black Panther.”
“Avengers” received critical acclaim upon its release, with some calling it the greatest superhero film ever made. It has a 92 percent on RottenTomatoes and a 69 on Metacritic. Critics praised the action and visuals, but also lauded the film’s story, dialogue, interactions between the characters and the humanity Whedon had created for them.
The film won numerous awards, including the Hugo award for “Best Dramatic Presentation – Long Form” and four Saturn awards. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.
Now that its biggest heroes had finally been brought together, Marvel began production on their next step. What would this step be? Why yet another sequel of course!
Photo Courtesy of Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios.
