Welcome to the final part of the 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.
Ramping back to a larger scope after “Ant-Man", “Captain America: Civil War” was the next film on Marvel’s slate. Producers stated that they felt it was the right time to make the film after the previous Marvel films had dealt with world-ending plots. Executive Producer Nate Moore said, in an interview with Fandango, “We felt like we had to tell the next step in that story, which is ... what is the world's reaction?”
The Russos signed on to direct in 2014, using the film to continue the story they had helped start in “Winter Soldier.” Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely also signed on in 2014, as did the rest of the cast. The Russo’s told Forbes that the original plot they had signed on for had been scrapped and had been replaced by “Civil War.” Chadwick Boseman was revealed to be playing T’Challa/Black Panther in October of 2014.
Filming began in April 2015, taking place in Georgia and Germany. At the end of May 2015, the Russos held screentests with various teens in Atlanta for the role of Peter Parker before Tom Holland was cast.
“Captain America: Civil War” was released on May 6, 2016. It grossed $179.1 million during its opening weekend, totaling $408.1 million in the U.S. and $1.15 billion worldwide. It was praised by critics, receiving a 91 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 75 Metacritic score. Critics praised the storyline, the performances and particularly Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, as well as the avoidance of a cut and dry “right and wrong” answer to the film’s central narrative.
Development on a film for “Doctor Strange” dates as far back as 1986 at New World Pictures, but the MCU’s version of the Doctor didn’t begin work until 2009, when Marvel began offering writers chances to develop films based on lesser known characters. In 2014, Marvel chose Scott Derrickson to direct and C. Robert Cargill to co-write with Derrickson. However, Marvel felt if Scott fulfilled both roles he wouldn’t meet the release date, so they hired Jon Spaihts to rewrite the script.
Benedict Cumberbatch signed on in December 2014, after originally declining due to commitments with other projects. However, Marvel and Derrickson kept returning to Cumberbatch asking him to portray the character, and even worked to fit the production schedule around his own schedule to convince him to sign on. Throughout 2015 many of the cast members were confirmed, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong Mads Mikkelsen and Tilda Swinton.
Filming began in Nepal in November of 2015, before traveling to New York, Hong Kong and the U.K. Filming completed in April of 2016. Pickup scenes were shot through the summer to add to the film, as well as the film’s Stan Lee cameo and the Doctor Strange cameo in “Thor Ragnarok.” Eight visual effects studios worked on the film, with Industrial Light and Magic championing most of the film’s scenes, including the Mirror fight.
“Doctor Strange" was released on November 4, 2016. It grossed $85.1 million during its opening weekend, totaling $232.6 million in the U.S. and $677.7 worldwide. Critics praised the film and it received an 89 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 72 Metacritic score. The visual effects were the film's most praised elements, with the music, performances and originality of the setting also being praised. Some took issue with a seemingly shallow character arc for Strange, however, and some noted the visual at some points became headache inducing.
Yet another sequel was next on Marvel’s to do list and it would involve them returning to one of their most successful non-Avengers films. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” began production almost immediately after the first film was completed. James Gunn returned to direct, writing the film by himself this time.
By the end of 2015, Gunn had completed the screenplay and had the main cast from the first film signed on to return, as well as new members like Sylvester Stalone, Kurt Russell Pom Klementieff and Elizabeth Debicki. Shooting began in February of 2016 in Georgia, with most of Gunn’s crew from the first film unable to return due to being hired to work on Doctor Strange. Filming took place mainly on the Pinewood Atlanta soundstages and wrapped in June of 2016, with reshoots taking place in November.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” opened on May 5, 2017 and grossed $146.5 million during its opening weekend, with a $389.8 million total U.S. gross and a worldwide gross of $863.8 million. It received an 83 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 67 Metacritic score, with critics praising the visuals, sense of humor and deeper character explorations, while criticizing the film’s pacing, hectic nature and general lack of freshness after the first film.
After his scene stealing appearance in “Civil War,” Tom Holland’s version of the eponymous web-slinging Spider-Man seemed ripe for his own film. True to their nature, Marvel had already hired director John Watts and the seven writers for the film before “Civil War” was even released.
Watts and his crew began hiring the rest of the cast, including Michael Keaton, Zendaya and Donald Glover within the first half of 2016. Filming began in June of the same year.
“Spider-Man Homecoming” was released on July 7, 2017. Interestingly, the film was actually released by Sony Pictures in association with Marvel. Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios was not involved with the films production, despite it still taking place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and being produced by Marvel Studios.
“Homecoming” grossed $117 million during its opening weekend, totaling $334.2 million domestically and $880.2 million worldwide. The film received a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a 72 Metacritic score. Critics praised the film’s youthful energy and lighter tone, as well as the performances and Keaton’s sympathetic villain. Many made comparisons to John Hughes films given the focus on high school. Some fans noted that the film lifted many characters and story beats from Miles Morales comic storylines, yet featured Peter Parker instead.
Given the somewhat muted response to the first two Thor films, Marvel seemed aware that they’d have to change it up to give their god of thunder an adventure worthy of his legacy. “Thor Ragnarok” was that film, and it was put into production in 2014. Taika Waititi joined the production as director in 2015, with writers Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and Eric Pearson onboard to write. The rest of the cast, including Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson and Jeff Goldblum were confirmed to be appearing in the first half of 2016.
Filming began in July of 2016 in Queensland, Australia, shooting in Queensland and at the Village Roadshow Studios. Filming wrapped in October of 2016, with minor additional shooting taking place in July of 2017 at the Pinewood Studios in Atlanta.
“Thor Ragnarok” was released on November 3, 2017. It grossed $122.7 million during its opening weekend, totaling $315.1 million in the U.S., with a worldwide total of $854 million. The film received a 92 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, the highest of any Thor film, and a 74 Metacritic score. Critics praised the film’s bizarre sense of humor, as well as the visuals and performances. Some compared the film to buddy cop adventure movies, as well as to space films like “The Fifth Element” and “Flash Gordon.”
Spider-Man was not the only character to first appear in “Civil War” before being given his own solo film. Chadwick Boseman signed on to play the character way back in 2014 and it wasn’t until January 2016 that Ryan Coogler signed on as director. Coogler specified that he wanted to bring his own crew on board with him to create his own kind of film.
Casting decisions were announced throughout 2016, with filming commencing in January 2017. Shooting took place in Atlanta, mainly at Pinewood Studios, with additional shooting in South Korea and some outdoor shots in Uganda. Filming wrapped in April 2017.
“Black Panther” is notable for many reasons. It is the first Marvel film to feature a black superhero as the lead, as well as a large majority black cast, with only two of the main cast members being white. It is also the first MCU film to feature a female cinematographer, as well as the first to feature a black director.
“Black Panther” opened on February 16, 2018. It grossed $242.1 million during its four-day President’s Day opening weekend. It went on to gross $684.9 million in the U.S., for a worldwide total of $1.32 billion, as of April 27, 2018. It is the highest grossing solo superhero film ever and the third highest grossing MCU film, behind “The Avengers,” and “Age of Ultron.” It is the tenth highest grossing film of all time.
Critics lauded the film upon its release. It received a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and an 88 Metacritic score. The film’s story, action and characters were all praised. Critics particularly noted the strength of the villain, Killmonger, and the breakout performance from Letitia Wright, as well as the cinematography and the film’s style.
Prior to the film’s release, numerous campaigns popped up online to buy out screenings of the film for inner city neighborhoods to view the film. The film has been lauded by critics and the public for its representation and its impact in the black community.
With “Black Panther” having been released, the only thing lying ahead is “Avengers Infinity War.” The film promises to finally reveal the giant villain Thanos in all his glory as he stomps across the universe to assemble the six Infinity Stones. While two other Marvel films, “Ant-Man and The Wasp” and “Captain Marvel,” are to be released after “Infinity War,” both take place prior to the events in that film.
Fans across the globe are hotly anticipating the release of “Infinity War,” a film that has literally been over ten years coming. This kind of anticipation and excitement is rare, not only in cinema, but in the modern world in general. To have people from across the globe, across various backgrounds, all waiting with bated breath to see the events, that some people have spent their lives waiting for, is nothing short of MARVELous.
Photo Courtesy of Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios.
