A history of the MCU, from Iron Man beginnings to the low of Ant-Man sequel, Chris Hemsworth ‘drowning’ in Thor role, and ‘superhero fatigue’
- How did Marvel, a struggling comic-book publisher, turn into a lucrative movie franchise? The authors of a new book consider the fortunes of the MCU
- Can it reverse the drop in quality that came with making so many movies and TV shows for Disney+? Or has ‘superhero fatigue’ at last set in?
After nearly US$30 billion in box office grosses, multiple Disney+ shows and untold toy sales, it is weird to think of the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a scrappy independent film.
But that is kind of what 2008’s Iron Man was, with its US$140 million production budget and loose, improvisational style, years before the franchise became a multidimensional web of interconnected plot lines and corporate synergy fuelling the Walt Disney Co.
In a new book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales and Gavin Edwards chronicle how a floundering comic-book publisher grew into a money-printing movie-making machine.
There, executive David Maisel pitched Marvel Entertainment’s chief Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter on the idea to build a true studio.
Disney chief executive Bob Iger eventually sidelined Perlmutter in favour of Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, in a company reorganisation in 2015.
