Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2022 & 2023

The Marvel Cinematic Universe aka MCU is an American media franchise which are based on superhero films produced by Marvel studios. As far as we know, this franchise has been commercially successful over the years and has generally received positive reviews from all over the world. The MCU has additionally roused a few themed attractions, television series and various tie-in video games. Marvel Studios releases its films in groups called "Phases". So, let’s talk about the different phases of MCU.

Iron Man is the first film which was released on May 2, 2008 as part of Phase One of the MCU. Robert Downey Jr. was the one who played the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man. The film grossed over $585 million worldwide and was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best films of 2008. The Incredible Hulk is the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Initially, it was Edward Norton who played the role of Bruce Banner/Hulk. However, Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo for future MCU. The incredible Hulk is the lowest-grossing film of the MCU. The third film under MCU was Iron Man 2 which was followed by Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Chris Hemsworth was chosen to play the role of Thor and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America. The Phase One of MCU concluded with the crossover film ‘The Avengers’. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in 2012 and would bring together Tony Stark (Downey), Steve Rogers (Evans), Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) and Thor (Hemsworth) from Marvel's previous films. The Avengers movie grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing film of 2012.

Phase Two of MCU consists of 6 movies: 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). Phase Three of MCU consists of 11 movies; Captain America: Civil War (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of 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 first three phases are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time, which it held from July 2019 until March 2021. The film received numerous awards and nominations, including a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards, three nominations at the 25th Critics Choice Awards (winning two) and a nomination for Special Visual Effects at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards. However, the MCU didn’t stop with Phase Three.

Phase Four started in 2021 with Black Widow. It was delayed three times from an original May 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Black Widow broke several pandemic box office records and grossed over $379 million worldwide. It is followed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Spiderman: No Way Home became the highest grossing movie of 2021 and has grossed over 1.6 billion dollars worldwide. At the same time, Phase Four also included numerous Disney+ series like WandaVision (2021), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), the first season of Loki (2021), the first season of the animated What If...? (2021) and Hawkeye (2021). The Future movies yet to be released in 2022 and 2023 as part of Phase Four includes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), The Marvels (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and Fantastic Four. The list doesn’t stop there. There are also numerous upcoming television series under MCU which includes Moon Knight (2022), She-Hulk (2022), Ms. Marvel (2022), Secret Invasion (2022), Ironheart, Armor Wars and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). Thus, making it sure for the fans that Marvel is getting bigger and better for the upcoming years.