The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the biggest movie franchise of the planet and one of the most successful and popular names in the entertainment world. In the span of 11 years, it gave us numerous thrilling, high action and sci-fi movies. It gave life to many superheroes who walked out of the comic book pages to showcase themselves in the live-action movies.
It is amusing to wonder how the franchise grew so big and how so many of us got connected with it. There was a time when Marvel had to sell many of its character rights to various other companies. This was the time when DC superheroes like Batman and Superman were ruling this section of movies, but with the release of Sony’s Spider-Man franchise, things started to change. The most significant factor of its impact on the audience was due to the character of Peter Parker, it left the youth inspired and was relatable to many. This was the time when movie creators understood that the drift has shifted towards characters and their plots from visuals and music.
Back then, Kevin Feige, the producer of Marvel took a big risk. The production invested in a movie which neither had a very popular superhero nor was the starring actor among the favourites. But it paved the way to the era of superheroes with the release of Iron-Man in 2008.
Robert Downey Jr. gave life to the character of Tony Stark aka Iron-Man and shocked everyone. The greatest reason why the movie received such appreciation was because of the powerful performance of the cast and the visuals. RDJ played the character so well that it was said that he was showcasing himself on the reel. The character of Tony Stark garnered a huge fan base. Being crooked, alcoholic, stubborn, rebel on one side and genius, courageous and concerned on the other. He was not a good-all-the-time character, not well taken by teammates and at times being arrogant, but never hesitated in protecting others. This made the character so iconic. We saw his character development with each subsequent movie and at last how he become the symbol of heroism. He didn’t have any superpowers but got enough money and brains and above all the unmatched attitude to make us believe that we don’t need any gifts from heaven to be a hero, we already possess that in ourselves. These lines are best fit for him ‘Loved by many, hated by some, respected by all.’
Marvel also gave us a hero who taught us the lesson of will power, and not to give up. Captain America, played by Chris Evans is a character who personifies strength, courage, patriotism and struggle. He witnessed the struggle of both old and new ages and how the world and its ideology changes but in all eras, the world needed a hero and a hope. Not to forget his extraordinary leadership skills and his tricks with the shield.
The MCU introduced us to a God whose problems were more human-friendly, had family issues, loads of ego, a drastic love life, a big chunk of responsibilities and random earth trips. But with every mission he accomplished and every journey, he grew stronger as the mighty God of thunder. He understands the power of love and how it is important to think about others and risk our own self. This is very efficiently portrayed by Chris Hemsworth as Thor.
Apart from this trilogy, the MCU gave us many superheroes and villains in its journey of 11 years but its biggest achievement was the first Avengers movie which gave an adventurous and mind-blowing piece of cinema. It gave the industry something which was never witnessed before, several heroes coming from various backgrounds, with different ideologies and disputes among themselves teamed up to protect the planet.
The team also had a calm and rather a very intelligent scientist who takes no time to turn into a green monster, a very sharp and trained archer who never missed a shot, but the most important member was a spy, a very skilful woman who proved that a woman’s intelligence can beat the strength of a hundred men, these roles were brought to lives by Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johanson respectively.
The movie, for me, was the most iconic action-adventure ever made, outreached the popularity of MCU. The best part of MCU is that every superhero is battling something or the other in their personal life, but they never give up and never grow dark, the flavor of humor and the spirit of fight gives the audience something greater than entertainment. A lesson that there exists a superhero in each and every one of us, we just need a way to explore it.