Marvel Cinematic Universe

1) How many films are there in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)?

There are 23 films in the MCU.

2) How much money have the MCU films made in total so far?

The MCU films made $356 million in North America and more than $1.2 billion worldwide in total so far.

3) Why did Marvel create the Avengers films?

Marvel created the Avengers films because In 2007, Marvel was recovering from bankruptcy and had sold off the film rights to some of the company's most popular characters like the X-Men and Spider-Man.

4) What will Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe involve?

Phase Four features all of the Marvel Studios productions set to be released in 2020 and 2021. It is the first phase in the franchise to include television series, with Marvel Studios developing several event series for the streaming service Disney+ in addition to the feature films that it was already set to produce.

5) What will happen with Doctor Strange and who is the main star?

Doctor Strange will return for a sequel at "some point in the future" and the main stars are  Kevin Feige and Benedict Cumberbatch.

6) Who owns the rights to Spiderman and why is the character now appearing in Marvel films?

Marvel has licensed the rights to Spider-Man to Sony for nearly two decades, an agreement they forged prior to Disney's $4 billion acquisition of the comics company in 2009.

7) Which company owns the rights to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men?

Disney's $71.3 billion acquisition of 20th Century Fox means, among other things, that Marvel will now own the rights to the characters from the X-Men, as well as the Fantastic Four series — rights Marvel sold in the late '90s to avoid bankruptcy.

8)What has Disney announced regarding TV shows on their new streaming service Disney+?

Disney has also announced plans for several new Marvel TV series, including one based on Thor's adopted brother Loki, on their new streaming service, Disney+, so there'll be plenty more Marvel content to watch in future.

Grade 8/9 extension tasks-

 What did the Guardian think of the film?

The Gaurdian thinks that the film is a "daringly spiritual popcorn movie". They also said that there’s a sharp wit to the screenplay, which credits the audience with enough smarts to catch the punchline to a joke that was set up a full hour before.

How has it survived so long and why is the Marvel Cinematic Universe so important to the recent success of the brand?

It has survived so long because Marvel films over recent decades is very closely linked to Marvel's 80 years of history, its vast experience in storytelling, and the development of their characters.  It is important to the recent success of the brand because in the 1990's, Marvel - and other companies - were printing millions of copies of titles.