Marvel Trivia | 100 random trivia & facts about the MCU [Part 2]

MCU, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is the highest grossing franchise worldwide at the moment. With over $22.5 billion at the box office.

So let’s dive more into the hows and whys this specific franchise became such a juggernaut.

Quesada confirmed in April 2014 that the Netflix series would be set within the MCU
In January 2015, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos said Netflix planned to release a Marvel series approximately a year apart from each other after Daredevil’s April 2015 release
Sarandos later stated that Netflix was trying to close the gap between releases of Marvel seasons
But would always prioritize the quality of the series over higher numbers of releases per year
He said that Netflix was open to exploring the MCU beyond the Defenders series, including potential crossovers with ABC’s Marvel series
In July 2016, Marvel and Netflix committed to complete production on 135 episodes by the end of 2017
Making the deal the largest television production commitment in New York State
Production for the different series had engaged 500 local vendors and small businesses for various stages of development and had required over 14,000 production-related hires
In October 2018, Netflix canceled Iron Fist after two seasons
Deadline Hollywood reported that Disney was considering reviving the series on its streaming service Disney+
Sarandos confirmed that the series were Netflix’s to renew or cancel if they wished
Despite this, Luke Cage was canceled by the streamer a week after Iron Fist was
Deadline Hollywood reported there were no plans to revive the series on Disney+ as with Iron Fist
Shortly after, at the end of November 2018, Netflix canceled Daredevil after three seasons
With Deadline Hollywood again reporting there was the potential for the series to be revived on Disney+
Conversely, The Hollywood Reporter felt it was unlikely the series would be revived on Disney+ and noted the two other remaining series at the time (Jessica Jones and The Punisher) would remain on Netflix “until they run their course”
Variety added that, per the original deal between Marvel and Netflix for the series, the characters cannot appear in any non-Netflix series or films for at least two years following their cancellation
Kevin A. Mayer, chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International, noted that, while it had not yet been discussed, it was a possibility that Disney+ could revive the canceled Netflix series
Netflix canceled both Jessica Jones and The Punisher on February 18, 2019, after three seasons and two seasons, respectively
In August 2016, Marvel announced that Runaways had received a pilot order from Hulu
The series eventually received a 10 episode order the following May
That July, Loeb confirmed the series would take place in the MCU
He added that the characters would not be concerned with the actions of others in the universe, instead focusing on their own issues
This allowed showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage to deal with concepts such as superheroics and fantasy without explaining them to the audience, since they are already well established in the MCU, while still focusing on their own characters
In May 2019, Marvel announced that Ghost Rider and Helstrom had been greenlit for the service
In September 2019, it was announced that Ghost Rider would not be going forward, due to creative differences
In April 2016, the ABC-owned cable network Freeform announced Cloak & Dagger, based on the characters of the same name, with a straight-to-series order for 2018
The network confirmed that the series would be “its first venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe”
This younger-skewing content was continued with the comedy series New Warriors ordered in April 2017,
By November 2017, New Warriors was no longer set to air on Freeform and was being shopped to other networks
It was reported to be canceled in September 2019 after it failed to find a new broadcaster
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell revealed at the show’s 2014 PaleyFest panel that the producers and writers are able to read the screenplays for upcoming MCU films to know where the universe is heading
His fellow executive producer Jed Whedon explained that each Marvel project is intended to stand alone first before there is any interweaving
Whedon, also, noted that the series has to be aware of the film division’s plans so as not to interfere when introducing someone or something to the universe
Bell said this was preferable so that people who do not watch the films can still follow the series, and vice versa
In April 2014, Quesada stated that, beyond connecting to themselves, the Netflix series would connect with the films and other television series
In October 2014, Feige said the opportunity “certainly” existed for characters in the Netflix series to appear in Avengers: Infinity War
In March 2015, Loeb spoke on the ability for the Netflix series to crossover with the films and the ABC series, saying, “As it is now, in the same way that our films started out as self-contained and then by the time we got to The Avengers, it became more practical for Captain America to do a little crossover into Thor 2 and for Bruce Banner to appear at the end of Iron Man 3. We have to earn that. The audience needs to understand who all of these characters are and what the world is before you then start co-mingling”
In September 2015, Feige elaborated on the films referencing the television series, saying “I think that’s inevitable at some point. The schedules do not always quite match up to make that possible. It’s easier for the shows. They’re more nimble and faster and produce things quicker than we do, which is one of the main reasons you see the repercussions of Winter Soldier or Avengers: Age of Ultron in the show. By the time we start doing a movie, they’d be mid-way through a season. By the time our movie comes out, they’d be starting the next season. So finding the timing on that is not always easy”
In June 2018, speaking to how the MCU television series would be affected by the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Loeb noted that “For the most part our stories will take place before Thanos clicked his fingers. A lot of that has to do with production and when we are telling our stories versus when the movies come out”
In September 2018, with the report of Marvel Studios developing limited series for Disney’s streaming service, it was expected that the actors that portrayed the characters in the films would portray them again for the limited series
In April 2019, actor James D’Arcy appeared in Avengers: Endgame, reprising his role of Edwin Jarvis from the television series Agent Carter
This marked the first time a character introduced in an MCU television series appears in an MCU film
Speaking to how the Marvel Television series fit within the larger MCU timeline, Loeb noted, “We don’t want to ever do something in our show[s] which contradicts what’s happening in the movies. The movies are the lead dog. They’re setting the timeline for the MCU and what’s going on. Our job is to navigate within that world”
By November 2017, Disney was looking to develop a new Marvel television series for their streaming service Disney+
In July 2018, Feige noted discussions had begun with Disney regarding any potential involvement Marvel Studios could have with the streaming service,
In September 2018, it was reported that Marvel Studios was developing several limited series centered on “second-tier” characters from the MCU films
Characters who had not and were unlikely to star in their own films
Each series was expected to be six to eight episodes
The series would be produced by Marvel Studios rather than Marvel Television, with Feige taking a “hands-on role” in each series’ development
Feige noted the series being developed for the streaming service would “tell stories that we wouldn’t be able to tell in a theatrical experience – a longer-form narrative”
Some of the series that are already greenlit or started filming are Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Wandavision, Loki, What If… and Hawkeye
In 2008, the first tie-in comic was released
Marvel Comics worked with Brad Winderbaum, Jeremy Latcham, and Will Corona Pilgrim at Marvel Studios to decide which concepts should be carried over from the Marvel Comics Universe to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what to show in the tie-in comics, and what to leave for the films
Marvel has clarified which of the tie-in comics are considered canonical MCU stories, with the rest merely inspired by the MCU
In August 2011, Marvel announced a series of direct-to-video short films called Marvel One-Shots
The name derived from the label used by Marvel Comics for their one-shot comics
Each short film is designed to be a self-contained story that provides more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films
In July 2012, D’Esposito stated that Marvel was considering the idea of introducing established characters who may not yet be ready to carry their own feature films in future One-Shots
In March 2015, Marvel’s Vice President of Animation Development and Production, Cort Lane, stated that animated tie-ins to the MCU were “in the works”
That July, Marvel Studios partnered with Google to produce the faux news program WHIH Newsfront with Christine Everhart
A series of in-universe YouTube videos serving as the center of a viral marketing campaign to promote the films and universe
In December 2016, a six-part web series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot, was revealed, which debuted on ABC.com on December 13, 2016
It follows Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez on a secret mission, shortly before the start of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fourth season, with Natalia Cordova-Buckley reprising her role
In September 2019, Sony created a real version of the fictional TheDailyBugle.net website as part of a viral marketing campaign to promote the home media release of Spider-Man: Far From Home
Inspired by real-world “conspiracy-pushing” websites such as that of Alex Jones, the website features J. K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson in a video where he speaks out against Spider-Man before adding “Thanks for watching. Don’t forget to like and subscribe!”
Marvel Studios developed specific business practices to create its shared universe, including choosing filmmakers that were considered “out-of-left-field”, given their previous work
The studio looks for filmmakers to hire who are able to guide a film
When hiring directors, the studio usually has “a kernel of an idea of what we want”, which is presented to potential directors over the course of several meetings to discuss and further expand
Later expanding on this process, Feige explained that before talking to any directors on a film, Marvel Studios often puts together a “lookbook” of influences from the comics and art by Marvel’s visual development department, to create a visual template for the film
These are put together at company retreats, which the studio holds every “18 months or so” to plan out and develop the phases of the MCU
These lookbooks are not always shown to directors, though, with Marvel sometimes preferring to let the director offer their own ideas first
Scott Derrickson did not see a lookbook for Doctor Strange, instead putting together his own presentation, with concept art and storyboards by himself and professionals he hired, to sell himself and his vision of the film to Marvel
In contrast, Marvel shared several different ideas for what Thor: Ragnarok could be with prospective filmmakers, who then went away and developed what they thought the film should be from that
Taika Waititi created a sizzle reel using clips from other films to present his vision based on Marvel’s ideas, a practice that Marvel discourages as they “oftentimes can be really terrible”
However, Marvel thought Waititi’s was “amazing”
Derrickson and Waititi were both eventually hired for the films
For Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Joe and Anthony Russo met with the studio four times over two months before they were hired
During this process they “kept getting more and more specific about what our vision was”, putting together “reference videos, storyboards, script pages, you name it. We did like a 30-page book that had everything that we’d do with the character, from the theme of the movie to the tone of the film to the fighting style to what we liked about the character and what we didn’t like”
When the studio hired Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston to direct Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, respectively, it made sure both directors were open to the idea of a shared universe and including Avengers set-up scenes in their films
On allowing directors and writers to work within Marvel’s shared universe concept, Joe Russo said that Feige has “big pieces that he knows he wants to build towards, but the way that you get there is open to interpretation and improv a little bit”
For the Russos in The Winter Soldier, they had to deal with the idea of S.H.I.E.L.D. being infiltrated by Hydra
Marvel Studios also began contracting their actors for multiple films
This included signing actor Samuel L. Jackson to a then “unprecedented” nine-movie contract
In July 2014, Feige said that the studio has all actors sign contracts for multiples films, with the norm being for 3 or more, and the 9 or 12 film deals “more rare”
Actor’s contracts also feature clauses that allows Marvel to use up to three minutes of an actor’s performance from one film for another, which Marvel describes as “bridging material”
At Marvel Television, actors such as Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Daredevil) and Adrianne Palicki (Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) are contractually obliged to appear in a Marvel film if asked
In May 2015, after starring as Claire Temple in the first season of Daredevil, Rosario Dawson signed with Marvel to return for the second season of the series as part of an “exclusive TV deal” that also allows her to appear in any other Marvel Netflix series
Dawson’s character has been featured as well in all the other Netflix shows, except The Punisher, linking them together similarly to Jackson’s Nick Fury in the films
Dawson explained that she signs on with Marvel for a year at a time, for a certain number of episodes, and finds out which series the episodes are for closer to the time of filming
In August 2012, Marvel signed Joss Whedon to an exclusive contract through June 2015 for film and television
With the deal, Whedon would “contribute creatively” on Phase Two of the MCU and develop the first television series set in the universe
For the Russo brothers and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely working on Avengers: Infinity War and Phase Three, they saw “a through line from Winter Soldier, through Civil War, right to Infinity War”
With films like Doctor Strange and Thor: Ragnarok laying groundwork for the “culmination” in Infinity War
Subsequently, they talked “to the directors and writers of the other Phase 3 movies on an almost weekly basis, to make sure everything lines up right”
Peyton Reed, director of Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, felt the relationship and collaboration between the Phase Three directors was “probably the closest thing that this generation will have to a ’30s- or ’40s-era studio system where you are all on the lot and you are all working on different things”
Similarly, when developing the crossover miniseries The Defenders, showrunner Marco Ramirez consulted with the creators of all the individual Marvel Netflix series
In April 2017, along with his announcement that he was returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn revealed he would be working with Marvel “to help design where these stories go, and make sure the future of the Marvel Cosmic Universe is as special and authentic and magical as what we have created so far”
However, in July 2018, Disney and Marvel severed ties with Gunn following controversy surrounding several old jokes Gunn had made
In March 2019, Disney and Marvel Studios reversed course and rehired Gunn as director of the film