The 'Marvel Cinematic Universe'

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a cinema phenomenon, with a worldwide gross (up to April 2019) of between $11 billion and $18 billion – depending on which Wikipedia page you read. The $18 billion figure compares with $9.2 each for Star Wars and Harry Potter, and James Bond's $7 billion.

And yet, in my experience, it's comparatively rarely mentioned in quizzes. It certainly comes up less frequently than the three other franchises mentioned above – less frequently, in fact, than several other less successful franchises. The only explanation I can suggest for this is that to be perfectly frank, there is little crossover between the type of people who do quizzes and the type of people who go to see Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Basics

The agency that the Avengers work for (originally Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division; changed in 1991 to Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate)

To date (June 2020) there have been 23 films, released in three 'Phases':

Title

Director

Released

Phase One:

Iron Man	Jon Favreau	2008
The Incredible Hulk	Louis Leterrier	2008
Iron Man 2	Jon Favreau	2010
Thor	Kenneth Branagh	2011
Captain America: The First Avenger	Joe Johnston	2011
(Marvel's) The Avengers	Joss Whedon	2012

Phase Two:

Iron Man 3	Shane Black	2013
Thor: The Dark World	Alan Taylor	2013
Captain America: The Winter Soldier	Anthony and Joe Russo	2014
Guardians of the Galaxy	James Gunn	2014
Avengers: Age of Ultron	Joss Whedon	2015
Ant–Man	Peyton Reed	2015

Phase Three:

Captain America: Civil War	Anthony and Joe Russo	2016
Doctor Strange	Scott Derrickson	2016
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	James Gunn	2017
Spider–Man: Homecoming	Jon Watts	2017
Thor: Ragnarök	Taika Waititi	2017
Black Panther	Ryan Coogler	2018
Avengers: Infinity War	Anthony and Joe Russo	2018
Ant–Man and The Wasp	Peyton Reed	2018
Captain Marvel	Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck	2019
Avengers: Endgame	Anthony and Joe Russo	2019
Spider–Man: Far from Home	Jon Watts	2019

Phase Four

Black Widow	Cate Shortland	November 2019
Shang–Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings	Destin Daniel Cretton	September 2021
Eternals	Chloé Zhao	November 2021
Spider–Man: No Way Home	Jon Watts	December 2021
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness	Sam Raimi	May 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder	Taika Waititi	July 2022
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever	Ryan Coogler	November 2022
Ant–Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	Peyton Reed	February 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3	James Gunn	May 2023
The Marvels	Nia DaCosta	July 2023
Fantastic Four

The Avengers (2012)

Up to June 2020, The Avengers had grossed just over $1.5 billion worldwide; this figure had changed hardly, if at all, by June 2020. At one time it was the third highest grossing film of all time – after Avatar and Titanic – but by June 2020 it'd been overtaken by five more films, including both of its own sequels: Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019). The latter had become the highest grossing film of all time, taking just a fraction under $2.8 billion.

The Avengers was the last film in what has been called Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, and as it brought together most of the main characters from the previous five films it would seem to be a good place to start looking at the cast list:

Tony Stark / Iron Man – a self–proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, with an electromechanical suit of armour of his own invention		Robert Downey, Jr.
Steve Rogers / Captain America – a World War II veteran who was enhanced to the peak of human physicality by an experimental serum and frozen in suspended animation before waking up in the modern world		Chris Evans
Dr. Bruce Banner / (The Incredible) Hulk – a genius scientist who, because of exposure to gamma radiation, transforms into a monster when enraged or agitated. (Note that in the 2008 film featuring Hulk – see below – Banner was played by Edward Norton)		Mark Ruffalo
Thor – The crown prince of Asgard, based on the Norse deity of the same name		Chris Hemsworth
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow – a highly trained spy working for SHIELD		Scarlett Johansson
Clint Barton / Hawkeye – a master archer working as an agent for SHIELD		Jeremy Renner
Loki – Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis, based on the Norse deity of the same name		Tom Hiddleston
Phil Coulson – an agent of SHIELD who oversees many of the division's field operations		Clark Gregg
Dr. Erik Selvig – an astrophysicist and a friend of Thor under Loki's control		Stellen Skarsgård
Nick Fury – the director of SHIELD, who was revealed in previous films to be coordinating the "Avengers Initiative"		Samuel L. Jackson
Maria Hill – a high–ranking agent of SHIELD, who works closely with Nick Fury		Cobie Smulders
Virginia 'Pepper' Potts – Tony Stark's love interest		Gwyneth Paltrow

The remaining sections look at the other films in chronological order.

Iron Man (2008)

Obadiah Stane / The Iron Monger – Stark's business second–in–command

Also featured: Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

There was a previous Hulk film, entitled simply Hulk. Released in 2003, it was directed by Ang Lee and starred Eric Bana as Dr. Bruce Banner. It received a mixed reception from critics but was a commercial success – grossing almost a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide, although it did cost more than half of that amount to make.

Notable facts about the 2008 film:

Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk		Edward Norton
Voice of Hulk (also played him in the television series, 1977–82)		Lou Ferrigno
Betty Ross – a cellular biologist, and Banner's love interest		Liv Tyler
General Thaddeus E. 'Thunderbolt' Ross – Betty's arrogant father – US Secretary of State and former army general, who has dedicated himself to capturing the Hulk		William Hurt
Major Emil Blonsky / The Abomination: a Russian–born UK Royal Marines Commando, injected with various serums by General Ross to transform into a monster more powerful than the Hulk himself		Tim Roth

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes – an officer in the US Air Force, and a close personal friend of Tony Stark		Don Cheadle
Ivan Vanko – a Russian physicist and ex–convict who builds his own weapon to exact vengeance on the Stark family		Mickey Rourke

Also featured: Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Thor (2011)

Dr. Jane Foster – a scientist, and Thor's love interest		Natalie Portman
Heimdall – the all–seeing, all–hearing sentry of the Bifröst bridge – based on the Norse deity of the same name		Idris Elba
Odin – ruler of Asgard, father of Thor and adoptive father of Loki – based on the Norse deity of the same name		Anthony Hopkins

Also featured: Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddlestone as Loki, Stellen Skarsgård as Erik Selvig.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Chester Phillips – the US Army colonel who recruits Steve Rogers to join the secret experiment that creates the super–soldier known as Captain America		Tommy Lee Jones
Johann Schmidt / Red Skull – Captain America's nemesis. Adolf Hitler's head of advanced weaponry, whose own plan for world domination involves a magical object known as the Tesseract. Red Skull is the commander of the terrorist organization Hydra		Hugo Weaving
Peggy Carter – an officer with the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and Captain America's love interest		Hayley Atwell
Sgt. James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes – Steve Rogers's best friend		Sebastian Stan
Howard Stark – Tony Stark's father		Dominic Cooper

Also featured: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Aldrich Killian – creator of the Extremis virus and the founder of Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), who adopts the mantle of the Mandarin (see below) as his own		Guy Pearce
Trevor Slattery – a British actor with substance–abuse problems, hired by Killian to portray the Mandarin (a terrorist persona in jammed television broadcasts, in which he is depicted as a leader of the international terrorist organization The Ten Rings)		Ben Kingsley
Powered exoskeleton used by 'Rhodey' Rhodes (Don Cheadle)		Iron Patriot
Director of the two previous Iron Man films, appears as Harold 'Happy' Hogan – Tony Stark's former bodyguard and chauffeur, now Stark Industries head of security		Jon Favreau

Also featured: Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Don Cheadle as 'Rhodey' Rhodes / Iron Patriot.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Malekith – ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim

Also featured: Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddlestone as Loki, Stellen Skarsgård as Erik Selvig, Natalie Porter as Jane Foster, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Anthony Hopkins as Odin.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

The mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier turns out to be (Steve Rogers' best friend, who was captured and experimented upon during WWII) – see above		Bucky
Alexander Pierce – a senior leader in SHIELD, a member of the World Security Council and an old comrade of Nick Fury		Robert Redford

Also featured: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as 'Bucky' Barnes, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

This film introduced a new cast of characters that had not featured in previous Marvel Universe films. The title characters are a group of extraterrestrial misfits who are fleeing after stealing a powerful artifact, and with whom the central character Peter Quill forms an uneasy alliance.

Peter Quill / Star–Lord – leader of the Guardians, who discovers at the end of the film that he is half human and half alien

The Guardians have not yet entered the quiz lexicon – not in my experience, anyway – so in order to avoid redundancy I have not listed them here. I do however include a few characters who are played by notable actors:

Rocket Raccoon – a genetically–engineered raccoon who is a bounty hunter and mercenary, as well as a master of weapons and battle tactics		Bradley Cooper
Groot – a tree–like humanoid and the accomplice of Rocket Raccoon		Vin Diesel
Nova Prime Irani Rael – leader of the Nova Corps, whose mission is to protect the citizens of the Nova Empire and keep peace		Glenn Close
Taneleer Tivan / The Collector – an obsessive collector of interstellar fauna, relics and species, operating out of a place in space named Knowhere		Benicio del Toro

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

This was a sequel to The Avengers (2012) and featured many of the same characters and cast: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill.

It also featured the following new characters:

Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver – a superhero who can move at superhuman speed		Aaron Taylor–Johnson
Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch – twin sister of Pietro / Quicksilver, who can harness magic, hypnosis and telekinesis		Elizabeth Olsen
JARVIS (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) – Tony Stark's Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) system – also in previous films		Paul Bettany
Vision – an android superhero created by Ultron		Paul Bettany
Sam Wilson / Falcon – a friend of Steve Rogers, trained by the military in aerial combat using a specially designed wing pack		Anthony Mackie
Ultron – the eponymous AI, repurposed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner for a pilot peace program, which is overwhelmed with a "god complex" and now wishes to pacify the Earth by eradicating humanity		James Spader

Also appearing: Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Ant–Man (2015)

Armed with a super–suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

A former systems engineer at VistaCorp, and petty criminal, who acquires a suit that allows him to shrink in size but increase in strength ... and become Ant–Man. Played by Paul Rudd		Scott Lang
A former SHIELD agent, entomologist, and physicist who became the original Ant–Man in 1963 after discovering the subatomic particles that make the transformation possible. He later mentors the above to take over the role. Played by Michael Douglas		Hank Pym
Daughter of the above, and a senior board member of his company, who helps the following character to take it over. Played by Evangeline Lily		Hope van Dyne
A former protégé of Pym's, who takes over his mentor's company and militarizes a similar version of the Ant–Man technology to create the Yellowjacket suit – "the next generation of Ant–Man's suit". Played by Corey Stoll		Darren Cross
A police officer who is engaged to Lang's former wife Maggie. Played by Bobby Cannavale		Paxton
Lang's former cellmate, and a member of his "crew". Played by Michael Peña		Luis

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Political involvement in the Avengers' affairs causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.

The Sokovian colonel–turned–terrorist who is obsessed with defeating the Avengers – played by Daniel Brühl		Helmut Zemo
Making his debut as Peter Parker / Spider–Man		Tom Holland

This film also features a whole host of characters that have appeared in previous films – all played by the same actors, and too numerous to list here!

Doctor Strange (2016)

While on a journey of physical and spiritual healing, a brilliant neurosurgeon is drawn into the world of the mystic arts.

Title character – a neurosurgeon who, after a car accident that led to a journey of healing, discovers the hidden world of magic and parallel universes		Benedict Cumberbatch
Karl Mordo – a master of the Mystic Arts, close to the Ancient One (see below) and a mentor to Dr. Strange		Chiwetel Ejiofor
Christine Palmer – Dr. Strange's love interest (Canadian actress)		Rachel McAdams
The Ancient One (female version) – a Celtic mystic, who mentors the title character		Tilda Swinton

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)

The Guardians struggle to keep together as a team while dealing with their personal family issues, notably Star–Lord's encounter with his father, the ambitious celestial being Ego.

Chris Pratt returns as Peter Quill / Star–Lord, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, and Vin Diesel as Baby Groot (the son of the character he played in the original film). Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro do not return.

Stakar Ogord – a high–ranking Ranger, who holds a grudge against Yondu (one of the Guardians)

Spider–Man: Homecoming (2017)

Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter–ego Spider–Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.

Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker / Spider–Man, Jon Favreau as 'Happy' Hogan, and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Evans appear as Pepper Potts and Steve Rogers / Captain America respectively.

Adrian Toomes / Vulture – a salvager turned arms trafficker		Michael Keaton
Anne Marie Hoag – the head of the US Department of Damage Control		Tyne Daly

Thor: Ragnarök (2017)

Thor is imprisoned on the planet Sakaar, and must race against time to return to Asgard and stop Ragnarök, the destruction of his world.

Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin.

Hela – Thor's older sister and the goddess of death (based on the sister of Loki in Norse mythology – a ruthless villain who threatens to destroy Asgard		Cate Blanchett
Grandmaster – one of the Elders of the Universe, ruler of the planet Sakaar, who enjoys manipulating lesser life–forms		Jeff Goldblum

Black Panther (2018)

T'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.

Title role – King of the African nation of Wakanda, having ascended to the throne following the death of his father T'Chaka in Captain America: Civil War; gains enhanced strength by ingesting the heart–shaped herb		Chadwick Boseman
Nakia – T'Challa's former lover and a War Dog, an undercover spy for Wakanda, from the River Tribe		Lupita Nyong'o
CIA agent Everett K. Ross		Martin Freeman
Ramonda – mother of T'Challa and Shuri; the Queen Mother of Wakanda		Angela Bassett
Zuri – an elder statesman in Wakanda and the keeper of the heart–shaped herb		Forest Whitaker
Ulysses Klaue – a South African black–market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster		Andy Serkis

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

Various stars of the previous Avengers films – too many to list here – return.

Eitri – King of the Dwarves of Nidavellir, and weaponsmith, based on the dwarf of the same name from Norse mythology		Peter Dinklage
Thanos – the principal antagonist: an intergalactic despot from Titan, who longs to collect all six of the Infinity Stones in order to "re–balance the Universe" and impose his will on all of reality		Josh Brolin

Ant–Man and The Wasp (2018)

As Scott Lang balances being both a Superhero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant–Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past. Janet van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) is handed down the mantle of The Wasp, and a suit similar to the Ant–Man's, from her mother.

Most of the principal characters and actors from the first Ant–Man film return – including Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, the original Ant–Man.

Stan Lee, co–creator of the title characters, plays a cameo as a man whose car gets shrunk by accident. He died in November 2018 – five months after the film's release.

Janet van Dyne – Pym's wife and Hope's mother, and the original Wasp, who is lost in the quantum realm		Michelle Pfeiffer
Bill Foster – an old friend of Pym, who was once his assistant		Laurence Fishburne

Captain Marvel (2019)

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury, the future Director of SHIELD.

Title character – an ex–US Air Force fighter pilot and member of an elite Kree military unit called Starforce, whose DNA was altered during an accident, imbuing her with superhuman strength, energy projection, and flight		Brie Larson
The Supreme Intelligence – the collective embodiment of the greatest minds of the Kree people, and the ruler of the Kree Empire. Appears in different forms to each person, specifically as Dr. Wendy Lawson to Vers (one of Carol Danvers's personae)		Annette Bening
Yon–Rogg – the commander of Starforce, who trains Danvers to use her new powers		Jude Law

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to undo Thanos's actions and restore order to the universe.

All the usual suspects from previous Avengers outings return – along with others such as Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel.

Spider–Man: Far from Home (2019)

Peter Parker and his friends go on a European vacation, where Peter finds himself agreeing to help Nick Fury uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks, creating havoc across the continent.

Once again, various characters and actors from previous Spider–Man outings return.

Quentin Beck / Mysterio: an expert on the Elementals, who is recruited by Nick Fury to help Spider–Man stop them

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