The MCU is now the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, but how did Kevin Feige, the mastermind behind it all, come up with its name?
While many companies envy Marvel’s success in the cinematic domain, the studio has had its fair share of missed shots in the last 12 years. 23 movies in, with an amassed box office gross of $22.58 billion, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is indeed the most successful and popular series in Hollywood, but there’s also a lot of pressure in developing these interconnected narratives. And yet, Kevin Feige and the rest of the producers at Marvel Studios somehow managed to pull it off, turning the Infinity Saga into the most profitable venture within the industry and compelling many competitors to attempt to emulate the business model and join in on the fun.
Granted, a lot of creatives have come together to work on these films and Marvel Studios owes a huge proportion of its success to the genius of these minds, but one man, in particular, has been with them through thick and thin. Of course, we’re talking about Kevin Feige. The man who not only supervised the general direction of these films but also apparently coined the fictional world’s name. But how did he come up with it?
Well, during a set visit for Iron Man 2 in 2009, the executive discussed the next appearance of Hulk and suggested that it can “tie into and be a part of this Marvel Cinema Universe.”
The next year, while doing press for the release of Iron Man 2, Feige officially used the term “Marvel Cinematic Universe” in an interview, thus cementing the series’ name in the minds of their fans. Of course, it wasn’t until future Phases when we learned about their grand plans for the Infinity Saga that we began to widely use this name.
Now, the MCU is an unrivalled force in the entertainment industry, and with the extensive plans and preparations made for the future, it seems that Marvel Studios will continue to maintain its foothold throughout the pop culture spectrum.