If Marvel"s first plans for a movie franchise had succeeded, the MCU probably wouldn"t exist today. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown exponentially throughout the years, going from the Avengers" monumental team-up in 2012"s The Avengers to their universe-defining battle against Thanos in 2019"s Avengers: Endgame, and from Marvel Studios" first venture into streaming with WandaVision to the multiversal war at the center of Avengers: Secret Wars, as well as more than a dozen upcoming MCU projects in the next few years.
Kevin Feige"s ambitious plans for an interconnected franchise made the MCU what it is nowadays: an ever-growing behemoth grossing almost $30 billion and gathering Hollywood"s biggest stars. Sixteen years after Iron Man marked the beginning of the franchise, the MCU now comprises over thirty-four movies, fifteen shows, and two Special Presentations, plus a few shorts. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is so successful that C-list characters have become fan-beloved icons and supporting characters from other supporting characters" shows have gotten their own spin-off shows. However, the MCU almost didn"t happen.
Marvel's 1999 Plans Brought Tier-A Heroes To Screen At Multiple Studios Marvel's First Plans For A Movie Franchise Overlooked The Concept Of A Cinematic Universe Close Marvel famously filed for bankruptcy in the 1990s due to several factors, including the burst of the comic speculator bubble and changes in comic book distribution. This crisis led Marvel to sell its characters" movie rights to different studios, all of which had differing ideas about what a successful adaptation looked like. In 1999, then-Marvel Enterprises CEO Avi Arad announced a plan for theatrical Marvel productions (via Variety). This plan aimed to adapt Marvel Comics characters to the big screen more faithfully than previous box office flops like 1979"s Captain America and 1986"s Howard the Duck.
Related All Marvel Movies Releasing In 2025 The Marvel movies releasing in 2025 offer a variety of storylines and superheroes, with many hitting theaters after previously announced delays.
Posts 3 After Blade"s success at New Line Cinema in 1998, Marvel moved forward with projects such as Spider-Man and Doctor Strange at Sony, Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner at Universal; X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Silver Surfer at 20th Century Fox, and Black Panther also at New Line Cinema alongside a Blade sequel. Ideas for Iron Man, Daredevil, and Captain America were also in development, and early plans for a Thor animated movie were considered and later transformed into a live-action movie concept. Damage Control and Prime also joined Marvel"s early-naughts movie slate.
Marvel Project
Studio
Spider-Man
Sony Pictures
Doctor Strange
Sony Pictures
Hulk
Universal Pictures
Namor the Sub-Mariner
Universal Pictures
X-Men
20th Century Fox
Fantastic Four
20th Century Fox
Silver Surfer
20th Century Fox
Daredevil
20th Century Fox
Black Panther
New Line Cinema
Iron Man
20th Century Fox / New Line Cinema
Captain America
Marvel Studios
Thor
Sony Pictures / Paramount Pictures
Prime
Universal Pictures
Damage Control
Unknown
Speaking to Variety in 1999, Avi Arad explained Marvel"s goals, saying, “Our three big profit centers are publishing, toys and licensing, the latter of which encompasses movies, TV and videogames,” and detailed Marvel"s approach to franchise-building. Instead of a cinematic universe, each Marvel movie was supposed to be a stand-alone property with a couple of tie-in projects attached. Arad said, “You jump-start things with an event movie, follow up with a TV show for continuity and fashion a high quality videogame. When the three are combined and introduced successfully, that creates a very powerful brand.” This approach is considerably different from the current MCU.
Why Marvel's 1999 Slate Never Happened Different Studios Handled Marvel Adaptations Their Own Way Close Each top-priority Marvel property for each studio went into development soon after Avi Arad"s 1999 announcement of Marvel"s movie plans. Fox was the first studio to release its Marvel movie with Bryan Singer"s X-Men in 2000, which became a unanimous success and got a sequel greenlit. Meanwhile, James Cameron"s scrapped plans for a Spider-Man movie were reworked at Sony, and Sam Raimi was hired to direct Spider-Man, which also became a massive hit. Fox"s Daredevil, Universal"s Hulk, and Fox"s Fantastic Four didn"t gain the same acclaim, but they kept strengthening studios" faith in the superhero genre.
Several directors were considered for every Marvel movie. For instance, Sam Raimi was attached to Thor before directing Spider-Man, and Hulk director Ang Lee was considered for Spider-Man.
Plans for Doctor Strange, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor date back several years before early-2000s Marvel movies like X-Men and Spider-Man, but they struggled to get off the ground much longer. For instance, Doctor Strange was a heavily-contended project between Regency, Columbia Pictures, Dimension Films, Miramax, and Paramount (among others), and it went through various directors such as Bob Gale, Wes Craven, David S. Goyer, and Guillermo Del Toro. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor went through various early drafts before they began development at Marvel Studios.
Only A Couple Of Movies In Marvel's Planned Slate In 1999 Haven't Happened The MCU Has Introduced Characters Whose Solo Movies Were Considered Almost Thirty Years Ago Custom image by Nicolas Ayala Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Doctor Strange only received their own live-action movie adaptation when Marvel Studios launched the MCU. Hulk also got an MCU reboot in The Incredible Hulk, and the Fantastic Four and Daredevil are starring in their own solo MCU projects — The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Daredevil: Born Again — in 2025. Although they"re now part of the MCU, Silver Surfer, Namor the Submariner, and Damage Control haven"t starred in their own live-action projects yet. Silver Surfer"s solo movie was canceled with the release of Fox"s Fantastic Four films, and a Namor the Submariner film has struggled to move forward since the character"s distribution rights are still held by Universal.
The United States Department of Damage Control has been a part of the MCU since Iron Man, Namor made his MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and the Silver Surfer will appear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
One Marvel character who stands out in Marvel"s 1999 movie slate is Prime. Prime is a superhero created by the now-defunct Malibu Comics for its Ultraverse imprint. Marvel acquired Malibu Comics in 1995, and the entire Ultraverse was canceled shortly after. However, Marvel began developing a Prime movie around 1999, which remained in consideration at Universal until 2003. Hulk"s mixed reception may have convinced Universal to cancel the project quietly. In the Ultraverse comics, Prime is a genetically-modified kid named Kevin Green with the ability to transform into an adult superhero, with the downside that his grown-up body breaks down into slime.
The MCU Would Have Been Impossible If The 1999 Plan Had Succeeded Marvel Studios Benefited From Previous Hits And Failures Before It Launched The MCU Marvel"s decision to split its characters" cinematic rights saved the company from bankruptcy, but it also made the idea of a cinematic universe impossible for some time, as each studio had different plans for their respective properties. Successful solo movies like X-Men and Spider-Man proved superhero movies were a good investment, while critical and commercial disappointments like Daredevil and Hulk showed that not every studio and director knew how to make them work. If every pre-MCU Marvel movie had been a hit, Marvel would have kept letting various studios follow their own plans with each property.
Every studio could have launched entire franchises centered on one or a few Marvel characters
If other studios had moved ahead with their own versions of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Black Panther, they would have likely held on to the characters" rights in order to produce more standalone sequels and spin-offs, each in their own independent continuity. Just like Fox created an extensive X-Men franchise and Sony created its own Spider-Man villain universe separate from the MCU, every studio could have launched entire franchises centered on one or a few Marvel characters, thus making it impossible for Marvel Studios to have enough characters to launch an interconnected cinematic universe.
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