To ensure that at least Marvel’s fans showed up, soon-to-be president of production Kevin Feige and others at Marvel Studios assembled a committee of comic book talent to act in a hybrid role that was equal parts story consultants and test audience. If the movie was anything but a hit, Marvel would not only lose money, but its entire identity - including its characters and library of stories - would belong to the banks. So much rested on Iron Man’s titanium shoulders. Iron Man became the first film in Marvel’s grand plans for a comic-book-style shared universe on the big screen. In 2005, Marvel took out a risky loan of more than $525 million from Merrill Lynch to fund its own efforts to produce movies based on its comics. Separately, Marvel was shaking off Chapter 11 bankruptcy and enjoying a resurgence thanks to a slew of superhero movies made at studios like Fox and Sony. Its success boosted Bendis’ profile, leading to major crossovers like House of M, Secret Invasion, and Age of Ultron, along with the chance to co-create Miles Morales. In 2000, Brian Michael Bendis emerged from the independent comic book scene and joined Marvel Comics to write a modern reboot of Spider-Man, titled Ultimate Spider-Man. But it all arguably started with those words Bendis penned. Since Iron Man, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or, as we all know it, the MCU) has grown to encompass more than 30 theatrical films, almost a dozen TV shows, billions of dollars in revenue, and a film-changing cultural dominance. as Tony Stark, Iron Man’s wasn’t just a $585 million blockbuster-level success for upstart Marvel Studios. Directed by Jon Favreau, produced by Avi Arad and Kevin Feige, and starring a rehabilitated Robert Downey Jr. On May 2, 2008, Iron Man hit theaters with a sonic boom.

I wrote every serious thing you can think of and every dumb thing you can think of.” (The results ranged from that iconic Avengers line to an X-Men reference to a Snakes on a Plane joke, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.) “As delightful as that sounds, I stayed up all night. “My memory is: Write everything you can think of,” Bendis tells Inverse. But the only reason Jackson had anything to say in the first place was because comic book legend Brian Michael Bendis wrote the words. Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man, the ripple effect has lasted 15 years and counting. Two words were all it took to launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “Avenger Initiative.”

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