Marvel has been one of the two big brands in comics (0) PUBLISHING (PUBLISH) (the other being their close rival DC) since the 1960s, owning the rights to 1HOUSE names 2INCLUDE Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Their brands have been used in print, television, and on everything from lunchboxes to clothing for decades.
However, it was only in the 2000s that Marvel began to enjoy any success in Hollywood. 3PREVIOUS they had licensed their characters to big studios such as Sony, but had little 4ART control and achieved small revenues. In 2005 the company created Marvel Studios in order to produce their own films.
By then, 5IMPROVE in digital effects meant that the grand visions of comic creators could be 6CONVINCE delivered on the big screen. More importantly, Marvel had a vision of a growing roster of superheroes 7ACT within a single cinematic universe. The 8CULMINATE of this was Avengers Assemble, which saw Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor (all of whom had appeared in their own films) join forces.