Brian Chapek

Background

Marvel Comics's predecessor Timely Comics, which operated from 1939 until 1950, licensed out the use of its character Captain America to Republic Pictures for a 1944 film serial only for the free advertising, but Timely failed to provide any drawing of Captain America with his shield or any further background. Republic created an entirely new backstory for the character, who was portrayed as using a gun. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, the Marvel Comics Group and the Marvel Entertainment Group (MEG) sold options to studios to produce films based on Marvel Comics characters. One of Marvel's superheroes, Spider-Man, was optioned in the late 1970s, and rights reverted to Marvel without a film being produced within the allocated time frame. From 1986 to 1996, most of Marvel's major characters were optioned, including the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil, the Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Iron Man. Marvel's first big-screen adaptation of one of its properties was the 1986 film Howard the Duck, which was a box-office bomb. MEG was purchased by New World Entertainment in November 1986 and opted to produce films based on the Marvel characters. It released The Punisher (1989) before MEG was sold to Ronald Perelman's Andrews Group. Two other films were produced: Captain America (1990), released in the United Kingdom on screens and direct to video in the United States, and The Fantastic Four (1994), not intended for release.

History

Marvel Films (1993–1996)

After MEG acquired ToyBiz in 1993, Avi Arad of ToyBiz was named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of both the Marvel Films division and New World Family Filmworks, a New World Entertainment subsidiary. New World was MEG's former parent corporation and later a fellow subsidiary of the Andrews Group. Marvel Productions became New World Animation by 1993 while Marvel formed Marvel Films as its dedicated production division, which included Marvel Films Animation. Marvel Films Animation shared Tom Tataranowicz with New World Animation as head of development and production. New World Animation, Saban, and Marvel Films Animation each produced a Marvel series for television for the 1996–1997 season: The Incredible Hulk, X-Men: The Animated Series, and Spider-Man: The Animated Series, respectively. By the end of 1993, Arad and 20th Century Fox signed a deal to develop a film based on the X-Men. In August 1996, New World Animation and Marvel Films Animation were sold along with the rest of New World by the Andrews Group to News Corporation and the Fox Entertainment Group. As part of the deal, Marvel licensed the rights for Captain America, Daredevil, and Silver Surfer to the Fox Kids Network and produced by Saban. New World Animation continued producing a second season of The Incredible Hulk for UPN.

Formation of Marvel Studios and licensing films (1996–2004)

On August 7, 1996, Marvel Studios was created by Marvel. Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise money to finance the new corporation, Marvel, Isaac Perlmutter's Zib, Inc., and Avi Arad sold ToyBiz stocks. ToyBiz filed an offering of 7.5 million shares with a closing price of $20.125 at the time, making the offering worth approximately $150 million. ToyBiz sought to sell 1 million shares. Jerry Calabrese, the president of Marvel Entertainment Group, and Avi Arad, head of Marvel Films and a director of ToyBiz, were assigned tandem control of Marvel Studios. Under Calabrese and Arad, Marvel sought to control pre-production by commissioning scripts, hiring directors, and casting characters, providing the package to a major studio partner for filming and distribution. Arad said of the goal for control, "When you get into business with a big studio, they are developing a hundred or 500 projects; you get totally lost. That isn't working for us. We're just not going to do it anymore. Period." Marvel Studios arranged a seven-year development deal with 20th Century Fox to cover markets in the United States and internationally.

In December 1996, Marvel Entertainment Group underwent a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan, including Marvel Studios as part of its strategic investment. By 1997, Marvel Studios was actively pursuing various film productions based on Marvel characters, including the eventual films X-Men (2000), Daredevil (2003), Elektra (2005), and Fantastic Four (2005). Unproduced projects included Prince Namor, based on the character Namor and to be directed by Philip Kaufman, and Mort the Dead Teenager, based on the comic book of the same name and written by John Payson and Mort creator Larry Hama. Marvel's Captain America animated series with Saban Entertainment for Fox Kids Network was set to premiere in late 1998. However, due to the bankruptcy, the series was canceled after only character designs and a one-minute promotional reel were made.

The first film packaged and licensed by Marvel Studios was Blade (1998), by New Line Cinema, based on the vampire hunter Blade. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and starred Wesley Snipes as Blade. It was released on August 21, 1998, grossing $131.2 million worldwide. Blade was followed by X-Men, which was directed by Bryan Singer and was released on July 14, 2000. X-Men grossed $296.3 million worldwide. Blade and X-Men demonstrated that widely popular films could be made out of comic book characters not familiar to the general public. Leading up to X-Men's release, Marvel Studios negotiated a deal with then-functional Artisan Entertainment, successful with the low-budget The Blair Witch Project, for a co-production joint venture that included rights to 15 Marvel characters including Captain America; Thor, as a television series; Black Panther, with Snipes attached to produce and star; Deadpool; Iron Fist; Morbius, the Living Vampire; Longshot; Power Pack; Mort the Dead Teenager; Ant-Man, and the Punisher. Artisan would finance and distribute while Marvel would develop licensing and merchandising tie-ins. The resulting production library, which would also include television series, direct-to-video films, and internet projects, would be co-owned. By March 2001, Marvel Studios planned to produce multiple animated spin-off series for its approximately 20 films in development at the time. The studio was also preparing live-action series for broadcast syndication to be released in 2002, particularly adaptations of the Daughters of the Dragon team and the Spider-Man adversary Black Cat, with the intention for Tribune Entertainment to distribute the series after previously doing so for the studio's first live-action syndicated series, Mutant X (2001–2004), which was not based on Marvel Comics. By the end of 2001, the success of Marvel Entertainment's Ultimate Marvel imprint comics created leverage in Hollywood for Marvel Studios, pushing more properties into development.

Transition to film production (2004–2009)

Maisel was hired in 2004 as president and chief operating officer of Marvel Studios, as he had a plan for the studio to self-finance its films. This made Marvel Studios Hollywood's first major independent film studio since DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1994. Marvel entered into a non-recourse debt structure with Merrill Lynch that was collateralized by certain film rights to a total of ten characters from Marvel's vast vault. Marvel received $525 million to produce a maximum of ten films based on the company's properties over eight years, according to the parameters of the original deal. Those characters were Ant-Man, the Avengers, Black Panther, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Power Pack, and Shang-Chi. Ambac insured the films would succeed or they would pay the interest payment on the debt and get the film rights as collateral. Initially, Marvel Studios was in talks with Universal Pictures as a possible distributor, because Universal owned the film rights to both the Hulk and Namor during that time. Negotiations dragged on, so the studio began talks with Paramount Pictures. In the second quarter of 2005, Merrill attempted to back out of full financing of each film, demanding that Marvel finance one-third of the budget. Marvel took back rights in five foreign territories from Paramount for pre-sell to meet that demand. In September 2005, Marvel announced the Merrill Lynch financing deal with Paramount was on as marketer and distributor. Marvel Studios's parent company, Marvel Enterprises, Inc., then changed its name to Marvel Entertainment, Inc. to reflect the change to self-production.

The studio subsequently relocated to a new location above a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Beverly Hills, California. Maisel was also named vice-chairman of the studio, but reported to Perlmutter, who had become the CEO of Marvel Entertainment. In November 2005, Michael Helfant joined the studio as president and chief operating officer. Also that month, Marvel gained the film rights to Iron Man from New Line Cinema. Marvel then revealed that it had regained the film rights to the Hulk from Universal in February 2006, in exchange for letting Universal own the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk (2008) and the right of first refusal to pick up the distribution rights to any future Marvel Studios-produced Hulk films. In April 2006, Thor was announced to be a Marvel Studios production, while Lions Gate Entertainment subsequently dropped the Black Widow film it had in development since 2004 and returned the rights to Marvel. Feige, a self-described "fanboy" who had become Arad's second-in-command, subsequently realized that Marvel owned the rights to the Avengers team. He envisioned introducing each of the Avengers in individual films and then merging them in a crossover film as part of a shared universe, similar to the one that was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

Disney conglomerate subsidiary (since 2009)

On August 31, 2009, the Walt Disney Company announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. The deal was completed on December 31, with Marvel Entertainment becoming a subsidiary of Disney. Both Marvel and Disney stated that the merger would not affect any pre-existing deals with other film studios for the time being, although Disney said they would distribute future Marvel projects with its own studio once the deals expired. Maisel stepped down from the studio following the sale to Disney. In April 2010, rumors circulated that Marvel was looking to create $20–40 million films based on properties such as Doctor Strange, Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Dazzler, and Power Pack. Feige responded by saying, while budgets are generally never discussed early in development, Marvel was considering films for all characters mentioned in the rumor, except Dazzler, whose rights were at Fox.

In June 2010, Marvel Entertainment established a television division within Marvel Studios called Marvel Television led by Jeph Loeb as Executive Vice President, under which Marvel Animation would operate. In October, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights for The Avengers (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2013) from Paramount Pictures with Paramount's logo and billing remaining on those films. In August 2011, at Disney's behest, the studio dismissed most of its marketing department, including EVP of Worldwide Marketing Dana Precious, VP of Worldwide Marketing Jeffrey Stewart, and Manager of Worldwide Marketing Jodi Miller. Disney subsequently began marketing Marvel's films. In April 2012, the Walt Disney Company China, Marvel Studios, and DMG Entertainment announced an agreement to co-produce Iron Man 3 in China. DMG partially financed, produced in China with Marvel, and handled co-production matters. DMG also distributed the film in China in tandem with Disney.

Shortly after its release in May 2012, The Avengers became the studio's first film and the first Marvel production to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. In April 2013, Marvel Studios moved its executive production offices from the Manhattan Beach Studios Media Campus to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. In July 2013, Disney purchased the distribution rights to Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger from Paramount. In September 2014, TNT acquired the cable rights for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and three other films, to air on the network two years after their theatrical releases. The films had previously aired on FX since 2008.

Character rights

Marvel had licensed out the film rights to many of its characters to other studios in the 1990s, starting with the X-Men. and included, among others, Man-Thing, Deathlok, and Prime. Marvel Studios has since regained many of those rights, including Black Panther from Columbia Pictures and Artisan Entertainment and Iron Man from New Line Cinema in 2005; Thor from Columbia and Black Widow from Lionsgate Films in 2006; Iron Fist from Lionsgate and Doctor Strange by 2009; Blade from New Line and Daredevil from 20th Century Fox and New Regency in 2012; and Ghost Rider and Luke Cage from Columbia and the Punisher from Lionsgate in 2013.

In 2016, 20th Century Fox was able to change the powers of Negasonic Teenage Warhead for Deadpool (2016) by giving Marvel Studios the rights to Ego the Living Planet, who first appears in the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). On December 14, 2017, Disney agreed to purchase 20th Century Fox's owner 21st Century Fox, after it spun off some of its businesses as Fox Corporation, with Disney regaining the rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men characters, and Deadpool; the deal was completed on March 20, 2019. Constantin Film had originally licensed the film rights of the Fantastic Four in 1986.

Several other characters have had more complex situations regarding their rights:

Hulk: The film rights to the Hulk reverted to Marvel Studios from Universal Pictures in 2006, after the latter failed to enter production on a sequel to director Ang Lee's film Hulk (2003). Universal, however, for letting the rights revert to Marvel before they even expired, retained the right of first refusal to distribute future standalone Hulk films. In March 2023, Citigroup financial analyst Jason Bazinet felt Disney may try to include the distribution rights to the Hulk and Namor in any potential sale of the streaming service Hulu to Comcast, the owner of Universal Pictures through NBCUniversal. In June 2023, the distribution rights to The Incredible Hulk (2008) reverted to Marvel and Disney.

Spider-Man: In February 2015, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that Spider-Man would appear in the MCU, with the character appearing in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Sony releasing Spider-Man: Homecoming, produced by Feige and Amy Pascal, in July 2017. As part of the deal, Sony Pictures would continue to finance, distribute, own, and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films. In June 2015, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal did not allow Spider-Man to appear in any of the MCU television series, as it was "very specific... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed". In September 2019, it was announced that Disney and Sony had reached a new agreement allowing for Spider-Man to appear in a third standalone film (produced by Marvel Studios and Feige) and a future Marvel Studios film. Disney was reported to be co-financing 25% of the film in exchange for 25% of the film's profits in the new agreement, while retaining the merchandising rights to the character. By November 2021, a new trilogy of films with Marvel Studios was planned, beginning with Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). Sony's agreement specifies that production has to start on a film within three years and nine months of the previous one, and release within five years and nine months, otherwise the rights revert to Marvel. Marvel Studios can use Spider-Man in short-form animated series, while Sony retains rights to the character for long-form television. Sony has access to 856 characters within its agreement, including Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, who can be used by both Sony and Marvel Studios. Vincent D'Onofrio, who portrays Wilson Fisk in the MCU, explained that Marvel Studios is only allowed to use the character in television series. Feige subsequently clarified that while the character's rights did not prevent an appearance in an MCU film, there were still some "things to navigate".

Corporate structure

Units

MVL Productions LLC – film slate subsidiary

Marvel Studios Animation – a "mini-studio" formed in June 2021 to oversee the development of Marvel Studios' animated series through the "Marvel Animation" banner

Marvel Music, Inc. (2005–present) – subsidiary involved in the publishing of music related to its productions. The company was incorporated on September 9, 2005, and was announced as a label for releasing music related to Marvel's film and television productions in 2009. Marvel Music has released albums in conjunction with Disney's Hollywood Records.

Marvel Television (2024–present) – a unit label used for live-action Marvel television series. This is separate from the Marvel Television production company that was absorbed and shut down in 2019.

Marvel Animation Inc., formally known as Marvel Family Entertainment (June 2004; 2008–2015; 2019) – subsidiary charged with oversight of Marvel's animation productions outside the MCU. Marvel Animation was returned to being placed under Marvel Studios in October 2019.

Additionally, Marvel Studios frequently uses various limited liability company (LLC) units through which each MCU production operates. Their names correspond to the title of each project.

Key people

Marvel Studios is led by its president and frequent producer Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D'Esposito. The "Marvel Studios Parliament", otherwise known as "The Parliament", is the creative decision-making committee at Marvel Studios and a "brain trust" of long-time executives who help to elevate each other's projects where possible. Members of the Parliament include executives of production and development Stephen Broussard and Trinh Tran, creative director and the head of visual development and character design Ryan Meinerding, vice president of production and development Jonathan Schwartz, and the head of television, animation, comics, and franchise Brad Winderbaum, who was formerly a vice president of production and development, as well as the head of streaming.

Meinerding oversees the studio's Visual Development group, originally an in-house group of around 13 to 15 artists who work on a project from its start to provide a consistent look for the studio, including designs for characters, costumes, and moments that can help shape the project's story. Part of the group included artist and illustrator Andy Park, who joined in 2010 and later served as a Director of Visual Development, as well as Wesley Burt and Michael Uwandi. By April 2026, the majority of the in-house Visual Development group had been laid off, including Park, with former full-time employees transitioning to contractors for projects moving forward, and would continue to report to Meinerding.

Several studio executives serve as lead producers on films and television series in the studio's Production and Development group, working on each project from their inception through their release as managers alongside other executives. Some of these executives include comic book writer Sana Amanat, Brian Chapek, Grant Curtis, Brian Gay, and television executive Richie Palmer. Chapek joined the studio in 2011 but initially left in September 2020 to launch his own production company that had Marvel as a client, before he was rehired in June 2023 after his father Bob Chapek was terminated as Disney's CEO. Gay and Palmer previously worked under Feige as his executive coordinator and production assistant, respectively, before joining the executive group.

Other executives at Marvel Studios include the vice presidents of physical production Mitchell Bell and David J. Grant, property master Russell Bobbitt, frequent executive producer Charles Newirth, vice president of visual effects and stereo Jen Underdahl, and Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, the vice president of animation. Additionally, Sarah Halley Finn has served as a frequent casting director for several MCU films and television series, while Eric Pearson became one of the studio's "go-to" writers. He started in Marvel Studios's writers program and worked on a number of their earlier feature films and Marvel One-Shot short films, before writing the screenplays for Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Widow (2021), Thunderbolts* (2025), and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).

Production library

Films

Marvel Studios has released 38 films as part of its flagship franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), The Marvels (2023), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Captain America: Brave New World (2025), Thunderbolts* (2025), The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). These are set to be followed by Avengers: Doomsday (2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). The studio also has multiple other films in various stages of development.

Twelve of the aforementioned films have grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office and are thus among the highest-grossing films of all time. These are The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Marvel Studios operated a short-lived production arm called Marvel Knights to produce some of Marvel's darker and lesser-known titles. The name originated from the Marvel Knights comic book imprint. The banner released only two films: the Punisher franchise reboot film Punisher: War Zone (2008) and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011).

Short films

Marvel Studios has released a series of direct-to-video short films, called "Marvel One-Shots", that are included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases. The films are The Consultant (2011), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2011), Item 47 (2012), Agent Carter (2013), and All Hail the King (2014). These were followed by the Team Thor mockumentary short films that were released from 2016 to 2018, consisting of Team Thor, Team Thor: Part 2, and Team Darryl.

Marvel Studios produced eight direct-to-video short films with Marvel Animation called Marvel Animated Features that were released from 2006 until 2011 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Marvel Studios also produced the Disney+ series of animated short films I Am Groot (2022–23) through Marvel Studios Animation with Luma Pictures.

Television

Marvel Studios has released 13 live-action television series or miniseries for the Marvel Cinematic Universe: WandaVision (2021), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), Loki (2021–2023), Hawkeye (2021), Moon Knight (2022), Ms. Marvel (2022), She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022), Secret Invasion (2023), Echo (2024), Agatha All Along (2024), Daredevil: Born Again (2025–present), Ironheart (2025), and Wonder Man (2026). These are set to be followed by VisionQuest (2026).

As Marvel Films, the studio co-produced the 1996 television pilot Generation X with New World Entertainment for Fox, but it was not picked up for a series order. Marvel Studios also produced the 2001–2004 Mutant X series, which was not based on Marvel Comics, for broadcast syndication through Tribune Entertainment, and inherited the 2020 Hulu series Helstrom from Marvel Television, which oversaw early development and production.

As Marvel Films, the studio co-produced the following animated series: X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997); Fantastic Four and Iron Man (both 1994–1996); Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994–1998); and The Incredible Hulk (1996–1997).

Animated series co-produced by Marvel Studios include Silver Surfer (1998), Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001), and The Avengers: United They Stand (1999–2000) with Saban Entertainment for Fox Kids; X-Men: Evolution (2000–2003) with Film Roman for Kids' WB; Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (2006–2007) with MoonScoop for Cartoon Network; and Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) for Nicktoons.

Additionally, Marvel Studios inherited the Hulu adult animated series M.O.D.O.K. (2021) and Hit-Monkey (2021–2024) from Marvel Television, which oversaw early development and production. Production of Hit-Monkey moved to Disney's 20th Television Animation for its second season.

Marvel Studios has released four animatied series for the MCU through its animation division: What If...? (2021–2024), Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025–present), Eyes of Wakanda (2025), and Marvel Zombies (2025–present). The division is also responsible for X-Men '97 (2024–present), a revival and continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, as well as the preschool animated series Spidey and His Amazing Friends, starting from its second season.

Logo

Films and television series designs

Starting with the release of Spider-Man in 2002, Marvel Studios introduced its "flipbook" production logo, created by Imaginary Forces. This logo was accompanied by music from the film's score, sound effects or a song, to lead into the beginning of the film. This was the logo seen in front of all of the studio's films until 2013, when the logo was updated with the release of Thor: The Dark World, again created by Imaginary Forces. Feige stated that since Marvel was now its own entity within the Walt Disney Company, it "felt like the time to update it and have something that is more substantial as a standalone logo in front of our features" instead of having it be accompanied by Marvel's studio or distribution partners' logos. Feige added that they "didn't want to re-invent the wheel [with the new logo], but we wanted it to feel bigger, to feel more substantial, which is why it starts with the flip, but suddenly it's more dimensional as we go through the lettering and it reveals itself with the metallic sheen before settling into the white-on-red, well known Marvel logo, with the added flourish of the arrival and the announcement of the Studios at the bottom of the word Marvel." Imaginary Forces used the same animation technique on the updated logo, as they did when they created the first version in 2002. They were given a few hundred comic books to select images from, and ultimately chose 120 that were "universal and not specific to one character" and created a narrative "where each image spoke to the one before it and after." The new logo appeared on all subsequent studio productions set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe through Captain America: Civil War. With the addition of the new logo, Marvel Studios also added a fanfare to accompany the logo, composed by Brian Tyler, who wrote the scores to Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

In July 2016, another new logo and opening were introduced, featuring an updated fanfare, composed this time by Michael Giacchino, who first worked with Marvel Studios on the score to Doctor Strange (2016). The new opening begins with comic book panels seen in the previous two openings but transitions into footage and art of the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. It was first seen in front of Doctor Strange. The updated logo was created by Perception, which was first approached in January 2016 by Marvel to update its logo. Feige specifically requested Perception "to combine the brand and the iconic characters into a single image, showcasing the heroes within the letterforms of the Marvel logo." The Perception team settled on a concept they dubbed "How to Build a Universe", which "was designed to pay tribute to [the filmmaking] process by touching on" how a film's origins are inspired by the comics, which then results in a script, followed by concept art, resulting in the final film. Perception looked to the initial "flipbook" logo for inspiration, and paid tribute to it in the new opening, as it opens identically to the flipbook logo. Next, the opening includes "various lines lifted directly from the script pages of various Marvel screenplays", with Perception picking "both iconic fan-favorites, as well as lines that helped establish the breadth of the Marvel Universe." To add in the concept art images, Perception looked "through a massive archive of concept art and "The Art Of..." books, to select the most iconic images for each beloved character. Utilizing the original digital paintings themselves, the Perception team animated each image being painted from scratch. The final touch was mapping this artwork onto 3D models to giving these once 2D paintings a sense of depth as the camera moves around them." Finally, over 70 pieces of footage from the 13 films that had been released at that time were included, with Perception arranging them in a way they called the "vault" "where luminescent footage plays on the interior walls of the "Marvel" logotype."

Television specials design

Television specials from Marvel Studios, known as Special Presentations, feature a special multicolored intro with bongo drum music, reminiscent of the CBS Special Presentation theme featured before animated holiday specials of the 1980s and 1990s. The intro was also designed by Perception, with Giacchino (who directed and composed for the special Werewolf by Night) once again creating the music. Jamie Lovett at ComicBook.com called the Special Presentation intro "more colorful" and its fanfare "more playful" than the normal Marvel Studios intro.