How'd you get into the MCU?

[R_Hythlodeus]

1. since the day Marvel Studios announced they were making their own movies now. I remember in the early 2000s when the first wave of Marvel movies hit theatres how my friends were all excited about seing our childhood heroes finally on the big screen and cynical me, sipping a White Russian just stated: "Yeah, but it's not like in the comics, really. The Fox owned Thing will never clobber Universal owned Hulk. Spidey will never meet Wolverine!" The announcement of the self produced movies was exciting just for the thought that more connectivity would go hand in hand in with that.
2. 3. Iron Man
4. I read Marvel Comics since I turned 3 sometimes during the very early 80s. Other than the Guardians, I was very familiar

 

[Iron_Stark]

1. How long have you been following the MCU, if not considering yourself a fan?
2. What was your first MCU film, period?
3. What was the first movie you watched in theaters?
4. Were you familiar with any of these characters or storylines going in, either through comics or some other medium?

For me:

1. 2006 when Marvel announced they were making their own movies starting with Iron Man.

2-3. 2008 - Iron Man, then The Incredible Hulk.

4. After years, and years of wanting and waiting for a live action Iron Man movie/tv show/ anything, and going through all those false starts (New Line Cinema, Tom Cruise, Nic Cage, Nick Cassavetes as Director, etc) 2006, comic con - they announce Iron Man directed by Jon Favreau.

It was the best movie for me that year. I saw it multiple times at the theater. when the Incredible Hulk came out a few months later I found a theater that was still showing Iron Man and timed it so that I could see Iron Man and then see TIH back to back.

I especially geeked out when Nick Fury showed up, references to Stark Enterprises and SHIELD in Hulk and Tony showing up at the end of TIH.

2008 was awesome for me.

 

[Joey9775]

Day 1 for me. Iron Man. I remember being so down on comic movies at the time having been assaulted by Last Stand and Spidey 3. I always thought Batman Begins was way overrated so kind of just shoved Dark Knight aside. I've since come to love that one but saw the wheels fall off with Rises.

Anyway, I remember thinking it was cool that Iron Man was getting a movie, but like everyone else just thought it was a pale competitor to the x-men and spidey. I got spoiled by the end credit scene and was blown away. Thinking no way they pull that off but it would be incredible.

And here we are. Never missed one in a theater and have been there opening night for every one.

 

[metaphysician]

I started with Iron Man, and I've been a dedicated mark ever since that stinger. Which I hit, totally unspoiled, and which had me shouting in shocked ecstasy.

 

[Batmannerism]

Okay. So when it comes to comics I'm a DC fan primarily - although I was a fan of Byrne and Claremont's X-Men, Byrne's Fantastic Four, Miller's Daredevil and Simonson's Thor back in the day ( and I enjoyed Dr Strange) - but generally speaking I'd rather read an issue of Superman than any Marvel comic going today... and I hated Captain America, he was a smug self righteous and boring twit.

I really enjoyed Iron Man, best origin film ever. But IM 2 was such a disappointment that made me wonder if Marvel films were going to be worth watching. Thor was okay and the Avengers had some good moments but I wasnt really convinced.

I was a lot less convinced by the awful Iron Man 3, yuck ! I must be the only person who liked Thor TDW because it was fun and Hiddleston and Hemsworth are great together.

Then the Winter Soldier came along. A film that really raised the bar - it even made me start being interested in Cap as a character. I love a well choreographed action sequence and TWS delivered those big time. I enjoyed the intrigue and suspense and it was great seeing Cap pushed beyond all limits.

So my interest was piqued - and a few months later Guardians of the Galaxy came out, which remains my favourite MCU film. I was hooked. And in truth the MCU just gets better from there - even it's so so films since 2016 have been really good and it's best films are real cinematic triumphs.

In 2016 the MCU totally surpassed all expectations with Civil War, and Dr Strange. I loved Ragnarok, GOTG vol 2.and Homecoming has become my favorite Spider Man film.

I almost feel that the MCU needs to make at least one crappy film, because we almost have too much of a good thing - just as long as it's not Endgame, can't wait to see that !

So, in short the Winter Soldier was what really made me take notice of the MCU and GOTG sealed the deal. Now I look forward to every new MCU film.

 

[BigThor]

I got into the MCU back in 2007 when I heard Iron Man was finally getting a movie.

 

[NHawk19]

I took the bait with Iron-Man not knowing the rest was going to happen, then Thor, Hulk & IM 2 drew me further in but I didn't follow the way I do now until Avengers was announced, that's what really sank the hook.

 

[Joefixit]

I got into marvel at a young age in the 80s reading hulk comic books. I loved the tv show and Saturday morning cartoons. I loved the TV movies as well and also like the two hulk movies from 03 and 08. I could accept based on the box office that maybe hulk wasn’t for everyone . The 08 movie is what got me into the MCU, hopefully now I can finally get out of the MCU with him being sidelined.

 

[JimThompson]

I started here:

And have seen pretty much every live-action Marvel effort since then.

Loved that show, but I started here:

Been following Marvel live action efforts ever since.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

1. Since the beginning. Iron Man is my favorite superhero so I'd been following the progress of a potential movie since before Marvel even got the rights back. I remember the discussions on this forum years back when New Line were in negotiations with Joss Whedon to make an Iron Man movie.

2. Iron Man

3. Iron Man

4. Yes. My first real exposure to Marvel was Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in the early 1980s which featured many of the big name Marvel characters that would later make up the MCU (as well as the X-Men). Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and many more were all on that show. Spider-Man was my favorite early on, but by the 90s I was more of an Avengers fan. I was familiar with all of the leads so far, some more than others. This goes for the television shows such as the Defenders, Runaways, and Cloak and Dagger too. This is changing soon as I'm not very familiar with either Eternals or Shang-Chi. I don't read every comic by any stretch, even of the characters I like, but I did read a lot of the big crossover events like Secret Wars, Infinity War, Civil War, Secret Invasion, etc.

 

[Flint Marko]

Yeah I've been a superhero fan for as long as I've been alive and I remember being here back in '05 when it was originally announced that Marvel was forming their own studio. My signature was "Marvel Studios > you" well before we even saw one frame of Iron Man because I just knew we were in for something special.

Even at that time I felt superhero movies were generally lacking and studios didn't have a good handle on the genre as evidenced by most of the output around that time, but I had a gut feeling Marvel Studios would get it right. I had no idea they'd eventually take over the world though.

 

[Ozbridge]

How long have you been following the MCU, if not considering yourself a fan?

1. How long have you been following the MCU, if not considering yourself a fan?
2. What was your first MCU film, period?
3. What was the first movie you watched in theaters?
4. Were you familiar with any of these characters or storylines going in, either through comics or some other medium?

1. Since Spring 2014, after TWS.
2. Thor
3. Thor
4. No, I don't read comic books and before Thor I hadn't watched any superhero movies or TV series.

 

[halo10]

Iron Man.

But that's not what got me interested in the "MCU". It's not like I didn't have any interest at all before, and then suddenly Iron Man got me interested. It wasn't even known as the MCU back then. Iron Man was just one of many other comic adaptations at the time, and happened to be better than many that came before. And it happens to be the first one on this list so by default it has to be that.

I've always been a fan of Marvel comics since I was young, and have followed all the live action adaptations such as the 70s Incredible Hulk TV series or the 70s Spider-Man TV series etc. I also watched all the theatrical films long before the MCU was even conceived such as X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Ang Lee's Hulk etc.

For one i hpe to learn what is really meant by "MCU " (Marvel Comic Universe ?)
because if i start to say Blade, Spiderman or Xmen, then i'm told that's not considered MCU.

So i'll say my Marvel movement outside the usual comics, came with the Hanna Barbara's
67' Spiderman collection, and Fantastic Four toon series. as with those almost still toons like Captain America/Hulk/Thor series and then came Hulk again with Filmaco.

when the marvel movie wave began to emerge it was Blade and Xmen .. Hulk and then Spiderman in 2002 to begin the record breakers.

and starting with Spiderman, and Spidey 2 and 3, (yes No. 3 even the much criticized venom/Sandman movie) it evolved into more box office record breakers and then came Iron Man, and Avengers to take it to ground breaking record history levels, and here comes single solo such as Black Panther.

 

[inomilan]

Iron Man was the first MCU movie I watched of course, bit i wasn't really a fan back then. I mostly only knew Spider-man and X-Men. I only knew the Avengers through Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Didn't know about the post credits scene, just watched it on youtube lol. I was excited of course but not that into yet. Didn't watch TIH in the theaters coz i thought it was a sequel to Ang Lee's Hilk which I had no interest in. I did watch the other movies after and I enjoyed all of them but I was still cautious about whether they will be able to pull it off. But my God, they did with the first Avengers. It was one of the best cinema experiences of my life and I was totally in with the MCU from then on and mh life was never the same again!

 

[Melpardus]

For one i hpe to learn what is really meant by "MCU " (Marvel Comic Universe ?)
because if i start to say Blade, Spiderman or Xmen, then i'm told that's not considered MCU.

So i'll say my Marvel movement outside the usual comics, came with the Hanna Barbara's
67' Spiderman collection, and Fantastic Four toon series. as with those almost still toons like Captain America/Hulk/Thor series and then came Hulk again with Filmaco.

when the marvel movie wave began to emerge it was Blade and Xmen .. Hulk and then Spiderman in 2002 to begin the record breakers.

and starting with Spiderman, and Spidey 2 and 3, (yes No. 3 even the much criticized venom/Sandman movie) it evolved into more box office record breakers and then came Iron Man, and Avengers to take it to ground breaking record history levels, and here comes single solo such as Black Panther.

By "MCU" I mean Marvel Cinematic Universe, which starts with Iron Man under the Marvel Studios company. Everything that existed outside of that is its own continuity and unrelated, although I'm aware that The Incredible Hulk actually sort of picks up from where the 2003 Hulk film left off as a bit of a reference.

 

[Bayne]

I watched Iron Man in a hotel room in 2011 and was pleasantly surprised (I skipped out on a bunch of superhero movies after the pile up of Spider-man 3/X-men Last Stand/Green Lantern/Ghost Rider 1 and 2). It was a fun movie, though not something that made me salivate for more.

When I got home I looked up some more info about it a found out there were other heroes getting their own movies from the same company (some of them were already available at my library) and that they were going to all join up in a team movie, which was very interesting to me, especially after I found out Joss Whedon was making Avengers. So I checked them all out and more or less enjoyed Thor, TIH and IM2 and really, really liked Captain America. That was the movie that ultimately convinced me there was something special here. I didn't manage to see Avengers in theaters, for a mixture of reasons - mostly because of trying not to pay extra for a 3d screening when I don't even like 3d - but I was so excited to see it that I just bought the dvd sight unseen (and loved it as well).

I still skipped Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 in theaters because they didn't draw me in that much, and I held back on Winter Soldier for mostly the same reasons I did on Avengers, but that one honestly bothered me having to wait so long, so I gave up trying so hard to avoid the 3d showings. Then Guardians came and I had absolutely no idea what to make of it - I'd never even heard of them, despite growing up with Marvel. I ultimately went to see it just on a whim, and it was one of the best movie-going experiences I've ever had, so I've been to every MCU movie since.

So technically the answer is Iron Man got my attention, Captain America The First Avenger piqued my interest, Avengers and Winter Soldier whet my appetite and Guardians of the Galaxy made me an MCU fan to the max.

Though, in all honesty, I still considered skipping Ant-man, Dr. Strange and Spider-man Homecoming for a bit. But I wound up seeing all of them after all (Ant-man basically because of a totally unplanned coincidence, the other two because last minute promotion changed my mind) and I ultimately enjoyed all of them, too, with Homecoming being another one of my greatest movie-going experiences ever. So I now I don't even consider skipping any more MCU movies.

 

[The_Manhunter]

Great thread idea!

1. How long have you been following the MCU, if not considering yourself a fan? 7 years
2. What was your first MCU film, period? Iron Man 2
3. What was the first movie you watched in theaters? The Avengers
4. Were you familiar with any of these characters or storylines going in, either through comics or some other medium? Nope, just went because my brother and my dad wanted to go see Avengers. I think I knew who Cap, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor were (I had wanted to see Thor but never got around to it). The movie totally hooked me in a way I haven't experienced since reading The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

So I've seen every MCU film in theaters. (Almost missed Thor 1, but I caught a late showing on it's way out.)

But back when IM1 came out I was 16. Coming off of Spider-Man 3 and X3 I thought the traditional superhero flicks were dead. I thought Batman and the dark realism it presented sealed the genre's fate and my childhood was over. To me, the third act of Iron Man and the comedic flair was just "cute" and nothing more. I liked it, but I didn't think the movie was anything special. I was just waiting for The Dark Knight to hit theaters and nothing else really mattered. (Sidenote: I didn't know about Nick Fury's cameo until like 2011. Go figure lol.)

But I ****ing loved The Incredible Hulk. Everything about it. It had grit, it had angst, it had Ed Norton. And that final battle. And that RDJ appearance! My word I was hooked.

With each additional film I felt the joyous slap in the face over and over. Iron Man 2 had me on the edge of my seat. Thor and TFA made me smile. But the one, two, three punch of The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises were what convinced me to sign up for SHH.

Superheroes became cool and mainstream. And I was all about it. Keep em comin.

 

[Joefixit]

So I've seen every MCU film in theaters. (Almost missed Thor 1, but I caught a late showing on it's way out.)

But back when IM1 came out I was 16. Coming off of Spider-Man 3 and X3 I thought the traditional superhero flicks were dead. I thought Batman and the dark realism it presented sealed the genre's fate and my childhood was over. To me, the third act of Iron Man and the comedic flair was just "cute" and nothing more. I liked it, but I didn't think the movie was anything special. I was just waiting for The Dark Knight to hit theaters and nothing else really mattered. (Sidenote: I didn't know about Nick Fury's cameo until like 2011. Go figure lol.)

But I ****ing loved The Incredible Hulk. Everything about it. It had grit, it had angst, it had Ed Norton. And that final battle. And that RDJ appearance! My word I was hooked.

With each additional film I felt the joyous slap in the face over and over. Iron Man 2 had me on the edge of my seat. Thor and TFA made me smile. But the one, two, three punch of The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises were what convinced me to sign up for SHH.

Superheroes became cool and mainstream. And I was all about it. Keep em comin.

I loved your comment about the hulk... it got me excited about that movie all over again.. That’s still one of the best depictions of the character in the mcu.2008 was a great year for marvel.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

It was 2012 with The Avengers, which was one of the best theatre experiences ever. I found the first phase kinda cheesy and mediocre (Iron Man aside), and Avengers truly elevated and solidified the MCU as a cinematic phenomenon. The next big thing.

But after that, in 2013, Man of Steel sort of captivated and stole my attention away, especially compared to IM3 and Thor TDW, and I never really got into the MCU since, despite most of the movies being solid and entertaining, sometimes much better than expected.

With Endgame however, despite not being excited to watch it (I waited almost a month), it managed to sink its teeth in me, and I'm back finally back into the MCU, more than I've ever been, and I'm excited to see what comes next, both on the big screen and on Disney +.

 

[psylockolussus]

I've seen every MCU film in the theater since the first film, and I still remember the time that they were going to do a movie for Iron, Cap, Ant, Hulk and Thor and that it would lead to The Avengers!

I don't know much about the Avengers before 2008. I've seen some of them in the X-Men comics, I've watched the straight to dvd movies, Ultimate Avengers 1/2 and I've known Iron, Cap, Thor, Hulk by name because of the Capcom games.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

1. How long have you been following the MCU, if not considering yourself a fan? Probably 2010. I didn't see IM1 in the theaters but got it shortly after it came out on DVD (and then subsequently, the Blu-ray version the same year.) Didn't see TIH until last year. I also didn't see IM2 in the theaters but got the Blu-ray shortly after it released. The tag at the end of IM2 made me want to see Thor. I then found out about there also being a Captain America film so I started looking online about both.
2. What was your first MCU film, period? Iron Man
3. What was the first movie you watched in theaters? Thor
4. Were you familiar with any of these characters or storylines going in, either through comics or some other medium? Back when the MCU started, the only Marvel stuff I had any history with were the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons from Fox and then the movies featuring those same characters. My only recollection of Iron Man was the short-lived Iron Man cartoon (also on Fox.) I built up my knowledge of the rest of the the Phase 1 characters through Wikipedia and a couple other comic-centric websites.

 

[Frodo]

Well as far as the title of the thread goes its a very long answer. Lets just say I saw Marvel go from basically being a cinematic joke in the 80s and 90s, to Avengers Endgame.

I started getting into Marvel films and tv shows in Elementary school and High School...in the early 90s!

Yeah, I'm old.

I'd scour places like Tower Records, Warehouse , and Blockbuster video looking for any Marvel based comic movies and tv shows . At that time, all that was in circulation was basically the Bill Bixby Hulk series, The Generation X tv movie, The Captain America film, the 70s Spiderman tv show, and the 90s Punisher film, in addition to several different cartoon series up to that date including the 60s and 80s Spiderman series, The pride of the X men 80s pilot, 90s the X men ,Spiderman series Hulk, etc.

I read magazine like Starlog, Wizard magazine etc, which would have articles or blurbs about the development of potential Marvel films such as James Cameron's Spiderman, Roger Corman's F4, a She Hulk film, and Black Panther, Blade, Hulk, and so on, which were all at different studios, and seemed like they would never get made.

What was made in the 80s and 90s were embarrassing and sub-par to say the least. WB had Chris Reeves Superman, Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, and Michael Keaton's Batman, which were considered the best of the genre at that time. The Marvel stuff couldn't even touch what WB was doing, with only Bixby's Hulk truly being considered to be close to the quality of what WB/DC had been doing.

It wasn't till Blade that Marvel began to build street cred as being able to produce competent quality films. Then ,there were the X Men and the Spiderman franchises which took things to a whole new level, and put them on par with WB/DC. At that time ,WB/DC was still recovering from Batman and Robin, and kinda in the wilderness themselves.

By the time of the first Iron Man , I was in my late 20s and I'd already seen my dream of several Spiderman and X Men films , so in alot of ways , I really wasn't expecting anything really earth shattering with Iron Man. What I didn't know is one of the guys working on those early 00's Marvel based films would influence Hollywood and the film industry...Kevin Feige.

Films like Iron Man were considered a gambles and Marvel was laughed at again for what industry types thought " They only have Iron Man, Thor and Captain America! LOL!". Well ,they went laughing all the way to the bank.

I saw Iron Man opening week and basically watched all of them ever since. I'm an O.G. geek , so there was no way I wasn't going to get into what's become the MCU. So I saw Marvel go from being a bad joke in the 80s and 90s in terms of their film catalog ,to being the goal standard in terms of quality and of a franchise ,with rival studios , including WB/DC, trying to play catch up . I've also seen Marvel basically have almost all of their catalog in one studio, and now, all their characters in one universe and continuity.

So , in alot ways , I'm still doing the same thing I was doing in the early 90s , except this time, instead of scouring video stores for Marvel films and following the developing films in magazines, I'm seeing them on the big screen and following the development of these films online.
The difference between 1999 and 2019, is that the MCU characters are considered mainstream and popular with everyone. They're part of pop culture, and they ain't going anywhere .

Its a good time to be a fan. No question. It was well worth the wait.

 

[Shoppy]

I've always been a "Marvel plus Batman" fan rather than a "DC plus Fantastic Four" fan.

A friend and I used to talk in the early 90s about how superhero films could be done with CGI once the technology improved and we agreed back then we didn't want to see Marvel movies until the technology was there to make them look more like comic book movies than some of their 70s and 80s efforts, and with that in mind I'm so glad they waited until the technology was up to the job

 

[OnTheAir]

1. How long have you been following the MCU, if not considering yourself a fan?

Since I first heard they were going to make an Iron Man movie, with Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role.

2. What was your first MCU film, period?

Iron Man

3. What was the first movie you watched in theaters?

Iron Man

4. Were you familiar with any of these characters or storylines going in, either through comics or some other medium?

I grew up a superhero fan. Watched both Marvel and DC cartoons and live action tv shows back in the 70s and 80s. Started reading comics around age 8, with the Avengers being my favorite. So, when I heard they were not only doing an Iron Man film, but also an Incredible Hulk film, a Thor film and a Captain America film that not only shared the same continuity, but would lead to an Avengers film, I couldn’t have been more invested! Or, at least, I thought I couldn’t...but then they eventually introduced my all-time favorite character, the Black Panther, into the mix, and childhood dreams that I didn’t even know I had were realized!