The world as portrayed in Marvel Comics, especially under Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. As in The DCU, Marvel heroes form teams and Cross Over occurs frequently, with many Continuity Nods. (In fact, you could argue that Marvel invented the Continuity Nod.) Many of these comic books have been the basis for movies, TV series or both.Many TV series and movies set in the Marvel Universe take place in and around New York. The original architects of the world put most of the heroes there, as a subversion of the then-dominant trope of No Communities Were Harmed and as an excuse for Cross Overs.The Marvel Universe's defining characteristics include a general trend toward realism mixed with the fantastic, a little more Civvie Spandex than The DCU, and a strong undercurrent of cynicism among the local populace who are anything from skeptical to distrustful of superpowered beings aside from charismatic mega-celebrities like Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. Of course, it varies from writer to writer; in some eras Marvel have more explicitly tried to root their Universe in 'the real world', while at other times there have been entire mutant ghettos covering large areas of New York City.You can find a timeline of its major events hereRecently acquired by Disney; a striking parallel to Disney's old animatedshorts rival Warner Bros. owning the DCU.Series in this universe:
Spider-Man, a 1981 cartoon version with an early animated example of Story Arcs.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, a 1981 cartoon that teamed him up with Iceman of the X-Men and Firestar, an original character that eventually became a Canon Immigrant. Still considered as definitive as the 1960s series.
Spider-Man Unlimited, a short-lived 1999 cartoon where Spidey is transported to Another Dimension. Originally intended to be based on Spider-Man 2099... a comic book title many fans argue Bruce Timm ripped off when developing Batman Beyond.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, a 2003 MTV computer-animated series based loosely on the movie continuity.
Spider-Man, a 2002 big-budget movie, considered to be (along with X-Men) one of the causes of the current superhero movie boom. Has had two sequels, in 2004 and 2007. A Continuity Reboot called The Amazing Spider-Man is slated for a 2012 release.
As well, he showed up in segments of The Electric Company, where he taught reading to kids by having adventures while speaking only in word balloons.
The Spectacular Spider Man a 2008-2010 series, featuring Peter Parker as a high-school student, which aired on Kids' WB and then Disney XD for two seasons.
Ultimate Spider-Man, announced in 2010, which will reportedly feature Spidey teaming up with a variety of other Marvel superheroes.
X-Men, a 2000 big-budget movie. Had two sequels, in 2003 and 2006. A 2009 Wolverine prequel has been released, as well as a 2011 prequel called X-Men: First Class set in the 1960s.
Wolverine and the X-Men, a 2008 cartoon series (which aired in 2009 in the US), is the latest adaptation. It dives straight into a spinoff of the comics continuity, so in tone it's closest to the 1992 cartoon (but in art it's more like Evolution). Canceled after one season.
Two anime shows based on Wolverine and the other on the X-Men were made in 2011.
A 1994 cartoon version, shown with the contemporary Fantastic Four cartoon as part of the "Marvel Action Hour." Season 1 saw Shellhead leading Force Works, but a massive Re Tool for Season 2 saw - among other changes - more solo hero action.
The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes, a animated series that began in 2010 and features the "classic" roster - Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man and Wasp - with more superheroes added over the course of the series.
A big-budget feature film, starring the cast of the recent Thor, Captain America, Hulk and Iron Man movies, scheduled for 2012.
None other than David Hasselhoff played the title character in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, a 1998 Made-for-TV Movie, and did a surprisingly credible job at it (though the movie failed in other respects).
Appears in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine film, played by Ryan Reynolds and Scott Adkins when he is converted into Weapon XI AKA Deadpool In Name Only. A spin-off movie has been discussed. And is now apparently in the works.
The Silver Surfer had a short-lived 1998 animated series, most notable for being cancelled right after a Cliff Hanger where the universe ceased to exist.
Marvel has announced plans to create shows for ABC and ABC Family based on Jessica Jones, Mockingbird, and Cloak and Dagger, but no actors are attached as of yet to any of the shows.
Other movie adaptations:
Doctor Strange was made into a failed Pilot Movie in 1978; its demonology content allegedly prompted outcries from Christian groups that made sponsors back off from the project.
A direct-to-DVD animated movie was released in 2007.
A film version of Howard the Duck, produced (not directed) by George Lucas, was released in 1986.
The Punisher appeared in two different movies, both with no continuity to each other, made 15 years apart (1989 and 2004). They did it again in 2008, with Punisher: War Zone.
The Ultimate AvengersOAV, based on the comic The Ultimates, was released on DVD, February 21st, 2006. A sequel was released on August 8, 2006.
A big-budget Ghost Rider film starring Nicholas Cage was released in early 2007.
As well, Marvel Entertainment has announced that they are planning future movie projects for The Avengers, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Cloak & Dagger, Dr. Strange, Hawkeye, Power Pack, and Shang-Chi.
The set-up of The Avengers movie in Iron Man and Tony Stark's cameo in The Incredible Hulk suggest that Marvel may be trying to place the movies independently produced by Marvel Studios into their own continuity.
An animated Black Panther TV show is under development for BET.
World tropes:
A God Am I: Thor, Hercules, Zeus and Odin make their godly heritage known to all who meet them.
All of the Other Reindeer: First comic-book world to have widespread prejudice against a particular type of superhumans, the "anti-mutant paranoia".
All-Powerful Bystander: The Living Tribunal is this until a multiversial threat arises. He tends to destroy the universe the threat is located in and then resume being a bystander.
Badass Bookworm: High Evolutionary, Thanos, M.O.D.O.K., Leader, Valeria, Reed Richards, Alyssa Moy, Mad Thinker, Hank Pym, Doctor Doom, Maelstrom, Brainchild, Bruce Banner and Spider-Man.
Bald Women: Moondragon and Nebula (after her escape from Titan and a cybernetic operation)
The Berserker: Hulk, Juggernaut, Colossus, Thing, Thanos, Wolverine and Thor when he delves into the Warrior's Madness.
Blessed with Suck (One of Stan Lee's innovations was to write about "superheroes with problems." Characters like Spider-man, the Hulk, and the Thing were early results of this.)
Iron Man was the first superhero with a substance abuse problem.
Bolt of Divine Retribution: Anyone with power over electricity and a vengeful nature. Thor and Zeus are notable examples.
City of Adventure: Makes you wonder just how New York City hasn't gotten wiped out yet.
Comic Book Time: When he revealed himself during Civil War, Peter Parker stated that he had been acting as Spider-Man since he was 15. Same goes for the first X-Men team, who started in heroics in their teens (sans Beast), and now almost 50 years later (in real time), they still seem to be 30-somethings.
Crapsack World: Few comic book universes make life harder on its heroes than the Marvel Universe. At different times, either the public hates them, the government actively tries to kill mutants, the media paints them as evil, or laws have been passed making most of them wanted fugitives.
And that only covers Earth, which probably contains only a fraction of all the combined power in the universe. The Marvel Universe is crawling with cosmic beings such as Galactus and countless others who have all been either indifferent to or outright wanted to massacre the Earth.
Crossover Cosmology (Thor, Hercules, and Amaterasu all coexist with every other god EVER)
Cut Lex Luthor a Check (The Trapster, the Ringer, the Green Goblin, and many, many more. Occasionally subverted by villains like the Wizard, who became a zillionaire through legitimate means before getting bored and turning to crime, or 8-Ball, who only became a supervillain after he was fired from his job and blacklisted for being suspected of selling company secrets to pay his gambling debts.)
Deconstruction: Arguably a founding father of the concept for superhero comics as it definitely helped popularized the idea of Fantastic Racism for the genre. (People don't seem to notice as much due to how the earlier Marvel comics were not truly Darker and Edgier.) But still Marvel is definitely one of the reasons why being a super powered being (especially if you were born with super powers) might not get you respected.
The Dreaded: The Void. And the Sentry by default, as everyone just knows he's going to snap one day. Then he does.
Easily Conquered World: When you look back at history, not so much. When one prospective conquering race heard about everything Marvel Earth has fought and beaten, they ran. Ran.
Easy Road To Hell: In both the DC and Marvel 'verses there have been examples of people getting sent to Hell with magic, rather than through any fault of their own. Granted, in most such cases they were able to get out later.
Eldritch Abomination: Swarming hordes of them, whether of mystical or 'cosmic' origins.
Enormous Engine: SHIELD helicarriers are usually shown with four enormous turbines.
There's also most of the gods. Gaea is the Mother-Goddess in most pantheons in Marvel and has birthed a child in just about all of them. Thus, you get wacky family connections like The Mighty Thor being The Incredible Hercules's great-uncle.
Fantastic Racism: Marvel is very well known for this; documentaries have suggested that one reason for Marvel's popularity in the 60's was its use of resonant contemporary themes like bigotry and the marginalization of minorities.
Good Is Not Nice: Wolverine and Iron Man might be under the flag of good, but they can be outright pricks at times.
Healing Factor: A very common ability once you get to the bigger tiers. Wolverine, Deadpool and Hulk are the three most popular examples.
Humans Are Bastards: X-Men comics are the clearest example, but this trope shows up in other series as well.
Heroic Sociopath: most prominently Deadpool, Wolverine, Punisher, Moon Knight, and War Machine.
I Love Nuclear Power: Every Hulk powered by gamma radiation and Hulk's nemesis Abomination. Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, which gave him the abilities of Spider-Man.
Immortality: Marvel has at least one character who embodies each type.
Immortality Hurts: To his credit, Deadpool has fun when he gets mutilated, shot, stabbed, burned, decapitated, skinned and liquefied, mostly because of his habit of being a funny guy, but he still feels the pain.
Number of the Beast: Fandom recurrently tends to call the primary Marvel Universe number 616, sometimes considered to be the original number of absolute evil. Writer Dave Thorpe allegedly deliberately came up with the designation, since he considered this what the superhero genre in essence had evolved into.
Fandom considered designating the Marvel Zombies universe as 666. It eventually ended up as 2149.
The Omnipotent: It really depends on one's definition of omnipotent. The Living Tribunal has been called omnipotent by several different characters, yet multiple beings have surpassed his power (Beyonder, Thanos, Protege and Molecule Man) and defeated him. The Infinity Gauntlet grants the wearer omnipotence but every being who has ever worn it has had it forcibly taken from them.
The only indisputable example of an omnipotent character is The-One-Above-All. Just as the name says, he is above everyone in strength and is the higher power the Living Tribunal serves and answers to.
One Steve Limit: You better believe this trope is averted. There are easily half a dozen characters named James, a good few Henrys, and plenty of Peters.
Take That Kiss: Hawkeye did this to DeathBird after defeating her.
Token Minority Couple — Black Panther was paired off with Storm because they were both African, and no other reason then that.
Too Dumb to Live: Many characters have had moments of this but it's hard to believe someone knows Bruce Banner can turn into the Hulk, yet they still try to piss him off.
World War II: The Golden Age. Marvel's history began during this time, so its original characters live in this setting. Some legacy heroes/villains are also based on characters published in this time (such as the Human Torch). Note that Adolf Hitler was seemingly killed in his bunker by the original Human Torch, but actually survived for a while as the Hate-Monger.
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