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alt title(s): Marvel Comics; Marvel 
None of this is really happening. There is a man. With a typewriter. This is all part of his crazy imagination.
New York City.
What, there's more than that?
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. Even consistency between titles is often only an ideal.
For some reason, live-action TV versions of Marvel properties have been far more likely to suffer egregious Adaptation Decay than their counterparts from The DCU. Film versions have, in general, fared better (except, perhaps, for the 1989 version of The Punisher and the long-buried Captain America). It has just recently been announced that two anime series will be made in Japan based on the Marvel characters of Tony Stark and Wolverine.
Recently acquired by Disney (pending approval from shareholders and competition authorities); a striking parallel to Time Warner owning both DC and Disney's old rival Warner Bros.
Series in this universe:
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Man, a 1967 cartoon version, with an Expository Theme Tune that many baby-boomers can still sing from memory.
- The Amazing Spider-Man, a 1977 live-action series, cancelled due to Executive Meddling when CBS decided they were running too many Super Hero series.
- Supaaida-Man, a 1978 Japanese Toku series that featured Spider-Man piloting a Humongous Mecha and was one of the inspirations for Super Sentai/Power Rangers.
- 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, a 1994 cartoon with more focus on Story Arcs and Character Development.
- 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.
- 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 the 2008 animated adaption on Disney XD is the most recent one.
- X-Men
- Pryde of the X-Men, a failed 1989 Pilot Movie.
- X-Men, a 1992 cartoon version.
- Generation X was a failed Pilot Movie from 1996, featuring the characters of the X-Men comic-book Spin Off who attended Xavier's mutant school.
- X-Men Evolution, a 2000 cartoon with it's own continuity. X-23, a Canon Immigrant, originated here.
- X-Men, a 2000 big-budget movie. Had two sequels, in 2003 and 2006. A 2009 Wolverine prequel has been released and a Magneto one is in development. Each center around a single character.
- Wolverine And The X Men, a 2008 cartoon series, 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). Scheduled for airing in the United States in 2009.
- The Fantastic Four
- Fantastic Four, a 1967 cartoon produced by Hanna Barbera.
- The Fantastic Four, a 1978 cartoon with the Human Torch replaced by the robot H.E.R.B.I.E.
- Fantastic Four, a 1994 cartoon shown with the contemporary Iron Man cartoon as part of the "Marvel Action Hour".
- The Fantastic Four, an unreleased 1994 Roger Corman film, infamous around the fandom for its low quality.
- Fantastic Four, a 2004 big-budget movie with a 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
- Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, A 2006 cartoon version with heavily anime-influenced art, based loosely off the movie continuity.
- Additionally, the Thing got his own mini-show as part of Fred And Barney Meet The Thing.
- Incredible Hulk
- Captain America
- Iron Man
- A 1994 cartoon version, shown with the contemporary Fantastic Four cartoon as part of the "Marvel Action Hour" (the show was actually about the West Coast Avengers, but Shellhead was the main draw)
- A 2007 OAV, The Invincible Iron Man, with a fair amount of Adaptation Decay.
- Iron Man, a 2008 big-budget movie.
- Iron Man: Armored Adventures, a 2009 CGI animated TV show which has a sassy teen Stark as quipping Spidermanesque incarnation of Iron Man.
Other heroes:
Other anti-heroes:
Other Marvel Universe comic series:
Other TV adaptations:
- The Marvel Super Heroes was a syndicated 1966 cartoon that was the first TV appearance of the Marvel Universe. It featured Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Namor, the Sub-Mariner in Three Shorts segments, with plots, dialogue and even artwork often taken directly from the comic books.
- 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.
- The Super Hero Squad Show, a 2009 animated Massive Multiplayer Crossover meant for small children, featuring Super Deformed versions of the Marvel heroes and a Lighter And Softer storyline. Based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad toy line.
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 by George Lucas was released in 1986, with Adaptation Decay aplenty.
- In 1991, a Pilot Movie was made for Power Pack, but was never aired. Even so, it still has an IMDB entry
 .
- The Blade movies, in 1998, 2002, and 2004, featured the titular Vampire Hunter, who had first shown up in Marvel's Tomb of Dracula. The short-lived 2006 Blade The Series was based on these.
- The Punisher appeared in two different movies, both telling the same story, made 15 years apart (1989 and 2004). A sequel to the latter is due for release later this year, but with a different actor playing Frank.
- The Ultimate Avengers OAV, 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 independantly produced by Marvel Studios into their own continuity.
- An animated Black Panther TV show is under development for BET.
World tropes:
- All Of The Other Reindeer (First comic-book world to have widespread prejudice against a particular type of superhumans, the inventor of "anti-mutant paranoia". Later on, first comic-book world to have widespread fear & mistrust of all superhumans of its own free will, as opposed to being hit with orbital paranoia rays or something. Fortunately, you can sidestep all this by enlisting as an official government metahuman stormtrooper, and people will love you again. Yes, even if you're actually a known megalomaniacal psychopath.)
- Alternate Universe: A number of Marvel stories deal with and take place in these. Most prominent (and Alternate Continuity examples) are listed below.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Red Skull and Carnage, aside from those two all the other Marvel antagonists have had remotely good to at least sympathetic moments in the past. (Some a lot more than others though of course.)
- Blessed With Suck (One of Stan Lee's innovations was to write about "superheros with problems." Characters like Spider-man, the Hulk, and the Thing were early results of this.)
- Comic Book Time
- Complete Monster (If many of the heroes themselves are damaged goods, a lot of their villains would be drinking buddies with Ted Bundy or Charles Manson. Almost every hero has at least one, ranging from the Green Goblin to Bullseye to Mister Hyde to Mister Sinister to Psyko to the Red Skull.
- Conqueror From The Future (Kang the Conqueror is quite likely the Ur Example.)
- Crapsack World: There is no comic book universe that makes life harder on its heroes. The public hates them, the government actively tries to kill mutants, the media paints them as evil, and in recent years, laws have been passed making most of them wanted fugitives.
- 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 Super hero 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.
- Dysfunction Junction (Try naming one superhero outside the Fantastic Four who isn't emotionally scarred, traumatized and/or an orphan. See? That's Marvel for you.)
- Squirrel Girl. That's one at least. And she happens to be a Stalker With A Crush. Oh, and she also had to watch one of her squirrel friends die a horrible death.
- Maybe Forbush Man?
- Except when he appears in Nextwave although that may or may not be in an alternative reality.
- Dying Like Animals (If it isn't a Reindeer, its a Lemming or a Jackal. The best you can hope for is that its a Bat. 99.9+% of this entire planet's population is either ready to join an anti-metahuman hate group or else so mind-bogglingly stupid that they should be put on suicide watch.)
- To be fair, every once in a while a random preacher gives a pro mutant speech, or some cop mentions how much Spider-Man has done for the city, but such moments are sadly uncommon, and recent events are only making the whole thing worse. It makes one wonder if you shouldn't just let Galactus eat the place.
- Easily Conquered World
- Everyone Is Related: We have a whole trope about it
- Fail Polish
- Fantastic Racism: Marvel is very well known for this, documentaries have stated that one reason why Marvel comics were popular in decades such as the 60's was that people are able to relate to characters whom suffer from prejudice. (Which keep in mind due to the issues of racism and other controversial subjects that definitely happened back then helped.) It helped on how Stan Lee has been vocal in the past about how he is against prejudice and it has reflected in his work.
- Humans Are Bastards: Are well known for this trope, according to plenty of people in this world all super powered beings are Always Chaotic Evil ESPECIALLY if your born with them. X-Men is easily deemed the biggest example of this but there are other stories of theirs that do like this trope as well.
- Legacy Character
- Jerk Ass: It can honestly be said without hyperbole that every single Marvel character, in every incarnation, has been an a-hole to someone at least once.
- Leotard Of Power
- Lamarck Was Right
- Loads And Loads Of Characters (for pretty much every long-running series)
- Meta Origin
- Number Of The Beast (The primary Marvel universe is listed as number 616)
- Oubliette
- Personal Gain Hurts (Just ask Spidey)
- Reed Richards Is Useless (Trope Namer)
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent - with some aversions and subversions.
- Ruined Forever Now that Disney Owns Marvel Entirely
- Super Hero
- Super Registration Act
- Too Dumb To Live - See above. In recent years in a push to make the world Darker And Edgier, the civilian populous has shown a desire, nay, eagerness to emphatically embrace anything and everything that curtails their civil liberties and gives as much power as possible to megalomaniacal psychopaths.
- Ungrateful Bastards: No matter how many times Spider-Man, the X-Men or (insert individual hero or superhero group name here) save them, most of the populace of the Marvel Universe consist of a bunch of ungrateful douchebags who quite frankly don't deserve to be protected.
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