Looking back, it is kind of funny to remember doubting Marvel Studios and their ability to put together what they refer to as their “cinematic universe” akin to that of their comic book universe, in which characters appear in each other’s story lines all the time and epic mash ups of comic book characters and teams are done on the reg.

But comics books are cheaper to make than blockbuster movies, so their idea of making a string of movies that all fed into each other and would culminate with “The Avengers” seemed like a classic “more than they can chew” type of situation. Just because “Iron Man” was a surprise success doesn’t mean people would actually go see Thor movies. Really, some people were likely laughing to themselves, thinking there was no way this was going to work, creatively or financially.

Jump cut to May 7th, 2012, inside the offices of Marvel and Disney (who had since come on as a financial backer), look behind those closed doors, and you know what you would have seen? Employees all doing back flips and partying and getting down, as “Marvel’s The Avengers” (official title) had a record setting opening weekend of $207 million. That’s just three days of box office. In just one country. To say that Marvel’s plan worked is an understatement. The fans ate it up and came back for seconds. And thirds. And so on. And the critics didn’t hate it. Most of them didn’t anyway.Continue Reading …