I have to admit that ten years ago, I wasn't a Marvel fan. I was only familiar with the characters Spiderman and The Incredible Hulk (I'd also heard of Captain America but probably only as a result of watching American tv shows where he was mentioned).
I'd never heard of Ironman when it came out so didn't bother seeing it at the cinema - but I loved it on DVD. After I saw The Hulk and Ironman 2 (also on DVD), I realised that Marvel was releasing these movies with a grander plan - the after credits sequences with Nick Fury hinted of a link to SHIELD and a bigger story. And then Disney bought Marvel - and all hell broke loose! It all began to make sense as the franchise characters were introduced in individual films - culminating in the ensemble Avengers film and it all worked so well together. Throw in the TV series (soon to be joined by a second series featuring Agent Carter) and subsequent character sequels (Thor, Ironman and Captain American sequels set after The Avengers film) and they have developed a tour-de-force of superheros that covers film and television.
Of course - some new stand alone franchises from Marvel have also been developed, Guardians of the Galaxy and of course, the soon to be released Big Hero 6 from Disney Animation all suggest a healthy future for the Marvel arm of Disney.
Now, at a Marvel press conference overnight, they've unveiled plans for their upcoming slate of movies for the next few years. Fans of the Avengers universe will be happy as there is a lot to look forward to:
May 1, 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015: Ant-Man
May 6, 2016: Captain America: Civil War
Nov. 4, 2016: Doctor Strange
May 5, 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
July 28, 2017: Thor: Ragnarok
Nov. 3, 2017: Black Panther
May 4, 2018: Avengers: Infinity War — Part I
July 6, 2018: Captain Marvel
Nov. 2, 2018: Inhumans
May 3, 2019: Avengers: Infinity War — Part II
Bring it on!