When Iron Man hit like a Tony Stark smart bomb in 2008, nobody could have predicted what its arrival meant. Not only was the film a smashing success, although its $585M seems quaint now, but it heralded in a new era for the way Hollywood makes blockbuster movies. Ten years and over $13B in revenues later and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the strongest brand in the world. Period. And that’s cause for celebration.
Last October, Marvel gathered in secret more than 80 of the MCU’s past stars and filmmakers for an awesome class photo taken during the shoot for Avengers: Infinity War. The timing was perfect as the film marks the end of an era for Marvel Studios and the start of what they hope will be another decade of dominance.
Gathered for the occasion were Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt, Chadwick Boseman, Brie Larson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Holland, Sean Gunn, Hannah John-Kamen, Zoe Saldana, Angela Bassett, Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kurt Russell, Danai Gurira, William Hurt, Karen Gillan, Emily VanCamp, Tessa Thompson, Don Cheadle, Dave Bautista, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie, Evangeline Lilly, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Frank Grillo, Letitia Wright, Laurence Fishburne, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Stan, Ty Simpkins, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Benedict Wong, Michael Rooker, Vin Diesel, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Stan Lee, Scott Derrickson, Trinh Tran, Alan Taylor, Brad Winderbaum, Louis Letterier, Jon Watts, Sarah Finn, James Gunn, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Joss Whedon, David Grant, Mitchell Bell, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Jeffrey Ford, Peyton Reed, Jonathan Schwartz, Stephen Broussard, Ryan Coogler, Jeremy Latcham, Nate Moore, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Taika Waititi, Erik Carroll, Ryan Meinerding and Craig Kyle.
Check out a video commemorating the event below. And do your part to make all of these folks richer by going to see Black Panther on February 16, followed by Avengers: Infinity War on May 4th.
