The story of Marvel Studios is as unlikely as some of the plots for its movies.

The Walt Disney Co. DIS, -1.22% -owned studio has created an interconnected universe of films that has, in the last decade, reimagined Hollywood’s approach to blockbusters and film franchises. The movies alone have grossed a staggering $13.9 billion in worldwide box-office receipts, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

Not bad for Marvel, a company on the verge of bankruptcy in 1996, and truly stunning considering the company gave Sony Pictures SNE, +1.73% the chance to buy the theatrical rights to almost all of Marvel’s characters for $25 million in 1998. Sony turned down Marvel’s offer, according to an excerpt from Ben Fritz’s new book, “The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies,” saying:

“Nobody gives a sh—about any of the other Marvel characters. Go back and do a deal for only Spider-Man.”

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Sony got its Spider-Man deal when once-Marvel Toys designer Avi Arad stepped in to guide Marvel Films through its turbulent time.

Arad wooed bankers, detailing the value of Marvel’s characters, according to a 2012 Slate article on the studio’s rise. The company was restructured, assets were auctioned off and Marvel Studios was up and running before “Iron Man” made his screen debut and Disney swooped in, spending $4 billion for the company in 2009.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Marvel continues to release genre-bending superhero films like its latest, “Black Panther,” here’s a look back at those that have led the studio to its success.

— By Trey Williams and Terrence Horan

This story was first published in May 2015

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Marvel began its ambitious campaign in 2008 with Robert Downey Jr., then struggling in his own career, cast as “Iron Man.” Iron Man wasn’t one of Marvel’s best-known heroes — despite his importance in the superhero team the Avengers — but with Downey’s charisma, “Iron Man” pulled in $102 million in its opening weekend, according to data from media research firm ComScore.

Another excerpt from Fritz’s book details how the decision to start with the character of Iron Man was based solely on a belief that he would make a better toy, not a better movie.

“The ‘Iron Man’ movie was a watershed, and it took Marvel to a place that no one thought it would go,” said ComScore media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

“In many of the superhero movies before this, it was just about the brand, but here, the writing was terrific and the acting was phenomenal. Had ‘Iron Man’ not done well, or if it was not received well, it could have changed everything. We might not be talking about this now,” he said.

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Before appearing in “The Avengers,” the Hulk was brought to life on screen in Universal Studios’s 2003 “Hulk” movie. Starring Eric Bana and directed by Taiwanese director Ang Lee, the movie met with mixed reviews and a $62 million opening weekend.

Five years later, Universal took a second stab at the character, casting Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in “The Incredible Hulk.” This iteration stumbled out of the gate as well, bringing in $55 million in its opening weekend along with subpar reviews. While no Marvel film has received a rotten rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, “The Incredible Hulk” is the second-lowest-rated Marvel film.

When the movie hit theaters in 2008, famed film critic Roger Ebert was not impressed. “‘The Incredible Hulk’ is no doubt an ideal version of the Hulk saga for those who found Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’ too talky, or dare I say, too thoughtful. But not for me,” he wrote.

Though “The Incredible Hulk” was not a Marvel Studios project — Universal Studios owns the rights to solo Hulk films — the movie was able to drop a major Easter egg, teasing an “Avengers” movie with a post-credit cameo from Robert Downey Jr., thus connecting it to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Robert Downey Jr.’s reprise in “Iron Man 2” built off the first movie’s success. The movie brought in $128 million in its opening weekend before slowing down slightly to gross $312 million domestically, compared with the first installment’s $319 million.

While “Iron Man 2” didn’t receive the same acclaim as its predecessor, it didn’t have to be great, it simply needed to be entertaining and push the story forward.

“Marvel is playing a game of chess, not checkers,” said analyst Dergarabedian. “They’re focused on the long play. What ‘Iron Man 2’ was about, was introducing these characters.”

“Iron Man 2” seamlessly expanded the world around the genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, introducing additional Marvel heroes Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). “Iron Man 2” was the audience’s first taste of Marvel’s quasi-crossover movies, in which characters make cameos in each other’s movies. Nick Fury and Black Widow would also be integral to Marvel’s “The Avengers” movie two years later.

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Marvel’s fourth rung in its cinematic universe, “Thor,” did not enjoy the same box-office success of the “Iron Man” films. It opened to only $65 million in its first weekend and grossed $181 million domestically over its time in theaters.

“Thor” is based on Marvel’s comic series about the Norse God of Thunder and he is not one of the most popular heroes.The film may have suffered also from the casting of virtually unknown actor Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Hemsworth has since become synonymous with the character, however, much like Robert Downey Jr. and “Iron Man.”

Along with familiarizing fans with another essential member of the Avengers team, “Thor” gave us the villainously charming Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston. Prevailing thought says that superhero movies are only as good as their villains, and Hiddleston’s Loki is one of the genre’s best villains to appear on the big screen.

With this film, and Loki, Marvel Studios moved another piece into place by foreshadowing his return in “The Avengers.”

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The title for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s fifth piece in the $100 million puzzle captured the studio’s intentions. As the final piece before fans would see the team assemble, “Captain America: The First Avenger” brought in $65 million in its first weekend, and grossed $177 million domestically.

Captain America, or Steve Rogers, is played by superhero veteran Chris Evans — the actor warmed up to playing the future Avengers team leader by being cast as the Human Torch in Twentieth Century Fox’s “Fantastic Four.”

“Captain America: The First Avenger” received good reviews; it has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Notably, this is also the last film in the MCU to not be released by Disney — save for “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” but more on that complicated release later. Prior to “The Avengers,” Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures had the rights to distribute Marvel’s films.

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With all the pieces finally in place after four years of maneuvering, the picture was complete. And the results were hulking.

“The Avengers” is not only Marvel’s biggest opening at $207 million, but it had the biggest movie opening in cinema history at the time. And over the course of its 22-week life in U.S. theaters, “The Avengers” grossed $632 million. Bringing together nearly every major character from the previous five films, and introducing new ones, “The Avengers” was the culmination of a plan that no one knew would work.

At this point, Marvel’s films had grossed $1.1 billion domestically.

Disney’s stock gained more than 6% in the first week of “The Avengers” release. Marvel Studios decided it was as good a time as any to capitalize on the movie’s success, by not only continuing to add to the Avengers story with subsequent solo-character releases, but expanding the universe with a slate of new heroes and even a move to the small screen with ABC’s series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Disney’s stock was now trading at around $107.00.

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“Iron Man 3,” on the heels of “The Avengers” success, enjoyed $174 million in its opening weekend, more than any other single-character-led Marvel movie to date. It eventually cracked $1 billion worldwide.

“Iron Man 3” was an international hit. There was even a Chinese version released with product placement for Chinese products and an extra four minutes added to the cut. The film brought in $121 million in China alone.

During Disney’s fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts and investors, Chief Executive Robert Iger referred to the growth of the movie business in China, and its importance for the company.

“As you know, China has become among the largest movie markets in the world… It will probably be first sometime in the next five years,” Iger said. “Our films have done extremely well in China, particularly the films that drive success in consumer products or retail — Disney and Pixar, Marvel.”

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In just 19 days in theaters, “Thor: The Dark World” brought in more than its predecessor, thanks to the success of “The Avengers.”

Chris Hemsworth’s second appearance as Thor in a solo film garnered $87 million in its opening weekend.

Much like the third Iron Man film before it, and the Captain America movie to follow, this second installment in the Thor movie franchise saw the titular character struggling to deal with the aftermath of “The Avengers.” The stories continued to grow and evolve, as events of previous movies were intertwined in the plots, further cementing the universe that Marvel had constructed.

The movie received decent, if not stellar, reviews. RogerEbert.com critic Simon Abrams described the movie as “a blocky fantasy-adventure whose plot is never as exciting as its characters.”

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“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is regarded by many as Marvel’s first genre-bending film in the franchise, as well as one of its best. The movie was pitched as a 1970s-style thriller in the vein of “Three Days of the Condor,” and it even cast Robert Redford.

Bringing in $95 million in its first weekend and grossing $715 million worldwide, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” received rave reviews for both its action sequences and hints of political thriller.

The film revolves around conspiracy and corruption within the fictional government agency that assembled the Avengers in the 2012 film. It also introduces a character in the Winter Soldier who would go on to have a lasting ripple effect on the state of the franchise.

“The ninth installment in the Marvel cinematic universe, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ is also perhaps its most intricately crafted,” IGN’s Roth Cornet wrote in a review. “The film not only serves as a strong follow-up to Cap’s first outing… it also has the strongest ties to, and most profound impact on, the Marvel Cinematic Universe at large.

“The repercussions of the events of this film will reverberate throughout all of Marvel’s properties.”

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Marvel had already accomplished the unthinkable — bringing together an interconnected world of characters from different films by different directors and creative minds — but it raised the stakes by adding a whole new galaxy of heroes and foes to its universe.

In “Guardians of the Galaxy,” a rag-tag team of interstellar heroes make up one of Marvel’s lesser-known teams. The film wrapped up the 2014 summer blockbuster season with a $94 million opening weekend and the movie grossed $773 million worldwide, which put Marvel Studio’s total box office revenue at $7.2 billion for 10 movies.

The film was a surprise hit. “Guardians of the Galaxy” had the same $170 million budget as “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” but exceeded both films in global box office revenue — “Thor” by $129 million and “Captain America” by $59 million.

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Marvel’s reprise to its unfathomable team-up film was the mega sequel “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” The film brought all the heroes back together and added a few new faces, on its way to Marvel’s second-highest opening in the franchise.

“Age of Ultron” opened to $191.3 million and solid reviews. Overall, the film was seen as satisfyingly entertaining but hurt by its crammed story, character development and interconnected plot lines.

“There’s so much ground to cover here — so many introductions to make, so much story to churn through, so many gargantuan set pieces to mount — that the movie never really finds room to breathe,” the A.V. Club’s A.A. Dowd wrote.

The film did, however, lay the groundwork for what is still to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the post-credits scene for “Age of Ultron,” the seemingly omniscient puppeteer Thanos grabs one of two Infinity Gauntlets and says “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

Audiences will have heard reference to the Infinity Stones in a “Thor: The Dark World” post-credits scene, but that line from Thanos sets up the culmination of the franchise. This climax begins with “Infinity Wars Part 1,” which comes out May 4, followed by another in 2019.

“Marvel has been able to set the stage for a 100-year plan. It’s crazy to think this would ever stop,” Dergarabedian said. “They’re not just thinking about the now. And they’re thinking big screen, small screen, merchandise, everything.”

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Based on another lesser-known hero who, along with being able to grow to giant size and communicate with ants, can shrink down to the size of an ant, “Ant-Man” had the second-lowest opening of all the other films, with $56.2 million, and almost was Marvel’s first disaster.

“Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” director Edgar Wright abruptly exited the project after Marvel was reportedly unhappy with his take on the character.

Marvel brought in Peyton Reed to helm the film, starring Paul Rudd, and it grossed $519.3 million worldwide.

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“Captain America: Civil War,” while technically being a solo Captain America film, utilizes a host of other Marvel characters — those we know and some who are new.

The film’s plot, based on a classic and beloved storyline from the comics, is a result of events that took place in “The Avengers,” “The Winter Soldier” and “Age of Ultron.” The film sees the governments attempt to regulate the activities of the superheroes who have, in attempts to save the world, caused significant damage and loss of civilian life.

The Avengers are torn to opposite sides of the debate and things escalate when the Winter Soldier reappears. The film has Marvel’s third-highest domestic opening at $179.1 million, it went on to gross more than $408 million domestically and $1.15 billion worldwide.

“Civil War” also introduced the character of Black Panther into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and brought Spider-Man back to Marvel through a one-of-a-kind deal with Sony Pictures.

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“Doctor Strange” introduced one of Marvel’s stranger superheroes. The Sorcerer Supreme serves as the Earth’s protector against magical and mystical threats.

The 14th film in Marvel’s expansive universe starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, and followed fairly typical beats used to introduce a character in a film serving as an origin story. What was most impressive about this installment was its arresting visual components unlike anything Marvel had done before.

The action and battles use fewer fisticuffs and superhuman strength scenes, and more mind-bending dimensional manipulation to create the story’s astral plane.

“Doctor Strange” grossed $232 million domestically and $677.7 million worldwide, after a $85.1 million opening weekend in North America.

“The giddily enjoyable ‘Doctor Strange’ is part of Marvel’s strategy for world domination, yet it’s also so visually transfixing, so beautiful and nimble that you may even briefly forget the brand,” New York Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote.

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While not quite as inventive or astonishing as its predecessor, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” struck all the other chords that made the first one a success.

“‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ has all the digital bells, whistles and self-charmed waggery of the first. And, in many respects, there’s not much that’s different except that it feels a bit strained,” wrote New York Times critic Manohla Dargis.

The film garnered an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while earning $146.5 million in its domestic opening weekend, and going on to gross $389.8 million in North America and $863.8 million worldwide.

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Spider-Man is easily one of Marvel’s most popular characters and in some ways is the face of the company. It has also been one of Sony’s most lucrative properties.

However, after years of diminishing returns at the box office, Sony decided to make a deal with Marvel wherein the superhero factory would co-produce “Spider-Man” films and could use Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while Sony held on to solo film rights and signed off on all casting and creative decisions.

Must read:‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ needed a rare industry collaboration to get made

Fans got a taste of Tom Holland as Spider-Man in “Captain America: Civil War,” but “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was the character’s true homecoming.

The film is tied with “Thor: Ragnarok” as the studio’s second-best reviewed film in the franchise and it grossed $334 million domestically, and $880.2 million worldwide after opening with $117.0 million.

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Director Taika Waititi took the director chair for the third “Thor” outing in a series of films that were stagnant compared to the rest of the Marvel universe.

“Thor: Ragnarok” was applauded for its wild departure from Marvel’s more formulaic productions. The tone of the film resembled an improv show more than a traditional comic-book film. Waititi, a New Zealand actor, screenwriter, director and comedian, empowered his actors to go off script.

“Thor: Ragnarok” brought Marvel’s second-highest Rotten Tomatoes score at 92% and the film grossed $853.2 million after opening with $122.7 million.

“Though it stutters in its action-heavy climax, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ is perhaps the funniest Marvel movie yet, and suggests that the studio is beginning to understand the value of letting its stars cut loose,” Slashfilm’s Josh Spiegel wrote.

The minds behind the scenes at Marvel Studios haven’t only given fans reasons to be giddy over the last seven years, but Disney investors as well. Disney stock has soared more than 310% since closing the deal to buy Marvel back in 2009. The S&P 500 index SPX, -1.11% has gained more than 170% during the same time frame.

“Fans are the greatest arbiter of whether Marvel is doing it right,” Dergarabedian said. “Marvel cares about the legacy. What’s cool is Marvel does things that fans would do. They get in the minds of the fans.”