Marvel Cinematic Universe
Marvel Cinematic Universe intertitle from Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe (2014)
Created by	Marvel Studios
Original work	Iron Man (2008)
Owned by	The Walt Disney Company
Years	2008–present
Print publications
Book(s)	Marvel Cinematic Universe books
Comics	Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in comics
Films and television
Film(s)	Marvel Cinematic Universe films
Short film(s)	Marvel One-Shots
Television series	Marvel Cinematic Universe television series
Web series	Marvel Cinematic Universe digital series
Television special(s)	Marvel Cinematic Universe television specials
Games
Video game(s)	Marvel Cinematic Universe video game tie-ins
Audio
Original music	Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Miscellaneous
Theme park attraction(s)	Marvel-themed attractions

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films, independently produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The franchise includes comic books, short films, television series, and digital series. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.

The first MCU film is Iron Man (2008), which began the films of Phase One culminating in the crossover film The Avengers (2012). Phase Two began with Iron Man 3 (2013) and concluded with Ant-Man (2015). Phase Three began with Captain America: Civil War (2016) and concluded with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). The first three phases in the franchise are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga". The films of Phase Four will begin with Black Widow (2021).

Marvel Television expanded the universe to network television with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC in 2013, followed by streaming television with Daredevil on Netflix in 2015 and Runaways on Hulu in 2017, and cable television with Cloak & Dagger on Freeform in 2018. Marvel Television produced the digital series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot. Marvel Studios expanded to streaming television with Disney+ for tie-in shows, starting with WandaVision in 2021 as the beginning of Phase Four. Soundtrack albums have been released for all the films and many of the television series, as well as compilation albums containing existing music heard in the films. The MCU includes tie-in comics published by Marvel Comics, while Marvel Studios has produced a series of direct-to-video short films, called Marvel One-Shots, and a viral marketing campaign for its films and the universe with the faux news program WHIH Newsfront.

The franchise has been commercially successful and has generally received a positive critical response. It has inspired other film and television studios with comic book character adaptation rights to attempt to create similar shared universes. The MCU has been the focus of other media, outside of the shared universe, including attractions at various Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, an attraction at Discovery Times Square, a Queensland Gallery of Modern Art exhibit, two television specials, guidebooks for each film, multiple tie-in video games, and commercials.