Theatrical distribution Over time, the
distribution rights to Marvel Studios' films have changed hands on multiple occasions. In November 2006,
Universal Pictures announced that it would distribute
The Incredible Hulk (2008), in an arrangement separate from Marvel's 2005 deal with Paramount, which was distributing Marvel's other films. In September 2008, after the international success of
Iron Man (2008), Paramount signed a deal to have worldwide distribution rights for
Iron Man 2 (2010),
Iron Man 3 (2013),
Thor (2011),
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and
The Avengers (2012). In late December 2009,
the Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4billion. Additionally, in October 2010,
Walt Disney Studios bought the distribution rights for
The Avengers and
Iron Man 3 from Paramount Pictures, with Paramount's logo remaining on the films, as well as for promotional material and merchandise, although
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is the only studio credited at the end of these films. Disney has distributed all subsequent Marvel Studios films. In July 2013, Disney purchased the distribution rights to
Iron Man,
Iron Man 2,
Thor and
Captain America: The First Avenger from Paramount.
The Incredible Hulk was not part of the deal at the time, due to an agreement between Marvel and Universal, where Marvel owns the
film rights and Universal owns the distribution rights, for this film as well as the
right of first refusal to distribute future
Hulk films. According to
The Hollywood Reporter, a potential reason why Marvel has not bought the film distribution rights to the Hulk as they did with Paramount for the Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America films is that Universal holds
the theme park rights to several Marvel characters that Disney wants for
its own theme parks. In June 2023, the distribution rights to
The Incredible Hulk reverted from Universal back to Marvel Studios and Disney. In April 2026, Disney announced their "
Infinity Vision" certification for
premium large formats, informing audiences which theaters offer "the biggest, brightest, and most immersive cinematic experiences" and meet certain technical standards. The re-release of
Endgame in September 2026 will be Marvel Studios' first film in Infinity Vision, followed by
Doomsday in December 2026.
Spider-Man films In February 2015,
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios announced a licensing deal that would allow Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the character first appearing in
Captain America: Civil War.
Spider-Man films produced by Marvel Studios would continue to be financed, distributed, and controlled by Sony Pictures. In June 2015, Feige clarified that the initial Sony deal does not apply to the
MCU television series, as it was "very specific ... with a certain amount of back and forth allowed". Both studios have the ability to terminate the agreement at any point, and no money was exchanged with the deal. However, a small adjustment was made to a 2011 deal formed between the two studios (where Marvel gained full control of Spider-Man's merchandising rights, in exchange for making a one-time payment of $175million to Sony and paying up to $35million for each future Spider-Man film, and forgoing receiving their previous 5% of any Spider-Man film's revenue), with Marvel getting to reduce their $35million payment to Sony if
Spider-Man: Homecoming grossed more than $750million. Marvel Studios still received 5% of first dollar gross for the film. Sony also paid Marvel Studios an undisclosed producer fee for
Homecoming. In August 2019, it was reported that Disney and Sony could not reach a new agreement regarding Spider-Man films, with Marvel Studios and Feige said to no longer have any involvement in future films.
Deadline Hollywood noted that Disney had hoped future films would be a "50/50 co-financing arrangement between the studios", with the possibility to extend the deal to other Spider-Man-related films, an offer Sony rejected and did not counter. Instead, Sony hoped to keep the terms of the previous agreement (Marvel receiving 5% of the film's first dollar gross), with Disney refusing.
The Hollywood Reporter added that the lack of a new agreement would see the end of Holland's
Spider-Man in the MCU.
Variety cited unnamed sources claiming negotiations had "hit an impasse" and that a new deal could still be reached. In September 2019, it was announced that Disney and Sony had reached a new agreement allowing for Spider-Man to appear in
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) as the third film
co-produced by Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures and a future Marvel Studios film. Disney was reported to be co-financing 25% of the film in exchange for 25% of the film's profits in the new agreement, while retaining the merchandising rights to the character. In November 2021, producer
Amy Pascal revealed that Sony and Marvel Studios were planning to make at least three more Spider-Man films starring Holland, with work on the first of those films getting ready to begin. However,
The Hollywood Reporter noted that there were no official plans for a new trilogy, despite the strong working relationship between the studios. The following month, Feige said that he, Pascal, Disney, and Sony were "actively beginning to develop" the next Spider-Man story, assuring that there would not be any "separation trauma" that occurred between
Far From Home and
No Way Home. Sony's agreement specifies that production has to start on a film within three years and nine months of the previous one, and release within five years and nine months, otherwise the rights revert to Marvel. Marvel Studios explored opportunities to integrate other characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into their
Spider-Man films, with
Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as
Tony Stark / Iron Man in
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017),
Samuel L. Jackson reprising his role as
Nick Fury in
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and
Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr.
Stephen Strange in
No Way Home.
Jon Bernthal and
Mark Ruffalo are expected to appear as their respective MCU characters
Frank Castle and
Bruce Banner / Hulk in
Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). Aaron Couch and Borys Kit of
The Hollywood Reporter compared this to the
Marvel Team-Up comic books that feature Spider-Man teaming up with different heroes.
Home media Physical In June 2012, Marvel announced a 10-disc
box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled", for release on September 25, 2012. The box set includes all six of the Phase One films—
Iron Man,
The Incredible Hulk,
Iron Man 2,
Thor,
Captain America: The First Avenger, and
The Avengers—on
Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D, in a replica of Nick Fury's briefcase from
The Avengers. In August 2012, luggage company Rimowa GmbH, who developed the briefcase for
The Avengers, filed suit against Marvel Studios and
Buena Vista Home Entertainment in U.S. federal court, complaining that "Marvel did not obtain any license or authorization from Rimowa to make replica copies of the cases for any purpose." The set was delayed to early 2013 for the packaging to be redesigned. The box set, with a redesigned case, was released on April 2, 2013. In addition, the box set included a featurette on the then-upcoming Phase Two films, showing footage and concept art, as well as previously unreleased deleted scenes from all of the Phase One films. In July 2015, Marvel announced a 13-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", for release on December 8, 2015, exclusive to
Amazon.com. The box set includes all six of the Phase Two films—
Iron Man 3,
Thor: The Dark World,
Captain America: The Winter Soldier,
Guardians of the Galaxy,
Avengers: Age of Ultron, and
Ant-Man—on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and a digital copy, in a replica of the Orb from
Guardians of the Galaxy, plus a bonus disc and exclusive memorabilia. Material on the bonus disc includes all of the
Marvel One-Shots with commentary, deleted scenes and pre-production creative features for each of the films, featurettes on the making of the post-credit scenes for the films, and first looks at
Captain America: Civil War,
Doctor Strange, and
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In September 2019, Feige indicated a box set with all 23 films of "The Infinity Saga" would be released, with the set including previously unreleased deleted scenes and other footage, such as an alternate take of the Nick Fury post-credits scene from
Iron Man which references Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the X-Men. The box set, featuring all 23 films on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray, a bonus disc, a letter from Feige, and a lithograph art piece by Matt Ferguson, was released on November 15, 2019, exclusively at
Best Buy.
Streaming and cable In March 2008, Marvel Studios presold the US cable broadcast rights to
FX for five of their films, including
Iron Man and
The Incredible Hulk, for four years. FX also acquired the rights to
Iron Man 3 in May 2013. In September 2014,
TNT acquired the US cable broadcast rights to five Marvel Studios films, beginning with
Avengers: Age of Ultron, for broadcast two years after their theatrical release. Every Marvel Studios release from January 2016 to December 2018 was available on
Netflix.
Captain Marvel was the first
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures-distributed film not to stream on Netflix, after Disney let their licensing deal with them expire. It became the first theatrical Disney release to stream exclusively on
Disney+, which launched on November 12, 2019.
Bloomberg News reported that the films part of Disney's agreement with Netflix would return to Netflix starting in 2026, while being removed from Disney+. In April 2021, Sony signed a deal with Disney for its theatrical releases from 2022 to 2026 to stream on Disney+ and
Hulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks for their "pay 2 window". As well, Sony's legacy content, including past Spider-Man films and Marvel content in
Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), would be able to be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu. Disney's access to Sony's titles would come following their availability on Netflix for their "pay 1 window".
Homecoming and
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) had previously been available on
Starz and FX.
Homecoming became available on Disney+ in the United States on May 12, 2023,
Far From Home became available on November 3, 2023, and
No Way Home became available on April 15, 2026.
The Incredible Hulk became available on Disney+ in the United States on June 16, 2023, following the film's distribution rights reverting to Marvel Studios. In January 2026, Sony and Netflix signed a new multi-year agreement for Sony titles to stream on Netflix in their "pay 1 window". The new agreement gives Netflix global rights, an increase from the "pay 1" rights for the United States, Germany, and Southeast Asia in the previous deal, with the new agreement beginning later in 2026 as territory rights become available before being fully in effect in early 2029.
IMAX 10th anniversary festival From August 30 to September 6, 2018, in conjunction with Marvel Studios' 10-year anniversary celebrations, all 20 films released at the time (
Iron Man through
Ant-Man and the Wasp) were screened in
IMAX. The films were shown in release order, with four films per day. The final days of the festival were theme-related, with one showing "origin" films (
Iron Man,
Spider-Man: Homecoming,
Black Panther, and
Doctor Strange), one showing "team-ups" (
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,
Captain America: Civil War,
The Avengers, and
Avengers: Infinity War), and the final day showing
Iron Man and
The Avengers as chosen by the fans via a
Twitter poll. The festival also saw
Iron Man,
The Incredible Hulk, and
Captain America: The First Avenger released in IMAX for the first time. == Reception ==