From Jon Favreau to Kenneth Branagh, some incredibly talented filmmakers contributed to the MCU’s first round of superhero blockbusters.
Now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is well into phase four, phase one feels like a distant memory. Phase One consisted of five solo adventures – Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thorand Captain America: The First Avenger – build up to the first avengers movie. The directors of these films laid the foundation for the MCU in terms of tone, style and characterization.
In the literal sense, these filmmakers built the world and set up the visuals, but they also defined the familiar story formula and all the archetypes that Marvel Studios is now famous for. From Jon Favreau to Kenneth Branagh, some incredibly talented filmmakers contributed to the MCU’s first round of superhero blockbusters.
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5 Louis Leterrier
Best known for directing Transporter 2, now you see meand the Clash of the Titans remake, Louis Leterrier left his mark on the MCU with The Incredible Hulk. Despite Edward Norton starring as a complex, nuanced take on Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk is one of the most forgettable entries in the franchise. Together with Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 2it usually ranks low in the MCU’s movies.
Skipping the familiar Hulk origin story – a move later replicated by Spider-Man: Homecoming – was a wise decision, but the plot that takes the place of the original story is plodding and aimless. The Incredible Hulk has some memorable mid-act action sequences, but the grand finale is a straightforward smash-’em-up.
4 Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston started doing visual effects for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies before he became a director with popular movies like jumanjic and Baby I shrunk the kids. In the MCU’s Phase One, Johnston helped Captain America: The First Avenger like a more or less conventional superhero blockbuster. There are some subversive twists and turns, such as the government’s use of Steve as a propaganda tool, but The first avenger largely follows the rigid beats of Marvel’s origin story.
Johnston and his perfect casting choice Chris Evans perfected Cap’s characterization from the get-go, but struggled to figure out how to make a classic goody-two shoes appealing. The story builds to a heartbreaking ending where Steve makes the ultimate sacrifice, awakens in modern times, and all he can focus on is the date he missed with Peggy. This was a great springboard for Cap’s MCU arc, but it wouldn’t really take off until the Russo brothers sunk their hooks into the character.
3 Kenneth Branagh
A decade after leading the first Thor film for the MCU’s Phase One, Kenneth Branagh has released his most personal film yet, Belfast, based on his own childhood in the titular city. In one scene, the young protagonist (a stand-in for Branagh) can be seen carrying a Mighty Thor funny. The director is clearly passionate about the character. The God of Thunder’s solo movies wouldn’t be perfected until Taika Waititi took influences from Flash Gordon and Big Trouble in Little China in Ragnarokbut the original from Branagh Thor movie got a great start to Chris Hemsworth’s MCU arc.
for the Thor movies were defined as cosmic Viking adventures, Branagh set the tone as pseudo-Shakespearean medieval fantasy. It made sense for Branagh to go this way, as his string of films based on Shakespeare’s classics made him Hollywood’s go-to guy for Shakespeare. The Shakespearean superhero aspects don’t quite come in Thorbut Branagh nails the humor of Earth’s fish-out-of-water scenes.
2 Joss Whedon
In theory, The Avengers shouldn’t have worked. It is a movie about a billionaire in a metal suit, a Norse god, a large green monster and a cryogenically frozen WWII super soldier who all come together to fight the henchmen of an evil alien ruler who wants to gather magical powers. stones. If Joss Whedon didn’t sustain the landing with The Avengersthen the Infinity Saga may not have come true. Iron Man laid the foundation, but The Avengers cemented the success of the MCU.
Whedon’s razor-sharp script effortlessly blended the characters’ different worlds into a single, creative tone. His directing balanced the ensemble nicely and laid the foundation for every subsequent ambitious Marvel team. Whedon returned for the first time in stage two avengers follow-up, Age of Ultronbut the plotting wasn’t as tight and the payouts weren’t as deserved the second time around.
1 Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau set the tone for the entire MCU with 2008’s Iron Man, the groundbreaking blockbuster that started it all. Unlike many of its less successful imitators, Iron Man does not focus on building a universe; it focuses on telling its own story and introducing a flawed but noble hero worth rooting for. Original from Favreau Iron Man movie would still be a highly self-contained superhero adventure if Marvel Studios never made another movie.
While Iron Man Still standing as one of the MCU’s best films (and always will be), Favreau’s reputation as a Marvel director is being let down by Iron Man 2. It focuses on building a universe and puts its own plot and characters in the back seat. But, Iron Man 2 despite, The Mandalorian has shown that Favreau is clearly a master storyteller.
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