By Charles Apple
The Spokesman-Review
Two decades ago Tuesday, the first big Marvel superhero comic book movie, “X-Men,” went into wide release in the U.S.
Marvel properties had some success in the past – an “Incredible Hulk” TV series ran for seven seasons beginning in 1978 and “Blade,” featuring Wesley Snipes as a vampire hero, was a minor hit in 1998 – “X-Men” went on to spawn nine sequels or prequels – 10, if you count the one that’s been hit with multiple delays over the past two years.
“X-Men” pulled in $296 million worldwide, triggering a rush to put more Marvel comics onto the big screen and resulting in the series of Avengers movies that have been so popular over the past 12 years.
Here’s a look at all 77 feature-length Marvel comics feature films:
Feb, 5, 1944
Captain America
15-part serial
Aug. 1, 1986
Howard the Duck
Co-produced by George Lucas’ production company
Oct. 5, 1989
The Punisher
Limited international release
July 22, 1990
Captain America
Not released in the U.S. until shown on cable TV in 1992
1994
The Fantastic Four
Produced by Roger Corman, never released
July 2, 1997
Men in Black
From Malibu Comics, which Marvel bought in 1994
Aug. 21, 1998
Blade
July 14, 2000
X-Men
March 22, 2002
Blade II
May 3, 2002
Spider-Man
Took in $662 million
July 3, 2002
Men in Black II
Feb. 14, 2003
Daredevil
May 2, 2003
X2: X-Men United
June 20, 2003
Hulk
April 16, 2004
The Punisher
June 30, 2004
Spider-Man 2
Won an Academy Award
Dec. 8, 2004
Blade: Trinity
Jan. 14, 2005
Elektra
July 8, 2005
Fantastic Four
May 26, 2006
X-Men: The Last Stand
Feb. 16, 2007
Ghost Rider
May 4, 2007
Spider-Man 3
Final Spider-Man film featuring Tobey Maguire
June 15, 2007
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
May 2, 2008
Iron Man
First in what fans now call Marvel Cinematic Universe
June 13, 2008
The Incredible Hulk
Rebooted Hulk character after 2003 movie
Dec. 5, 2008
Punisher: War Zone
May 1, 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
April 16, 2010
Kick-Ass
May 7, 2010
Iron Man 2
May 6, 2011
Thor
June 3, 2011
X-Men: First Class
July 22, 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger
Feb. 17, 2012
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
May 4, 2012
The Avengers
First Marvel release by Disney took in $720 million
May 25, 2012
Men in Black 3
July 3, 2012
The Amazing Spider-Man
Rebooted the Spider-Man franchise after 3 movies
May 3, 2013
Iron Man 3
July 26, 2013
The Wolverine
Aug. 16, 2013
Kick-Ass 2
Nov. 8, 2013
Thor: The Dark World
April 4, 2014
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
May 2, 2014
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
May 23, 2014
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Aug. 1, 2014
Guardians of the Galaxy
Nominated for two Academy Awards
Nov. 7, 2014
Big Hero 6
First animated feature-length Marvel comics movie
Feb. 13, 2015
Kingsman: The Secret Service
May 1, 2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron
July 17, 2015
Ant-Man
Aug. 7, 2015
Fantastic Four
Unsuccessful reboot of Fantastic Four franchise
Feb. 12, 2016
Deadpool
May 6, 2016
Captain America: Civil War
May 27, 2016
X-Men: Apocalypse
Nov. 4, 2016
Doctor Strange
March 3, 2017
Logan
May 5, 2017
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
July 7, 2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man franchise rebooted once again
Sept. 22, 2017
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Nov. 3, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok
Feb. 16, 2018
Black Panther
Won 3 Oscars and took in $715 million
April 27, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War
Took in $679 million
May 18, 2018
Deadpool 2
July 6, 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Oct. 5, 2018
Venom
Dec. 14, 2018
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Animated movie unrelated to live-action Spider-Man films
March 8, 2019
Captain Marvel
April 26, 2019
Avengers: Endgame
$897.2 million in tickets sold: No. 16 all-time bestseller
June 7, 2019
Dark Phoenix
June 14, 2019
Men in Black: International
Spin-off from the Men in Black series of films
July 2, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Aug. 28, 2020
The New Mutants
Sept. 18, 2020
The King’s Man
Release in November 2019 has been delayed twice
Nov. 6, 2020
Black Widow
Originally scheduled for May 1, 2020
Feb. 12, 2021
The Eternals
Originally scheduled for Nov. 6, 2020
March 19, 2021
Morbius
Originally scheduled for July 10, 2020
May 7, 2021
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Production suspended because of Covid-19
June 23, 2021
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Originally scheduled for Oct. 2, 2020
Oct. 7, 2022
Untitled Spider-Verse sequel
Production began last month