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The marvelous multiverse of Marvel

Timely Comics was founded by Martin Goodman in 1939. By 1951 it became Atlas Comics. In 1961 with the publication of The Fantastic Four, the Marvel era officially began. 

However, it was truly when Goodman decided to hire his wife’s cousin, Stanley Lieber, as an office assistant, that the fate of comics would forever change. Goodman didn’t know that that teenager, accompanied by artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others, would revolutionize the world of comics and movies as we know it.

A cultural phenomenon, Marvel has taken us on a journey where ordinary people become extraordinary heroes. In the following sections, we'll dive into the stories behind the memorable characters, the creators who brought them to life, and the evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Discover the secrets of how Marvel's timeless tales have shaped not only comic books but the entire entertainment industry.

Stay with us and explore the legacy that continues to inspire fans across generations.

Humble beginnings

Comic books weren’t always as popular. They were seen as childish and a less-than form of art. So much so that in late 1941, when Stanley Lieber went from office boy to interim editor, he decided to write under a pen name, so that one day when he wrote a ‘real book’ nobody would connect his name to comics. The pseudonym he chose is a name we know and respect all too well: Stan Lee.

Stan Lee served in the military for 3 years, from 1942 to 1945, a time during which he never stopped writing for Timely Comics. He almost got into trouble with the army, by breaking into a mailbox to retrieve his work so he wouldn’t miss a deadline.

After the war, in the mid 1950’s, Lee was writing all kinds of genres of stories for the company now known as Atlas Comics. And even though Timely Comics had already been successful with superhero publications, such as Marvel Comics #1 which introduced the Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America Comics #1, which sold close to 1 million copies, it would only be in the next decade that Stanley would solidify his position as a superhero comic book writer.

Marvel Age of Comics

In the late fifties, DC Comics revived the superhero narrative and Martin Goodman appointed Lee to create a new superhero team. Lee, who had become dissatisfied with his career, followed his wife’s advice and tried to write stories with which he, and an older audience like him, could relate better.

Before, superheroes had been an ideal for perfect people with no real problems. Stan Lee made them human.

Lee and artist Jack Kirby, who would have had a prolific partnership for years to come, created together for the first time in 1961, with the first issue of The Fantastic Four #1. This fundamentally changed the way superheroes were seen. The group didn’t hide their identities, on the contrary, they sought fame and recognition, sometimes selfishly. They weren’t idealistically beautiful, there was a ‘monster’ on the team. They fought amongst themselves, they had bad tempers, they could get ill, or fall in love, or feel embarrassed, angry and sad. They were people just like you and me, but with superpowers.

[Inserts the classic scene of Spider-Man pointing at each other]

The Amazing Spider-Man

Lee’s naturalistic approach to superheroes is evident, in particular, in Marvel’s most successful publication: Spider-Man. Peter Parker is an ordinary teenager facing typical struggles like self-doubt, high school crushes, and part-time jobs — alongside his not-so-normal spider powers.

Spider Man is not only famous on the pages of the comics; it has been adapted into infinite types of media, including even a musical.

Although Sony Pictures Entertainment had the audiovisual rights for Spider-Man until 2016, it gave us great adaptations such as the Spider-Man animated TV series, which even before Marvel started exploring the multiverse on the silver screen, brought us the viral meme of different versions of Spider pointing to each other. 

A scene so iconic that fans hoped would be mimicked in Spider-Man: No Way Home, when they brought back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield to reprise their roles as our favorite friendly neighborhood superhero.

Avengers assemble!

Stan Lee co-created Spider-Man together with Steve Ditko, as well as Doctor Strange. Working together again with Kirby, they are responsible for superheroes staples such as the Hulk, Thor, Loki, Iron Man and the X-Men. 

Lee and Kirby brought together their new characters to form a superhero team you’ve definitely heard of: The Avengers. Not only that, but they also revived classic characters like Namor and Captain America.

Statue Captain America Deluxe - Avengers: End Game - Art Scale 1/10

On the silver screen, the Avengers were, like the Hulk likes to say, a smashing success, thanks to the vision of a producer called Kevin Feige.

Feige was made an associate producer on the first X-Men movie due to his ‘Marvel fanboy nature’ and even impressed the founder of Marvel Studios himself, Avi Arad. Working as Arad’s second-in-command, Feige realized that although Blade, Spider-Man and the X-Men were licensed to different studios, Marvel still owned the rights to the Avengers. Feige envisioned uniting these characters in a shared universe, much like Lee and Kirby had done. Feige honored their legacy and has been president of Marvel Studios since 2007.

Out of the five highest grossing superhero movies of all time, the Avengers movies occupy the first two positions, with the third belonging to Spider-Man: No way home and the fourth and fifth positions going back to the Avengers.

In sixth place, we have the first black superhero of comic books with his homonymous movie Black Panther, which was also the first superhero movie to receive an Academy-Award nomination for Best Picture and the first Marvel movie to win some categories.

In seventh place, surprisingly for an R-rated movie, we have what Kevin Feige called the first movie of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe "Mutant era", Deadpool & Wolverine.

[Insert action figure image - could be Black Panther or Wolverine & Deadpool]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Known as the MCU, the series of audiovisual productions by Marvel Studios include not only the silver screen, but also TV shows, short films, digital series and much more. Just like the Marvel Universe of the comics, the MCU crosses over characters, plot elements and timelines. 

The movies are released in what are called ‘phases’, with the first three phases being known as The Infinity Saga and the following three phases The Multiverse Saga. The first Iron Man movie started phase one, Iron Man 3 began phase two, phase three started with Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow was the first movie of phase four, phase five began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and phase six will commence with The Fantastic Four: First Steps set to release in 2025.

[If there is a 2025 action figure release of 'The Fantastic Four,' insert image with link, or otherwise, a banner for the new movie]

With a great legacy comes great collectibles

Marvel has been taking us into incredible adventures across the multiverses for almost a century. Their legacy and influence are unmeasured and undoubted. But if there’s only one lesson we can take from Stan Lee’s book(s) is that what makes us truly super powerful is our humanity. 

And to honor that, Iron Studios has truly a super team of super talented people bringing only the best of the multiverse directly to your shelf. Our statues are works of art not only because they are guaranteed authenticity and exclusivity, but also because they are hand-sculpted, hand-molded and hand-painted by truly powerful (and responsible) humans.

There is no team, like the Iron Studios team. And if you’d like to be a part of it, just like Wade Wilson would like to be a part of the Avengers one day, you don’t have to be bit by a radioactive spider or experiment with gamma rays (please don’t try this at home!). 

All you have to do is come on over and secure the statue of your favorite superhero, with simplified payment methods. But be quick like Quicksilver because we can’t freeze time before they run out.

Calling all Marvel fans: Nerds, assemble!