Ben Fritz, a film historian, has revealed the reason why Disney and Marvel decided to make Iron Man the first MCU movie.
We’ve come a long way since the MCU began and the films have gotten bigger in every conceivable way. We are now at the start of a new era in the franchise but it’s also fun to reflect back on how things all began.
This is just what Ben Fritz, a film historian, has done with his book ‘The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies’ (via ScreenRant). Fritz details how Iron Man was chosen as the first MCU movie in 2008 – spoiler: it has nothing to do with the story:
“To decide which film to make first, Marvel convened focus groups. But they weren’t convened in order to ask a random cross-section of people which story lines and characters they would most like to see onscreen. Instead, Marvel brought together groups of children, showed them pictures of superheroes, and described their abilities and weapons. Then they asked the kids which ones they would most like to play with as a toy. The overwhelming answer, to the surprise of many at Marvel, was Iron Man.
“‘That’s what brought Iron Man to the front of the line,’ said a person who helped to decide which movie Marvel would self-produce first.”
It’s certainly not the best reason to start a franchise with a particular movie but it’s not all that surprising. Fortunately, it worked out pretty well for all involved, and Iron Man has unquestionably become a household name in children’s entertaining in the years since.
