Overtaking the Harry Potter series as the highest-grossing film franchise in the world after pulling in close to $9 billion over the course of its first two phases, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has catapulted superheroes to the forefront of cinema. Well, even further forward really, as they were already big business. With rival studios who have rights to comic book properties wasting no time in setting up their own extended universes, and those who dont looking to buy some up (Sony have already acquired the rights to Valiant Comics and have five movies planned), the Marvel formula is a proven success. As well as the crossing over of characters and plots throughout the films, the MCU has become known and loved for its post-credit scenes that give keen-eyed fans the chance to speculate on what is to come next. President of Production for Marvel Studios Kevin Feige is nothing if not a perfectionist, and his attention to detail is a hallmark of the shared movie universe he has presided over since its inception. The same can be said for the music of the MCU, where corners are very rarely cut. Whilst some of the industrys most well respected composers have provided scores for Marvels movies Danny Elfman and Ramin Djawadi of Game Of Thrones fame to name but two the music of some of the worlds best bands has also been hand picked by the top brass to bring the universe of Hollywood's favourite heroes to life. 11 different directors have contributed to the franchise across 12 different movies, and while some preferred to lean more heavily (entirely, in some cases) on their film's score, others chose to include pre-existing music to compliment their work, and that amount of creative input makes for a pretty diverse playlist. Hip hop, synthpop, europop, pretty much everything is thrown into mix - there's even a good old fashioned Disney classic in there. The list reaches 28 artists over the length of the first two phases, and here they are
