10 Ways The Marvel Cinematic Universe Proves That Dreams Do Come True

8. Comic Panels Expertly And Faithfully Recreated

Captain America Civil War Iron Man
Marvel

The amount of superhero-themed eye-candy in cinemas since 2008's Iron Man has been overwhelming. Jon Favreau's seminal directorial effort took inspiration from some of the character's most famous storylines and reimagined Tony Stark's origins in a more contemporary fashion. Though the founding Avenger was overdue a modern update, the MCU's first superhero retained all of his most iconic imagery, including but not limited to his impressive armoured suits, that wonderful tower, and some wonderful recreations from the pages of Tales of Suspense and the eponymous series that soon followed.

It's not just Iron Man's story-arcs that have been faithfully recreated onscreen, however. No, Netflix's Daredevil is imbued with the same gothic imagery synonymous with the blind lawyer's comic book escapades, and you don't have to look far in Civil War to see the pages of Marvel Comics come to life. Hawkeye launches Ant-Man like in Avengers #223, Cap and Iron Man blast each other just as they did in Civil War's final issue, and Black Panther's Wakanda looks like it's been transplanted straight from the mind of Jack Kirby.

Even on a purely visual level Marvel's films are hard to top. They're bright, colourful, and just as charismatic as the characters they feature. Oh, and the lack of an over-reliance on tacky green screen helps too.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.