15 Most Highly-Anticipated Blockbuster Movies In History

We all take it for granted now given the studio's continued and virtually unparalleled success, but there was a time when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was viewed as a huge gamble.

Remember, a decade ago Iron Man was still considered a B-tier character, and your average person on the street would have had very little knowledge of The Avengers. If one of the Phase One movies had bombed, then the entire MCU as we know it could have turned out entirely differently. Obviously it didn't, and the rest is record-breaking history.

Their slow-burning strategy of expanding the mythology worked a treat, ensuring that The Avengers was marketed as the single biggest comic book movie in history after the five Phase One movies had earned over well over $2bn between them.

The first two trailers debuted exclusively on iTunes and were viewed almost 20 million times in the first day, with numerous reports claiming many fans were signing up with Apple just to watch the new footage. Tie-in deals with everyone from Dr.Pepper to Visa ensured that you couldn't turn around without seeing one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, who had now elevated themselves above the fan community and into the realm of instantly-recognizable pop culture icons.

The Avengers became the biggest comic book movie of all time after raking in over $1.5bn at the box office in the wake of wildly enthusiastic reviews from fans and critics alike and demolished countless records as Marvel Studios firmly entrenched themselves at the top of the Hollywood totem pole.