MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My wife — who knows me too well and bought me this book — never understands why I love to watch the behind-the-scenes clips after shows like Game of Thrones, or why I would spend an hour after finishing a movie googling who was in it, how it was made, and what the the cast and crew have done before or since, even if I already know most of it. She would rather not know the information. All the better to stay immersed in the fantasy of film. But I can’t help it. It’s like filling in the pieces of a massive, industry-sized puzzle. Connecting all these little dots from movie to movie and actor to actor. All of it makes the experience of watching feel deeper, like I’m watching not just the movie but the effort it took to put it on my screen. I want to know it all.

Because of this and other things, I was the absolute target audience for the MCU. I was a dorky teenager when it burst on the scene, and I was already a fan of the superhero films that came before it. I’m also a sucker for a series and the obsession of starting something from the beginning and ruthlessly devouring every aspect of it until there’s nothing left. Does anyone else get a fancy from reading those “watch order” lists? Knowing you’re about to embark on a journey and not one ounce of it will be left undiscovered? One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t do the big Marvel Marathon in 2019 when you could buy a ticket to watch every MCU movie in order in one unhealthy binge before ending with the new release of Avengers: Endgame. I was this close to living in a theater seat for three days. Needless to say, though I decided I wanted to keep my marriage and not dip out of reality to watch a bunch of movies, I did get in on the ground floor of the Marvel train and rode it right here.

This is an extensive look at the historic franchise, one we are still in the middle of somehow. Tons of insight into the filmmaking process in general, but especially the story of a studio breaking out from the comics to make a bunch of beloved characters into something even more beloved. Things have dipped as of late — something the book thankfully covers along with all the other controversial episodes — but the resurgence is surely coming. I look forward to the inevitable reprint of the book in another ten years so I can learn exactly how the wizard Kevin Feige pulled it off.

Speaking of Feige, the book also functions as a fan account of the groundbreaking work he did creating basically everything the MCU is. The keystone to every movie and show in one human. We all wish we could do our jobs as good as this dude (and love it to our core while we’re at it).

Now I want to go back and do a rewatch of the entire universe again. That’s the feeling you want to get from a book like this. It made me nostalgic and thankful for the memories this franchise gave me, and it reassured me that it wasn’t a fluke, that what I always believed was true: the Marvel Cinematic Universe is something special.