With WandaVision’s climactic final episode hitting Disney+ last week, fans got their first taste of Marvel Phase 4, proving that the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is sure to be a bright one whether it is in theatres or on streaming. 

Starting with the release of Iron Man in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown to 23 films and now a tv show with the first saga ending with the release of Avengers: Endgame. What many may not realize, however, was that upon its conception, the likelihood of success of the MCU was considered to be slim. 

The concept of turning comics into stories was pitched at Marvel Comics by Stan Lee during a troubling time for the company. In hopes that movies would sell more comics, Marvel sold the rights to its best-selling characters to Fox, who bought the X-Men and Fantastic Four, and Sony, who acquired and still own Spider-Man. 

Despite the release of Fox’s original X-Men movies and Sony’s Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films, Marvel continued to experience declining comic book sales. Taking matters into their own hands, they teamed up with Paramount Pictures to produce films utilizing the characters that were left, who at the time were mainly Marvel B-Listers at most. 

Witnessing the success of Marvel’s first solo films in Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor, Disney came in and took the reins for the first crossover film, The Avengers. In this deal, Disney not only acquired the rights to Avengers characters but also took over Marvel publishing as a whole. 

Though the films are in many ways different from the comics, the interconnected cinematic universe is littered with Easter eggs hinting at what is to come. This has caused many fans to turn to the source material to find out what is in store for their favorite Avenger. And while Marvel movies have constantly inspired fans to theorize and speculate, WandaVision’s episode-a-week release format turned fans even more theory-crazed than before. 

With many more Marvel shows set to hit Disney+ in the near future, now is a better time than ever for movie fans to jump into the world of Marvel comics. Getting into comic books at first seems like a daunting task due to the existence of nearly 37,000 Marvel comics. Luckily, Marvel has made the first step easier by doing a soft reset or reboot of its main continuity and corresponding issues every few years. The current era of Marvel comics, known as the Marvel Fresh Start Era, began in 2018 and is currently ongoing.

Jumping into comics can be as simple as picking a favorite character from the MCU and finding the first issue in their series as part of the current era. That being said, some of Marvel’s currently best-selling comics feature superheroes that have yet to make their debut in the MCU. 

Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales as Spider-Man is currently some of Marvel’s best-selling comics and were created as part of Marvel’s attempt to better reflect the modern age by expanding its current cast to include a greater diversity of heroes. 

Ms. Marvel is set to make her debut in a Disney+ show of her own later this year and fans looking to get some preemptive insight into her character should be sure to check out her comic series. 

For those looking to get into Marvel comics, be sure to check out Marvel guides on the internet to discover the whereabouts of Earth’s mightiest heroes. After landing on a specific volume one to start at then head to Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s comic book subscription service, along with the public library which sports a vast collection of comics from both the Marvel Fresh Start and past eras.