Icons Unearthed: Marvel

In the decades preceding the Marvel Cinematic Universe we know today, Marvel struggled through a series of box office flops.

Marvel risks everything, putting up their character rights as collateral to start their own studio, betting it all on a second-tier character called Iron Man.

With a popular hero in The Hulk, a bankable star in Edward Norton, and a French director known for action, it seemed like The Incredible Hulk was a safe bet.

Only one superhero story remained to get to the Avengers - Captain America, one of Marvel Comics’ earliest, and most famous, creations.

Without knowing if Thor and Captain America would succeed with audiences, The Avengers was already underway.

Can director James Gunn, whose film experience centered on dark horror comedies, make audiences care about a talking tree and a raccoon?

The comic studio has weathered every storm and become a filmmaking powerhouse, but it faces its greatest challenge yet.