Growing up, my dad would always tell me stories before I went to bed. A man flying around in a gold and red suit of armor, a super soldier over 100 years old who has a thing for shields, and a scientist with breathtaking anger management issues. I was never told the story about a princess who needed her Prince Charming, but rather the adventures of superheroes who would give their all to save the world. I was 7 years old when the first Iron Man made it to the big screen in May 2008, and being one of the youngest people in a room full of comic book nerds was exhilarating to me. At that point, the only Marvel movies that had been released were X-men, so only the true comic book fans knew about Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe started out as a small group of comic junkies and quickly grew into a massive franchise with millions of fans. The comics were mostly written by Stan Lee, the father of all things Marvel. He had a cameo in just about every movie up until his passing in November of 2018. Iron Man one was the first MCU movies that was released with Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., taking his role as the “god father of the MCU.” Downey made roughly $500,000 in this film, which is miniscule to what he made in his final film, Avengers Endgame, where he was paid $20 million upfront. The movie itself is currently the number one movie in the world and made $2.8 billion. It was an accumulation of 23 films released over a 12-year period, bringing an end to the characters we all know and love. That being said, no one needs to say goodbye to the Marvel films just yet. Plans for new movies are going to be released with all new heroes, villains, and plots. We will delve further into some of the newer marvel characters as well, always keeping the originals in our heart. 

The movies had such a massive impact on me, and I tried to use them as guidelines to my life. I wanted to have the heart to stand up for the little guy like Captain America and Spiderman, the ability to be a good leader even after making so many mistakes like Thor and King T’challa. I wanted to have the drive to be the best no matter what like Iron Man, but to also be disciplined like Black Widow. I, like many others, grew up with these movies and while I am sad to see this particular era come to an end, I am so excited to see what’s in store for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.