By 2010 it was apparent that, while well-made film adaptations of a Marvel comic were extremely profitable, films that failed to capture the interest of an audience could prove very costly flops. Marvel Studios, now owned by Disney, continued their ambitious plans to make two films a year, alternating as much as possible between reusing existing characters and introducing new ones to the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe that tied them all together. These films also began a plan to introduce six powerful devices called the Infinity Stones as a common theme to many of their films. It was revealed that these stones, when combined, would give the holder infinite power, although only four of the stones would appear in films made before 2015.

Marvel continued their heated rivalry with 20th Century Fox, who held onto the X-Men film rights and rebooted the series with a prequel that enabled them to cast younger actors. Columbia Pictures too recast the film series they still had the rights to, Spider-Man, while also making a sequel to Ghost Rider.

Yet while the big studios battled it out amongst each other, the first film out was Kick-Ass, an independent UK/US production inspired by a comic from Marvel's Icon Comics division.

Kick-Ass (2010)

An enjoyable, irreverent but also quite violent take on the superhero films. Though not one of Marvel's main characters, the Kick-Ass comic series was published by Icon Comics, a division of Marvel which allowed high-profile writers to retain ownership of characters that they created. Matthew Vaughan's company MARV Films co-produced the 15-rated film with Lions Gate Entertainment. Nicolas Cage had previously played Johnny Blaze in the Ghost Rider films, and played the character of Big Daddy in the style of Adam West's Batman. Aaron Johnson would later play Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) while his co-star Evan Peters would play Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Futures Past.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

The first Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel and the third film set in that Universe, but the first released since the Walt Disney Company had purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4¼ billion nine months earlier in August 2009. However director Jon Favreau enjoyed much less freedom when making this film compared to Iron Man, which led to his decision not to direct Iron Man 3.

This film marks Don Cheadle's first appearance as Rhodey, the character originally played by Terrence Howard. This followed disagreements over Howard's wage and reports that he had been difficult to work with in Iron Man. Ivan Vanko was based on villains Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo; however, he is not known by either of those names in the film. Tony Stark's father Howard Stark is very closely based on Walt Disney, and his model of the Stark 1974 Expo is based on models of Disney's EPCOT as well as the 1964 New York World's Fair.

Thor (2011)

The Marvel film with the most Shakespearean feel, having a Shakespearean director and Shakespearean actors in predominant roles, including Sir Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba. Ray Stevenson had previously played Nick Castle in Punisher: War Zone (2008). Writer J Michael Straczynski is best known for creating Babylon 5 and writing 92 of the 110 45-minute episodes, including a record 59 consecutive ones.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

This is the first film in a reboot in the X-Men series, with a completely different cast apart from the cameos. The character Moria MacTaggert had previously briefly appeared as a doctor in X-Men: The Last Stand played by Olivia Williams; she is now a CIA agent.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Chris Evans is the fourth actor to play Captain America in a live-action adaptation, following Dick Purcell in a 1944 serial, two television movies starring Reb Brown in 1979 and Matt Salinger in a 1990 version which had a limited cinematic release. Joe Johnston had previously directed Second World War superhero film The Rocketeer (1991), which has numerous similarities with this film. The 1944 Captain America serial is referred to, as is the use of superheroes to sell war bonds¹. Peggy Carter, a character introduced here, would later gain her own spin-off series, Marvel's Agent Carter, which ran for two series (2015-16).

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Not so much a sequel to the first Ghost Rider film as a reboot. There are many differences from the first film; both the Ghost Rider and his bike's appearance have changed, the Devil has changed actor and name, and Blaze is now revealed to have deliberately signed the contract that made him the Ghost Rider rather than having inadvertently bled a bit on it. Despite a budget half that of the first film the CGI has improved, but the plot has really gone downhill. Idris Elba out-acts everyone else, but doesn't appear enough for the film to be enjoyable, leading to it being nominated for 'Worst Sequel' and Nicolas Cage as 'Worst Actor' at the Golden Raspberry Awards. Elba had previously appeared in Thor. The plot was written by David S Goyer who also wrote the Blade films, which may explain why humans who are whipped by the Ghost Rider turn into ash in the same way that staked vampires do in the Blade trilogy.

This was the second and last film to date (2018) to be released under the banner of Marvel Knights rather than Marvel. As Columbia held the film rights to the character of Ghost Rider they were allowed creative freedom to make the film, but as Ghost Rider is a Marvel character, Marvel were entitled to be credited in the opening credits despite having no actual involvement in making the film. They decided their credit would be to 'Marvel Knights', the label reserved for more violent films following Punisher: War Zone (2008).

Marvel have since regained the full rights to Ghost Rider, who went on to appear in Series 4 of television series Marvel's Agents of Shield (2013+).

Avengers Assemble (2012)

Also known as The Avengers and Marvel's Avengers Assemble, it does not feature John Steed or Emma Peel. This film was the culmination of Phase One of the Marvel cinematic universe, unifying all the main characters introduced in Marvel's films to date against a common foe. Bruce Banner had been recast since The Incredible Hulk, being played by Mark Ruffalo rather than Edward Norton, as Norton had strongly disagreed with Marvel over the script and final cut of the earlier film. Like most other female figures from previous films, Gwyneth Paltrow had not been expected to appear in another film but Robert Downey Jr insisted that she have a role. On release, Avengers Assemble became the third most successful film of all time, after Avatar (2009) and Titanic (1997).

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Although a fourth film in the Spider-Man series (2002-2007) starring Tobey Maguire had been widely expected, following a disagreement with director Sam Raimi Columbia Pictures instead decided to reboot the series with a whole new cast and director, the appropriately named Marc Webb. This was released in time for Spider-Man's 50th anniversary.

In this version, Spider-Man does not create his own webbing but instead uses a natural spider-made cable built into a device he wears on his wrists. His love interest is Gwen Stacy, who had previously appeared in Spider-Man 3 (2007), rather than Mary-Jane Watson. The film attracted some criticism for showing a lot of the same events that Spider-Man had covered only a decade earlier, with many feeling that the film series didn't need a remake so soon. Although it wasn't as successful as the first three Spider-Man films it was considered the world's most successful remake and so a sequel was commissioned.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

This is the first film in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe film series. In the original storyline the villain was going to be revealed to be Hansen, but Disney disliked the idea of a female villain, fearing it would diminish toy sales, and insisted that a man be behind it all. The film was another huge box office success, becoming the most successful third film of all time. This film was released to coincide with comic book character Iron Man's 50th Anniversary.

The Wolverine (2013)

A film considered to be a second X-Men spin-off, rather than a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it was a self-contained story with limited references to the main series. It was more successful and received greater critical acclaim than the first spin-off featuring the character, but is not generally considered to be as good as the main X-Men films.

Kick Ass 2 (2013)

A very enjoyable film that spoofs and mocks many superhero films, but viewers should be aware that there is very strong, highly offensive language throughout, as well as violence. Many of the cast of the original Kick-Ass were unable to appear, resulting in the recasting of characters including Todd Haynes and Marcus.

The film has the unfortunate distinction of being the most pirated film of 2013 which meant that it did not do as well at the box office as had been hoped. This means that the proposed sequel is sadly unlikely to be made.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

After Kenneth Branagh chose not to return to direct this film, Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor was chosen instead. Josh Dallas, the original actor to play Fandral, was replaced by Zachary Levi due to Dallas' commitment to the television series Once Upon a Time. Christopher Eccleston agreed to play the villain after being attracted by Malekith's backstory, little of which made it into the finished film. The film was made with the intention of being the concluding part in a trilogy concentrating on the relationship between Thor and Loki, following Thor and Avengers Assemble, but both characters went on to appear in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Sadly, writer Don Payne died shortly after making this film. Events that take place in this film are mentioned in episodes of television series Agents of Shield.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

A film intended to have the tone of a 1970s political thriller, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was another highly successful film that showed Captain America almost fully adapted to the 21st Century. The Winter Soldier was envisioned as an evil mirror-image to Captain America.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Known as The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro in New Zealand, this film was widely considered to have too many characters who had little to do, especially villains. For example, the character of Harry Osborn had appeared in each film in the previous Spider-Man trilogy yet has little impact in this film. The Rhino has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance. Though profitable, it was the least successful of the Spider-Man films that had been made and Columbia cancelled their plans for a sequel.

In 2015 Sony, who own Columbia Pictures, announced that they would reboot the Spider-Man series yet again. This would set him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by introducing the character in Captain America: Civil War, made by rival company Marvel Studios owned by Disney, yet still enable Sony to retain the film rights and allow other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters to appear in any films they would make.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Most of the mutants that featured in X-Men: First Class are revealed to have been experimented on and killed by the time this film starts in 1973. There are still a vast number of characters, many of whom have very small roles. While Halle Berry's role as Storm was cut down due to her pregnancy, other previously important characters, such as Havoc, barely feature. Curiously, Quicksilver would be a character claimed not only by 20th Century Fox's X-Men series, but also by Marvel Studios' Avengers universe, in which he would appear played by a different actor in the following year's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

The film is largely self-contained compared to other Marvel Cinematic Universe films, although the characters of Thanos (played by a different actor) and his vizier The Other had appeared in Avengers Assemble. The Collector and his slave had been previously introduced in the post-credits scene in Thor: The Dark World. The alien race the Kree are frequently mentioned in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, especially Series Two.

As the character of Quill has a 1980s Walkman, the soundtrack of the film was released on cassette as well as CD and download. This was the first cassette Disney had released since 2003.

This film does not really feature superheroes, but instead comes across as a science-fiction space opera in the tradition of Flash Gordon crossed with The Dirty Dozen.