Marvel Studios gathered all their stars and directors for a massive gathering of talent to celebrate their 10th year in the movie-making business. It seems like it has been a lifetime ago when the filmmaking company was not a major force in Hollywood. But back in the mid-2000s, Marvel Studios was the last ditch effort of Marvel to stay afloat in the business after having gone through numerous financial setbacks due to the decrease in popularity of comic books in the '90s. The group has sold their rights to some of their most iconic characters like X-Men and the Fantastic Four (who went to Fox) and Spider-Man (who went to Sony) to make money, leaving them with what were considered B-class heroes to play within their own big screen ventures.

Having not much of a choice, Marvel Studios picked Iron Man to kickstart their career in making superhero movies. Not only was the character not really a well-known brand, but the choice of Robert Downey, Jr. to play the part was divisive to a lot of industry people. At that time, the actor made a name for himself as a troubled talent with a prison record. It did not help the cause that the helmsman of the film was Jon Favreau -- an actor-turned-director who was inexperienced in tentpole fare. But Kevin Feige forged on and for some reason, the standalone film clicked and the rest is cinematic history.

Now, 10 years after, Marvel Studios has been able to successfully establish the $11-billion worth Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has provided movie fans with entertaining and impressive offerings over the last decade. One of the more memorable ones is the Guardians of the Galaxy saga spearheaded by director James Gunn who took it to his official Instagram account to share a snippet of the party and thank Feige, Favreau and Downey, Jr. for laying the grounds that MCU is currently standing on. Check out his post below:

With Rooker this weekend in Atlanta for Marvel Studios tenth anniversary get-together. Awesome weekend and an awesome time & massive props to Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, and Robert Downey Jr. for spearheading this wonderful journey we're all on. We owe it all to them! . . #michaelrooker @michael_rooker #marvel #marvelstudios A post shared by James Gunn (@jamesgunn) on

It is unknown if the get-together is related to the massive photo shoot that MCU people also attended last week. But given that they are around the same time and the practicality of doing it while everyone is already together, it is likely that it was also part of the itinerary for the Marvel talents.

Aside from doing well for itself, Marvel Studios has also revolutionized the way people in Hollywood make movies. While they are not necessarily the one who invented the idea of franchises, they are certainly the people who made it enticing not just creative-wise but in terms of narrative as well. Right now, almost every single project teases a sequel or another project that will supposedly have some interconnecting storyline to the former film.

Moving forward, Marvel Studios has its work cut for them. There are several big films lined up in their docket including one that is ready to hit theaters, Thor: Ragnarok. After that, a slew of standalone movies follows like Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily's Ant-Man And The Wasp and Brie Larson's superhero gig, Captain Marvel. However, their biggest undertaking yet is the next two Avengers movies: Avengers: Infinity War and its still-untitled sequel. The ensemble flicks are deemed to conclude the ongoing narrative arc in the franchise giving way to a brand new beginning for Phase 4.

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Source: James Gunn

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