MCU Phase 1 Behind The Scenes Photos Revealed

Marvel Studios just released a batch of never before seen behind the scenes photos from various Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Phase 1 movies leading up to Avengers: Infinity War. It's no secret that the upcoming team-up film from directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely marks the beginning of the end of the MCU's first saga, bringing together the past 10 years of storytelling - spanning across almost two dozen movies - for an ultimate conclusion.

The core Avengers team will undoubtedly change in the near future as many Marvel actors and actresses have said that they are going to be moving on from the MCU following the release of Avengers 4 next year. And the reason they are able to comfortably do that is because the MCU is significantly different and much more expansive than when they initially signed on all those years ago. It really feels like an entirely different franchise compared to the early years - and Marvel is reminding people of that with some new photos.

As part of their ongoing countdown to Avengers: Infinity War marketing campaign, Marvel Studios released a batch of never before seen behind the scenes photos from the sets of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers... but not The Incredible Hulk. These images will be included in Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years book releasing this November. You can check out the photos below:

While fans have obviously seen these scenes play out in the movies and have possibly seen similar images posted online over the years, these specific photos are new, with some of them highlighting major moments from each film. For Iron Man, the photo focuses on Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark testing out what looks to be the Mark II Iron Man suit (known then as Configuration 2.0). It was an important moment for Tony; it's when he said to himself, "Yeah, I can fly." Then, the Iron Man 2 photo is of director and star Jon Favreau with Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff - before they were made aware that she was really a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent named Black Widow.

As for Captain America: The First Avenger, Chris Evans is lying down in the chamber, about to be injected with the Super Soldier Serum as part of Project: Rebirth that transforms him into a super soldier - and, later, into Captain America. It seems that the crew is testing out Evans' closeup shot during the transformation scene. In the second tweet, Marvel shows off Natalie Portman's Jane Foster behind the scenes on Kenneth Branagh's Thor, presumably in her lab. What's interesting is that one of the crew members has multiple name tags with Donald Blake written on them - one of Thor's easter eggs comic book fans spotted when the film released in 2011.

Finally, the last photo is of Tom Hiddleston's Loki from Joss Whedon's The Avengers, as evidenced by his sceptre. And considering the background, it appears that he's aboard the Helicarrier. While these are just a few behind the scenes photos from MCU's Phase 1, it seems Marvel is gearing up to start promoting the road to Avengers: Infinity War with potential never before seen photos from Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the MCU as well.