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.

Kevin Feige assembles his team and lays out the roadmap to get to the Avengers.

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

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.