Titan Magazines has come forth with a collector’s edition magazine chronicling Marvel Studios for its ten year anniversary. Comprising of behind the scenes photos, interviews, and an updated official timeline for the events of the films, Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years is a stylish volume.
Titan Books
The majority of content of Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years is made up of interviews with major cast and crew members from the various films along with beautiful behind-the-scenes images. If you’ve been closely following the production of these films, there’s not much in the way of new information in the interviews, but it’s still nice to have all this information in a condensed form, rather than scattered about various volumes. The images are really well produced and crystal clear, giving you some fun behind-the-scenes looks at the films.
The official timeline is fairly exciting and will probably be the main draw to any die-hard fan. I personally remember working with other fans across message boards trying to unscramble all the dates and retcons prior to The Avengers and while we did receive an official timeline with that film, this is the first real time we’ve gotten a timeline chronicling the events after it. There are some things that are nice to finally be confirmed (such as the fact that The Avengers and Iron Man 3 both take place in 2012), but there are also some new details that help our understanding of the films (such as dates for when Black Widow joined the Red Room program and when she later joined S.H.I.E.L.D.) as well as confirming just what period of time Doctor Strange covered.
That being said, not everything is smooth. Black Panther is said to take place in 2017, with Captain America: Civil War taking place in 2016, which doesn’t line up with the events in the films, where Black Panther is clearly set around a week after Civil War ends. Perhaps one could say that Civil War takes place at the end of 2016, but that doesn’t really line up with the weather shown in either of the two films.
And what of Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s “8 Years Later” gaffe? Well don’t sweat it, because there aren’t any answers here. In fact, Spider-Man: Homecoming is completely absent from this collection barring a reference to Captain America: Civil War‘s post-credits scene – a disappointing revelation that is likely due to licensing between Titan, Marvel, and Sony. The handful of pictures of Spider-Man in the volume are from his appearances in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It’s a frustrating absence, especially considering the all-encompassing nature of this collection.
Titan Books
Constructed for the more mainstream consumer, Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years is a well-produced package from Titan Magazines. While it would have been nice to see more of a deep-dive into the minutia of the films and the process behind them, this is still a nice look, considering the number of films being explored. The absence of Spider-Man: Homecoming is a noticeable loss, but it doesn’t take away too much from the collection’s value.
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