We can all look back on the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 20/20 perspective and know that it was the right move to make. In a world where trilogies centered around a single character, Marvel Studios dared to create the first modern shared universe — a universe studios have been trying to replicate ever since. But, of course, back when it was first announced, many were very skeptical.

I was in college at the time, and I remember having a laundry list of potential ways the films could get messed up. And, of course, if one film sucked, you’d have to live with it sullying the whole universe. However, my main issue was that I wasn’t sure if most audiences were savvy enough to understand the different franchises existed in the same world. But it turns out, perhaps one big problem Marvel Studios had from the get-go was getting people to care, as president Kevin Feige revealed on the Playback Podcast:

“I remember when Iron Man 1 was release — I think it was after that first weekend we announced Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers, and that we were going to intertwine them all leading up to Avengers. Two things struck me about that. One was that I thought it was the greatest thing ever. And it was like a blurb in the trades. Nobody cared. Nobody cared. Or nobody believed it. ‘Here it is, we announced it!’ Chirp chirp. ‘Oh, I guess we just have to do it.'”

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One other big hurdle they had to do came in the form of Thor, which Feige reflected on:

“The other thing was…the question of ‘how in is a Norse god from an alien planet going to fit into the world of Tony Stark established in Iron Man?’ And my answer was always, ‘You have to watch the movie. That’s what the film is about.’ The real answer was, ‘I’m not sure. We have to figure it out.'”

In addition to all the other problems, Thor was another big sticking point. I thought there was no way this character would work alongside Iron Man, and yet in spite of that, it ended up being one of my favorite MCU films to date. What’s more, the Thor franchise also opened the floodgates to the more galaxy-driven side of things.

It all really drives home that pretty much anything could work so long as you get the audience to believe in the character and root for them.

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SOURCE: Playback Podcast