Marvel did not start with Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark in 2008. The superhero company has been around for a very long time. This year marks Marvel’s 85th anniversary. To celebrate that momentous occasion at this year’s D23, Marvel put together a moving video montage that covers everything from its early comic book days to its status as the world’s biggest movie franchise. Now Disney has shared it with everyone. While we love reliving past glories, we can’t help but look to the future this video teases. It this offers some tantalizing glimpse at what awaits fans very soon. It features new MCU footage from Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart, and its unlikely team of heroes from Thunderbolts*. And it ends with Harrison Ford turning into the giant crimson rage monster Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World.
This celebratory montage is worth watching just for the archival footage of Stan Lee. But the Marvel video also features comments from Kevin Feige and stars of the MCU. Most exciting is that it also provides some sneak peeks at what awaits the franchise.
In addition to new footage from Captain America: Brave New World, Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart, this promo also shows the upcoming Thunderbolts* team. They appear all together on an elevator looking either like a team of superheroes or a pretty cool looking prog rock band. (If they end up being both in the movie we predict a 3 billion box office and a quintuple platinum album).
Not everyone is having a good time during this celebration, though. It ends with President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross going full Red Hulk at his podium. We’ve seen other brief shots of Harrison Ford’s transformation into the big red menace in Brave New World, but this is the most direct. It’s also the best, as it still looks like the beloved actor if he truly hulked out.
It’s such a great shot it won’t surprise us if Marvel also uses it someday for its 170th celebration video. It very well might. Marvel is bigger than every after 85 years. There’s no reason to think the company won’t still be around by then.