Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures,[a] it is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by the writing teams of Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man alongside Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, and Shaun Toub. In the film, following his escape from captivity by a terrorist group, world famous industrialist and master engineer Tony Stark builds a mechanized suit of armor and becomes the superhero Iron Man.

The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It was directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay by Zak Penn, and stars Edward Norton as Bruce Banner alongside Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell, and Christina Cabot. In the film, Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk as an unwitting pawn in a military scheme to reinvigorate the "Super-Soldier" program through gamma radiation. Banner goes on the run from the military while attempting to cure himself of the Hulk.