"The Marvel Studios Phenomenon evaluates the studio's identity, as well as its status within the structures of parent Disney. In a new set of readings of key texts such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the thematics of superhero fiction and the role of fandom are considered. The authors identify milestones from Marvel's complex and controversial business history, allowing us to appraise its industrial status: from a comic publisher keen to exploit its intellectual property, to an independent producer, and latterly, successful subsidiary of a vast entertainment empire. As it drives the process whereby large-scale cinematic practice encounters a converged entertainment age, what kind of organization is Marvel Studios? How does it co-ordinate a transmedia storyworld to the satisfaction of niche fan communities as well as a popular audience?"--