Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2017 film)

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an American superhero film loosely based on the video game of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox. The film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and is co-written by Joss Whedon, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and stars an ensemble cast. The film was released on July 21st, 2017. The film garnered universal acclaim and numerous awards.

Plot
In an attempt for power across the cosmos, Doctor Doom, Loki and Thanos assemble villains from each corner of the universe as an army to help them conquer it, while Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. assemble Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Defenders and other super heroes across time and space in order to stop them.

Heroes

 * Tom Holland as Spider-Man/Peter Parker
 * Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark
 * Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor
 * Mark Ruffalo as Hulk/Bruce Banner
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
 * Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett
 * Patrick Stewart as Professor X/Charles Xavier
 * James McAvoy as Young Professor X/Charles Xavier
 * James Marsden as Cyclops/Scott Summers
 * Tye Sheridan as Young Cyclops/Scott Summers
 * Famke Janssen as Jean Grey
 * Sophie Turner as Young Jean Grey
 * Halle Berry as Storm/Ororo Munroe
 * Alexandra Shipp as Young Storm/Ororo Munroe
 * Kelsey Grammer as Beast/Hank McCoy
 * Nicholas Hoult as Young Beast/Hank McCoy
 * Anna Paquin as Rogue/Marie D'Ancanto
 * Shawn Ashmore as Iceman/Bobby Drake
 * Stefan Kapičić as Colossus/Piotr "Peter" Rasputin
 * Ellen Page as Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde
 * Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner
 * Kodi Smit-McPhee as Young Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner
 * Channing Tatum as Gambit/Remy LeBeau
 * Ben Foster as Angel/Warren Worthington III
 * Ben Hardy as Young Angel/Warren Worthington III
 * Lana Condor as Jubilee/Jubilation Lee
 * Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson
 * Josh Brolin as Cable/Nathan Summers
 * Omar Sy as Bishop/Lucas Bishop
 * Fan Bingbing as Blink/Clarice Ferguson
 * Booboo Stewart as Warpath/James Proudstar
 * Olivia Munn as Psylocke/Elizabeth Braddock
 * Rinko Kikuchi as Armor/Hisako Ichiki
 * Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead/Ellie Phimister
 * Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik/Illyana Rasputin
 * Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair
 * Charlie Heaton as Cannonball/Samuel Guthrie
 * Henry Zaga as Sunspot/Roberto DaCosta
 * Blu Hunt as Mirage/Danielle Moonstar
 * Andrew Lincoln as Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards
 * Kathleen Robertson as The Invisible Woman/Sue Storm
 * Dacre Montgomery as The Human Torch/Johnny Storm
 * David Harbour as The Thing/Ben Grimm
 * Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff
 * Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye/Clint Barton
 * Paul Rudd as Ant-Man/Scott Lang
 * Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp/Hope van Dyne
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff
 * Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff
 * Evan Peters as Quicksilver/Peter Maximoff
 * Don Cheadle as War Machine/James Rhodes
 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Rescue/Pepper Potts
 * Paul Bettany as The Vision
 * Anthony Mackie as The Falcon/Sam Wilson
 * Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes
 * Charlie Cox as Daredevil/Matt Murdock
 * Elodie Yung as Elektra
 * Mike Colter as Luke Cage
 * Finn Jones as Iron Fist/Danny Rand
 * Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
 * Jon Bernthal as The Punisher/Frank Castle
 * Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers
 * Gemma Arterton as Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew
 * Keanu Reeves as Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd
 * Wesley Snipes as Blade/Eric Brooks
 * Norman Reedus as Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange
 * Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther/T'Challa
 * Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Namor
 * Dafne Keen as X-23/Laura Kinney
 * Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Britain/Brian Braddock
 * Daniel Craig as Union Jack/Joseph Chapman
 * Matt Damon as U.S. Agent/John Walker
 * Ryan Gosling as Moon Knight/Marc Spector
 * Aubrey Joseph as Cloak/Tyrone Johnson
 * Olivia Holt as Dagger/Tandy Bowen
 * Chris Pratt as Star-Lord/Peter Quill
 * Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer
 * Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon
 * Zoe Saldana as Gamora
 * Vin Diesel as Groot
 * Jared Padalecki as Nova/Richard Rider
 * Jensen Ackles as Quasar/Wendell Vaughn
 * Sean Maher as Adam Warlock
 * Brad Pitt as Major Victory/Vance Astro
 * Alexa Havins as Martyr/Phyla-Vell
 * Doug Jones as Bug
 * Pom Klementieff as Mantis
 * Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta
 * Sylvester Stallone as Starhawk/Stakar Ogord
 * Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex T'Naga
 * Ving Rhames as Charlie-27
 * Michelle Yeoh as Aleta Ogord
 * Seth Green as Howard the Duck
 * Anson Mount as Black Bolt/Blackagar Boltagon
 * Serinda Swan as Medusa/Medusalith Amaquelin Boltagon
 * Ken Leung as Karnak
 * Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon
 * Mike Moh as Triton
 * Isabelle Cornish as Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin
 * Gabriel Luna as Ghost Rider/Robbie Reyes
 * Katherine Langford as Hawkeye/Kate Bishop
 * Chloe Bennet as Quake/Daisy Johnson
 * J. August Richards as Deathlok/Mike Peterson
 * Adrianne Palicki as Mockingbird/Bobbi Morse
 * Rachael Taylor as Hellcat/Patricia "Patsy" Walker
 * Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl/Doreen Green
 * Derek Theler as Mister Immortal/Craig Hollis
 * Jeremy Tardy as Night Thrasher/Dwayne Taylor
 * Calum Worthy as Speedball/Robbie Baldwin
 * Matthew Moy as Microbe/Zack Smith
 * Kate Comer as Debrii/Deborah Fields
 * Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder
 * Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein
 * Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru
 * Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean
 * Ariela Barer as Gert Yorkes
 * Allegra Acosta as Molly Hernandez

Villains

 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Doctor Doom/Victor von Doom
 * Tom Hiddleston as Loki
 * Josh Brolin as Thanos
 * Jet Li as The Mandarin
 * James Spader as Ultron
 * Hugo Weaving as Red Skull/Johann Schmidt
 * TBA as Galactus
 * Ian McKellen as Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr
 * Michael Fassbender as Young Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr
 * Tom Hardy as Venom/Eddie Brock
 * Jason Isaacs as Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
 * TBA as Doctor Octopus/Otto Octavius
 * Matthew Lillard as Carnage/Cletus Kasady
 * TBA as Hobgoblin/Roderick Kingsley
 * Aaron Paul as Electro/Max Dillon
 * Oleg Taktarov as The Rhino/Aleksei Sytsevich
 * Andrew Scott as Mysterio/Quentin Beck
 * Bokeem Woodbine as Shocker/Herman Schultz
 * Simon Baker as The Lizard/Curt Connors
 * Michael Mando as Scorpion/Mac Gargan
 * Michael Keaton as Vulture/Adrian Toomes
 * Gerard Butler as Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff
 * Adam Baldwin as Sandman/Flint Marko
 * Aidan Gillen as The Chameleon/Dmitri Smerdyakov
 * Gaspard Ulliel as Morbius the Living Vampire/Michael Morbius
 * Matt Smith as Jack O'Lantern/Jason Macendale
 * Emma Greenwell as Shriek/Frances Barrison
 * TBA as Kang the Conqueror/Nathaniel Richards
 * TBA as Mole Man/Harvey Elder
 * TBA as Super-Skrull/Kl'rt
 * TBA as Annihilus
 * TBA as Puppet Master/Phillip Masters
 * Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Strucker/Wolfgang von Strucker
 * Christopher Eccleston as Malekith the Accursed
 * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Kurse/Algrim the Strong
 * Clancy Brown as Surtur
 * Cate Blanchett as Hela
 * Alice Eve as The Enchantress/Amora
 * Karl Urban as The Executioner/Skurge
 * Tim Roth as Abomination/Emil Blonsky
 * Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader/Samuel Sterns
 * Toby Jones as Arnim Zola
 * Jeff Bridges as Iron Monger/Obadiah Stane
 * Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer
 * James Badge Dale as Coldblood/Eric Savin
 * Frank Grillo as Crossbones/Brock Rumlow
 * Georges St-Pierre as Batroc the Leaper/Georges Batroc
 * Christoph Waltz as Baron Zemo/Heinrich Zemo
 * Daniel Brühl as Baron Zemo/Helmut Zemo
 * TBA as M.O.D.O.K./George Tarleton
 * Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser
 * Djimon Hounsou as Korath the Pursuer
 * Karen Gillan as Nebula
 * Benicio del Toro as The Collector/Taneleer Tivan
 * Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster/En Dwi Gast
 * Kurt Russell as Ego the Living Planet
 * Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha
 * Richard Armitage as Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex
 * Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse/En Sabah Nur
 * Rebecca Romijn as Mystique/Raven Darkholme
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Young Mystique/Raven Darkholme
 * Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth/Victor Creed
 * Ray Park as Toad/Mortimer Toynbee
 * Aaron Stanford as Pyro/John Allerdyce
 * Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut/Cain Marko
 * Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw
 * Jim Carrey as Arcade
 * Ed Skrein as Ajax/Francis Freeman
 * Gina Carano as Angel Dust
 * Jack Kesy as Black Tom Cassidy
 * Vincent D'Onofrio as The Kingpin/Wilson Fisk
 * Jason Statham as Bullseye
 * David Tennant as The Purple Man/Kevin "Kilgrave" Thompson
 * Erik LaRay Harvey as Diamondback/Willis Stryker
 * Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth/Cornell Stokes
 * Mustafa Shakir as Bushwacker/John McIver
 * Wil Traval as Nuke/Will Simpson
 * Sacha Dhawan as Steel Serpent/Davos
 * Ben Barnes as Jigsaw/Billy Russo
 * Colin Firth as Dormammu
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo/Karl Mordo
 * Ralph Fiennes as Mephisto
 * Domhnall Gleeson as Blackheart
 * Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost
 * Luke Goss as Jared Nomak
 * Dominic Purcell as Dracula
 * Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaw
 * Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger
 * Winston Duke as Man-Ape/M'Baku
 * Corey Stoll as Yellowjacket/Darren Cross
 * Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
 * Iwan Rheon as Maximus the Mad/Maximus Boltagon
 * Ian Hart as Graviton/Franklin Hall
 * Dylan Minnette as Blizzard/Donnie Gill
 * Elena Satine as Lorelei
 * Patrick Brennan as Blackout/Marcus Daniels
 * Brian Patrick Wade as Absorbing Man/Carl "Crusher" Creel
 * Kyle MacLachlan as Mister Hyde/Calvin Zabo
 * Reed Diamond as Kraken/Daniel Whitehall

Supporting characters

 * Katherine McNamara as Mary Jane Watson
 * TBA as Gwen Stacy
 * TBA as Harry Osborn
 * Marisa Tomei as Aunt May Parker
 * Hugh Laurie as J. Jonah Jameson
 * David Alan Grier as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson
 * Angourie Rice as Betty Brant
 * Tony Revolori as Eugene "Flash" Thompson
 * TBA as Black Cat/Felicia Hardy
 * Shameik Moore as Randy Robertson
 * Laura Harrier as Liz Allan Toomes
 * Zendaya Coleman as Michelle Jones
 * Lena Headey as Jean DeWolff
 * TBA as George Stacy
 * Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds
 * Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery
 * Michael Douglas as Hank Pym
 * Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet van Dyne
 * Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster
 * Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson
 * Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May
 * Brett Dalton as Grant Ward
 * Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons
 * Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
 * Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan
 * Titus Welliver as Felix Blake
 * B.J. Britt as Antoine Triplett
 * Nick Blood as Lance Hunter
 * Henry Simmons as Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie
 * Patton Oswalt as Billy Koenig and Sam Koenig
 * Amy Acker as Audrey Nathan
 * Anthony Hopkins as Odin
 * Jaime Alexander as Sif
 * Zachary Levi as Fandral
 * Ray Stevenson as Volstagg
 * Tadanobu Asano as Hogun
 * Idris Elba as Heimdall
 * Clive Russell as Tyr
 * Liam McIntyre as Balder
 * Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
 * Natalie Portman as Jane Foster
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig
 * Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
 * Liv Tyler as Betty Ross
 * William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross
 * Adrian Pasdar as Glenn Talbot
 * Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
 * Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter/Agent 13
 * Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan
 * Leslie Bibb as Christine Everheart
 * Claudia Kim as Helen Cho
 * Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton
 * TBA as Alicia Masters
 * Jason Segal as Bob, Agent of HYDRA
 * T.J. Miller as Weasel/Jack Hammer
 * Morena Baccarin as Copycat/Vanessa Carlysle
 * Zazie Beetz as Domino/Neena Thurman
 * Leslie Uggams as Blind Al
 * Karan Soni as Dopinder
 * Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert
 * Elden Henson as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
 * Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
 * Scott Glenn as Stick
 * Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
 * Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing
 * Simone Missick as Misty Knight
 * Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeryn Hogarth
 * Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum
 * Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum
 * Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Mirco/David Lieberman
 * TBA as Shang-Chi
 * Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One
 * Benedict Wong as Wong
 * Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer
 * Michael Peña as Luis
 * Tip "T.I." Harris as Dave
 * David Dastmalchian as Kurt
 * Bobby Cannavale as Jim Paxton
 * Judy Greer as Maggie Lang
 * Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie Lang
 * Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler
 * Jessica Biel as Abigail Whistler
 * N'Bushe Wright as Karen Jenson
 * John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey
 * Glenn Close as Commander Irani Rael
 * Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri
 * Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia
 * Danai Gurira as Okoye
 * Letitia Wright as Shuri
 * Daniel Kaluuya as W'Kabi
 * Angela Bassett as Ramonda
 * Forest Whitaker as Zuri
 * Martin Freeman as Everett Ross
 * Lance Reddick as Uatu the Watcher
 * William Sadler as President Matthew Ellis
 * Martin Donovan as Mitchell Carson

Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot make an appearance in the post-credits scene as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to lead into the Marvel/DC crossover. William H. Macy reprises the role of Uncle Ben. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost make cameo appearances as Damage Control members at the end of the film. Stan Lee, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes also make cameos, during the film's climax.

Development
In May 2014, Marvel Studios, Sony and 20th Century Fox made a deal to turn all there Marvel properties into one cohesive universe. In February 2015, a teaser for something leading to a reveal on March 4th was released in theatres and on the internet and televisions across the world and with words, "The world will be watching".

On March 4th, "The world will be watching" was revealed to be Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. A teaser showing various cities in the world being under attack and the last part showing the Marvel heroes including Captain America, Wolverine, Iron Man, Nick Fury, The Thing, Cyclops and others walking towards the camera and Spider-Man landing in front of them, the logo for the film appears along with a July 21st, 2017 release date, then Spider-Man webs the camera. The day after Marvel put out a press release for the film and announced that the majority the actors who have played the characters will return to reprise those roles and that Anthony and Joe Russo will direct and Joss Whedon, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will co-write the film.

At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International, the Russo brothers and Joss Whedon appeared on stage to introduce the actors to rapturous applause. Whedon described the film as a "universal scale" type of film and will make The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron "look like a playground scuffle". Tom Holland said Spider-Man was "sort of the heart of the movie", Joe Russo added, "Spider-Man was always the most relatable character in the Marvel universe, so he's gonna be the character you follow and the one who's going to bring you into the movie."

Whedon also said about adapting the video game as the basis for the story, "We're not going by the game mission by mission, we're just taking the core plot of bringing all these characters together."

Pre-production and filming
Filming began on February 4th, 2016 in New York.

Post-production
Filming finished on August 25th, 2016. Footage of the film was screened at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International at the Marvel panel.

Music
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri was released on 7th July, just 2 weeks before the release of the film. Another album, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - The Album, a compilation album with new and old songs was also released on 7th July.

Track listing:
 * 1. Bad City/Downstait - Fight as One
 * 2. Foo Fighters - My Hero
 * 3. AC/DC - Thunderstruck
 * 4. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
 * 5. Limp Bizkit - My Generation
 * 6. Slipknot - The Blister Exists
 * 7. Disturbed - Another Way to Die
 * 8. Queen - We Will Rock You
 * 9. Motörhead - Ace of Spades
 * 10. Korn - Falling Away from Me
 * 11. Drowning Pool - All Over Me
 * 12. Metallica - One
 * 13. Linkin Park - Faint
 * 14. Nickelback - Burn It to the Ground
 * 15. Rage Against the Machine - Know Your Enemy
 * 16. Creed - What If
 * 17. Rob Zombie - Feel So Numb
 * 18. The Prodigy - Firestarter
 * 19. Powerman 5000 - Heroes and Villains
 * 20. Imagine Dragons - Ready Aim Fire
 * 21. Lamb of God - Hit the Wall
 * 22. Shinedown - Adrenaline
 * 23. 3 Doors Down - Citizen/Soldier
 * 24. System of a Down - Chop Suey
 * 25. Digital Sons - I Am
 * 26. Saliva - Click Click Boom
 * 27. Sum 41 - We're All to Blame
 * 28. Oleander - Fight
 * 29. Switchfoot - Dark Horses
 * 30. Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills
 * 31. Kasabian - Club Foot
 * 32. Faith No More - Epic
 * 33. Kid Rock - Bawitdaba
 * 34. Jet Black Stare - Ready to Roll
 * 35. Alien Ant Farm - These Days
 * 36. Fozzy - The Test

Critical reaction
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance received universal acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with a rating of 10/10 based on 280 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With a script that never puts the visuals over the story and characters, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is one of greatest superhero films you will ever see and it will surely go down in history as a classic".

Box office
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance grossed $3,657,469,358 in North America, and $1,999,890,456 in other countries and has a worldwide total of $5,657,359,814. It became the highest-grossing film worldwide as well as highest-grossing 2017 film. It is the highest-grossing comic-book adaptation, the highest grossing superhero film and the highest-grossing film ever released by the Walt Disney Studios, Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox.

Sequels and follow ups
A sequel and crossover with DC Comics, titled Marvel/DC: When Worlds Collide, written and directed by Joss Whedon is scheduled to be released May 24th, 2019. It will be the first time Marvel and DC Comics have crossed over on film. Marvel's follow up to that film, Spider-Man: Edge of Spider-Verse will be released on May 7th, 2021 and DC's follow up, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths will be released on June 18th, 2022. A two-part sequel to Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Marvel/DC: When Worlds Collide, Marvel/DC: Armageddon, is in production with Part I scheduled to be released on May 10th, 2014 and Part II is scheduled to be released on May 9th, 2015.