The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American movie franchise. It produced over twenty movies. It is set in a fictional universe with the setting of several superhero movies and television shows made by Marvel Studios, based on characters by Marvel Comics. This shared universe was shown in the movies by using the same characters or mentioning the same events. For example, Tony Stark appears at the end of "The Incredible Hulk" (2008), even though he has nothing to do with the rest of the story. This is the same way that the comic books were linked into the same universe.