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In the new movie 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War,鈥� Marvel superheroes fight what could be their most powerful enemy: each other.

But whoever emerges victorious, the studio behind the films is already the ultimate winner.

Over the past decade or so, Marvel Studios, which makes movies about superheroes such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, has emerged as a massive force at the multiplex. Films about Marvel characters are the most bankable in Hollywood today, as the studio produces one box-office success after another. Marvel films perform well not just in the US but around the world, a crucial component in today鈥檚 marketplace.

Marvel has released 12 movies in its 鈥渃inematic universe鈥� 鈥� each grossing more than $100 million domestically and most being fairly well-received by film critics. 聽

鈥淲e've never seen anything like this in terms of a brand like this dominating the movie industry the way Marvel has,鈥� Thomas Schatz, author and media professor at The University of Texas at Austin, says.聽

Mark Evan Schwartz, associate professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University, agrees.聽鈥淭his level of success, of there being such a hugely populated universe that continues both to surprise and to raise curiosity toward, is phenomenal. I think it's quite extraordinary,鈥� Mr. Schwartz says.聽

Hollywood has seen many successful franchises before. What makes Marvel different?聽

First, a bit of history. Marvel Studios is of course named after Marvel Comics, the company at which such now-globally recognized characters as Iron Man and Captain America were created.

In decades past, Marvel allowed studios such as Twentieth Century Fox and Sony to make movies based on their characters. (It鈥檚 a complicated story and those studios still have the rights to some of them.) But in 2008, Marvel released the first self-financed of its movies, the Robert Downey Jr. film 鈥淚ron Man.鈥�

The movie became a smash hit, with critics praising Mr. Downey鈥檚 performance and fans enjoying his take on the character. The film became the second-highest-grossing movie of the year.聽

鈥淎n awful lot of this is the fact that 'Iron Man' was such a good movie,鈥� Mr. Schatz says. 鈥溾��I think 鈥業ron Man鈥� is the foundation in many ways of this entire thing.鈥�

After "Iron Man" (and 2008's "The Incredible Hulk"), Marvel began to differ in its strategy from most other Hollywood franchises. The studio didn鈥檛 just produce the 鈥淚ron Man鈥� series 鈥� it began to create movies based on the various other characters living in Tony Stark鈥檚 world.

While the James Bond movies, for example, center on the British spy and the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� films follow the adventures of the boy wizard, Marvel Studios released an 鈥淚ron Man鈥� sequel, but then made movies about other people living in the same fictional universe. Following the "Iron Man" sequel, Marvel's next releases centered on Norse god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) with a 2011 movie of the same name and a World War II soldier named Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) with 2011鈥檚 鈥淐aptain America: The First Avenger.鈥� It would be like Warner Bros. releasing the first two movies about Harry Potter and then following it with a film centering only on Ron Weasley.

In a sense, Marvel was just being true to its roots. Comic book stories often work like this, with, say, Ant-Man aiding Iron Man. And so the movies are designed with this thinking, too, with a character perhaps popping up in one hero鈥檚 movie before appearing in their own. Almost every Avenger got their own movie and was introduced to audiences before all the characters came together onscreen for 2012鈥檚 鈥淭he Avengers,鈥� for example.聽

Schatz says this approach has been seen before 鈥� for example, Universal horror films would include their characters encountering one another, as with 1943鈥檚 鈥淔rankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.鈥�

鈥淏ut no one has done it with anywhere near the efficiency of Marvel,鈥� he says.

The Marvel empire also extends into TV, where, among others, ABC鈥檚 programs 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥� and 鈥淎gent Carter鈥� and Netflix鈥檚 鈥淛essica Jones鈥� are based on Marvel characters.

And plenty more is on the way for both mediums. In addition to Friday鈥檚 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War,鈥� which will center on multiple heroes, Marvel has announced release dates for films through 2019, with some apparently telling the story of characters moviegoers know (2018鈥檚 鈥淭he Avengers: Infinity War鈥�) as well as new ones (2019鈥檚 鈥淐aptain Marvel鈥�).

What does the success of films about superheroes fighting off villains tell us about audiences today?

聽鈥淥ne of the really interesting things about all of this stuff is the post-9/11 dimension and the extent to which we've increasingly decided to see the world in these very strict, reductive moral terms in terms of good and evil,鈥� Schatz says. 鈥溾��At some level, this is connecting and it's beyond just these young boys that want to see things blow up. There's something more complicated than that in terms of the moral universe Marvel is creating. Like all great myths, these are dealing with the most fundamental impulses, both individual and, I think, communal, of human existence.鈥澛�

In the latest Captain America movie (which has already made more than $200 million overseas), the characters wrestle with moral issues that resonate today: accountability when聽the Avengers's acts lead to collateral damage. And what role should government play in these cases?

Part of Marvel's success, Mr. Schwartz says, lies in that the moviemakers make it easy for viewers to keep track of the many characters through visual cues (different-colored uniforms) and good screenwriting.聽

鈥淎s with any well-developed character in a cinematic story, it's a combination of being visually unique and distinctive in manner of speech and in manner of attitude,鈥� he says. Moviegoers know Iron Man, in his red-and-gold suit and with his wisecracking banter, will respond differently from Captain America in his mostly-blue-and-silver outfit and who wears his 1940s good-guy morality on his sleeve.聽

Meanwhile, Schatz notes that films released by Marvel Studios all have a distinct 鈥� tongue-in-cheek 鈥� tone.

鈥淓ven in the comic books, [Marvel] began to create an ethos and what has become for the studio a house style,鈥� he says. 鈥淰ery much of that is about self-conscious comedy. The best movies 鈥� and 'Iron Man' is a great example 鈥� are fun and they're funny.鈥�

Has Marvel's success been without problems? Schatz says some of the movies have evident flaws.

鈥淭he gender thing at Marvel in those movies ... there are some real problems for me with these films,鈥� he says.

Marvel has come under fire for its portrayal of female characters, and about a lack of female superheroes. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, for example, who appeared in the 2015 film "Avengers: Age of Ultron," among others, was panned by some.聽 wrote of the movie, "Did we really need Natasha to have a mini-breakdown over the fact that she can't have children? Haven't we gotten to a point where the one lonely female superhero in our current landscape can just pursue the business of avenging without having to bemoan not being a mother?"

And the release of "Ultron" also included stars Jeremy Renner and Mr. Evans using pejorative terms to describe Black Widow's moral character during an interview. Both later apologized, though Mr. Renner later repeated one of the terms during another press appearance.

Meanwhile, "Avengers" star Mark Ruffalo also tweeted about a lack of items for sale based on Ms. Johansson's character.

The first聽movie in the Marvel cinematic universe with a female character getting top billing is set to be 2019鈥檚 鈥淐aptain Marvel,鈥� but it will be preceded by more than 10 years of male-led films. Evangeline Lilly's Wasp character will reportedly star in a 2018 movie, but her character's name will be alongside Paul Rudd's Ant-Man for the movie "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

But even with such flaws, Schatz says, "Marvel has figured out how to systematically reproduce this stuff. And they're going to keep doing it as long as it holds up.鈥澛�

Other studios seem to be trying to use this formula to achieve success. Some saw Warner Bros.鈥� 鈥淏atman v Superman,鈥� which was released earlier this year, as Warner Bros.鈥� attempt to use the 鈥渃inematic universe鈥� formula with the characters created by DC Comics, which has long been Marvel鈥檚 chief rival in the comics game. Warner Bros. has announced a movie about Wonder Woman, who appeared in 鈥淏atman v Superman,鈥� as well as films about the superheroes the Flash and Aquaman, among others.聽

鈥淏atman v Superman鈥� became a financial hit but was panned by critics. Schwartz says he鈥檚 doubtful whether Warner Bros. can became as mammoth as Marvel.

鈥淚 think the bar was raised so high,鈥� Schwartz says. 鈥溾��It's much easier to relate to a character, I believe, like, say, Iron Man or Captain America, who is in fact one of us, as opposed to Superman, who's a seemingly invincible alien. Can other companies rise to [the] occasion and do this? Possibly. Will they? I'd be amazed.鈥澛�

Movie fans can see the evidence of Marvel's 鈥渃inematic universe鈥� approach in the plans for the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� films, which will include a movie about all-new characters (not, say, Luke or Leia) titled 鈥淩ogue One鈥� this December, and the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� movies. A new film set in the 鈥淧otter鈥� universe but centering on a different character, titled 鈥淔antastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,鈥� will come out this November.聽

鈥淲e're watching the movie and television industries along with comic books and other cultural forms rethink the way popular storytelling is constructed,鈥� Schatz says.