From Spider-Man to Iron Man to Captain America; here's your guide to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe emerged as the cash cow that no one expected. The release of Iron Man in 2008 gave us a taste of how well Marvel Studios could present already popular superheroes with an appeal to their large fan base as well as novices to the comic book world. But with the plethora of comic book characters out there it's a little hard for someone who has no idea about the back stories of the characters to relate to them.

Apart from the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe there are also other Marvel franchises out there like Spider-Man, The X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Daredevil. The comic book origins and back stories of most of the characters begin in the 1950s and 60s, there's no way for someone to catch up on these characters by reading all that.

However, WatchMojo.com has come up with a way to look back at the characters origins in under 6 minutes. They've put up videos of several Marvel heroes and villains as well as several characters from DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics.

After watching a film or two about Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine or Spider-Man, many people wonder if they origins presented in the films are the same as those presented in the comics. These origin videos help answer that question and bridge the gap between origin stories. The general sequence of the videos includes mentioning the opening issues in which the heroes/villains debut, the main points of their past and their trials in becoming the well known heroes/villains they are today.

Popular heroes like Spider-Man, Captain America and Iron Man already have huge fan followings and their origins have become common knowledge. But what about niche characters like Quicksilver, Havok, Nightcrawler and Gambit. There are about 55 videos displayed on WatchMojo.com's official YouTube channel.  Here are some videos as points of reference.

Quicksilver

The silver haired speedster will be appearing in two big franchises of the Marvel Universe. Evan Peters will portray the character in the 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past while another version of Quicksilver will appear in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The origin video, Superhero Origins: Quicksilver, speaks about his debut in the comics as a member of Magneto's brotherhood and as the sister of fellow Avenger Scarlett Witch. The video also shows their alienation as kids, their initial run ins with the X-Men and their eventual emergence as heroes.

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Havok

The estranged brother of Cyclops, Havok was introduced in 1963. Havok, who plays a pivotal role in Marvel comics today, was lost and long thought dead by Cyclops until finally reuniting years later. Lucas Till played Havok in X-Men First Class and will reprise the role in X-Men: Days of Future Past. In the new films he will be retconned as Cyclop's older brother as opposed to him being the younger brother in the comics.

Beast

One of the original X-Men and a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, Beast has been one of the mainstays in the X-Men comics since his debut in 1963's Uncanny X-Men. His backstory includes that his father was exposed to massive amounts of radiation prior to Henry McCoy's (Beast) birth. Professor Charles Xavier recruits him as the fourth member of The Original X-Men after his expulsion from school. Also explained is the gradual change in appearance to the blue fur-ball we know today. In X-Men: The Last Stand, he was played by Kelsey Grammer while Nicholas Hoult portrays the younger version of the character in the 2011 prequel X-Men: First Class, and the upcoming 2014 sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Guardians Of The Galaxy

An obscure superhero team which will get its live action debut in Marvel's Phase Two went through a number of changes in the comics. The video starts by exploring the roster that was introduced in 2008's Annihilation Conquest. They then go on to introduce Star Lord, Gamora, Groot and Rocket Raccoon who will feature in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy

Ultron

The sentient robot is one of the major threats the Avengers would ever face. He is the creation of founding Avenger Hank Pym, who debuted in 1954. The Vision who will be portrayed by Paul Bettany in Joss Whedon's Avengers - Age Of Ultron was Ultron's means to attack his own creator Hank Pym and Pym's wife, Janet van Dyne. There have been various versions of Ultron throughout the years, and he was greatly highlighted in the recent comic book series Age Of Ultron, a series that will have little in common with 2015's Avengers - Age Of Ultron.

Here's the complete list of hero origins.

Here's the complete list of villain origins.