The first Iron Man movie was released in 2008. It was directed by Jon Favreau and starred Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges. The film was a critical and commercial success, and it launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a shared universe of superhero films and TV shows based on Marvel Comics characters. The success of Iron Man led to the development of other Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including sequels to Iron Man and team-up films such as The Avengers.