Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The franchise also includes television series, short films, digital series, and literature. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
Kevin Feige helped conceive of a shared media universe of Marvel properties
Jeph Loeb led Marvel Television and served as executive producer of every television series on ABC, Netflix, Hulu, and Freeform
Joss Whedon was a significant contributor to the MCU's Phase Two: he offered creative insight to all of the films; launched the first MCU television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; and wrote and directed the crossover film Avengers: Age of Ultron.
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where one or more writers independently contribute works that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, characters, or world of the overall project. It is common in genres like science fiction. It differs from collaborative writing in which multiple artists are working together on the same work and from crossovers where the works and characters are independent except for a single meeting.
Early example: Captain Marvel and Bulletman join forces to battle Captain Nazi, thereby establishing a shared continuity within the Fawcett "universe".