Recapping the MCU

Hello! Last time we did very broad strokes for phase 1 and we are back to do phase 2 which had the same amount of movies as phase 1 before we get into an absurd amount of movies with phase 3.

So let's get started. We know that the infinity saga has been set up and that we are going to introduce some new characters. First up we have Iron Man 3 now you’ve probably heard a lot of bad things about this movie and they are all true. If you need skippable projects this is definitely one of them. That said, it does give us insight into Tony’s PTSD from the battle of New York that happened in the Avengers. Tony flies a missile into that alien portal, saving the city. That’s really the only useful thing to come out of this movie, oh and the first time we see Pepper in a suit. This was also the first time we see what would be considered the Iron Legion. Basically Tony is and always has been driven by his fear. After New York he was traumatized and scared and that led to an obsessive need to create 100 Iron Man suits, now that's not an exact calculation but the point is that it was a lot. He saves Pepper after she is put in danger by his recklessness.

Next we have Thor: The Dark World…two bottom tier marvel movies one right after the other. Rough. The only real relevance this movie brought us is the third infinity stone. And the progression of Jane and Thor’s relationship. Also we all continue to love Darcy who is Jane’s research assistant.

Then we have one of the best things the MCU has produced and that is Captain America: Winter Soldier. The audience and Steve realize that Bucky is in fact not dead. Instead he's been brainwashed, and tortured into being a weapon for Hydra, the big bad Nazi agency Steve fought in the first Captain America movie. We are also introduced to Sam Wilson who at this point is known as the Falcon. He is also a veteran so he and Steve bond quickly. Natasha is also in this movie because apparently she is only good as an addition to someone else’s story, we deserved a Black Widow movie back in phase 1 but the beginning of phase 2 wouldn’t have been the end of the world either yet here we are.

Next we have the Guardians of the Galaxy, a pretty random introduction if I do say so myself. The Guardians comics were never best sellers and for the most part they were rather goofy and I will say that at least James Gunn kept that energy for the films. The Guardians are misfits from across the galaxy that are all brought together because they’ve been thrown in prison and they decide to escape together. This is the first movie where we really start talking about and treating Thanos as a threat. This is also our introduction to the next infinity stone. I would also like to clear up that the reason the Guardians were able to hold onto the stone for so long was because Peter is part celestial though the general audience doesn’t know that yet and it's played off as love and friendship save the galaxy.

Next is our second Avengers outing, Age of Ultron. Now this movie gets a lot of criticism, some for real, valid things and some for bullshit. This movie is the introduction of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver though they kill Quicksilver off way too fast and I still hate it. Here is where we see Tony’s ego…Ultron is entirely 100% Tony’s fault. Wanda simply showed him his nightmare; she didn’t conjure up random images; she made all of the avengers live through their nightmares. And Tony’s reaction was to use AI to create a weapon without talking to any of the other Avengers and he has the audacity to be righteously indignant when they confront him about it. The arrogance that he possesses thinking that he is the only person that can possibly save the universe and that no one else could have the faintest contribution to this plan is absurd. His redemption arc is still at its starting point here because he is still an arrogant piece of shit. The first criticism comes up is Natasha and Bruce being pushed into a relationship, and I think if it was set up and executed properly that would have actually been a great pairing but the way it was done was forced and awkward. The other criticism it gets is that Natasha calls herself a monster because she can’t have children, now this isn't valid for the simple fact that that's not what she said. Her being an assassin, her being a professional murderer is what makes her a monster and that was the meaning of that line. This movie set up Black Panther by mentioning Vibranium and Wakanda, sets up the rest of the infinity saga by having Thor go on his own mission to find out about them, sets up Civil War because once again Tony and Steve are at odds, because of Tony’s arrogance.

Next we have another addition to the MCU characters with the release of Ant-Man, honestly you can really skip all the origin stories. Scott is a convict, tries to rob Pym who in turn catches him and turns him into the next generation of Ant-Man. We are also introduced to Hope van Dyne who ends up being Scott’s love interest.

Where we stand now…even more tension now exists between Steve and Tony though they made amends. Hawkeye has adopted Wanda as his new little superhero baby, Steve and Natasha are training the new Avengers (Wanda and Sam), Bruce flew off by himself at the end of Age of Ultron and we don’t know where he went, and we have a new superhero and a new superhero team.

As always feel free to ask questions and I will be happy to answer them. Of this phase the ones I recommend are really just Winter Soldier, and Age of Ultron (as a Wanda lover, I can’t skip her introduction).