A little less than three years ago, I published a guide to the first six films in what is now called Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leading up to the epic team up film “The Avengers”.
Although I didn't publish a follow up at the time for Phase Two (or Phase Three, for that matter), since an even more epic team up film “Avengers: Infinity War” is only days away, I thought now would be a good time to continue where we left off.
That’s a total of thirteen films, if you count “Infinity War”, which might seem a bit daunting, so I’ll just focus on the six films of Phase Two for now.
Again, a bit of backstory first:
Even before the first “Avengers” was being filmed in 2011, a bit of transition was going on behind the scenes. Disney had already bought Marvel Entertainment back in 2009 (At $4 billion, it wasn't cheap, but is sure to go down as one of the studios smarter investments over the years), but Paramount was distributing the films. With but one exception, if you look at the DVD or blu-ray spine for any MCU film up to “Iron Man 3” (and, yes, I still buy physical media. I love commentaries and special features), you’ll see the Paramount logo, but not for any film after that. Paramount sold the distribution to Disney in late 2010 for any MCU films from “Avengers” onward, though both that film and “Iron Man 3” retained the aforementioned Paramount logo. Suffice it to say, Disney got the better end of that deal. I can only assume it was motivated by a world in which super hero films weren't regularly making a billion dollars yet.
And if you were wondering what that “one exception” is, it’s “The Incredible Hulk”, as Universal still owns the rights to any solo Hulk films to this day, which is largely why we have seen another one since.
After “Avengers”, the MCU also ventured into TV series, starting with “Agents of SHIELD” and later the woefully short-lived “Agent Carter” on ABC, and a later handful of series on Netflix, who would eventually culminate in their own team-up series, but that’s another story. (As is the maddening failure to meaningfully connect them with the movies. I mean would it really have been so difficult to put Coulson on that helicarrier in “Age of Ultron”??? But I digress...)
But the films themselves are still rightly the universe’s star attraction. So let’s take a look at the second act of this remarkable series of films.
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Summary: With the climactic battle in “The Avengers” (referred to in-universe as the Battle of New York) behind him, Tony isn't doing so well (as opposed to beacon of stability he was before). He’s suffering from PTSD and pushing his love Pepper away. When Tony’s friend and right-hand man Happy Hogan is wounded in what appears to be a bombing caused by a reclusive terrorist leader known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), Tony, in a new level of stupidity, announces his home address on TV and dares the Mandarin to come after him. I don’t need to tell you what happens next. After barely surviving the assault that destroys his home, Tony ends up stranded in the middle of nowhere with no working Iron Man suit and must rely on his wits and what little sense he has to find out the real story behind the Mandarin and stop him.
Thoughts: I’ll be honest. This film had a big disadvantage from the start, being a solo film following the first team-up film. There was going to be a bit of a letdown no matter what. That said, this one’s still kind of forgettable. It’s not bad, by any means (It’s to the MCU’s credit that there isn't a single film I’d use that term for), but it kind of feels a bit anti-climactic fighting who the turns out to be the badguy in this film, after defending the world from an alien invasion. Also, it might be a minor quibble, but since Jon Favreau bowed out as director for the third installment (he didn't feel the two year interval between films to be enough time to prepare), I was hoping he’d have a bigger role as Happy, only to have him hospitalized for most of the film. (I’d end up having to wait until “Spider-Man: Homecoming” for that).
Things to Remember: Much like the second installment, very little in this film resonates in others. Rhodes has traded in the War Machine armor for star-spangled suit and going by the moniker of the Iron Patriot, but any subsequent appearances he’d reverted back to the War Machine name and look. The film ends with Tony having the shrapnel and arc reactor in his chest surgically removed, which doesn't seem like as big a deal, in the long run, as the film makes it out to be. It’s not as if being physically connected to a reactor made him the only person who can operate a suit and that getting it out meant he couldn't be Iron Man anymore. On top of that, Tony inexplicably destroys all his remaining suits at the end, ostensibly to show his commitment to Pepper, but we know by the next “Avengers” movie he’ll be back at it. So, much like Thor destroying the bifrost bridge in the first “Thor” movie, it doesn't end up meaning that much either. The standard post-credit scene, featuring Tony and a familiar face, is a fun moment, but doesn't hint or set anything up either. A decent action flick but not really required reading.
(P.S. I almost fell out of my seat when this was recently pointed out to me, but a major plot of “Iron Man 2” was the arc reactor was poisoning him and he needed to find a replacement, yet in this film, he can apparently just have it removed???)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Summary: Since the events of “The Avengers”, Thor has been traveling the Nine Realms, putting down troublemakers and reasserting Asgard’s self appointed role as the universe’s peacekeepers, which was interrupted, when they were temporarily cut off from the rest of the universe by the destruction of the original bifrost (okay, maybe there were some ripples to Thor destroying it). Meanwhile his old flame on Earth, Jane Foster, while investigating some strange gravity effects, is bonded with a strange energy force called the Aether. This attracts the attention of the Asgardians’ ancient enemies, the Dark Elves, fresh from an eons-long hibernation, as their leader Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) wants to use the Aether during the upcoming science-McGuffin-bullshit to turn the universe back to the dark universe he knew that came before.
Thor brings Jane to Asgard to help her, only for the elves to launch a devastating attack on Asgard to get it. Knowing that Malekith will try again, and knowing that the Aether is killing Jane, Thor plans to defy his father and sneak Jane away from Asgard, but he can’t do it alone. The only person who knows how to slip away like that is his brother Loki, who’s been locked in an Asgardian prison, ever since the Avengers. Loki hates the elves as much as any of them (for reasons I can’t elaborate because of spoilers), but that doesn't mean he can be trusted, does it?
Thoughts: As I said, it’s to the MCU’s credit that there aren't any films that reach the 2015 “Fantastic Four” or 2003 “Hulk” level of awfulness. That said, this film is regarded as one of the low points of the MCU. I might be the odd man out on this one, as I liked it better than “Iron Man 3”, but even I can see a few flaws. As has been mentioned often, the MCU had a lot of trouble coming up with compelling villains, and Malekith is one of the lamer ones. (I wonder if the fact that Eccleston hated working on the film had anything to do with that).
Marvel initially settled on Patty Jenkins to direct (supposedly being championed by Natalie Portman) and planned more of a “Romeo and Juliet” type story with Thor being forbidden to intervene with some threat on Earth. It would've been more in line with the Shakespearean tone of the first film. It also probably wouldn’t have had Natalie Portman's character Jane feel quite as shoehorned in as she does here. (It’s awfully fortunate that she, of all people, happened to be in London at the right time to discover the Aether). Marvel, however, wasn't keen on the idea, and they and Jenkins parted ways. I've heard Portman wasn't happy about that and I wonder if it had anything to do with her non-involvement with the third film. Instead, they tapped Alan Taylor, whose resume was mainly TV directing, though it did include “Game of Thrones”, so that might’ve helped his case, tone-wise. (For anyone keeping score, it won’t be until 2019’s “Captain Marvel” that we get an MCU film with a female co-director). For Jenkins, however, it may have been a blessing in disguise. Had she directed this film, she might not have been able to direct a certain other superhero film about another warrior/deity from another world that got a lot of buzz last year.
A lot of people found the medieval-sounding space god Thor to be the toughest of the Marvel heroes to relate to, frankly, but as it turns out, you can make a truly great “Thor” movie. We just had to wait four years for the next one.
Things to Remember: The biggest revelation, long term, is the concept a collection of ancient and powerful relics known as Infinity Stones. The Aether is one. The Tesseract (the blue energy cube seen in both the first “Captain America” and “The Avengers”) is another. Since the Tesseract is locked away on Asgard, the Asgardians, not wanting to risk keeping two in the same place, leave the Aether in the hands of an eccentric being known as the Collector (Benicio del Toro).
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Summary: So what’s Captain Steve Rogers been up to since “The Avengers”? The world’s greatest solider has been working for SHIELD, because, quite simply, he has nowhere else to go. A lot of the sketchy assignments Nick Fury has been giving him don’t sit well with the straight and narrow Steve, however. He’s certainly not impressed with Project Insight, a new SHIELD program using helicarriers to blow away potential hostiles. “This isn’t freedom,” he says. “This is fear.”
Turns out there’s plenty to fear, however, as Fury is targeted by a mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier, just as he warns Cap that something is rotten in the state of SHIELD. Cap soon finds himself a fugitive running from his own agency. With the help of Natasha Romanoff and a new friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Cap must unravel this sinister conspiracy. But that means squaring off against the Winter Soldier, who, as it turns out, has a shocking connection to Steve.
Thoughts: Amazing. Brilliant. Awesome. The first “Captain America” took a character who could've been a complete Wonder Bread square and made his earnestness charming and compelling. This film dials it up to eleven. Cap is coping with being seventy years out of time. It’s not silly stuff like trying to work an iPhone, but much deeper, like the fact that all but one of the people from his old life are gone (and even she seems to be fading away). Besides that, the world just seems too different in terms of attitudes and priorities. When he has to run, and later when he fights back, it’s even more compelling because we get to see him effect change on a massive level, forcing secrets into the light, rallying people to his side, and showing him to be a born leader. On top of that, it’s got some incredible action sequences, including one of the best car chases ever and some amazing fighting scenes. A lot of people will draw parallels to the use of drone strikes and Edward Snowden. In many was, this film was as much a game changer for the MCU in real life as it was in-universe. While Phase one was book-ended with the amazing “Iron Man” and “The Avengers” with some films that were just pretty decent in between, this film shows Marvel finally taking some big risks.
Speaking of risks, one notable contrast between Phase One and Two is that most of the Phase One films were helmed by seasoned Hollywood directors with some memorable films on their resume: Jon Favreau, Kenneth Brannagh, Joe Johnston. Even Joss Whedon, who’d only directed one film before “The Avengers”, was well known to the geek community. (I can say that. I’m one of them). Basically a lot of safe choices for a studio still finding it’s way. Heck, even “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black is a well-known Hollywood insider (albeit more as a writer than director). With Phase Two, however, they started to bring in a lot more unknowns and unconventional choices. I mentioned Alan Taylor above, who may not have panned out as much as they hoped, but this film introduced fandom to Joe and Anthony Russo. Their directing was limited one low-budget comedy that bombed a decade earlier, and a handful of TV comedies, including “Community”, but Marvel boss Kevin Feige clearly saw something in these guys worth taking a chance on, and was he ever right. They quickly supplanted Joss Whedon as the MCU’s golden boys. Test screenings so well that the Russos were hired to direct the third Cap installment three months before “Winter Soldier” was even released. Beyond that they were a natural choice to direct the third Avengers film.
Besides raising Cap’s stature in the MCU, this film was also the best use of Scarlett Johanssen as Natasha. Her debut in “Iron Man 2” gave us a kick-ass spy, but not a lot of character. She was fleshed out a little more in “The Avengers”, but she really shines here, having far more chemistry with Chris Evans’ Steve than she ever did with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony. Part of this may be because the two actors had already made two non-Marvel films together and were friends. Mainly however, whereas Natasha just seemed annoyed at Tony’s antics in “Iron Man 2”, pairing her with the straight-laced Steve, allows her to be a bit more playful and irreverent by contrast. There’s a lot of lines in this film I couldn't picture the Natasha her first or even second film saying. By the end of the film, it’s clear the two character have built a solid friendship (though, refreshingly, not a romance). Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson AKA Falcon is a great addition too. You need someone that you quickly come to like and trust enough to believe that Steve would ask him for help after knowing him such a short time, but Mackie pulls it off. His clear admiration for Steve, makes it easy to believe he would, too. A lot of people might be surprised to see screen legend Robert Redford in a comic book movie, playing Fury’s boss, but it makes sense, considering that “Three Days of the Condor” was a clear inspiration for this film. I can’t say much about the Winter Soldier himself without spoiling anything, except that the climax gives us a moving character moment for him and Steve.
Things to Remember: As I said, this film upends a great deal, but truthfully, I don’t want to spoil any of it. It even influenced the TV series “Agents of SHIELD”. I can tell you that the post-credit scene introduces two characters who become essential in the second “Avengers” film: the twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch (though I don’t think they've ever been referred to as such in the films). Pietro has superhuman speed, while Wanda can manipulate matter and energy in a form of telekinesis.
This film is the highlight of Phase Two, in my opinion, though a lot of people say that honor goes to…
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Summary: Think you’ve had a bad day? Moments after his mother died, eight year old Peter Quill was abducted by aliens to another galaxy. A quarter century later, a grown up Peter, now going by the self-given moniker of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) has become a Han Solo-like ne’erdowell. After running away from the Ravangers, the alien pirate crew who abducted him all those years ago, Peter steals a mysterious Orb from a long-dead civilization, only to end up in a three-way fight with two other parties looking for it. One is a former assassin named Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the other is a strange duo of a wise-cracking raccoon by the name of Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and a tree-like being called Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), whose vocabulary is limited to the words “I am Groot”. The fight lands the four of them in prison, where, with the help of the warrior Drax (Dave Bautista), they escape, and attempt to keep the Orb out of the hands of the fanatical warlord Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). It’s a lot better than it sounds. I promise.
Thoughts: Chances are you’d never heard of this group before the movie. I know I hadn't. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to call this the best sci-fi/space opera since the first “Star Wars". The characters are memorable, fun, and play off each other well. There’s some great action and a lot of humor too. Once again, Marvel took a chance on an unconventional director, James Gunn, whose resume consisted of low budget horror films, and once again, that gamble paid off. Gunn, in turn, took a chance on a rather unlikely leading man with Chris Pratt, who was best known at the time as the pudgy goofball Andy on “Parks and Recreation”. Pratt buffed and became a bona fide movie star. Much of the rest of the cast are inspired choices too. Who would've thought to cast Vin Diesel in a role where he only says variations of three words over and over (okay, technically four)? But perhaps one of the film’s memorable features is the soundtrack. One of the few possessions Peter has with him from earth is a walkman and tape his mother had given him of her favorite songs. This provides a handy excuse for sprinkling hits from the 60’s and 70’s throughout the film, including "Hooked on a Feeling”, “Come and Get Your Love”, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. It works amazingly well with the film, far better than you’d expect. In fact the same could be said could this entire film. With neither a well known source materiel, nor any bankable leads, the entire thing was probably Marvel’s biggest risk yet, and it could’ve been a disastrous boondoggle on the level of “Xanadu” or “Ishtar”. Fortunately, audiences embraced it, showing that the Marvel brand itself had won the trust of moviegoers enough to be a draw on its own.
Things to Remember: After a brief mid-credits tease in “The Avengers”, we are formally introduced to the ultimate villain, Thanos (played here by Josh Brolin). Thanos has ties to several of the characters here. After devastating Gamora’s civilization when she was a child, he took her in and raised her as an assassin, though she’s now disowned him. Thanos is Ronan’s benefactor, expecting Ronan to deliver the Orb (which is yet another of the Infinity Stones) into his hands (but Ronan has other plans). Another girl Thanos took in is Nebula (Karen Gillan), one of Ronan’s lieutenants, who’s been mutilated with cybernetic enhancements and now hates both Thanos and her “sister” Gamora. The Collector (last seen in “Thor: The Dark World”) explains the story of how the Stones came to be. We also get a a post-credits scene with a cute cameo from one of the most infamous comic book characters to grace a film screen: Howard the Duck.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Summary: After winning a battle in the Eastern European nation of Sokovia, the Avengers manage to acquire the scepter Loki was wielding in their last film. Tony, studying the scepter, notices some unique properties to it, which allow him to complete his latest pet project: a powerful AI system, known as Ultron (voiced by James Spader), programmed to protect the earth. Unfortunately, in move anyone could've seen, Ultron doesn't go as planned and decides the best way to protect earth is to wipe out humanity. He quickly recruits the enhanced Maximoff twins (from “The Winter Soldier”, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olson) to his side and their abilities turn the Avengers’ attempts to stop Ultron into a very public and costly disaster. Deciding to fight fire with fire, Tony gets the idea to create another artificial being, combining the stone from Loki’s scepter with his ever-helpful first AI JARVIS, he creates the incredibly powerful, yet benevolent being called Vision (Paul Bettany). They’ll need not only his help, but even the Maximoffs, once it becomes clear that Ultron, and his army of robots, are planning to create an extinction event.
Thoughts: Much like “Iron Man 3", this film was in kind of a thankless position. The first “Avengers” had a fairly simple plot: the heroes introduced in the previous movies would come together to fight a world-threatening force. Bringing together different heroes from different films as a team was a sufficiently original and exciting idea to appeal to people. Having these different personalities bounce off each other (especially Cap and Iron Man) was largely enough in the character department. And apart from that mid-credits Thanos tease, it wasn't really concerned with setting up any future films.
The sequel had none of those luxuries. The team has already been established, so you need to take them in some new direction. You also need make sure your half-dozen leads have enough to, without anyone feeling short-changed (and that's before adding three new main characters). This one also had to lay pipework for no less than four future Marvel films (see below).
On top of that, after the last one was a critical success and made a billion dollars, you can imagine the kind of pressure writer-director Joss Whedon was under. By the end, he was so burned out, he not only had no interest in directing another, but deleted his social media, and didn't direct another film, until he was brought in to attempt to salvage another superhero franchise three years later (with results that can charitably be described as “mixed”, but that’s another story for another article).
If I was giving out letter grades, I’d give this one a B minus to a B. It’s decent, but not up there with the first, or with “Winter Soldier” and “Guardians”. Few movies could withstand the scrutiny and mandates this film had to face. In retrospect, it’s perhaps a testament to Whedon’s talent that the movie is as good as it is. And, for what it’s worth, the movies it laid foundation for some films in Phase Three (again, see below) for have been truly great so far.
Things to Remember: As I said, this movie set up a great deal to come. For starters, Ultron’s robotic avatar, and the city-destroying weapon he builds are made of vibranium, the same indestructible wonder substance that Cap’s shield is made of. He acquires it from an arms dealer named Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), who stole it years earlier from the reclusive African nation of Wakanda, all of which becomes a major plot point in “Black Panther”. Klaue also loses his hand and forearm in his encounter with Ultron, setting up the weaponized prosthetic he wields in that movie.
A chance encounter with Wanda Maximoff’s mind-bending powers lead to Thor having a vision of the future in which his home world of Asgard is destroyed in a cataclysm called Ragnarok, setting up the Thor sequel of the same name.
The film also establishes a fourth Infinity Stone, one that was right in front of us all along: The Mind Stone, encased within Loki’s scepter, and later integrated with Vision. A mid-credits seen shows Thanos seems to be gearing up to collect the stones himself, setting up “Avengers: Infinity Wars”
Most immediately, the devastating battle at the films climax leave Sokovia utterly obliterated (I can never figure out if Sokovia is the name of the city or the country, since they seem to reference it as both). Although most of the city’s inhabitants are evacuated to safety, with the help of Nick Fury and a helicarrier he pulled out of mothballs (again, thanks to Phil Coulson, though the movie doesn't acknowledge this), the collateral damage in homes and lives in both this and other battles, will lead to the Avengers being placed under the authority of the UN’s Sokovia Accords in “Captain America: Civil War”. It’s also because of the events in this film that the main antagonist in “Civil War” became motivated to turn them against each other.
Curiously, rather than ending this “phase” with an Avengers film, it was capped with another origin film…
Ant-Man (2015)
Summary: Fresh out of jail, whistle-blower and thief with a heart of gold Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) wants to do right by his young daughter, but finding work as an ex con is easier said than done. He quickly catches the attention of the eccentric inventor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Years ago, Hank invented a wondrous suit that shrinks the wearer to the size of an insect, but his sleazy former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) has discovered the secrets of the suit and plans to sell it to the highest bidder. Recognizing the dangers of such tech in the wrong hands, Scott, Hank, and Hope plan an elaborate heist to steal the new suit and wipe out Cross’ server data. Since Hank can longer safely wear the old suit and is unwilling to risk Hope’s safety, it falls to Scott to use the suit, becoming the second generation of the hero called Ant-Man.
Thoughts: While not quite as groundbreaking as the first “Avengers” or as original as “Guardians”, this film managed to do something quite clever with a superhero original film, which is combine it with a heist story. Paul Rudd’s been a likeable staple in comedies for years (“Clueless”, “Anchorman”, etc.) but we get a remarkable turn here, as we see him toned up (like Chris Pratt before him) for an action film, while still being the easygoing, funny persona we’re accustomed to. He also co-wrote the film. Michael Douglas, one of Hollywood’s biggest leading men has the thankless job of providing a lot of exposition, but manages to convey a lot of regret over losing his wife and being estranged from his daughter. The prologue scene with him in 1989 is really impressive, as they managed to make him look like they caught him for a day of filming just after “Wall Street” and “Fatal Attraction”. Evangeline Lilly does a great job as well, slowly warming up to both Scott and and her father over the course of the film (though my one regret is I don’t think the film earned the kiss between Scott and Hope at the end), though they’re clearly setting her up as a hero in her own right for the sequel coming out later this year.
The film was hobbled by the departure of its original director Edgar Wright, over the ever-cryptic reason of “creative differences”. Mercifully, this happened before shooting, as opposed to that same other superhero film I mentioned above, with Peyton Reed being brought in instead. We’ll probably never know how much of Wright’s influence remains on the film, but I’m quite happy with it, and look forward to seeing what he does with these characters in a film he started from scratch.
Things to Remember: Hank Pym used to work for SHIELD, and a memorable opening scene has him confronting an older Howard Stark and Peggy Carter to resign over the agency’s attempt to replicate his work. Another scene has a present-day Hank send Scott to infiltrate an old storage facility of Stark’s in upstate New York to retrieve some tech, only to discover the facility has been converted into the new Avengers headquarters, seen at the end of “Age of Ultron”. Scott manages to escape from a confrontation with Sam Wilson AKA Falcon, but this puts him on the Avengers’ radar. This in turn becomes important in the post-credit scene, where Falcon and Cap find an old friend of Cap’s.
Hank, for his part, finally willing to let go of his over-protective nature by the end of the film, shows Hope a shrinking suit he’d been working on for his wife, but now intends for his daughter. “It’s about damn time,” Hope says, in a line that has multiple levels to it.
The film also introduces us to the Quantum Realm, a reality entered by shrinking to subatomic size. It’s one of many alternate realities featured in the upcoming film “Doctor Strange”.
Anyways…
That’s my analysis of Phase Two. This film series may seem daunting to the uninitiated, but like an epic TV series, it’s definitely worth sticking with, in my opinion. If you've got some binging time, why not check some out?