To Infinity & Beyond: Avengers – Age of Ultron

We’ve had our fun in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it’s time to head back to Earth and see what’s going on with the Avengers! Last we left them, HYDRA defeated SHIELD and was all over there world… oh and there were fire breathing superhumans and Dark Elves. Needless to say, things haven’t gotten any calmer for Earth’s mightiest heroes.

Plot

Ever since HYDRA was ousted, the Avengers have been around the world trying to clear any and all of their strongholds. They eventually learn that HYDRA’s new leader Baron  Strucker has Loki’s mind altering scepter, and set out to retrieve it. It’s there that the Avengers meet two people with abilities: Quicksilver who has super speed and Scarlet Witch who is a sorceress. Thanks to Scarlet Witch, Tony Stark has a horrific vision of all the Avengers dying because of him not doing enough. With this new fear in the back of his mind, Tony and Bruce Banner use the power of Loki’s staff to create a safety program to help the world named Ultron. Little do they know though, that Ultron can both the Avengers and the world to its knees.

Villain

As the name suggests, the villain is Ultron; an artificial intelligence created by Bruce Banner and Tony Stark in the hopes that it would be the leading defense for Earth effectively removing the need for the Avengers. Ultron, however, becomes self aware and self serving and decides the best way to bring peace is to eradicate Earth’s biggest danger: humanity. Ultron has access to any computer in the world meaning that defeating him is borderline impossible. With Loki’s scepter he can control people to his whim as well and almost becomes one with the scepter’s power (which ends up being an Infinity Stone). After stealing vibranium, Ultron turns an entire city into a floating meteor and almost destroys all of humanity. He’s the most intelligent villain the Avengers have ever faced, almost immortal, and has an Infinity Stone… yet something about him just doesn’t seem right. I love the comic book version of Ultron: as a machine programmed to save the Earth, the best way to do so is to remove humans. The film version of Ultron has the same motivation, yet for some reason he acts and speaks like a human. He also quotes the Bible all the time… again he’s a robot who hates humanity yet he seems like humanity’s biggest fan.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are villains for a majority part of the film serving as Ultron’s minions. Quicksilver is pretty one note: he runs fast and that’s about it. Scarlet Witch is definitely a more interesting character with the ability to read minds and make people see their deepest fears. She’s probably the strongest superhero in the MCU up to this point because her power is unpredictable and based on her emotion. One moment she’s perfectly fine, the next she gets angry and vaporizes everything around her. Luckily for the Avengers she joins their fight to save the world.

Best Scene

The Incredible Hulk vs. Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster Armor. What else could it be? Not only is it the best fight in Age of Ultron, it’s one of the best fights in the entire MCU. After the original Avengers, Bruce helped Tony build an Iron Man suit capable of standing up to the Hulk in case Bruce ever lost control. That suit is finally put into action after Scarlet Witch uses mind control on Bruce turning him into the Hulk. Hulk goes on a rampage in a nearby city and Tony calls in the Hulkbuster Armor to stop him. The two turn the city to rubble and the Hulkbuster wins in the most Tony Stark fashion. Tony carries Hulk above a skyscraper being built, BUYS THE BUILDING only so he can smash Hulk through it seconds later. It’s a hilarious, epic and extremely memorable fight and it was great to finally get to see the Hulkbuster on the big screen especially since it was notably absent in the Iron Legion in Iron Man 3.

Stan Lee Cameo

After the Avengers successfully defeat Strucker and retrieve Loki’s staff, the team has a party at Avengers Tower. At one point Thor breaks out booze he brought from Asgard that has been aged for 1,000 years. He says it was “aged in the barrels of Grunhel’s fleet. It is not meant for normal men,” which is when Stan Lee, an army vet, says “Neither was Omaha beach blondie! Stop trying to scare us, come on.” He then is seen being drunkenly dragged out of the party while mumbling his infamous line “Excelsior!” The line at the end is the icing on this delicious cameo cake!

Post Credits Scene

A dark room is opened revealing a large gold gauntlet. The one opening the vault is none other than Thanos! Because of course it is! We have Thanos, we have Infinity Stones, eventually the Mad Titan was going to get his gauntlet! Thanos simply says the words, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” No more minions getting the stones for him. Soon the starways will bathe in the blood of his victims.

Final Thoughts

This movie is very hit and miss. There are great action sequences, interactions between the Avengers, and it introduces us to the Vision, but the villain overall is kind of a downer. He speaks like a Bible thumper and although he’s almost immortal he’s never really proven to be as much of a threat as Loki was. Also, Winter Soldier introduced us to Baron Strucker who is a major villain in the Marvel Comics, but this film made him look like a joke killing him off in the first half an hour. The original Avengers is one of the best superhero films of all time, so expecting this to surpass that was always going to be a hard sell, but nevertheless Age of Ultron is a fun film.

 Thanos Meme of the Week

Today’s date is March 16th aka 3/16 aka Stone Cold Steve Austin Day so there is no better Thanos meme for me to share than this one!

To Infinity & Beyond: Guardians of the Galaxy

“Wait… who? What? Last we left the MCU, HYDRA had taken over SHIELD, Captain America was on the hunt for Bucky, and there were elves all over Asgard. Now you’re telling me we are dropping all that for a movie about a guy in space who befriends a talking tree and a trigger happy raccoon?” You bet your ass we are! Here’s the movie about the heroes you’ve never heard of, but will soon never forget. This is Guardians of the Galaxy!

Plot

In the year 1988, young Peter Quill was abducted by alien bounty hunters known as Ravagers just minutes after learning his mother had passed away. The upcoming years though Peter Quill learned from the Ravagers and became the legendary outlaw Star Lord. Well… legendary to himself that is. One day Star Lord is on a mission to retrieve a mysterious orb for the Ravagers but little does Star Lord know that this orb is is sought after by many. After ditching the Ravagers with the orb, Star Lord is arrested by the Nova Corp (the space police basically). While in prison he meets four people each with their own reason for wanting the orb: the infamous assassin and daughter of Thanos, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, who takes everything just a little too seriously, Rocket Raccoon, a genetically modified raccoon that can speak and has a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later, and finally Groot who is a giant talking tree that can only say the phrase, “I am Groot.” These five become the Guardians of the Galaxy when they discover the true power of the orb and Ronan the Accuser’s plans to use the orb for the destruction of an entire planet.

Villains

The main villain of The Guardians of the Galaxy is Kree terrorist Ronan the Accuser. Ronan was originally hired by the Mad Titan Thanos (more on him later) to retrieve the orb and give to him. That was the plan until Ronan witnessed the orb’s power firsthand. Ronan then planned on keeping the orb for himself and using it to destroy the planet Xandar; home of the Nova Corp and the place where Ronan’s family and people were killed. The Kree are a powerful alien race that’s feared throughout the galaxy, and to top that off Ronan in the film obtains the orb which gives him unlimited power. He may be a pretty generic villain, but he’s a powerful one that could go toe to toe with any hero yet seen in the MCU. It DOES take an entire team of people to defeat him which speaks to his strength.

Another minor villain in the film is Nebula who besides Gamora is Thanos’ other adopted daughter. However where Gamora is kinder and has a sense of justice, Nebula is merciless and willing to kill anyone in an instant. She serves as Ronan’s right hand throughout the film and is a thorn in the Guardians’ sides. She hates her sister Gamora because she was always Thanos’ favorite. Not only that, but Thanos replaced parts of Nebula (against her will) with machine parts because he wanted her to be Gamora’s equal. That has yet to happen and ever since Nebula has used that hatred to survive in the hopes of killing both her sister and father.

And finally I have to mention this guy. Remember at the end of Avengers there was that big intimidating purple guy with the creepy smile? Well he finally showed up in a movie! Thanos is proven to be the one behind most of the events in the movie. Thanos wants the orb because it contains one of the six Infinity Stones. As stated though, Ronan keeps it for himself, but it was great to finally get a legitimate introduction to the Titan Thanos!

Best Scene

I don’t know how Marvel did it, but they got me to cry over a talking tree. Guardians of the Galaxy is filled to the brim with incredible scenes but the best scene in the film has to be Groot’s big sacrifice at the end. The Guardians are on Ronan’s ship trying to kill him before he can destroy all of Xandar. Their attempt fails and it looks like they’re going to die along with everyone on the ship. That is, until Groot uses himself as a giant protective shield around the Guardians. The Guardians are relieved to still be breathing but Rocket is in tears telling Groot to stop because if not he will die. Rocket asks Groot why he’s sacrificing himself to which Groot smiles and simply says “We are Groot.” It’s tough to get fans to fall in love with a giant talking tree, but I feel like it’s even harder to get fans to cry over one. Marvel somehow managed to do both. Groot is the undisputed star of an already stellar cast of characters.

Stan Lee Cameo 

This one is really short. In the beginning of the film on Xandar, Rocket and Groot are people watching and they come upon Stan Lee chatting it up with a beautiful alien woman. Rocket refers to him as “Mr. Smiles” and says “Where’s your wife old man!?” Short but funny as they all are.

Post Credits Scene

As out of nowhere the Guardians feel in the MCU, so does its post credits scene. The post credits scene takes us to the Knowhere, home of The Collector. The Collector meets with the Guardians and is the first to tell them that the orb contains an Infinity Stone. Shortly after, Ronan shows up and wrecks all of The Collector’s collection. The post credits shows The Collector sitting in his wreckage when a dog in an astronaut suit comes over and licks his face (Cosmo the Dog for those super nerds). While the obscure Marvel dog character licks his face, an even more obscure character asks the Collector “Why do you let it lick you like that?” And lo and behold, it’s Howard the Duck! It’s a totally random post credits scene, but hey they whole movie was that way so I guess you can’t expect different.

Final Thoughts

Before this movie, The Guardians of the Galaxy weren’t a well known group in Marvel. James Gunn though turned them into an absolute sensation and one of the company’s biggest selling points now. Guardians of the Galaxy just oozes with style and fun and it also boasts one of the best soundtracks in any movie ever. The soundtrack for the movie sold like crazy when it came out. It’s even one of the few Marvel movies to have a pretty significant emotional aspect to the film with each Guardian having their own sad or tragic backstory. The entire cast of characters is instantly memorable and it’s one of the most fun movies in the MCU.

Thanos Meme of the Week

To Infinity & Beyond: Captain America – The Winter Soldier

After what was undoubtedly the worst movie in the MCU with Thor – The Dark World, it’s time to shift gears to everyone’s patriotic hero Captain America! After saving the world twice, you’d think things would be going pretty well for the captain but in reality, things are worse than ever!

Plot

After saving the world in the Battle of New York, Captain America has become a full time agent of SHIELD completing countless missions under Nick Fury’s orders. However, after a mission to save SHIELD agents shows Fury’s ulterior motives, Captain America quickly learns that SHIELD may not be as heroic as it used to be. The world has become consumed with fear and people’s freedom has come into question especially with the arrival of a new mysterious villain by the name of The Winter Soldier. Only one thing is certain: things will never be the same.

Villain

Remember how Captain America’s BFF Bucky died? In reality, when Bucky fell in the original Captain America film he was saved by HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola. HYDRA then froze him (much like Cap) and brainwashed Bucky into the Winter Soldier: a relentless killing machine. Next to Loki, Marvel villains don’t get much better than Winter Soldier. He is one of the few villains with a genuine backstory, he comes off as downright TERRIFYING in the film, and Sebastian Stan puts on a great performance as the character. He’s a really tragic villain and a great addition to the Captain America franchise. His chemistry with Chris Evans’ Captain America is the best in the MCU next to Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.

The other big baddie in Winter Soldier is the “SHIELD agent” and member of the World Security Council Alexander Pierce. I put SHIELD agent in quotations because it’s revealed that Pierce actually works for HYDRA which was not defeated in WWII. Cap defeated Red Skull and stopped their mission but, “cut off one head and two more grow in its place.” HYDRA lived on with Arnim Zola and quietly infiltrated SHIELD for years until the time was right. People that appeared to be allies were actually working for the enemy for decades. Alexander Pierce lead the charge for HYDRA and headed Project Insight which was a plan to make people so afraid of the world around them that “SHIELD” (aka HYDRA) would “protect them.” That protection though involved arming massive Helicarriers with enough firepower to wipe out thousands of people in mere minutes. To put it briefly, Pierce was an excellent villain alongside Winter Soldier.

Best Scene

The best scene in “The First Avenger” was an emotional exchange between Cap and his love interest Peggy Carter. While they have another heart shattering scene in Winter Soldier, there’s a new soul crushing exchange to be had here. I of course am talking about the final fight between life long friends Captain America and Winter Soldier. Captain America is trying to stop Project Insight and save the world and the last person standing in his way is his friend Bucky. Cap has no intention to fight his friend though and Bucky is finally beginning to remember his friend Steve. Winter Soldier is about to finish Cap off for good when Cap mutters “I’m with you to the end of the line.” Bucky in that moment stops attacking and has a look of horror as if he finally remembers his past. The Helicarrier they are fighting on crashes and we see Bucky dragging an unconscious Cap out of the water. Bucky not only remembered who he was, but he saved Cap’s life!

Stan Lee Cameo

Captain America is on the run after SHIELD is revealed to be under HYDRA control. He and Black Widow meet up with Sam Wilson aka Falcon and they decide to take the fight to Pierce. Cap says to fight in a war you need a uniform and the scene cuts to the Captain America Museum. Stan Lee playing a security guard passes the Howling Commandos exhibit and notices that someone stole the Captain America’s uniform to which he says, “Aw man I’m so fired.”

Post Credits Scene

Two men in a HYDRA facility are discussing how Nick Fury revealed all of HYDRA’s secrets to the world. The one (obviously a leader of some kind) corrects the other saying Fury revealed “everything he knew” to the world. This man is revealed to be none other than HYDRA leader Baron von Strucker! Strucker goes on to say SHIELD and HYDRA are meaningless in the scheme of things because he has something far greater: Loki’s staff from Avengers!!! Strucker’s subordinate then asks what they should do with their test subjects. The dead are to be buried “so deep that not even their ghosts can find them” and that they will eventually need “the survivors.” Who are the survivors though? Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch!!

“It’s not a world of spies anymore, not even a world of heroes. This is the Age of Miracles doctor. There is nothing more horrifying than a miracle.”

It’s a lengthy post credits scene filled with a ton of useful information! Loki’s Staff is back, the new big bad for HYDRA is the classic Baron Von Strucker, and now we’ve got two mutants in the MCU! There was a lot to be excited about with this post credits scene!

The second post credits scene takes place at the Captain America Museum. Among the crowd we find Bucky taking it all in. He comes across the memorial for himself, and it’s clear that more and more of his past is coming back to him.

Final Thoughts

This is in my opinion the best movie in the MCU. The action is incredible, the story is full of twists and turns and has important commentary on privacy and control from the government. Winter Soldier is the most realized villain since Loki and adds another level of depth to Cap’s overall story. Also, the big twist with SHIELD is one of my favorites in movie history. The SHIELD twist changes the way you watched the older movies because you know now that HYDRA was always lurking in the shadows. It was a twist that affected the entire Marvel Universe, and it essentially saved the TV show Agents of SHIELD. I can’t gush enough about how much I love this movie and I was so glad to see Marvel recover after the dumpster fire that was Thor – The Dark World.

Thanos Meme of the Week

“Oh you wanted a Thanos post credit scene? Best I could do is two X-Men.”

To Infinity & Beyond: Thor – The Dark World

Iron Man 3 was a brief albeit fun intermission from universe building for the MCU, but now it’s time to jump back into the scheme of things! Unfortunately the jump back into things ended up being a face plant with Thor – The Dark World. So where does it all go wrong? Let’s find out.

Plot

Thor’s been a busy guy. He’s had to stop his brother Loki twice, and has been busy bringing peace to the nine realms. While Thor’s been busy knocking heads in, Jane Foster has been continuing her research in astrophysics in London. It’s then that she stumbles upon an artifact known as the Aether: a cosmic entity that has the power to rewrite reality itself and defy the laws of physics. The Aether binds itself to Jane, and Thor brings her to Asgard in hopes of a cure. It is then he learns the history of the Dark Elves: a race older than the universe itself and how they used the Aether in an attempt to take over Asgard. History tells that Odin’s father eradicated the Dark Elves, but not all of them died it would seem…

Villain

The leader of the Dark Elves, Malekith, waged the war on Asgard against Odin’s father Bor. With a weapon as powerful as the Aether, Malekith was defeated. In order to prevent the extinction of his race, Malekith… sacrificed almost all of them. Because that makes sense. The film doesn’t really give Malekith much motive to be evil or want to rule over Asgard. He just does. From the very beginning of the film he comes off as weak having already lost to Asgardians once, and he doesn’t even really speak all that much. In case you couldn’t pick up on it, I’m not a fan of Malekith. He gets a half decent final battle but by that point of the movie you just don’t really care anymore.

Best Scene 

The escape from Asgard is definitely the best scene in the movie. After the Dark Elves attack his home, Thor devises a plan to travel to the cleverly named Dark World (home of the Dark Elves) to draw Malekith away from Asgard, cure Jane Foster, and destroy the Aether. The only one who knows how to escape Asgard without using the Bifrost though, is Loki. So Thor breaks Loki out of prison and while they’re escaping, Loki suggests the two should use disguises. Loki shows an array of different disguises they could use including one of him being Captain America himself. The dialogue Loki says as Cap is the highlight of the movie.

“The suit’s a bit much… so tight! But the confidence! I can feel the righteousness surging! Hey wanna have a rousing discussion about truth? Honor? Patriotism? God bless America!”

The rest of the escape is cool, but the real highlight is the Captain America cameo.

Stan Lee Cameo

Jane Foster goes to London for her research after Erik Selvig says he had a breakthrough. When Jane gets there though, Selvig is nowhere to be found, but she quickly learns that Selvig had a crazy meltdown and was found running around Stonehenge butt naked. Selvig was arrested. When Jane’s intern Darcy goes to get Selvig out of prison, we find him briefly explaining his theories of Convergence to his inmates using shoes as props. When he finishes he asks, “Are there any questions?” Stan Lee then responds with, “Yeah, can I have my shoe back?”

Post Credits Scene

The worst movie in the MCU somehow also ended up with one of the best, most important post credit scenes. Malekith has been defeated and the Aether is in the hands of Asgard. In the post credits scene Volstaag and Sif are surrounded by strange alien creatures and meet with a man known simply as The Collector. The three then have this conversation which confirmed a fan theory people had been speculating since The Avengers came out!

Sif: “You know why we’re here.”

The Collector: “Of course, but if I may ask… why not keep it secure in your own vault?”

Volstaag: “The Tesseract is already on Asgard, it’s not wise to keep two Infinity Stones so close together.”

The Collector: “That’s very wise. I can assure you, it will be absolutely safe here in my collection.”

Sif: “See that it is.”

The Collector: “One down… five to go.”

After the Avengers revealed Thanos to the MCU, fans everywhere hoped we’d be getting an Infinity Gauntlet movie somewhere down the road and this scene finally confirmed it! With both the Tesseract and the Aether being Infinity Stones, we are already 1/3 of the way to Infinity War!

There was also a second brief post credits scene after this. At the end of the original Thor, he left Earth promising Jane he’d come back. However, he didn’t come back until two years later. At the end of Dark World we are in a similar situation. Thor left promising he’d come back and we find Jane at home again waiting. This time though Thor came back and they share a smooch. Daaaaaw it’s a shame their relationship is based purely on physical attraction though… Also we see that one of the monsters that got teleported to Earth during Thor’s fight with Malekith is still running around Greenwich.

Final Thoughts

This is the one MCU movie that I really can’t defend. It’s definitely the worst in the MCU. The villain is boring, Anthony Hopkins is so unenthusiastic about being in this film, and the Jane and Thor relationship is just as lousy as it was the first time around. Besides Loki and the post credits scene there just isn’t anything memorable about this movie whatsoever. Although Iron Man 3 was considered the first movie in Phase Two of the MCU, The Dark World was the first real sequel to the whole connected universe Marvel was building. Unfortunately it didn’t go as well as fans would hope, but Marvel would quickly recover with the next film.

Thanos Meme of the Week

We finally know what Thanos wants! He wants the stones… or minerals… sorry Hank.

To Infinity & Beyond: Iron Man 3

The Battle of New York changed everything. Suddenly the world got a whole lot bigger and stranger. Now with aliens and god like beings throughout the universe, Earth suddenly feels more threatened than ever. Earth’s mightiest heroes are tasked with protecting it, but will they ever be the same after everything that’s happened? With all that in mind, we begin Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is Iron Man 3.

Plot

After barely surviving the Battle of New York, Tony has been a bit of a mess. Clearly suffering from PTSD, Tony has been tinkering away obsessively trying to perfect the Iron Man suit to protect those he loves most. However, the world still isn’t any safer. Recently a terrorist known as the Mandarin has been threatening the United States and Tony takes it upon himself to stop him. However,  Tony’s showdown with the Mandarin becomes more personal than he could imagine when demons from his past come to haunt him, but with his damaged mental state, can Tony protect the world yet again?

Villain

I wish this could be the part where I talk about how great the Mandarin was. I wish I could tell you that, but Iron Man 3 is no fairytale world. Although trailers and posters would suggest the big bad in Iron Man 3 is the Mandarin, the film offers a massive plot twist by revealing that the Mandarin was actually a fake. Instead he was an actor by the name of Trevor Slattery who was hired by the true villain to pose as the Mandarin to take credit for the crimes the true bad guy himself was committing. As someone who loved all the Mandarin scenes, realizing he wasn’t the real bad guy was extremely disappointing which is why I’m slightly jaded towards this movie. So who was the real villain you ask?

The real villain is a man by the name of Aldrich Killian. Back in 1999, Killian proposed a new research project to Tony. However, as we saw in the first Iron Man, Tony was kind of a dick before becoming Iron Man so he shrugged Killian off. Killian then spent the following years working on that proposed research project which became known as Extremis. Extremis is a recreation of the super soldier serum which modifies one’s DNA to become super strong fire breathing beings. Killian mastered this serum and intended to use it to assassinate the President and put his own man (the current Vice President) in office, effectively allowing him to do whatever he wanted. In any other scenario, Killian would’ve been a good villain, but being teased and then faked out with the Mandarin just makes this character hard to swallow.

Best Scene

As disappointing as the Mandarin twist is, Iron Man 3 does have some great action sequences. The attack on Tony’s house and the intense airplane rescue are both contenders for the best, but the arrival of the Iron Legion takes the cake. Seeing all of the different Iron Man suits in action is a sight all superhero fans loved to see especially since they all had varying abilities. It also gave fans insight on what we could see for the future of Iron Man in the MCU. I guess Tony’s suit building obsession eventually paid off!

Stan Lee Cameo

Stan Lee had to love this one. After the attack on his home, Tony’s suit transports him to Tennessee. The suit doesn’t have enough power to fly back to California though so Tony is forced to find another way home. He eventually comes up with the idea of using a news station van to to pinpoint the Mandarin’s location. The news van was originally broadcasting a local beauty pageant and we see Stan Lee giving a woman in a bikini a 10/10.

Post Credits Scene 

This one is a tad disappointing because it’s more for laughs than it is foreshadowing the next Marvel film. The entire was being narrated by Tony himself and we see who he was telling the story to: Bruce Banner. However, we find out that Bruce had fallen asleep towards the beginning and actually heard none of it. Bruce quickly apologizes saying he’s not “that kind of doctor” and that he doesn’t have the right temperament to listen to others’ problems. Tony then quickly begins talking about another past problem and Bruce lets out a big groan. Although it’s good for a laugh, the last film gave us Thanos so I think a majority of audiences were looking for something a bit more substantial.

Final Thoughts

It’s strange. When I originally saw this movie in theaters I wasn’t impressed with Iron Man 3. I was irritated that they tricked me with the Mandarin and I thought Pepper defeating Killian in 20 seconds after the entire Iron Legion couldn’t was lame. I hadn’t watched Iron Man 3 again until now, and after getting over the twist, Iron Man 3 is actually a solid entry in the MCU. I won’t say it’s one of the MCU’s best as many critics say, but it’s definitely better than most people remember. It’s a movie that is best watched twice. The first time to get over the initial shock and disappointment that it didn’t do what you expected, and the second time to enjoy everything you missed while you were blind with rage the first viewing.

Thanos Meme of the Week

At the end of Avengers we saw Thanos grinning ominously. With his original plan foiled, what could he be doing now? Probably cracking open a cold one with the boys, plotting his next move.

“Dammit Tony.”

To Infinity & Beyond: The Avengers

“There was an idea, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles we never could.” After five years of universe building, it’s finally time for Earth’s mightiest heroes to come together and change both the cinematic and superhero world!

Plot

Loki has been exiled from Asgard, but has found new friends in a mysterious unnamed alien leader and his army of Chitauri (hive mind cybernetic beings). Given a staff with mind altering powers, Loki is sent to Earth with a mission: get the Tesseract (the glowing blue cube from Captain America), and bring the Chitauri army to take over the world. When the war for Earth begins, SHIELD Director Nick Fury decides it’s time to put the Avengers Initiative into action.

Villain

Everyone’s favorite trickster Loki is back for Round 2! After being exiled from his home, Loki wants one thing and one thing only: to rule Earth and make a fool out of his brother Thor. With his new mind controlling staff, Loki becomes more threatening than ever. Loki controls Erik Selvig and Hawkeye and uses their abilities to help put his plans into action. Loki remains one step ahead of the Avengers and SHIELD up until the very end of the movie manipulating everyone so they play directly into his hands. Not only is he just as cunning and strong as before, but now he has an entire robot army to back him up. It takes six of Earth’s mightiest heroes to stop Loki, that should say something about how great of a villain Loki (still) is.

Best Scene

The Battle of New York is one of the best sequences in the MCU’s history, but there are two particularly memorable moments that come to mind when I think of “best scenes.” The first comes about halfway through the Battle of New York. It starts with Black Widow hijacking a Chitauri ship and blasting her way through the city. The sequence then follows each of the Avengers teaming up fighting through the Chitauri. We get instances like Iron Man using Captain America’s shield to deflect his energy blasts along with Thor and Hulk taking down a monstrously sized Chitauri. It’s fast paced and shows the team truly working together for the first time in stylish fashion!

The other scene that just about every Marvel fan remembers when talking about The Avengers is the infamous meeting between Hulk and Loki. After getting shot out of the sky by Hawkeye, Loki is immediately met by The Hulk. Hulk is about to smash to which Loki yells this…

“ENOUGH. You are all of you beneath me! I am a god you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by…”

Which is when Hulk grabs Loki by the leg and smashes him repeatedly into the ground. Hulk then walks off saying, “puny god.” And Loki gives out the most hilarious whimper. Although short, this was definitely the funniest, most memorable moment of the entire film.

Stan Lee Cameo

There’s so much interaction between the Avengers that the film doesn’t have time to sneak Stan Lee into the movie until the very end! After the Battle of New York is over, news outlets everywhere show how the people of New York are reacting. Some are happy that the Avengers are watching over them, while others are more skeptical. This is when we see good old Stan Lee saying “Superheroes in New York? Give me a break.” Stan helped create the cliche of superheroes in New York so his remarks in The Avengers are particularly amusing.

Post Credits Scene

The Avengers actually gave us two post credits scenes! The first shows The Other (second in command to the person that gave Loki his Staff and army) is seen speaking with the mysterious leader behind the events of the movie. The Other says,

“Humans. They are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand. They are unruly and therefore cannot be ruled. To challenge them, is to court Death.”

It is then that we see who the mastermind behind Loki’s invasion truly is!

THANOS!!!

Every Marvel fan worth their salt knew EXACTLY what Thanos meant! We didn’t know when, but we knew at some point we were going to get an Infinity Gauntlet story line! We didn’t know it would be six years later until we finally got it, but still!

The second post credits scene is for a quick laugh but it’s worth mentioning. During the film, Iron Man sends a nuke through the portal to destroy the Chitauri hive mind. After Hulk catches him and is awakened, Iron Man asks the other Avengers if they wanna try this schwarma place he found during the fight. The second scene is the group sitting quietly eating their schwarma. It’s a hilariously uncomfortable scene because of how quiet it is, but it was a nice laugh to have at the end.

Final Thoughts

The Avengers is still one of the best movies in the entire MCU. It had some pretty high expectations both from fans and Marvel Studios. This was the movie that was going to prove whether or not the shared universe idea was something worth pursuing. Thankfully it paid off in spades. With each character having backstories established in their individual films, it let The Avengers spend more time on just the heroes doing what they do best: fight evil. That being said, there was still enough background in The Avengers alone for people new to the MCU to enjoy the film. What made the film truly soar though is that each character got a moment to shine in the film, the action was evenly distributed amongst all the Avengers. Mark Ruffalo who played the new Hulk got plenty of moments to solidify that the actor change was going to work. Also, using an established, well received villain like Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was a great choice. All of these helped create one of the best superhero movies of all time that pretty much altered how superhero and sci fi films were looked at. After this film, everyone pretty much hopped on the shared universe train.

Thanos Meme of the Week

Now that Thanos has been officially added into the MCU, each week I’m going to be adding a “Thanos Meme of the Week!” Here’s to hoping that the wait for him is worth the wait!

To Infinity & Beyond: Thor

Last week Coulson traveled to New Mexico for an urgent assignment. This week we dig deeper into what Coulson found and enter into the world of gods and frost giants! Part four of the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe gives us Thor!

Plot

Thor, the god of thunder, son of Odin, and brother of Loki is next in line to be king of the realm of Asgard. However, after an invasion from creatures known as the frost giants, Thor foolishly nearly causes a war between realms. Furious, Odin strips Thor of all his power, banishes him to Midgard (that’s Earth for all you not nerds) and his ability to wield the legendary hammer Mjolnir. Now stranded on Earth, Thor must acclimate to a new world, and learn what it truly means to be a hero. Meanwhile, a sinister plot unfolds in Asgard once Odin falls into a deep slumber called the Odin Sleep…

Villain

Oh baby it’s time for the big one! The OG in Marvel villainy! The ultimate standard! When people complain that Marvel has a “villain problem,” the #1 counterargument that always must be addressed is Loki. What separates him from the pack is the amount of depth his character gets. First, he has quite the reason to be villainous. It’s revealed that Loki is not actually an Asgardian, but rather a frost giant that Odin found and raised. At the time though, Odin thought of Loki as a way to bring peace among Asgard and the frost giants. Finding out you’re basically your dad’s tool would piss just about anyone off. When Loki found out about his past though, he didn’t want to bring an end to Asgard. Instead he concocted an ingenious plot to eliminate the frost giants, appear to be a hero to Odin, be named king of Asgard…………………… and kill Thor. OK so he’s not someone you can COMPLETELY feel bad for, he’s got some darkness in him. Sibling rivalries are the worst. Extremely cunning, incredibly powerful, with a great backstory, there’s no better villain in the MCU.

The frost giants play a minor role in the plot of Thor. Led by King Laufey, the frost giants want nothing more than to see Odin die and regain their relic known as “the Power Casket.” Besides that, they’re not much more than big blue monsters for Thor and his pals to smack around.

I also have to give a brief mention to The Destroyer which is a machine created to protect Asgard. Loki though during his rule as king sends the Destroyer to kill Thor. Coulson jokingly comments that it looks like “Stark tech,” and he’s not far from the mark. The Destroyer is essentially a strong suit of armor that shoots laser beams. Lots of pew pews to be had in the finale.

Best Scene

Thor has beaten the Destroyer and has returned to Asgard to stop Loki. At this point, Loki has killed the frost giant king Laufey and appears to be a hero to his mother. Thor shows up to prove that Loki is actually straight garbage and the two fight it out. The fight itself is nothing special, but the reason this scene stands out among the rest for me is (once again) Loki. Upon revealing his grand scheme to Thor, Loki appears more sympathetic than ever. Thor doesn’t fight Loki with the intent to kill. More than anything he’s heartbroken to see his brother in such a saddened state. The “fight” concludes on the Rainbow Bridge with Thor destroying the Bifrost Portal which is his only way back to Earth (and his new lady friend Jane Foster). Thor and Loki nearly fall off the Rainbow Bridge, but Odin awakens from the Odin Sleep and saves them. Loki tells Odin that he would’ve been a great king given the chance, Odin disagrees. With a tear in his eye, Loki lets go and falls to whereabouts unknown.

Stan Lee Cameo

Definitely the funniest Stan Lee cameo up to this point, it happens towards the beginning of the film. Once Thor is banished to Earth, Odin sends the hammer Mjolnir as well. Though literally unmovable, the nearby townsfolk all take turns trying to pull the hammer from the stone. With nobody succeeding, someone has the brilliant plan of wrapping chain around the hammer and pulling it from their truck. The entire bed of the truck though rips off though and the driver obliviously leans out his window and says, “Did it work?” The driver of course, is Stan Lee.

Post Credits Scene

Dr. Erik Selvig (who Thor meets when he arrives at Earth) is found stumbling around a SHIELD facility. Eventually he runs into Director Nick Fury. Selvig mentions how unprecedented the idea of other realms and gateways is, and Fury tells Selvig that history and legend sometimes intertwine. At this point Fury shows Selvig SHIELD’s newest discovery: a cube shaped power source that could bring “unlimited power.” But then GASP! It’s revealed that Loki himself has been listening in on this entire conversation and that this new power source is “worth a look.” Loki’s not done yet folks! Not even close.

Final Thoughts

Of all the origin movies in the MCU, Thor is most definitely the weakest of the bunch. First off, besides being in “the New Mexico desert,” it’s never actually said what the name of the town is which is where a majority of the film takes place! Also, Jane Foster is a TERRIBLE love interest. Here’s how her relationship arc with Thor goes: 1. Jane hits Thor with car 2. Jane hits Thor with car again 3. Thor takes his shirt off 4. Jane is in love with Thor. That may sound harsh but that’s entirely how it goes; Jane falls head over heels for Thor simply because he’s ripped. I know Betty doesn’t get a ton of development in Incredible Hulk either, but at least she and Bruce were colleagues at work! Thor is flawed, but it’s still a fun film. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston put on excellent performances that will follow them for the rest of their careers! It doesn’t take itself too seriously and has some great humor! Also, this film introduces Hawkeye! He unfortunately doesn’t fire a single arrow, but hey he was there! Anything that adds to the existing universe is OK in my book!

To Infinity & Beyond: Iron Man 2

Last week I spent a majority of my post defending why The Incredible Hulk was a great addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well here I am again in the same situation, but instead of defending the Hulk, I’m going to defend a sequel many seem to hate. We’re on week 3 of the MCU Marathon which means it’s time to talk about Iron Man 2!

The Plot

Tony Stark has admitted to the world that he is Iron Man! With Iron Man watching over the world, peace seems to have finally come! However, Tony will quickly learn that revealing to the world that he’s a superhero will bring much more trouble than it will pleasure. Also, Tony learns that the very thing that’s keeping him alive, the arc reactor, is killing him. Not only that, but a new villain has rolled into town hellbent on showing to the world that there are cracks in Iron Man’s armor and that the world is not as safe as it seems.

Villain

The big bad in Iron Man 2 is a Russian by the name of Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash. Whiplash is a physicist who wants revenge on the Stark Family for stealing the thunder that his family should have. He is one of the few villains that strays from the “evil version of the hero club.” He doesn’t get particularly deep backstory but his battle suit brings the best action sequences of the story and Mickey Rourke’s performance is great. He delivers a truly great line: ” If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in him. All I have to do is sit back, and watch as the world consumes you. There will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come.” He gets a really lame final fight, but until that Whiplash is a great villain!

Another minor villain in Iron Man 2 is Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell). Hammer owns a rival tech company that’s desperate to do just about anything to put itself ahead of Stark Enterprises… even if it means performing less than legal actions. Iron Man 2 makes Hammer look like a dumbed down version of Tony Stark, but his character serves an important role in the overall plot of Iron Man 2. Plus, Rockwell is a great actor and does a great job portraying Justin Hammer.

Best Scene(s)

The final fight in Iron Man 2 may be disappointing, but the action sequence right before it is anything but! Right before Whiplash arrives, Iron Man and his new sidekick War Machine are surrounded by drones and are forced to open up a can of whoop ass on their enemies. It’s a solid few minutes of  hero/side kick action that’s a great introduction for War Machine. It’s the beginning of a beautiful tag team that’ll be with us for the rest of the MCU.

However, there’s another scene in the movie that deserves recognition. As fans of the MCU know, Iron Man 2 is the movie that introduced fans to Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, and boy does she get an intro! Towards the end of the movie, Black Widow and Tony’s assistant Happy go to Justin Hammer’s HQ to help Tony, and when they get there, Black Widow takes down a myriad of Hammer’s men in a way that fans of hers have wanted to see for ages! Johansson was the absolute perfect choice for the role, and Black Widow couldn’t have had a better introduction!

Stan Lee Cameo

This one is short, sweet, and right at the beginning of the movie. After the Stark Expo, Tony is leaving with Happy and we the audience are seeing everything through Tony’s eyes. While making his way through the crowd, Tony runs into the one and only Larry King, except it’s not Larry King it’s none other than Stan Lee! It’s amusing to see, but a bit short compared to his other cameos in the MCU.

Post Credits Scene

Yay universe building! We find Coulsen on assignment in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, and he’s finally found “it.” But what’s “it” you say? Why, it’s none other than Mjolnir!!!! Back in the day, fans were ecstatic to finally get a look at Marvel’s Thor on the big screen! The audience only gets a quick glimpse at Thor’s hammer, but it was enough to get fans excited for the introduction of a new superhero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Final Thoughts 

Like The Incredible Hulk, I don’t understand why this movie got so much negativity upon its release. It has an above average villain, two great new superhero introduction, and it has more of the delightful Tony Stark banter that fans have come to love! It’s by no means groundbreaking, but it’s a film that Marvel fans can enjoy and watch for a good dose of action. The best in the MCU? Not by any means, but it’s also not the worst.

To Infinity and Beyond: The Incredible Hulk

We’re now onto film #2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! As Nick Fury said in the end of Iron Man, Tony wasn’t the only superhero in the world, and this week we take a look at The Incredible Hulk!

Plot

After a lab accident involving gamma radiation, Bruce Banner (played by Edward Norton) has a monster living inside of him; a being of limitless power known as the Hulk. After the accident, Bruce flees the country and goes into hiding from the military that wants nothing more than to turn the Hulk into a weapon. While in hiding, Bruce collaborates with a scientist dubbed Mr. Blue in search of a way to rid himself of the Hulk for good.

Villain

There are two main villains in The Incredible Hulk. The primary villain that Hulk faces off against is a military soldier by the name of Emil Blonsky (played by Tim Roth). Blonsky isn’t getting any younger but still has that fighting instinct in him. Refusing to rank up and “leave the trenches,” Blonsky takes part in an old “super soldier” experiment (more on that in Captain America). That with a mix of the radiation that turned Banner into Hulk, Blonsky becomes Abomination. This makes the “villain is just an evil version of the hero” count to two! Abomination is a somewhat bland villain at first glance but if you dig deeper he’s actually a pretty relatable character. He’s someone that’s scared of his own mortality. He wasn’t really evil until he poisoned his mind with radiation.

The secondary antagonist is General “Thunder” Ross (played by William Hurt) who is partially responsible for the Hulk’s creation. He’s also the one leading the charge in the military’s attempts to bring Bruce in and turn the Hulk into a weapon against their enemies. He doesn’t have any big flashy fight scenes like Abomination does, but he is integral to Hulk’s origin.

Best Scene

The best scene in The Incredible Hulk is undoubtedly the final fight between Hulk and Abomination in New York. Hulk gets to do what he does best: smash, and it is glorious. The fight just gets progressively more intense and its considerably more violent than any of the action in Iron Man. It’s also the best showcase of Hulk’s abilities. He falls thousands of feet smashing into cement and brushes it off like it’s nothing. He manages to extinguish a massive explosion by CLAPPING. Then finally, he yells his iconic line “HULK SMASH!!!” and causes a massive tremor that ultimately leads to Abomination’s defeat. You expect the final showdown in a movie to be its best and The Incredible Hulk definitely doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

Stan Lee Cameo

This cameo happens very early in the film. While hiding in Brazil, Bruce works at a soda factory. Bruce cuts his finger and unknowingly spills a drop of his gamma radiated blood into one of the bottles that’s about to be shipped. A few scenes later we hear from one of General Ross’s soldiers that someone died from gamma poisoning via a soda he had consumed. The victim? None other than poor Stan Lee of course!

BONUS CAMEO

It would be wrong of me to write about cameos and not mention Lou Ferrigno’s cameo! Bruce disguises himself as a pizza man and tries to sneak into his old lab and obtain his gamma experiment data, but he’s stopped by the hulking security guard played by Lou Ferrigno. Ferrigno stops Bruce, but Bruce is able to win Ferrigno over with free pizza. It’s an amusing scene for anyone that knows of or was a fan of the old Hulk TV show.

Post Credits Scene

This is actually the first MCU post credits scene I saw and that’s mostly because this played almost immediately after the actual movie was over. General Ross is at a bar drinking his sorrows away after Bruce managed to escape yet again. After downing his drinks like they’re water, none other than Tony Stark himself walks in basically saying “I told you so” about using the super soldier serum in the military. Tony says he’s able to help Ross with his Hulk problem because he’s “putting a team together.” Step by step we are getting closer to the Avengers assembling!

Final Thoughts

For whatever reason when people rank the MCU movies, The Incredible Hulk almost always ends up being considered one of the worst. I just don’t understand the reasoning why. It’s definitely not the best MCU movie but in no way is it one of the worst. I appreciate how The Incredible Hulk essentially skips the part in all origin movies where the hero gets their powers. The Incredible Hulk shows the origination of Bruce’s powers throughout the intro credits. Short and sweet, and it gives the film more freedom to differentiate itself from every other origin movie. The film has great action sequences and gives good fan service to those that grew up loving the Hulk. If anything, I think we can all agree that The Incredible Hulk was infinitely better than that abomination of a film that was Ang Lee’s “Hulk.”

To Infinity and Beyond: Iron Man

The Last Jedi has come and gone meaning the next massive blockbuster for nerds everywhere to look forward to is none other than Avengers: Infinity War! Ten years and eighteen movies later, the MCU is finally coming to the end of its tale. Marvel has created an incredible universe for its fans and in honor of Infinity War finally coming this May, I’ve decided to look back on every film of the MCU. Each week I’ll be looking at a film and recounting its plot, villain(s), the film’s best action scene, the stan lee cameo, and the post credits scene. This week we’re going with the movie that started it all: Iron Man!

Plot

Billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark has inherited his father, Howard Stark’s, company Stark Industries. With the help of Obadiah Stane, Tony has helped continue Stark Industries’s legacy in the arms business. However, after Tony is captured by terrorists using his own weapons, he vows to make sure his company never helps evil again. With the help of a fellow captive, Tony is not only revived from a near death experience, but also is able to escape in a suit of armor he himself designed. With a second chance at life, Tony decides to become a symbol of peace by becoming the superhero Iron Man.

Villain

Gasp! The villain was Obadiah Stane, Tony’s partner! Obadiah builds his own version of the Iron Man suit and becomes Warmonger! Although it was pretty obvious that Stane was going to end up being the villain for the film, he was a great villain. He was smart and ruthless. He hired terrorists to hide the fact that Tony’s death was his own doing, and at one point of the film he rips out Tony’s arc reactor which is what keeps him alive! He also has a great final fight with Tony, even though it has a pretty lame ending. For starters, once his targeting computer dies, he has the absolute worst aim and then he dies via electrocution. Obadiah is also the one that started the Marvel trend of villains being the “evil version of the hero.” More on that with later films in the MCU though.

Best Scene

The best action scene in my humble opinion has to be when Iron Man returns to Gulmira (where he was held hostage by terrorists) and saves the villagers. It’s the first real look at the Iron Man suit in action and it’s incredible! The two highlights are when Iron Man locks on and kills terrorists holding villagers hostage and also when he fires a tiny missile to destroy an entire tank! It showed just how great the Iron Man suit was. A close runner up has to be the ending of the film when Tony admits that he is in fact Iron Man. So much for secret identities.

Stan Lee Cameo

Ah the Stan Lee cameo, a Marvel tradition! There have been Marvel films before this with Stan Lee cameos, but this one is particularly great. Stan Lee can be found attending a company party surrounded by a group of gorgeous women. Tony approaches him from behind and says, “You look great Heff!” Stan’s still got game!

Post Credits Scene

This is the post credits scene that made the world obsessed with post credits scenes. It’s arguably still the best post credits scene Marvel has ever done. Tony returns home after defeating Warmonger to find a man waiting for him. He introduces himself as Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) and says this line that left Marvel fans everywhere shook:

“I am Iron Man. You think you’re the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark you’ve become part of a bigger universe, you just don’t know it yet.”

Tony: “Who the hell are you?”

Nick Fury: “Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD. I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”

It was the beginning of something that hadn’t really been done before. Multiple franchises were going to come together and be in the same world. We all hoped it was going to be as amazing as it sounded back then. Needless to say, I think Marvel succeeded.

Final Thoughts

Yes, this movie was pretty predictable, but it was the beginning of something that would change Hollywood forever. If this movie flopped, the entire idea would’ve likely been tossed to the wayside. Thankfully, Robert Downey Jr. put on a career defining performance as the titular hero, and Jon Favreau created an exciting origin story that helped make Iron Man the iconic superhero that he is today. Marvel has introduced many new heroes into the MCU, but Iron Man still stands tall as one of the best.