WITH the arrival of Avengers: Endgame, we look at all the films that played a vital part in carrying the story forward.
-> IRON MAN (2008)
The first movie in the pantheon, we meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) who assumes the mantle of Iron Man. This is also the movie that introduced us to S.H.I.E.L.D., with a post-credits scene of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) telling Stark about the “Avenger Initiative”.
-> THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)
This is the movie that most people don’t connect to the MCU. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is seeking a cure from turning into his alter ego, the Hulk, but the Army wants to capture and experiment on him. The movie ends with Stark promising a way to contain the Hulk.
-> IRON MAN 2 (2010)
Here we learn more about S.H.I.E.L.D., and meet Natasha Romanov aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johanssen) as well as War Machine, piloted by James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). The film ends with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) reporting the discovery of a large hammer in New Mexico.
-> THOR (2011)
Presented almost as a Shakespearean drama, this film sees Thor (Chris Hemsworth) being exiled from Asgard to Earth, where he meets Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and has to stop his evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) from taking over the world. This film also introduces us to Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).
-> CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
The film shows weakling Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) journey to becoming Captain America during WWII. He is aided by agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) and Rogers’ best friend, James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes (Sebastian Stan). We also have our first look at the Tesseract, a mysterious object that plays a big role in later films.
-> THE AVENGERS (2012)
This is the film that truly cemented the MCU’s status as a pop culture phenomenon, where Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk (now played by Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow and Hawkeye band together to stop an alien invasion led by the Chitauri, who have struck a deal with a Tesseract-wielding Loki. A mid-credit scene introduces the ultimate main villain, Thanos.
-> IRON MAN 3 (2013)
Stark takes on The Mandarin, later revealed to be Stark’s rival Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). The film delves a little deeper into Stark’s fears and PTSD, and ends with Stark undergoing surgery to remove the shrapnel near his heart and getting rid of his arc reactor
-> THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)
Thor reunites with brother Loki when Jane Foster is infected by the Aether, a weapon that is being sought by the Dark Elves who are led by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston). By the end of the film, the Dark Elves have been defeated, Loki fakes his own death, and the Aether is revealed to be an Infinity Stone.
-> CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
In a shocking twist, H.Y.D.R.A. has destroyed most of S.H.I.E.L.D. We are introduced to the assassin known as the Winter Soldier, who turns out to be Roger’s friend Bucky, as well as twins Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron-Taylor Johnson), who have been genetically mutated to develop superpowers.
-> GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)
Taking the story to space, we meet the roguish Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) who later forms the Guardians of the Galaxy with Thanos’ daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), tree-like creature Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Bautista). There is a fight over an orb which turns out to be a third Infinity Stone.
-> AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)
Stark has to fight his creation, Ultron, who is aided by Wanda and Pietro, with another creation, Vision (voiced by Paul Bettany), who is powered by an Infinity Stone brought by Thor. By the end, Ultron has been defeated, Pietro is killed, Wanda joins the team, Hulk flies into space, and Hawkeye retires from the field.
The film ends with a new line-up of Avengers, and a mid-credits scene with Thanos declaring he will gather the Infinity Stones himself.
-> ANT-MAN (2015)
Ex-con Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) becomes the superhero Ant-Man with the help of scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Pym’s daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly). Beside stopping Pym’s former protegee Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) from using his own suit for nefarious purposes, he also has a memorable fight with Sam Wilson aka Falcon (Anthony Mackie).
-> CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
A clash of idealogies sets Stark and Rogers on opposing sides in the ultimate superhero brawl. Two new heroes, T’Challa aka Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland), as well as one of the best MCU villains, Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), appear in this film.
-> DOCTOR STRANGE (2016)
This film shows how arrogant surgeon Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) suffers a humbling accident and is taught the Mystic Arts by the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), which he uses to battle Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelson) to save the world from the Dark Dimension. We also learn that Strange’s talisman is actually another Infinity Stone.
-> GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (2017)
This film goes for the heart. While Gamora tries to reconnect with her estranged sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), Quill is introduced to his father (Kurt Russell), who turns out to be a murderous sentient planet.
-> SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
A teenage Peter Parker strives to win the approval of his reluctant mentor, Stark. He manages to stop the Vulture (Michael Keaton) from stealing Avengers weapons, but is unable to prevent his Aunt May from discovering his secret identity.
-> THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)
Thor discovers Loki is alive, and they meet their diabolical sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) who manages to destroy Asgard. Along the way, Thor finds Hulk and the last Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) on a distant planet. At the end, Asgard gets destroyed, and as the survivors head for a new home, they encounter Thanos’ ship.
-> BLACK PANTHER (2018)
The film that introduced the world to the technologically-advanced, but isolated, nation of Wakanda, protected by its king, T’Challa aka the Black Panther, and its Vibranium weapons, crafted by his sister Shuri (Letitia Wright). It shows T’Challa’s journey to kingship and his decision to open up the country and share its tech with the world.
-> AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)
After 10 years of build-up, Thanos finally arrives and kickstarts our heroes’ toughest battle yet. Thanos’ finger snap kills off half the universe, including many of our superheroes, as Nick Fury manages to send out a signal for help just before dying.
-> ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018)
This movie may hold the key to how the heroes undo what Thanos has done. Hank and Hope manage to open a tunnel to the quantum realm to rescue Hank’s wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). While Lang is exploring in the quantum realm, the other three disappear with Thanos’ snap, leaving Lang trapped inside the realm.
-> CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
The arrival of the character who will take charge of the next stage of MCU: Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) goes from cold, amnesiac alien soldier to a determined warrior for justice. She is expected to be the heavy hitter in the upcoming battle with Thanos.
-> AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)
Based on the trailers, you know that Lang makes it back from the quantum realm, and Captain Marvel has returned to Earth. How the surviving members of the Avengers can possibly come up with a plan to defeat Thanos remains to be seen, but one can only hope the three-hour running time is worth the wait.
