After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
“I want you to break in and steal some shit,” Hank Pym. INTRODUCTION The story of Ant-Man is closely tied to Hank Pym, however, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe we don’t get Hank’s story. Instead, we are told the story of Scott Lang, the passing of the torch (or the costume) in the MCU. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the twelfth film in Marvel’s continuity. We finally get to see Ant-Man, one of the founding members of the Avengers. PLOT The film opens with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) meeting with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark at S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1989. Hank is upset that his Pym Particles have been used against his will. This quickly introduces the Ant-Man and his shrinking technology. We then meet ex-convict Scott Lang and his daughter, his primary motive for being a good person. At this point, the MCU villains are starting to feel stale. All the shrinking scenes are unique and different from anything we’ve seen up to this point. Origin films in the MCU seem to feel more inventive because there are no expectations. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” “Ant-Man” is expected to be a big part of “Endgame.” He wasn’t around in “Infinity War” due to the fact that he is stuck in the Quantum Realm. What will happen, we don’t know. STAN LEE CAMEO Stan Lee’s cameo comes very late in the film during the last scene of the movie. This scene is one of Louis’ stories and Stan is a bartender in the story. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. There are two end credit scenes in “Ant-Man.” The first scene shows Hank Pym introducing Hope Pym to The Wasp costume. Hank tells Hope that he is going to train her. She says, “it’s about time.” The second end credit scene is lifted directly from “Civil War.” The scene shows Captain America and Falcon on the lam from the government and have captured Bucky Barnes. They are in need of recruits and Falcon says, “I know a guy,” referring to Scott Lang. CONCLUSION “Ant-Man” proves that not every Marvel film has to be a big, grand spectacle. Sometimes a small hero and small film does just as fine. It also proves that small films can have big stakes in the overall story. Finally, “Ant-Man” proves that we don’t know what version of these heroes we are going to see on screen. It could have easily been a story about how Hank Pym became Ant-Man but instead, in the MCU, Scott Lang is Ant-Man. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). “Ant-Man” is an almost perfect origin story as great as “Iron Man.” I decided to put it in the number five spot after “Iron Man” because that film did it first.
HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 69 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia
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After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
There are no strings on me. INTRODUCTION The Avengers reassemble for the first time in three years. After Iron Man retires, Captain America sees the downfall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Thor has a run-in with an Infinity Stone, all the stories so far collide in the sequel to the first team-up movie. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the eleventh film in the MCU and the last film overseen by the Marvel Studios Creative Committee (although they still had a significant effect on “Ant-Man.” The committee was made up of comic book writers and toymakers. They may have cared about the films, but ultimately money was the driving force, including changing stories and casting decisions to sell more toys. Kevin Fiege went to Bob Iger and asked to report directly to Disney. He was granted that access and since that time, marvel films have taken more risks, been story-driven, and focus on one film at a time. PLOT “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is a little convoluted. I’m hoping some of the biggest headscratchers in this film will be answered in Endgame. There are a ton of great scenes in this film including when Cap almost lifts Thor’s hammer. It was great to see so many scenes with the Avengers working together. Even the opening scene felt like a comic book opening. When Tony creates Ultron to make the world a better place, he ultimately creates one of the teams biggest villains. Using the mind stone, Ultron creates Vision, one of my favorite MCU heroes. We are also introduced to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch and Black Widow and Hawkeye have plenty of time to shine. The end of this movie sets up so much for “Civil War,” “Ragnarok,” and “Infinity War.” WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” “Age of Ultron” seems to set up the most for “Endgame.” There is a scene where Tony envisions the deaths of all of his friends and he is the only one alive. This is similar to how “Infinity War” played out. I am also hoping to see more scenes between Natasha and Banner. Tony even said, “Up there, that’s the endgame” in this movie. STAN LEE CAMEO Stan Lee said that the “age of Ultron” cameo was his favorite cameo. It makes sense, with Stan being a veteran and this scene has him with fellow veterans partying with the Avengers. After Stan takes a bet to drink alcohol from Asgard, he is escorted out while he drunkenly says his famous line “Excelsior!” END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. The end-credit scene is pretty lame. I can say that now and I should have said that then too. Thanos appears on screen, wields the gauntlet and says “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” In the theatre during this scene I remember thinking, “Oh no, it’s going down!” But It was another three year wait, as I already knew, before we would see Thanos again. CONCLUSION “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is an important addition to the MCU. I fully think that one messy film is a great track-record to help the payoff of all the other films. This film deserves more than the bad rep that it got. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is problematic. It is full of too many storylines and too many characters. As a movie buff, that’s bad. As a marvel fan…I loved it. I have a hard time seeing the problems as actual problems. For this reason, I am giving the film the fifth spot on my list, just above the original. This doesn’t mean it is better than the original Avengers movie, but I did have more fun watching it.
HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 76 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends? What a bunch of A-holes. INTRODUCTION Never before has a movie like this taken a group of unknown characters, created an almost perfect movie, and explode overnight. “Guardians of the Galaxy” is polar opposite of every other film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it pays off for that reason. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the tenth film in the MCU and it is funny. Not only is it a space opera with almost no connective tissue to any other MCU film, it also took characters that weren’t well-known and made them into a lovable crew. Director James Gunn created a galaxy that is unique, intriguing and beautiful. The soundtrack alone makes this one of the best films in Marvel’s lineup. PLOT “Guardians of the Galaxy” sees Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, a human who was abducted when he was a boy and raised with space pirates. We also meet Vin Diesel’s Groot (a talking tree) and Bradley Cooper’s Rocket (a talking Racoon). This is the first acting job for Dave Bautista, an MMA fighter turned actor, who portrays Drax the Destroyer. Zoe Saldana plays Gamora, daughter of Thanos. The team comes together while everyone is searching for a mysterious orb that contains an infinity stone. The film does a lot to connect why Thanos and infinity stones are important to the bigger picture. This is the first time we get to see Josh Brolin as Thanos. The heroes go up against Ronan the Accuser, a terrorist looking to destroy worlds and working for Thanos. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” Now that Rocket is the last living Guardian, I am eager to see how the cosmic side of the MCU will go on. Especially considering plans for a “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” have been tanked due to James Gunn being fired, the future is unclear. STAN LEE CAMEO Stan’s cameo is small in this scene as he appears towards the beginning and seems to be hitting on a girl. Rocket calls him a “class A pervert.” END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. There are two credit scenes. The first is the infamous “dancing baby Groot” scene and the second scene sees the collector setting in the ruins of his collection where Howard the Duck tells him that he shouldn’t let Cosmo the dog lick him because it’s “gross.” Both scenes are just for fun. CONCLUSION “Guardians of the Galaxy” is one of the most visually-stunning films in the MCU and had a lot on its plate. The fact that it came out on top and is beloved by many fans is incredible. The fact that the film made me cry over a tree is remarkable. The heroes saved the galaxy with a dance-off. That’s all anyone needs to know about this movie. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). “Guardians of The Galaxy” is important to me because it came out at an important time in my life. The soundtrack shaped my life and the characters were relatable. The only reason I am putting this film in my number one spot instead of number two is because the film is more fun that “Winter Soldier.” Sure, the argument can be made that the latter is a better film, but because this is my list, I had to put this first.
HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 83 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends? “On your left.” Captain America INTRODUCTION In this film, we finally get to see Captain America readjusting to life now in the 21st century. The film is funny and action-packed and is one of the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the ninth film in the MCU and the directors, Joe and Anthony Russo (who go on to direct “Civil War,” “Infinity War,” and “Endgame”) pull out all the stops for this spy thriller superhero buddy comedy. This is the first time that we start to see that a Marvel movie doesn’t have to always look the same. The studio knows that it can take universe-altering risks and I believe without the risks, we wouldn’t be in the place we are today in MCU. PLOT “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is charming and wonderful. The film starts out with a clever gag where Captain America meets Sam Wilson while both on their morning runs. Cap literally runs circles around Sam and the pair hit it off right from the beginning. The film is full of clever stuff like this such as Steve keeping a notebook full of pop culture that he is missed out on or him telling Sam that he has ben reading the internet. Cap feels human and for the first time we are seeing the result of a man misplaced in time. We are finally seeing his reunion with a now old and senile Peggy Carter and there are quips about Cap needing to start dating. Cap visits a museum where his history is laid out and honestly, his entire story is one of the hardest to accept in the MCU as it is the most tragic. Black Widow, Maria Hill, and Nick Fury are also in this movie with Black Widow growing so much from the first scene to the last scene in this story. The film has the perfect amount of action and comedy and has so many consequences for all of the movies that follow it. In fact, it has the most connections to the other films. The film had the balls to kill Nick Fury (albeit not permanently) and there are still quotes from the film that I’m curious about how they might pay off. (Black Widow’s past being leaked might come up in the Black Widow movie and we might find out how Nick Fury lost his eye in Captain Marvel.) WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” The film showed us the fates of all the characters in it. Maria Hill works for Stark, Nick Fury goes into hiding, Black Widow begins to be herself, Falcon becomes a new soldier and Avenger, Cap goes after Bucky (setting up “Civil War”) and Cross Bones and Sharon Carter each get threads to tie into upcoming films. STAN LEE CAMEO Stan’s scene comes after Captain America steals his old uniform from a museum that Stan works at. Stan says, “Oh man, I am so fired.” END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. This end credit scene helps to set up “Age of Ultron but also had so much potential in the MCU that hasn’t really happened yet. We see Baron Von Strucker (of Hydra) using the mind stone in Loki’s staff. He proceeds to say that we are now in the “age of miracles” and we get our first loo at Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch who are being used as weapons of Hydra. The second scene we see Bucky learning of his past life. CONCLUSION “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” sees the downfall of SHIELD, Bucky’s return as the Winter Soldier and so many other connections, including a Stephen Strange name drop. The film is a masterpiece. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is easily one of the best movies in the MCU. It has a lot of heart, comedy and action. It also has some of the biggest ramifications for the Marvel universe as a whole connecting to almost every film before it and after it. For this reason, I decided that the Captain America sequel deserved to take the number one spot just barely dethroning its predecessor.
HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 90 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
“While the others appear as stones, the Aether is fluid.” - Odin INTRODUCTION After the events of “Avengers” Thor and Loki return to Asgard where Loki is locked up for his transgressions. Meanwhile, Jane Foster is handling the loss of Thor and waiting for him to return. The world has changed since Thor was last on Earth. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the eighth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the middle of Thor’s character arc. Thor has the weakest sequel in the MCU but still is significantly better than the original, simply based on the fact that his eyebrows looked better. PLOT “Thor: The Dark World” is a lackluster film that barely has any ties to the previous films of the MCU. However, it sets up many different threads that are important to the rest of the series. Malekith, a dark elf, rises with the hopes to control the Aether and plunge the nine realms into darkness. Thor must team up with Loki, his criminal brother, after their mother’s death and he must reunite with Jane Foster to save all the realms. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” This is the first time we learn about the infinity stones and their powers. We start to learn about the other Nine Realms and the galaxy is expanding. This sets the precedent for “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Infinity War.” STAN LEE CAMEO Stan has a brief cameo in this film. He resides in a nursing home and asks for his shoe back after Eric Selvig uses it to explain the worlds aligning. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. Anyone paying attention to the end credits scene in Avengers knows that there is a threat looming. That threat was confirmed to be Thanos but at this moment, audiences didn’t know what he was searching for until now: There are two credit scenes in “Thor: The Dark World.” One scene is a short glimpse at Thor returning to Earth and kissing Jane Foster, but the second scene is much more important to the future of the MCU. We see Lady Sif entering a strange room with the aether. She is guided to a strangely-dressed Benicio Del Toro which is the first time we got to see his character, The Collector, on screen before he returns in “Guardians of The Galaxy.” He is offered the aether and The Collector asks The Asgardians why not keep the aether on Asgard. They reply, “It’s not safe to keep two infinity stones so close together.” This reveals that not only is the aether an infinity stone, but so is the tesseract. And not only is Thanos trying to collect the stones, so is The Collector. CONCLUSION “Thor: The Dark World” is forgettable in many ways but it is beautifully shot, excellently acted, and important to the MCU as a whole. However, no matter how many times I watch it, I can not stay interested. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). “Thor: The Dark World” has been the hardest film to rank so far. On one hand, the film fixes so many of my biggest issues with the first Thor movie, meanwhile, it creates a bunch of other issues. I enjoyed the story, the acting and the cinematography, but for some reason I just can’t connect with the film. I’ve decided to put this film in the number seven spot.
Today I will also be rewatching “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 93 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
“Fortune cookies are an American Invention…” – Trevor INTRODUCTION After the hopeful ending in “Avengers” that saw our heroes separate but left us with the hope that they will come back together again one day, we get to see Tony Stark’s life after New York. While his life hasn’t been too great, as he is dealing with PTSD, but “Iron Man 3” is a charming film that doesn’t shy away from the repercussions of an alien invasion. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the seventh movie in the MCU and in my opinion is the last Marvel movie I watched without any expectations. Every film now has to out-due the last and dodge “superhero fatigue” but “Iron Man 3” proved that Marvel is a powerhouse and that their films weren’t going to end just because they saw success in their first phase. The MCU has many stories left to tell. PLOT “Iron Man 3” introduces the audiences to The Mandarin, a terrorist who goes after Tony, forcing him to deal with his PTSD and become Iron Man again. Now, I admit that I didn’t love “Iron Man 3” when it first came out, but now, looking back, it is one of my favorite MCU films. Tony deals with real life consequences and events. He isn’t a superhero or a god. He’s a playboy, billionaire, philanthropist who makes a lot of mistakes. In this film, one of those mistakes is giving his address to a terrorist and asking them to challenge him. Another mistake is treating a man so poorly in 1999, that he ultimately becomes a super villain. Yes, the Mandarin is not Ben Kingsley, like we all thought. The big twist in “Iron Man 3” is that Ben Kingsley plays a man named Trevor who is just an actor posing as the Mandarin. This twist upset a lot of fans and ultimately it derails the film a bit. The last third of the movie can become confusing, but it is still better than the second half of “Iron Man 2.” The film concludes the “Iron Man” trilogy of films and we see Tony finally having an operation to get rid of the shrapnel around his heart. Though he doesn’t have an arc reactor anymore, his last line lets us know that he is still Iron Man. Also, we get to see Pepper Potts be bad-ass. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” There have been rumors that “Endgame” will see Pepper suit up again, as well as rumors that there will be time-traveling and bad-guy team-ups. If any of this is true we can expect a few references to the events of “Iron Man 3.” STAN LEE CAMEO Stan’s cameos have been mediocre for the last few movies. This film doesn’t even give him any lines but instead has him holding up a score at a beauty pageant. The pageant has no reason to be in the film and I think it was just placed there to give Stan a cameo (which I am okay with because I think he deserves to be in every movie. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. Anyone expecting answers to that Thanos reveal in “Avengers” or hints at what to expect from the second phase of the MCU was disappointed when the only end credit scene in “Iron Man 3” was a scene between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner as Tony is venting to Bruce and Bruce says. “I’m not that kind of doctor.” The scene is humorous and light-hearted and was a perfect way to let fans know that now every film has to set up another. CONCLUSION “Iron Man 3” is fun and reminds me of a time when the MCU wasn’t on a huge pedestal. It was still having fun and doing whatever it wanted without fear of angering the fans. The last sentence at the end of the credits is “Tony Stark Will Return” and fans knew this wasn’t the end of his story. That said, it could have been. That’s what makes this film so great is that it treats Tony with the respect he deserves and gives him a great character arc first and foremost. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). “Iron Man 3” was a significant improvement over “Iron Man 2” but wasn’t good enough to break into the top three.
Next week we will catch back up with Thor in “Thor: The Dark World.” AND we will also continue the adventures of a modern Captain America in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” (Due to “Avengers: Endgame” being pushed up a week to April, I am moving my scheduling up a week and covering two films this week.) HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 97 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
It’s all been leading up to this… INTRODUCTION Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” was the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that a group of characters from their own individual movies had ever crossed over into one blockbuster experience. The film made over $1.5 billion and is the third-highest-grossing film of all time. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the sixth movie in the MCU an features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, Chris Evan’s Captain America, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg returns as Agent Couslon, Gwenyth Paltrow returns as Pepper Potts, Stellan Skarsgard returns as Eric Selvig, and Tom Hiddleston returns as Loki. This film set the precedence for every movie in the Marvel Universe afterwards. They all needed cameos, comedy, and a ton of cash flung their way. PLOT “Marvel’s The Avengers” sees Loki coming to Earth to retrieve the Tesseract, and bring with him an alien invasion. Hawkeye, and Eric Selvig are taken and mind-controlled into doing Loki’s bidding. This causes Nick Fury to initiate the “Avengers Initiative” and all of the heroes are brought together for the first time. The film is so much fun and because of the five movies that came before it, it doesn’t feel like a movie but rather a two-hour finale. Due to this, the film feels short even though it really isn’t. The movie deconstructs the Avengers just as much as it pushes them together. There are so many great lines of dialogue that come from the characters quipping with one-another. When Coulson’s death brings the team together, it feels believable because at this point we know what makes each of the heroes tick. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” Aside from the obvious cameo at the end, this film does a lot to cement the Marvel Universe. It puts everything in motion. The entire world now knows that superheroes and aliens exist. S.H.I.E.L.D. must now deal with the looming threats publicly. The characters now aren’t on their own. The audience expects to hear about the other players because we now know they are out there. In fact, every movie has been expected to build off this premise of “our heroes must team up.” Practically every movie after the Avengers is team-up movies. There aren’t any more solo-outings and “Avengers: Endgame” will likely be the biggest team-up of all, if that is even possible after last years “Infinity War.” STAN LEE CAMEO Stan’s cameos have been pretty generic one-liners but this is one of the first (out of three, I believe) that really puts him even further in the background. Here, Stan’s line “heroes, in New York? Give me a break,” is said on a TV monitor. The film doesn’t even acknowledge Stan’s presence and many fans probably missed this one. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. There are two credit scenes for “Avengers.” The first is the most important one. We hear the Chitauri talking to someone saying that humans are smarter than they thought. He says, “to challenge them is to court death” and then we see him. Our first introduction to Thanos as he (at that point just a CGI rendering) turns around and smiles at the camera. Most fans didn’t know who this was and honestly, I was confused at first too. By the next year, everyone knew who he was and we were all talking about wen we would see him next. (Spoiler alert, we got a few glimpses of Thanos but he doesn’t become the big bad until 2018’s “Infinity War.”) The second credits scene is a gag at a line where Stark says, “We should get shawarma after this.” The scene sees the gang eating shawarma in silence. CONCLUSION “Avengers” is a monumental moment in pop culture history. It was hard to think anything could ever be bigger than that but each year, Marvel and Disney proves that something can. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). This week’s movie was hard to rank. I really, really love “Avengers” but I didn’t find it fair to put it above “Captain America” or “Iron Man” because those movies had to do a lot of heavy lifting with only one character, no background, and less money. So, I decided to put “Avengers” in my number three slot, just above the other films in Marvel’s Phase One.
Next week we will start Phase Two with “Iron Man 3.” HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 105 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
He’s the star-spangled man with a plan. INTRODUCTION Captain America is the last Avenger to be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One leading up to The Avengers. However, he is the first avenger, setting the stage in this universe for Iron Man, the Hulk, and Thor. Though he didn’t know it, in 1942 a super-soldier was born and the rest is history, HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE This is the fifth movie in the MCU. With this film, every major player in Marvel’s The Avengers has been introduced. One might think that means this movie already had a standard set but each film in the first phase of the MCU has a different style and heart-beat. Captain America: The First Avenger is a war film with the same humor as Iron Man but with a more outlandish plot than Thor. The sci-fi elements of this film really helps to set a tone for the rest of the MCU going forward. Captain America rounds out a team of superheroes by adding the humanity into the group. PLOT Captain America: The First Avenger opens in modern day Antarctica where a pane has been found frozen in the ice. The individuals searching the plane find Captain America’s shield frozen inside. The film then cuts to Norway in 1942 where we meet The Red Skull searching for the Tesseract, an ancient artifact said to have come from Odin’s throne room. (An obvious tie-in for Thor, but fitting.) We then meet Steve Rogers who is Chris Evan’s head on a skinny person’s body. We are expected to believe this “tiny” Steve Rogers for the first quarter of the film until eventually he is given the super-soldier serum and becomes THE Captain America. The most important thing about Steve Rogers is his courage and honor. He is a man with a strong belief system and integrity. It is ironic that though he wants to fight, he gets used as Propaganda for almost a year while Bucky and the other soldiers are fighting the real fight. When Steve gets onto the battlefield and the movie starts to ramp up, that is when this film really shines. We see the Red Skull rip off his fake human face to reveal a red deformed face. This is a great piece of work by the make-up department and great acting by Hugo Weaving. I love the scene after Cap’s death where there are children in the street with a shield. This proves that Cap inspires a generation that grows up to produce the other Avengers. Cap going down with the plane is also too sad to watch. It is only bearable because I know he wakes up at the end in the future. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” For a long time we wondered what happened to Red Skull and then we found out in Avengers: Infinity War. I think that if time travel will really take place in the next film, 1942 is for sure to be an important time to revisit. STAN LEE CAMEO Stan has another one-line cameo at a ceremony honoring Captain America. When Cap doesn’t show up, another man steps on stage to inform the presenter and we see a fully uniformed Stan Lee say, “I thought he’d be taller,” mistaking the man for Captain America. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. This end credits scene starts with Cap boxing and Nick fury showing up to offer him a mission. The scene then turns into a full-blown trailer for The Avengers and fans went crazy seeing this for the first time. It breaks the mold of adding a scene but rather shows footage from the next film. CONCLUSION Captain America is the most entertaining and likeable film in the MCU so far. It is better-paced than The Incredible Hulk, funny and more honorable a character than Iron Man and is just more interesting than Thor. In my opinion, Captain America: The First Avenger is the best MCU film in all of phase one. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). This week’s movie is my favorite MCU film so far and easily shot to the number one spot.
Next week we will finally see the culmination of the first phase in the MCU. We will finally see the Avengers team up. HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 112 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
Whoever be so worthy to lift Mjolnir will possess the power of Thor… INTRODUCTION The third Avenger to be introduced with their own movie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Thor Odinson: The God of Thunder. In a film that goes towards the opposite direction of the rest of the Phase One stories, the audience looks to the stars where Thor is prince of Asgard. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Now four films into the MCU, it was no secret that the movies connected threads were all leading up to an Avengers movie. Iron Man 2 basically paved the way for that film to be made, and Thor comes along just in time to shake up that superhero formula. See, while Thor is still technically an origin story, the character has already been a hero for many centuries. In fact, the interesting thing about this film is that it strips the hero of his powers for the majority of the film in order that he might learn a lesson about leadership. Most of this film was shot on a soundstage or on location in New Mexico. For this reason, the look and feel is very different from the other three MCU movies at this point. It is a fantastical adventure set in a faraway world where gods exist. However, the biggest problem of the movie is that Asgard is utilized all that much. PLOT Thor opens up with a scene on Earth where scientists, Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) Stellan Skarsgard, and Kat Dennings are chasing a cosmic storm (or seismic activity). When Thor lands on earth, the trio hits him with their car knocking him unconscious. This scene is great by itself, however, then we go to Asgard to learn how Thor got banished to Earth (Midgard). This backstory takes 30 minutes but feels so much longer because a whole lot of stuff is happening yet nothing at all. Thor is to be king. He attacks the Frost Giants and basically goes against a treaty that prevents war. Boom, banished. With his old-English dialect, his unearned confidence and habit for making stupid decisions, it is hard to care about this fish-out-of-water story, especially when Chris Hemsworth’s eyebrows are bleached blonde. (The worst part of the film.) The movie is so forgettable and long that it is hard to believe this is the cosmic universe that paved the way for Guardians of the Galaxy. All the scenes on Earth are charming, but it makes me wish the first half was retooled to make us care more about Thor. I also wish Jane Foster had more to do in the film, or even the Warrior Three and Lady Sif. They all felt wooden. Then there’s that final battle against the destroyer which is just garbage. That said, for what this film is, it was great as a fourth installment of a connected universe. However, now we know that Marvel movies can be so much better. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” The introduction for Thor is important to the set up for “Endgame.” I truly believe Thor will have a big role in taking down Thanos and avenging Asgard. STAN LEE CAMEO There is another great, hilarious Stan Lee cameo in this film. The cameo occurs when a bunch of locals are trying to pick up Mjolnir. Stan Lee attaches a towing cable to a truck and tries to move the hammer. He shouts, “did it work?” It didn’t, and Agent Coulson soon comes to retrieve it. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. The end credits scene for Thor sets up the next year’s Avengers film. We open with Nick Fury inviting Eric, the scientist, to study another artifact that S.H.I.E.L.D. has, the tesseract. When Eric sees the tesseract, we see Loki controlling him through a mirror. CONCLUSION While Thor is still an entertaining movie, it is closer to The Incredible Hulk on quality than any other Marvel film. It does wonders to set up the cosmic universe and in turn, set up magic in the world that so far has been heavily science-based. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). This week’s film didn’t manage to beat any of the predecessors in rank. I just found the original Thor to be boring and lacking thematically.
Next week we will travel back in time to see The First Avenger, Steve Rogers, as he punches some Nazis. HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 119 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia After Thanos destroyed half of the universe, the Avengers have been shattered. The riveting conclusion to over 10 years of universe-building will be unveiled on April 26, 2019 when Marvel Studios releases the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Avengers: Endgame.” Where will you be when the journey ends?
6 Months Later… INTRODUCTION After the success of Iron Man and (to a lesser extent) The Incredible Hulk, Marvel studios went into pre-production on Iron Man 2 and Thor. However, when Disney CEO Bob Iger came knocking, Marvel was about to get a shakeup. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Iron Man 2 (2010) was the first sequel and third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was released by Paramount pictures like the original, however, it came on the heels of an announcement by The Walt Disney Company, which purchased Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for $4 billion. The studio was already in pre-production on Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, both of which were released in 2011. The next two films would continue to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, but in 2012 Disney took over control with the release of the highly anticipated The Avengers film. After paying back the initial loan that started Marvel Studios, and now playing in Disney’s sandbox, the sky was the limit for the MCU. (Or space technically since Thor came next.) However, they still had to get the right ingredients in the bowl with Iron Man 2 if they wanted The Avengers to be on the big screen like promised. These ingredients started with casting Scarlet Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, AKA The Black Widow, and bringing back Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson. All three characters were stuffed into the movie to serve the world-building and tease the Avengers Initiative. However, it is arguably one of the less appealing parts of the film, which is ludicrous to say considering how important they are to the overall MCU plan. PLOT The film begins six months after the original Iron Man movie. (Which I have deduced took place in February 2008. This means both the events of Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk are happening in the Fall of 2008.) The opening sequence recaps the final seen of the first movie with the reveal the Tony Stark is Iron Man. We see a Russian Scientist and his son watching the news and the father dies. This sets Ivan Vantos (Whiplash) on his path to get revenge on Tony Stark. Meanwhile, Stark is hosting the Stark Expo while dealing with his arc reactor poisoning him. He falls into an alcoholic slump, gives the company to Pepper and prepares to die, until Nick Fury tells him of a secret project his dad was working on that could save his life. Yes, this plot is convoluted and yes, it is made worse by a boring villain and a lot of SHIELD references. Olivia Munn, Elon Musk, and Kate Mara all have cameos in the film. Don Cheadle is great as War Machine, but Terrence Howard is missed. Scarlett Johansson plays a very different version of Black Widow but is great, nonetheless. Christine from Vanity fair makes an appearance. The film feels long. Tony is more of an asshole in this film than in any other, and the plot is dull. However, there are a lot of Easter eggs referring to Wakanda, Captain America, and Thor. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR “ENDGAME” The film goes to great lengths to show that this universe is connected. Now, eight years later, we are conditioned to expect those connections and the plot doesn’t have to rely on it. I think this film is a martyr in the universe and sacrifices itself to make way for better films. STAN LEE CAMEO This is one of Stan Lee’s smallest cameos. He doesn’t have a line but rather appears on the screen for one second and gets confused for Larry King. END CREDITS SCENE Another staple of Marvel films are the after credits scenes. This wasn’t a new thing for films, but it has been a revolutionary concept in that every movie now has scenes during and/or after the credits. The end credits scene for Iron Man 2 sets up the next MCU film, Thor. It opens on Agent Coulson arriving in New Mexico at the site of a crater landing; The camera pans down and we see that the crater is actually Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. CONCLUSION While every Marvel film tends to get compared to Iron Man as the gold standard, I think Iron Man 2 is one of the most indifferent films of the entire universe. Even if it is a lame-duck, it is still a pretty great movie. RANKING Every week I plan to rank the movies in order from favorite (#1) to least favorite (#22). This week’s film wasn’t as great as the first Iron Man film. However, I did enjoy the film more than The Incredible Hulk. So Iron Man 2 takes the #2 spot.
Next week we will see if Thor really is the mightiest Avenger or if he’s the dud of the team. HOW MANY DAYS TILL “ENDGAME” 126 days till Avengers: Endgame in theatres everywhere on April 26, 2019. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia |
Erick L. Graham Wood
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