Welcome to my MCU Rewatch, where I write an analysis of the MCU movies in the order of theatrical release. In this installment, I recap the major events of the movies known as Phase 1 and recap the things we should be keeping track of.
Before we really begin, I had every intention of finishing this series before the theatrical release of Avengers: Endgame, but I was hit with some technical difficulties in the form of the PlayStation 3 going for repairs that never really happened and a disappearing television. So, this series will end whenever it decides to end. I hope you enjoy regardless of my bad timing.
So, let’s get started.
Superhero Count
As of The Avengers, our collection of heroes consist of the following:
- Captain America/Steve Rogers
- Iron Man/Tony Stark
- Thor
- Hulk/Bruce Banner
- Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff
- Hawkeye/Clint Barton
Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk all have standalone movies. Iron Man has two movies in Phase 1. Black Widow and Hawkeye make appearances in others’ movies until they are given bigger roles in The Avengers. Black Widow is first introduced in Iron Man 2 and Hawkeye is first introduced in Thor.
If my opinion matters, I am disappointed in the little screentime we get from Hawkeye in Thor. We simply learn he’s pretty quippy but obeys the chain of command. And he’s probably a good shot but we never see him fight, just comment on Thor’s actions through the impromptu SHIELD base. Black Widow did at least five times more stuff in Iron Man 2 than Hawkeye did in Thor.
Infinity Stone Count
We have encountered a grand total of TWO infinity stones.
- The Space Stone (Tesseract)
- The Mind Stone
The Tesseract has quite the story for us. It starts somewhere on Earth, where it is recovered by Hydra founder Whatshistits. There, it sinks to the bottom of the ocean and is eventually recovered by Howard Stark. Presumably, the Tesseract remains in the keep of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, better known as SHIELD. That is until an extraterrestrial named Thor comes crashing down in New Mexico and makes SHIELD study everything they can about it. It is then stolen by Loki in his attempts to rule Earth, then recaptured by SHIELD and given to Thor, who will keep it in the Asgard Vault until its brief appearance in Thor: Ragnarok, then Avengers: Infinity War.
If you’ve seen Captain Marvel already (and you really should), you’ll know that the Tesseract played a role in the development of a Faster-Than-Light engine to help a group of refugees find a home. This technology largely stayed out of human hands, but the Tesseract remained on Earth.
The Mind Stone is only seen in The Avengers attached to a scepter wielded by Loki. The scepter could brainwash/mind control humans. At the end of the movie, the scepter remains on Earth where it will be held by SHIELD until Hydra’s takeover in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We will encounter it again in Avengers: Age of Ultron, then Avengers: Infinity War.
Overall Thoughts
All of these movies, with the exception of The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, are origin stories. This makes sense; we’re introducing an entire universe of superheroes into pop culture, which means we have to learn how these superheroes came to inhabit their superpowers. For most of these movies, we are given human characters dealing with very human problems (i.e. Thor must learn humility and compassion in order to be a good leader).
If you only had to watch one movie in Phase 1, I recommend The Avengers. It takes everything that makes superheroes fun–quippy dialogue, cool action sequences, a corny paramilitary organization that runs everything–and embraces it instead of attempting to make it gritty or realistic. There will be aliens. There will be mind control. There will be a megalomaniac vying for world domination. It all just fits.
If you wanted to introduce someone to the concept of superheroes, I’d recommend either Iron Man or Captain America: The First Avenger. Iron Man takes itself seriously despite a somewhat wacky premise. Captain America is a period piece from World War II and probably the most accessible of the bunch other than Iron Man.
Stay tuned next time for a dive into PTSD anxiety attacks with the best Christmas movie since Die Hard, Iron Man 3.
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