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 2 and the things we should be keeping track of.
When this publishes, it would have been more than a week since Avengers: Endgame was released in theaters. I would have seen it at least once, maybe twice if I could get a friend or two to see it with me (again, in maybe some cases. I dunno. We’ll see). From here on out, I am aware of what Endgame holds and entails and, yes, it will affect some of my analysis with Phase 3 since I know what the endgame is (see what I did there, hur hurr).
Until then, let’s talk Phase 2.
Superhero Count
I’m just adding to what was already counted in the Phase 1 Retrospective:
- Loki Odinson nee Laufreyson
- Falcon/Sam Wilson
- Star-Lord/Peter Quill
- Gamora
- Drax the Destroyer
- Rocket Racoon
- Groot
- Quicksilver (deceased)
- Scarlet Witch
- Vision
- Ant-Man
Honorable Mentions include Nick Fury, who is still regarded as an authority figure despite losing the agent of his authority, and Maria Hill, Fury’s right hand now and forever.
Phase 2 largely stuck with our original Avengers with some exceptions. Loki joined the fray, arguably. His motives and methods remain deceitful and full of his usual tricks, which is cause for some ambiguity. Falcon is a welcome addition, offering loyalty and a down-to-earth perspective to things. Then there’s the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is more about a bundle of bickering misfits than actual superheroes. Still a welcome change in tone and genre.
With Ant-Man, we see a superhero (arguably anti-hero since he was a thief before getting superpowers) that can be a hero outside of the Avengers. His movie has small stakes, and it’s a welcome light-hearted movie after the heavy events of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Infinity Stone Count and Locations
- Space Stone/Tesseract –> Asgard vault
- Mind Stone –> Earth, with Vision
- Reality Stone/Aether –> The Collector on Knowhere
- Power Stone –> Nova Core, in a vault
We’re introduced to two more Infinity Stones this phase, which means there are two more to come in Phase 3. The Aether made its appearance in Thor: The Dark World when Dr. Jane Foster uncovered it while examining some space-time anomalies in London. The Power Stone played a critical role in Guardians of the Galaxy as the main McGuffin.
The Mind Stone played perhaps the biggest role in Avengers: Age of Ultron, as a cornerstone of that entire debacle. The Mind Stone is also the creator of three superheroes: Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Vision. Quicksilver lasted most of a movie (thanks, Fox, who owned the rights to most of the X-Men at the time this film was made). Scarlet Witch and Vision, meanwhile, join The Avengers.
Overall Thoughts
This is a tricky point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because some movies require the audience to have seen previous films and some do not. It’s a safe bet that watching the sequels of our main heroes requires at least some knowledge of their origin story. If you only had time to watch one movie before watching another, I recommend watching The Avengers, which introduces the entire Avengers team in a cohesive way. However, if you were being introduced to the MCU via Guardians of the Galaxy, you don’t need to know what’s happening elsewhere.
Phase 2 is also a bit of a slog. It’s the MCU phase that couldn’t end fast enough, and the movies that brought it down are Thor: The Dark World, which failed to realize the Thor movies’ true calling as a comedy, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, which somehow failed to blend Marvel’s interpretation of the characters with director Joss Whedon’s.
The best films in this phase are Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy gets points for being a point of entry into the franchise in addition to carrying a lot of the overall plot on its shoulders. Captain America: The Winter Soldier featured excellent characterization and a mixture of personal and high-stakes for Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).
Which leaves Iron Man 3 and Ant-Man, both great movies in their own right. Iron Man 3 is for the MCU fan. It requires viewers to have seen at least three previous films. Even if you don’t watch anything else in the Marvel universe, watching the previous Iron Man films plus The Avengers will bring you up to speed.
Ant-Man is another point of entry into the franchise. The stakes are more personal for this film, and it also leans into the comedy in a different way than Guardians of the Galaxy.
Stay tuned next time for the movie that tears the Avengers apart: Captain America: Civil War.
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