The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 2 had the unenviable task of following up The Avengers, a historic and groundbreaking team up adventure of the caliber moviegoers had never before seen. And while fans of these movies are unlikely to say that any of them failed outright, many will concede that Phase 2 does hold some of the franchise’s weaker entries, such as Thor: The Dark World.
Nonetheless, Phase 2 worked to reinvent Captain America as a modern thriller action hero and introduced the world to the lovable band of misfits we know as the Guardians, as well as the perhaps infinitely more odd Ant-Man.
Here is a quick crash course of Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the following contains spoilers for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man).
Iron Man 3 – Set In: 2012, Released: 2013
Tony suffers from PTSD after The Battle of New York and struggles to maintain his relationship with Pepper. Meanwhile, a terrorist called the Mandarin bombs the country. So Tony vows to fight back! But then the Mandarin bombs Tony’s house. Later, Tony discovers that the Mandarin’s bombings actually come from the Extremis program, an experimental soldier treatment making people explode. Tony tracks down the Mandarin but is shocked to learn he is only an actor. The real Mandarin is Aldrich Killian, a scientist Tony humiliated in the past. Killian then kidnaps U.S. President Ellis so he can control the country. Killian also subjects Pepper to Extremis, but she survives. Then, Tony, Rhodey, and a fleet of Iron Man suits come in and save everyone. In the end, Tony decides to surgically remove the shrapnel from his chest as a sign of devotion to Pepper.
Thor: The Dark World – Set In: 2013, Released: 2013
Dr. Jane Foster is infected by something called the Aether. Odin says it may kill her and explains that it is the powerful weapon of the Dark Elves, led by Malekith. Malekith storms Asgard to get the Aether from Jane and kills Thor’s mother Frigga. Thor then breaks Loki out of prison for help. Malekith takes the Aether out of Jane, battles with Thor and Loki, and kills Loki. Thor mourns Loki’s death, then he and Jane return to Earth. Malekith uses portals to try and infect all the nine realms with the Aether. But Thor, Jane, and Selvig battle and eventually kill him. Thor then decides to be with Jane instead of ruling Asgard. However, unbeknownst to Thor, we see that Loki has faked his death and is now ruling Asgard while disguised as Odin.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Set In: 2014, Released: 2014
Director Fury tells Steve about Project Insight, a plan to launch helicarriers that can immediately bomb threats. This upsets Steve. Then, Fury learns SHIELD has been compromised, but he is immediately killed by The Winter Soldier. SHIELD labels Steve a fugitive and he and Natasha discover, to their horror, that HYDRA has secretly infiltrated SHIELD and their leader, Alexander Pierce, plans to kill hundreds via Project Insight. So Natasha and Steve team with Sam Wilson, the Falcon, to fight the Winter Soldier. But this time Steve recognizes the attacker as his old friend Bucky Barnes! We learn that HYDRA revived and brainwashed him. Then, Agent Maria Hill reveals that Fury is actually alive. With his help, Natasha kills Pierce while Steve, Maria, and Sam destroy the helicarriers. In the scuffle, Steve tries to make Bucky remember him, and it might have worked.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Set In: 2014, Released: 2014
Back in space, Peter Quill/Star-Lord, steals a magical orb for Yondu. However, Ronan also wants it. So Ronan gets his boss Thanos to send his daughter Gamora after Peter. Gamora fights Peter while Rocket and Groot try to grab him for the bounty on his head. But then they all get arrested. In prison, Drax tries to kill Gamora because Ronan killed Drax’s family. But Gamora reveals that she’s actually against Ronan as well! So she, Peter, Drax, Rocket, and Groot break out together to sell the orb to The Collector, who tells them the orb contains an Infinity Stone. But then Ronan comes, attacks everything, and steals the orb. Then Ronan, power crazy, attacks Xandar. Peter and company decide they have to stop this, and so get dubbed The Guardians of the Galaxy. In the ensuing battle, Groot shields his friends and dies. But then, Peter and company grab the Infinity Stone and use it to kill Ronan. Then, a small Groot plant begins to regrow.
Avengers: Age of Ultron – Set In: 2015, Released: 2015
Tony, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, and Clint storm a HYDRA base and fight Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, superpowered twins. Back home, Tony creates the Ultron AI to protect the Earth. But then Ultron decides to save humanity he must end it, escapes, and allies with Pietro and Wanda. The three then go to steal vibranium from Ulysses Klaue. The Avengers show up, but Wanda gives them all haunting visions to stop them. Thor then meets with Selvig and learns that Infinity Stones are a threat they must soon face. Meanwhile, The Avengers, plus Fury, crash at Clint’s house. Ultron uses the vibranium to make a new body, but then the twins betray Ultron and deliver the synthetic body to the Avengers. Then Tony puts JARVIS and the Infinity Stone inside Loki’s scepter into the body, thus creating Vision, who agrees to help. Then The Avengers fight and defeat Ultron, but in the process Pietro dies. And Hulk, seeing how dangerous he is, flies off to space.
Ant-Man – Set In: 2015, Released: 2015
Years ago, SHIELD scientist Hank Pym creates the Ant-Man suit, allowing the wearer to shrink to the size of an ant and control ants. But then he resigns from SHIELD to hide it from the government. In the present, Pym is horrified to see that his rival Darren Cross has made a similar suit called the Yellowjacket. Meanwhile, burglar Scott Lang robs Hank Pym’s mansion only to find the Ant-Man suit. Hank then confronts Scott and tells him he wants Scott to become Ant-Man and steal the Yellowjacket from Cross. So Hank’s daughter Hope trains Scott to use the suit. During this, Hank reveals to Hope that her mother, The Wasp, disappeared into the quantum realm. Then, Scott accidentally fights Sam Wilson. Later, Cross tries to sell the Yellowjacket to HYDRA, but then Scott interrupts. Cross and Scott fight and Cross dies, but then Scott falls into the quantum realm. However, he is able to return when he hears his daughter’s voice.
While the first two Infinity Stones debuted in Marvel’s Phase 1 (The Tesseract and Loki’s Mind Stone), it’s in Phase Two that the magical MacGuffins begin to take center stage as three movies take a moment to explain their existence and two more stones come into play (The Aether and The Orb). However, apart from an ominous warning from Thor and a few cameos from The Mad Titan Thanos, we still don’t know the full extent of their impending threat.
For that, we finally arrive at Marvel’s Phase 3.
Summaries of Marvel’s Phase 1 and Phase 3 can be found at these links.
Avengers: Endgame hits theaters April 26th, 2019. The film is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Josh Brolin, and Paul Rudd.
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