Avengers : Endgame? Or The Beginning Of Thanos’ Reign?
What springs to your mind? Is it truly the Endgame or the End of Avengers? Or the end of the mad Titan Thanos? Or better yet, the beginning of Thanos’ reign on earth?
As Marvel fans, these questions have bothered us for far too long keeping us on tenterhooks to see what happens to the earth’s mightiest heroes – the Avengers.
So with just a couple of days left for one of the most awaited Avenger films, I’m pretty sure with all the hype and excitement even the most die-hard Marvel fans may tend to goof up and have a hazy memory about certain parts and characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Especially, if they haven’t read the comics which is also a vast universe in itself (ALAS!!)
I know it is kind of hard to know who is who and you probably are too busy warming up your office chairs or are in a crunch of time to re-watch all the 21 movies.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
Now, there are two ways to understand the Marvel universe –
- The chronological timeline which incorporates CD’s, series and movies.
- The films that were released in Hollywood year wise.
But you don’t need to watch all 21 movies to understand the fate that awaits the Avengers in the latest instalment of the Avengers series.
So here’s the list of the select few you need to binge-watch before you venture into the End Game –
1. Captain America – The First Avenger (2011)
Set in 1941, Captain America, the first Avenger ever- Steve Rogers becomes Captain America when he discovers that during the war there is a villain called Red Skull who has the “Tesseract” and thinks he’s a God (in that they talk about it being a gift from the gods which is in reference to Thor). And in that, it shows him that there’s more power and we aren’t alone. This movie holds a great importance if you really want to know where it all began.
FUN FACT
Despite being ‘The First Avenger’, Captain America was not the first avenger in the comics. Ant-Man, Wasp, the Hulk, Iron Man and Thor were the first ones.
2. Iron Man (2008)
The first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie was IRON MAN aka TONY STARK who is a flamboyant weapons contractor for the US army. He also happens to be a billionaire playboy, a genius philanthropist and is the sole heir to Stark Industries.
Basically, he changed after being caught by terrorists on a weapons demonstration and built his electromagnetic suit to prevent shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him.
During his captivity, he designed a weaponised iron suit that helped him escape and upon his rescue, he further perfected his design of the Iron Man suit making it simultaneously, a weapon of mass destruction and a suit of armour to protect the American people.
FUN FACT
The Iron Man movie was shot without a complete script.
3. Captain Marvel (2019)
You cannot miss this. Behold! Carol Danvers’ portrayal in the MCU is slightly different from the Comics.
Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel is an extraterrestrial Kree warrior who finds herself caught in the middle of an intergalactic battle between her people and the Skrulls.
During her stay on earth in 1995, there are flashes of incidents that bring back memories of her on earth where she’s a pilot for U.S Air Force.
She seeks help from Nick Fury, who helps her solve the puzzle of her past that lets her discover her superpowers which in turn helps her end the war with the spiteful Skrulls!
Captain Marvel is actually known as “Vers”. Working with Ronan, who abducted Vers and instituted a block in her memory, were the Skrulls.
We know that Skrulls are at war with the Kree Empire. Vers escapes the Skrulls, and she lands on Earth. Now do you see why she has flashes of past memories?
FUN FACT
This character was cut from Jessica Jones.
4. Marvel’s – Avengers ( 2012 – Pretty self-explanatory right?)
All hell breaks loose when Loki (Thor’s adopted spiteful brother) gets hold of the unlimited power of the energy cube called the ‘Tesseract’ that teams up with the Chitauri army threatening the peace on Earth.
This fear grips Nick Fury, the director himself (from the S.H.I.E.L.D) and sets out to make a master plan – Avengers, to get all the superheroes to fight back!!
Our excitement increases seeing the mighty Avengers in the game – Tony Stark a.k.a. the Iron Man; Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America; Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk; Thor; Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow; and Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, to save the world from the powerful Loki and the alien invasion.
FUN FACT
The entire movie takes place over the course of just two days.
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – Discovery of new friends (2014)
Here is where all of them meet for the first time!
Peter Quill makes new friends! Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket. Literally (Go watch)!
Having discovered a mysterious orb in some far dimensional part of another galaxy, Peter Quill from Earth is now the target of a manhunt led by the genocidal villain Ronan the Accuser.
Remember Peter was kidnapped when he was young? Being hunted across the galaxy, Quill gets lumped together with a group of misfits that need to learn how to get along before they can become the “Guardians of the Galaxy”.
FUN FACT
Playing Groot helped Vin Diesel cope with Paul Walker’s death.
6. Avengers – Age Of Ultron ( 2015)
Starts with all the Avengers – Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner / Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Clint Barton / Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – who set out a raid on Hydra. The raid is a roaring success!
They chance upon two of Trucker’s experiments: the Maximoff twins Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who has is bestowed with superhuman speed, and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), who has telekinetic powers, to detect minds and can manipulate minds and project energy.
Captain America gets hold of Strucker, while Stark retrieves the sceptre after Wanda has a vision of a future.
Back in the pavilion of the team, Avengers Tower (formerly Stark Tower) – Stark and Banner stumble upon a speciality seen in the sceptre’s gem, and plan on using it to conclude Stark’s mission.
After many trials and errors, they trace the sceptre and rejoice in their victory, bringing the program Ultron to life. They hope that Ultron will help them save the world from all the enemies.
However, later they realize that Ultron could be a threat to the world and could even lead to mass destruction! So Hawkeye comes in the spotlight along with the team of Avengers to stop Ultron from causing mass destruction.
Along with this even more challenges. Now they have to witness a battle with the powerful, twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as well as the new entity called Vision.
FUN FACT
The scene where Ultron commands his drones to fly down and latch on to the truck in Seoul, took 360 days to shoot!
7. Captain America – Civil War (2016 – THE SPLIT)
The emotion is real here. As a Marvel fan, you never want the Avengers team to have animosity within them. But sadly, the Civil War does it.
Here we see an unfortunate rift between Tony Stark and Captain America. Both have different views and this divides them(why even?!) Now we have the Team Stark vs Team Captain America.
Black Widow and Hawkeye must choose sides. Plus, Bucky Barnes is possibly behind the murder of King T’Chaka, a member of one of the factions, and T’Challa his son plans to kill him.
FUN FACT
Spider Man was nearly removed from the film as Sony Pictures initially rejected Marvel’s proposal for a cut of the profits for themselves if they could include Spider Man. But eventually they decided to renegotiate a deal with Marvel owing to the poor financial and critical success of The Amazing Spider Man.
8. Black Panther (2018 – Wakanda Forever Guys!)
Prince T’Challa’s grief of his father’s death haunts him in the Captain America : Civil War movie where we discover who must have been behind his father’s death.
After that, he decides to return home. His home is perceived to be the most advanced African nation – WAKANDA!(almost as if we are in the 23rd century) to serve as his country’s new king.
But the problems don’t end there. T’Challa finds that he is challenged for the throne by factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan Special Forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war. We loved it.
FUN FACT
The cast and stunt team practiced with authentic African drums played by musician Jabari Exum so that their movements would have a musical quality found in many African martial arts.
9. AVENGERS – INFINITY WAR (2018 – ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE)
This is just it. It’s is all you honestly need to see at the end of the day!
It is the ultimate battle of all the superheroes that come together to fight the Powerful Thanos.
When the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy learn that the mad titan Thanos is searching for the Infinity Stones, all hell breaks loose and the war begins.
Thanos becomes so powerful that alone the Avengers and the Guardians of Galaxy can’t do shit!
To bring more force of power, it would need Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Spider-Man too. Now you can imagine how powerful Thanos has become!
With Thanos’ one snap of fingers, he wipes off almost all the superheroes. We saw a few remorseful goodbyes too.
As daunting as it sounds, we cannot dismiss the fact that we have lost Loki, Gamora and even Peter Parker! Heimdall, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, T’challa Black Panther, Peter Phill, Doctor Strange. Okay here is where the heart gets heavy.
In a post-credits scene, the Earth is in shambles and people succumb to ashes slowly & everything is dark and dusty.
Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and Deputy Director Maria Hill witness the scene on the street before they turn into ashes themselves.
Before he turns into ashes, Fury manages to send a final signal to Captain Marvel.
FUN FACT
Robert Downey Jr.(Iron Man) wore heels to appear taller in this film.
So all in all it’s been a wonderful ride. I really can’t wait to see the ‘Endgame’ and what it means for the Avengers.
Will they survive against all odds? Or will we see the dawn of a new world?
