By Charles Pugh
After the major success of how The Avengers successfully brought four heroes from the Marvel Comics, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America from their own separate films made by Marvel Studios, into a story that had them saving the world as a team, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had officially become one of the most beloved franchises of the 2010s.
As the plans for the entire decade’s schedule was greenlit as The Infinity Saga, setting up for a final confrontation with Jim Starlin’s Mad Titan, Thanos at the end of the 2010s, the job of Phase Two was to set up the next MacGuffin, The Infinity Stones, introduce new characters as new franchises or future Avenger members, and to take the older ones to new depths.
While this era of the Infinity Saga is often regarded as as the worst due to a lot of meddling behind the scenes, as Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment were getting very hostile towards each other and a less than perfect start to the franchise branching out to television, there were still a lot of bright spots in this transitional period of time. With six films, two One-Shot shorts and five seasons of four television shows from ABC and Netflix, from 2013 to 2015 ranked from worst to best, this was when the franchise had to prove that it had a life beyond the assemble.
13. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Written by: Christopher L. Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins
Music by: Brian Tyler
Rated: 12A
Despite winning back the respect of his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and helping to save both Asgard and Earth from Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) rampage, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) still misses Earth and his beloved Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). When she accidentally gets bonded to one of the six “Infinity Stones” known as the Aether, both she and Thor end up becoming targets for Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) and his ruthless Dark Elves, who seek to use it to remake reality. To make matters worse, Loki is the only one who knows how to stop them…
Much like Jon Favreau with Iron Man 3, the original director of Thor, Kenneth Branagh, couldn’t return to direct the sequel, due to his belief that he wouldn’t get the film finished in time for it’s November 2013 deadline. and he went on to do Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Disney’s 2015 live-action Cinderella remake. In late 2011, future Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins, was announced as the new director, which would have made her the first female director of a MCU film. However, due to creative differences in the decisions over the story and the character arcs, she was replaced by one of the Game Of Thrones directors, Alan Taylor, with Natalie Portman almost resigning as a result and would not appear in another MCU film until Avengers: Endgame.
Patrick Doyle also left as well, with Iron Man 3 composer Brain Tyler returning to Marvel to do the score after Taylor’s original choice, Carter Burwell, also left. Loki was originally not going to be in this film for long, but his popularity in The Avengers forced the scriptwriters to add loads more scenes featuring him into the story, as well as changing his ending.
As for the main villain, ideas such as the fire demon, Surtur (was saved for Ragnarok), and Jane Foster turning into a new villain were considered, but eventually they decided to go with Malekith the Accursed, Kurse (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and the Dark Elves, with Mads Mikkelsen being considered for the former, before the role ultimately went to former Doctor Who actor, Christopher Eccleston. Filming mostly took place in London and Iceland for the Earth and Dark Elves’ planet’s scenes. When released, this sequel got mixed reviews and only grossed Iron Man 2 numbers at the box office.
Although the second solo Thor film is considered as the weakest Infinity Saga film due to it’s story (seemingly) not really having a large impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe other then Thor’s mother dying and Loki being left on the throne until Thor: Ragnarok. That statement would prove to be hilariously dated, as it not only mentioned the Infinity Stones for the first time, but the narrative would be played with in Endgame.
In this critic’s opinion, the narrative is a bit more interesting than the first one, as we get to see a lot more of not only Asgard, which is much more natural looking and alive then the CGI-heavy city seen in the first film, but also numerous other realms as well, which made Thor: The Dark World, the least earthbound MCU film at that time before James Gunn brought out his guardians. However, I do wish that the worlds could have been a little more colourful and alive rather then a forest look for Vanahiem, a dead landscape for the Dark Elf realm of Svartalfheim, and a quick glimpse of Jotunheim from the first film.
Prosthetic effects return in this one, with the design of the Dark Elves being the most impressive, as well as the large costume for the character Kurse (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). As mentioned before, several revelations about both the Tesseract and the new MacGuffin of this film, The Aether, would retcon them to be Infinity Stones, which gave comic book fans some real clues about the implications of the post credits scene in The Avengers, even if Infinity War hadn’t been greenlit yet.
The acting is great, as always, with Chris Hemsworth’s more mature take on Thor, who struggles with the idea of being king, Anthony Hopkin’s more flawed take on Odin, Tom Hiddleston bringing a more sympathetic side to Loki, and Natalie Portman undergoing a role-reversal, with her Norse god boyfriend being the guide this time, and her being the fish out of water. However, although Christopher tries his best with the role, both Malekith and Kurse are really underdeveloped, due to much focus on Asgardian culture in the first act, and the fact that this film, until The Marvels in 2023, would the shortest in the MCU, at just 100 minutes not counting the credits, leads one to believe that a lot of the villain’s scenes, were cut out to make this film shorter.
More time, in my opinion, could have been used to further develop these characters and their history. As for the rest, it’s more of a mixed bag, with The Warriors Three (Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi and Tabanobu Asano) , Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and Heimdell (Idris Elba) being under-used, Kat Dennings being over-used and Eric Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), being reduced to an unfunny comic relief.
Overall, Thor: The Dark World is good, but not great, with a safe, yet entertaining story, worlds that could have been a little more creative, and a mixed bag of characters. At this point fans assumed that the solo films and sequels would only be their own entertaining thing set apart from the main Avengers films, and would not really effect the status quo, But six months later, those people would be proven wrong as the next film review will reveal…
Rating: 2.5/5
12. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season One (2013-2014)
Directed by: Bobby Roth, Vincent Misiano, Roxann Dawson, John Terlesky, Billy Gierhart and David Straiton
Written by: Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell, Paul Zbyszewski, Monica Owusu-Breen, Brent Fletcher, Rafe Judkins, Lauren LeFranc and Shalisha Francis
Starring: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, J. August Richards, Saffron Burrows, David Conrad, Bill Paxton, Ruth Negga, Cobie Smulders, B.J. Britt, Patton Oswalt and Samuel L. Jackson
Music by: Bear McCreary
Rated: 12A
A year after the Battle of New York, the S.H.I.E.L.D. organisation has gone public to the world, promising to protect the world from future alien and supernatural threats. With the Avengers occupied doing their own missions, Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), has assigned the last person anyone expected, a revived Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), to lead a new team of Agents, consisting of the no nonsense Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), tough fighter Grant award (Brett Dalton), best friends and science experts Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), and a wise cracking former hacker named Skye (Chloe Bennet), to investigate new super-humans, and fight against hostile forces. However, a mysterious figure known as “The Clairvoyant”, is in the shadows, along with a terrifying conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D. itself…
Despite having a very slow pace in its first fifteen episodes, the first season of the MCU’s first television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ironically, gets much more exciting after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
While Kevin Feige would go on to regret the decision to bring him back to life, Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson is taken into new directions, that completely change his viewpoint on the world, with Gregg giving a fantastic performance. Chloe Bennett, Ming-Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge and Iain De Caestecker all manage to bring Coulson’s team to new heights, even if it would take a massive plot twist, to make Brett Dalton more interesting than what he was given to start with.
Overall, the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is a mixed start to the franchise’s first television series, but the final arc really saves the first season from complete chaos.
Rating: 3.5/5
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Written by Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Linda Cardellini, Stellan Skarsgård, James Spader and Samuel L. Jackson
Music by: Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman
Rated: 12A
A year after SHIELD was disbanded due to HYDRA’s infiltration of the organisation, Earth has been left more vulnerable than ever. With no other alternative for world defence, The Avengers have been reformed, in order to wipe out the remaining HYDRA bases over the last year. While taking down the last major base in the eastern-European country of Sokovia, Tony Stark/ Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), discovers that HYDRA has used Loki’s sceptre to create two new super-powered beings with it, Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and his twin sister, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). After receiving a disturbing vision of the Avengers being defeated by alien forces, he uses the scepter’s gem to create a new A.I. called Ultron (James Spader), along with Bruce Banner/ Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), with the intent to use it for his Iron Legion drones to replace the Avengers as world protectors. But when the A.I. realises that the only way to gain peace is to destroy the Avengers, it breaks loose, coverts itself into an imposing android, and allies himself with the twins to destroy Earth’s Mightiest Heroes “from the inside”…
This film, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, has a lot going on within it. Just to name a few events, Avengers: Age of Ultron is, Ultron’s story, the setting-up of the Maximoff twins, Phase Three films Thor: Ragnarok, Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther, having more character development for the six original Avengers, such as Tony’s trauma coming back to him, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) suspecting the existence of Thanos (Josh Brolin), Clint Barton/ Hawkeye’s (Jeremy Renner) backstory finally being revealed in a heartwarming scene, which turned him from one of the least favourite Avengers, to one of the most likeable and finally, Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), falling in love with each other. Aside from being a clear indication about how much Marvel Studios hated The Incredible Hulk at this point in time, at first, this subplot seems to come out of nowhere, but when Nat’s backstory is fully revealed in this film, it does seem believable as they both have done things that they regret, and both believe that they shouldn’t go on fighting forever.
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Summers), are also given good development, as they try to cope with their post-SHIELD careers, even though the former doesn’t have much screen time, and even War Machine (Don Cheadle), got a lot more to do this time round.
The new characters are also fantastic, with the two stand-outs being Ultron himself and the Vision (Paul Bettany). The former is one of the better villains of the MCU, as unlike a majority of the underwhelming villains in Phase Two such as Malekith and Ronan, Ultron not only has genocidal motivations, but like his creator Tony Stark, he has a sense of humour, with most of the comedy coming from both Stark’s personality and the fact that he is only a few days old, gives him a sense of entitlement that only James Spader can make enjoyable. However, he is also one of the scariest villains due his huge size, his voice becoming more robotic as the film goes on, and he actually succeeds in killing off one of the main characters for real this time. Overall. despite not being Hank Pym’s creation as he was the comics, this version of Ultron is fantastic, on his own terms.
As for the latter, although QuickSilver and Wanda are well-developed characters, with the latter dealing the most damage to the Avengers via her mind control powers, the best new character is The Vision. Although he doesn’t appear until the end of the second act, his Christ-like personality and his logical approach to everything that he believes in, is fascinating to watch, especially in an emotional moment at the end.
Industrial Light and Magic, once again, do a fantastic job with this film’s action sequences, as Age of Ultron had the most action sequences ever seen in a Marvel movie up to that point in 2015, such as the opening battle on the HYDRA base, the fight in the bunkers of Africa, the epic Hulkbuster vs Hulk duel in the streets of South Africa and a motorbike chase in Korea just to name a few. This was a good thing, as one of the flaws of The Avengers, was that apart from the battle in New York, most of the film took place on a Helicarrier, with occasional stops at Germany and a dark forest.
After Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, Brian Tyler’s third score for the MCU along with Danny Elfman’s contributions towards several pieces, are welcome additions. such as a revised version of the Avengers theme by Alan Silvestri and Hulk/Widow’s love theme. If there are numerous flaws with the movie, is that there was barely any more logical set-ups for Captain America: Civil War, as both Tony and Steve were still on good terms with each other by the end and the Sokovian’s relationship with the Avengers wasn’t given a good pay off, which did make the ending a bit too optimistic.
Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a very good film even if some of the hype surrounding it, failed to live up to some fan’s expectations. Both the story and the characters were taken into interesting new places, the villain was excellent, and Joss Whedon’s swan song to the MCU ( in hindsight, it happened just in time, before the terrible truths about his bad habits were revealed a few years later), was an overall satisfying one, even if some of the reported executive meddling (which became even worse during this point of the MCU’s history), weakened this assembly a bit.
Rating: 3.5/5
10. Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King (2014)
Directed by: Drew Pearce
Written by: Drew Pearce
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Scoot McNairy, Lester Speight and Sam Rockwell
Music by: Brian Tyler
Rated: 12A
After getting himself in jail over his role in Aldrich Killian’s plot to create a fake terrorist known as The Mandarin, Actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), has gotten more popular in his new life as inmate at Seagate Prison. However, when a documentary maker named Jackson (Scoot McNairy), asks to interview him about his life, Trevor soon realises that, contrary to popular belief, some of the research he did to create the persona, is not as fake as he expected…
The final entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s One-Shot series of shorts before it decided to focus exclusively on feature films and television shows, All Hail the King serves as a funny epilogue to the events of Iron Man 3, even if this is the only time the franchise has ever gone back on a creative decision from a previous project.
While Ben Kingsley utterly steals the show as the entertaining Trevor, writer and director Drew Pearce ( making this the only short in this series not written by Eric Pearson) , seems to use All Hail the King, as a massive apology to comic purists over how Iron Man’s main antagonist, The Mandarin, was treated in Iron Man 3. While this would give this short, a very exciting ending, along with an unexpected cameo, the character would ultimately never face Tony Stark, with the plot line not being resolved until 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and 2026’s Wonder Man.
Overall, All Hail the King, despite being the first example of going back on creative decision for this franchise, fully embraces the weird nature of Trevor Slattery, and his very confusing life.
Rating: 3.5/5
9. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season Two (2014-2015)
Directed by: Vincent Misiano, Jesse Bochco, Bobby Roth, Kevin Tancharoen, Holly Dale, Ron Underwood, Milan Cheylov, Billy Gierhart, Michael Zinberg, Roxann Dawson, David Solomon, Kevin Hooks, Garry A. Brown and Karen Gaviola
Written by: Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Paul Zbyszewski, Monica Owusu-Brown, Drew Z. Greenberg, Brent Fletcher, Rafe Judkins, Lauren LeFranc, Craig Titley, DJ Doyle and Jeffrey Bell
Starring: Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Brett Dalton, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Reed Diamond, B.J. Britt, Henry Simmons, Patton Oswalt, Adrian Pasder, Ruth Negga, Maya Stojan, Jamie Harris, Christine Adams, Kyle MacLachlan, Dichen Lachman, Luke Mitchell, Edward James Olmos, Hayley Atwell, J. August Richards, Jaimie Alexander and Cobie Smulders
Music by: Bear McCreary
Rated: 15
In the aftermath of the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D to Hydra, the world governments have called for the arrest of any surviving member, whether they are Hydra or not. As Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), appointed as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D by Nick Fury himself, leads his team members to war against Hydra and their new leaders, the fallout from the betrayal of former member Grant Ward (Brett Dalton) starts taking its toll on both Coulson’s old and new crew members. As Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) struggles to deal with her past, Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) try to cope with the former’s recent struggles of his injuries, Skye (Chloe Bennet) discovers that her parents might still be alive. The latter soon leads to the discovery of a new type of metahumans called Inhumans, which will change Skye’s life forever….
Although a lot of this season’s events ended up going nowhere, due to the whole fiasco of turning the Inhumans (a royal family of moon dwelling heroes that lived on the moon in the Fantastic Four comics), into replacements for the X-Men for the MCU and for the comics in general during the 2010s, the second season of the franchise’s first television series is still a much better one than the first.
Going to a lot more detail of the Hydra war that seemingly ended in the films with Avengers: Age of Ultron, the first half of this season is a strong look into how trauma can change people for the worst, with each character getting a lot darker due to the betrayal from the first season, with it getting a nice resolution in the second Inhuman focused arc, and brings Skye’s built up character arc, into a nice conclusion into her new Inhuman identity.
Overall, with better worldbuilding, great character motivations from the old characters, fun new ones like Nick Blood’s sarcastic Hunter, Adrianne Palicki’s Mockingbird, Henry Simmons’s gruff Mack and both Kyle MacLachlan and Dichien Lachman making a strong impression as Skye’s parents. Add in some (very dated) Inhuman introductions, and it makes the second season of Agents of S.H.I.EL.D., a very entertaining one indeed.
Rating: 4/5
8. Ant-Man (2015)
Directed by: Peyton Reed
Written by: Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay and Paul Rudd
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Anthony Mackie, Wood Harris, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Forston, David Dastmalchian and Michael Douglas
Music by: Christophe Beck
Rated: 12A
A former thief named Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is let out of jail, but cannot find a job to support himself, or his young daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), due to his background. In desperation, he breaks into a house owned by former superhero and S.H.I.E.L.D scientist, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), for money, but instead, finds a suit powered by chemicals called Pym Particles, that can cause anyone wearing the suit, to shrink to the size of an insect. When Pym’s former business partner, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), develops a “YellowJacket” suit for weaponising, both Pym and his estranged daughter, Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly),recruit Scott to steal the suit, before it can be sold.
Starting life even before the first Iron Man film in 2006, the smallest Avenger, Ant-Man, originally created in 1962 in Tales to Astonish issue 27 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Larry Liber, had the biggest problems on the road to the big screen. After two unsuccessful attempts in 1980 by New World Pictures and in 2003 by Artisan Entertainment, Ant-Man’s film debut was supposed to be directed by one of the most talented directors of recent years, Edgar Wright, the mastermind behind Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and The Cornetto Trilogy, which was a personal passion project of his.
After getting pushed back numerous times over the years, having a set release date for Summer 2015 and a few casting decisions being finalised, such as Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd as two different versions of the Ant-Man character, Hank Pym and Scott Lang, Marvel Studios finally lost patience with Wright, and replaced both him and his co-writer Joe Cornish, with Yes-Man director, Peyton Reed and Anchorman scribe, Adam MacKay. As a result of this decision, fans were outraged and some declared that Marvel Studios had given up on creativity. Fast-forward to the release date, and it ironically got better reviews than the Avengers sequel.
In the same way how Guardians of the Galaxy introduced the cosmic area of the Marvel Universe, this film, apart from Hank’s backstory coming from S.H.I.E.L.D, one entertaining set-piece in the Avengers HQ and a cameo from Anthony Mackie’s Falcon, is very much, another stand-alone film. The first act with Scott’s attempts at getting by with a criminal record, does feel like it belongs in Phase One, due to the fact that people are still getting surprised over a man shrinking, despite the fact that the shrinking suit exists in the same universe as aliens, Norse gods and an angry green giant. Despite this minor gripe, the heist itself and the shrinking scenes are highly entertaining to watch, with the editing and the cinematography, really taking advantage of both the original Wright script and the world in which the tiny Ant-Man has to wonder about. I also like the fact that the ants themselves are depicted as hugely intelligent and bring a whole new sense of weirdness, just like Rocket and in Guardians, marking a turning point that this Earth is no longer the realistic one as seen from Iron Man.
Paul Rudd is great as Scott Lang, combining both Star-Lord’s wit and humour, with Hawkeye’s responsibilities of being a good parent to his kid. Lilly is OK in Hope’s debut, while Corey Stoll on the other hand, goes back to the same arc we’ve seen in both Obadiah Stane in Iron Man, and Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2, of being the typical business rival who just wants money and power. Although, to be fair, he starts to get a bit more interesting in the third act and his Yellowjacket guise looks incredible.
Michael Peña and Bobby Cannavale are funny and interesting as both Scott’s best fried Luis, and his ex-wife’s new husband, Paxton. Micheal Douglas is the heart and soul of this movie, however, as he gets the best development, as a much older Hank Pym than the comics, with a mysterious past due to his connections with S.H.I.E.L.D, and has a grudge against the Stark family, which leads nicely into Scott’s actions in Captain America: Civil War.
In conclusion, Ant-Man is another great entry in the Cinematic Universe and closes the book on Phase Two in a smaller and more quiet method than how Phase One ended. Although it never reaches the height of the other films, sometimes being smaller than the competition, is not always a bad thing.
Rating: 4/5
7. Agent Carter: Season One (2015)
Directed by: Louis D’Esposito, Joe Russo, Scott Winant, Stephen Cragg, Peter Leto, Stephen Williams, Vincent Misiano and Christopher Misiano
Written by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Eric Pearson, Andi Bushell, Brant Englestein, Jose Molina, Lindsay Allen, Chris Dingess, Michelle Fazekas and Tara Butters
Starring: Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, Enver Gjokaj, Dominic Cooper, Neal McDonough, Lyndsy Fonseca, Bridget Regan, Ralph Brown and Shea Whigham
Music by: Christopher Lennertz
Rated: 12A
Set between her being separated from Steve Rogers and the phone call that led her to found SHIELD with Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), is stuck doing administrative work for the SSR, in spite of all her past heroics. When Howard suddenly contacts her after being framed for illegal weapon sales, he asks Peggy to find evidence to prove his innocence, while also bonding with his loyal butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy). As Carter and Jarvis look across New York, they soon find themselves caught in several conspiracies, including an encounter with the first Black Widow assassin…
Being a massive improvement over the messy first season of Agents of SHIELD, thanks to a much tighter episode number and a focus on a story that had potential to be expanded, Agent Carter’s first season , serving as a midquel to the 2013 One-Shot short that inspired this, gives the best love interest of the MCU at that point, Peggy Carter, a show worthy of her identity.
Much like both the short and Captain America: The First Avenger, the 1940s production design and worldbuilding of certain elements that would play larger roles in the franchise, such as Steve Roger’s super soldier formula replication, the Red Room program that birthed the Black Widows and even characters from Iron Man 2, helps in making this show, a lot more interesting, especially when compared to how these aspects pay off in the films.
Hayley Atwell is absolutely fantastic at showing new depths to Peggy Carter, especially with her frustration at the ungrateful environment, while Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark is given a lot of character development, that will make him into the more responsible father of Tony. However, the new characters, such as an early Black Widow spy (Bridget Regan), Peggy’s two coworkers (Chad Michael Murray and Enver Gjokaj), who slowly come to respect her, and especially James D’Arcy’s lovably posh Edwin Jarvis, all get their moments to shine, especially with the latter being so loveable, that he actually ended up in the films later on.
Overall, the first season of Agent Carter, is a fun, inventive and entertaining solo adventure for Peggy Carter, which has a far easier story to follow, along with exploring Peggy as a character in her own right.
Rating: 4/5
6. Iron Man 3 (2013)
Directed by: Shane Black
Written by: Drew Pearce and Shane Black
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, William Sadler, Miguel Ferrer, Stéphanie Szostak, Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley
Music by: Brian Tyler
Rated: 12A
A year and a half after saving the world with the rest of the Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), starts to suffer from numerous panic attacks, and as a result from his experience in the wormhole, has been building a whole army of suits, to prepare the world for future alien attacks. His plans are put on hold however, when a mysterious terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), destroys his home, and puts both Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), in mortal danger. Together, with the help of Rhodey’s (Don Cheadle) new “Iron Patriot” identity, and a helpful kid named Harley (Ty Simpkins), Tony must use all of his knowledge and wits to find out the truth about the Mandarin, and a mysterious project known as “Extremis”…
Notable as the last Marvel Cinematic Universe film to be distributed by Paramount Pictures, before going on to distribute their own films within the Walt Disney Company, Jon Favreau, the director of the first two films chose not to return for Iron Man 3, (although he still plays the character, Happy Hogan) and as a result of this, a friend of Robert Downey Jr., Shane Black, best known as the writer of the Lethal Weapon franchise and the director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, was chosen as the new director.
The story was inspired by Warren Ellis’s 2005 Extremis arc in the Marvel comics, (which had also been having a massive visual influence on the other Iron Man films), with the minor character Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) being upgraded to a major antagonist while The Mandarin, a character who was Iron Man’s arch nemesis in the comics, and the leader of the Ten Rings organisation from the first movie, was used as a punchline for a joke in both the movie and the marketing which set him up as a major villain, but would be revealed to be not who he seems.
This change, much like how Star Wars fans reacted to Snoke and Luke Skywalker’s fates in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, caused so much outrage in the fandom, that the Mandarin was eventually re-instated into the canon in the short film All Hail the King, and would play a major role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, seven years after this.
Going back to the production,, Industrial Light and Magic also didn’t return as the main visual effects company, so numerous others such as Weta Digital and Digital Domain, did them instead. Another change from the comics was using the Iron Patriot armor, an alternate identity that was used by the Green Goblin himself, Norman Osborn to gain power, as an embarrassing new suit of amour that Rhodey is forced to wear, due to focus groups complaining about his original suit. After sharing production in both the USA and China (that would not be repeated again due to numerous production issues from this), the film was released in April 2013, to become the second-highest grossing film of 2013 behind Frozen.
This movie, in my opinion is much better structured than Iron Man 2,as it never forgets that it’s Tony Stark’s story, and it nicely ties up both his relationship with Pepper, who gets a lot more to do in this movie, and his relationship with his suits of armor, which unfortunately gets ignored in some of the later films. Don Cheadle is great as always with his uncomfortable attitude towards his new suit getting the biggest laughs, Jon Favreau and Paul Bettany get loads more screen-time as Happy and JARVIS, and although I get where people were coming from with the Mandarin twist, I thought it was a good idea as it serves as a good commentary on global terrorism and how it really works behind the scenes, and Ben Kingsley did a great job with what he was given to work with. However, Guy Pearce, despite having good ideas about his characters, does an even worse job then Sam Rockwell in the last Iron Man movie, due to his lack of motivation or any traits that separate him from the last two villains in this franchise, and although the concept of AIM is interesting, in my opinion it should have been the Ten Rings as they desperately needed closure in their relationship with Tony and since this was the last solo Iron Man movie, it just felt like a missed opportunity, especially after Shang-Chi.
Overall, Iron Man 3 was a solid start to Phase Two, with an interesting, yet alienating story, the best set-pieces seen in a Marvel movie so far with a real skydive sequence and an all suit brawl out at the docks, and good, yet flawed characters. Like i said before, the twist didn’t really bother me, but to call this the worst comic-book movie ever, just because your favourite villain wasn’t represented properly, it makes one laugh whenever I hear people complain about the Multiverse Saga films endlessly, knowing that the previous saga had problems too, especially with the next film…
Rating: 4/5
5. Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (2013)
Directed by: Louis D’Esposito
Written by: Eric Pearson
Starring: Hayley Atwell, Bradley Whitford and Dominic Cooper
Music by: Christopher Lennertz
Rated: 12A
A year after losing Steve Rogers and witnessing the end of World War II, Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), has been reassigned to only do code breaking for the SSR, due to her being a woman. However, after getting a mysterious call, Peggy sets out to prove herself by completing a mission to retrieve a weapon known as “Zodiac”…
The largest and most elaborate of the short-lived Marvel One-Shots series at this point, Agent Carter, like Item 47 before it, was eventually picked up as a successful test for another ABC MCU television show, with the same name. Even if that series didn’t last as long as Item 47’s show, Agents of SHIELD., this short did manage to permanently cement Peggy Carter, as one of the most popular characters in this franchise.
Hayley Atwell is, once again, fantastic as Peggy and Bradley Whitford, makes for a very entertaining sexist boss, Agent Flynn. However, after successfully making the limited scope of the previous One-Shots, look better with Item 47, returning director and Marvel Studio’s co-president, Louis D’Esposito, does manage to make the WWII setting that defined Captain America: The First Avenger, stand out with showing cinematography that gives the fight sequences, a technique that shows the transition from WWII to the Cold War, especially in the use of shadows.
Overall, Marvel One-Shots: Agent Carter is a great showcase for Hayley Atwell’s talents, and another successful launching point for the television shows that the MCU would make.
Rating: 4/5
4. Jessica Jones: Season One (2015)
Directed by: S.J. Clarkson, David Petrarca, Stephen Surjik, Simon Cellan Jones, John Dahl, Rosemary Rodriguez, Uta Briesewitz, Billy Gierhart and Michael Rhymer
Written by: Melissa Rosenberg, Micah Schraft, Liz Friedman, Scott Reynolds, Hilly Hicks Jr., Dana Baretta, Edward Ricourt, Jenna Reback and Jamie King
Starring: Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Rachael Taylor, Wil Traval, Erin Moriarty, Eka Darville, Carrie-Anne Moss, Rosario Dawson and David Tennant
Music by: Sean Callery
Rated: 18
Living on the same area as Matt Murdock, Hell’s Kitchen, New York, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), is a sarcastic private eye who secretly has super abilities due to an accident in her youth. While taking on a case involving unexplained abductions and murders, Jessica soon realises that the culprit is Kilgrave (David Tennant), a man that can control people’s minds and who is her former abusive boyfriend. Jessica sets out to prove the innocence of her clients, while also encountering another “gifted” person, a man with bulletproof skin named Luke Cage (Mike Colter)…
While the first season of the adult aimed Netflix MCU shows, Daredevil, did have a fair share of comic book fan service to balance out its focus on the criminal underworld of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jessica Jones pushes the darker themes and plots, so close to surface, that it feels like a completely different show.
While in the comics, she started out as a background fellow student in Peter Parker’s high school days, Jessica Jones is the first character from Marvel Comics to have debuted in content exclusively made for adults, debuting in the Max line in the 2001- 2004 Alias comics by Miles Morales creator, Brian Michael Bendis, in which the story of her battle against Kilgrave the Purple Man, is loosely adapted in this first season.
Krysten Ritter is absolutely fantastic as the sarcastic titular anti-hero, before some of her character traits were played up in later shows. Mike Colter makes a great debut as her future comic book husband and fellow Defender, Luke Cage before his own show. However, the true scene stealers are Carrie-Anne Moss as one of the most interesting depictions of the Hogarth character and of course, David Tennant playing completely against type, as the most sadistic and morally disgusting villian in the franchise to date, Kilgrave, with one of the best performances of his entire career.
Overall, while not being for everyone due to its far more disturbing nature, even by the standards of the Defenders sub section of the MCU, the first season of Jessica Jones is proof that during its heyday, this franchise could handle any subgenre in its storytelling, even a more depressing Chinatown neo noir like this.
Rating: 4.5/5
3. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn and Nicole Perlman
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro
Music by: Tyler Bates
Rated: 12A
Having spent twenty-six years travelling through space, as a result of being abducted by alien pirates known as Ravagers after his mother’s death in 1988, a young man named Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), manages to steal a mysterious orb, with the intention of selling it to get away from the Ravager boss and adoptive father, Yondu (Michael Rooker). However, when he discovers that his prize contains one of the six Infinity Stones being sought out by the infamous Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin), he joins forces with a ragtag group of misfits. Consisting of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), a green-skinned warrior who seeks to escape her reputation as Thanos’s adopted daughter, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), an alien who cannot understand metaphors, but seeks to avenge his lost family and two bounty hunters, consisting of a foul-mouthed cybernetic enhanced racoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and a kindly tree-monster named Groot (Vin Diesel), Peter must rally his new companions, to prevent the orb from falling into the hands of the Mad Titan’s enforcer, an equally mad warlord Ronan (Lee Pace), exiled from the Kree Empire for his desire to use the Stone to wipe out his enemies…
If people thought that Thor, Asgard and the Nine Realms of Norse mythology was a bit of a stretch for a mostly realism and science based Marvel Cinematic Universe at that point, and would be hard to translate to the screen, just wait until you hear of the backstory of Guardians of the Galaxy. Although all five main characters made numerous appearances in the 1970s in the comics, they didn’t team up until at least summer 2008, two months following the release of the first Iron Man film.
Although in the 60s, there was another Guardians team set in the far future, the only character from that group that made it into this film, was Micheal Rooker’s Yondu. Speaking of the script, it started production in late 2009, with ideas such as Tony Stark joining the team and more character development for Nebula (Karen Gillian), which got cut due to contact issues for the latter, and Robert Downey Jr’s contract ending with Iron Man 3, at the time.
As for a former and writer of Tromeo Entertainment that was chosen to direct, due to his success with 2006’s Slither and 2011’s Super, as long as he would pay off the post-credits scene of The Avengers, by including a scene in which Thanos would make a larger cameo, to set up the Infinity War arc, James Gunn was given complete creative control of the production, the script and the characters.
The main influences for the tone and the setting were Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the first Iron Man, and the soundtrack consisted of mostly 70s and 80s songs such as I Want You Back, Cherrybomb and Hooked on a Feeling, as a storytelling device to mirror Peter Quill’s journey throughout the film. When released in August 2014, it become one of Marvel Studio’s biggest success stories, making the largest domestic box office gross since The Avengers, got nominated for two Academy Awards, and got the highest critical praise, of a year filled with mostly excellent comic book movies.
In my opinion, this is not only comes close to being the best Phase Two film, but also, one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe films, along with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, because out of all of them, this one has the most creativity in the visual aspect, as apart from the prologue, Earth is entirely absent.
Each of the five worlds in the film, from the ruined temple city of Morag, the futuristic metropolis of Xandar, The gigantic base of Know-where located in the severed head of a deceased god, and the design of the ships such as Ronan’s gigantic Dark Aster, Peters’ ship and the Xandarian star-shaped star-fighters, are all very well designed and match the Star Wars -esque tone that Guardians of the Galaxy is trying to go with. Charles Wood did an amazing job with the production design, but the person who probably had the best job in this movie is David White. After designing the Red Skull’s face in Captain America: The First Avenger and the Dark Elves in Thor: The Dark World, he was finally allowed to have a huge burst of creative freedom on the production, doing all the make-up and prosthetics for almost the entire cast and extras apart from Rocket, Groot and the human-like Xandarians, with the best prosthetic work done on Drax , Ronan and Gamora’s sister, Nebula.
Although the story itself is pretty much the same structure as both Captain America: First Avenger and Thor: The Dark World, mostly because they all focus on Infinity Stones (which are fully introduced here), what carries this one through to the finish line ,is both the execution of the plot and the likability of the characters. Chris Pratt is great as Peter Quill, a character that takes a lot of dues from both Han Solo and Marty McFly, Zoe Saldaña and Karen Gillian do well as the two adopted daughters of Thanos, Gamora and Nebula, Micheal Rooker is hilarious as the space bounty hunter, Yondu,who despite not getting a lot of attention, has a pretty important role to play as Peter’s strict adoptive father, and the small roles that John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro provide are also highly memorable. Despite only having one scene, Josh Brolin’s first appearance as the menacing overarching villain of the entire franchise, Thanos, is very intimidating. However, the biggest stand-outs of the cast are, of course, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Racoon and Vin Diesel’s Groot, with the former being not just a talking funny animal sidekick, but also a damaged character whose implied history (that won’t be revealed until much later) has left him bitter at the whole world, and the latter, being the heart and soul of the team especially in the third act, despite having a limited vocabulary. However, the one bad thing about this movie, is that the actual main villain, Ronan the Accuser, is really weak, with a very bland personality and not much motivation for his actions, apart from being a highly insane Kree fanatic who hates peace. Although Lee Pace is trying his best with the role and he does serve as a good contrast to the personality filled protagonists, his character feels like it belongs in another movie.
Despite this issue, Guardians of the Galaxy is an absolute blast to watch and deserves to be remembered as one of Marvel Studio’s crowning achievements that helped them climb a “mountain high enough” to new possibilities in their films, especially during their fantastic year of 2014!
Rating: 5/5
2. Daredevil: Season One (2015)
Directed by: Phil Abraham, Adam Kane, Ken Girotti, Farren Blackburn, Guy Ferland, Brad Turner, Stephen Surjik, Nelson McCormick, Nick Gomez, Euros Lyn and Steven S. DeKnight
Written by: Drew Goddard, Marco Ramirez, Joe Pokaski, Luke Kalteux, Douglas Petrie, Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage
Starring: Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Toby Leonard Moore, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Bob Gunton, Ayelet Zurer, Rosario Dawson and Vincent D’Onofrio
Music by: Joe Paesano
Rated: 18
Although most of New York City is protected by the Avengers, some of the more heavily damaged areas from Loki’s invasion, such as Hell’s Kitchen, have been exploited by the mafia, Yazuka and mobs, to oppress the poorer residents of the city. However, a blind lawyer named Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) secretly protects them as a vigilante, thanks to gaining heightened senses after a radioactive accident caused him to lose his sight as a boy. However, while Matt tries to maintain his job, along with his partners, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), the corruption of the city soon gets worse with the arrival of the most brutal crime lord, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio)…
While the other MCU television shows had focused on supporting characters from the films, such as Agent Coulson and Peggy Carter getting their own shows, the first of four shows that would become the franchise’s first streaming shows, would completely change ambitions for the small screen adventures.
Although the character of Daredevil, created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett in 1964 as one of the first mainstream superheroes with a disability, was much more well known when compared to some of the Avengers, thanks to his numerous appearances in animated Spider-Man shows, his MCU debut, is fare removed from anything the franchise had done to that point.
Much like Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil’s first season features an all new cast of characters with their own problems and world, along with being the most standalone story up to that point. Despite some plot holes regarding the absence of certain New York buildings, this helps in making Hell’s Kitchen feel like its own environment, as a far more brutal and unforgiving place, especially with how cruel the villains can be.
The performances are all fantastic, with Charlie Cox, Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll having great chemistry as Matt, Foggy and Karen, while the likes of Rosario Dawson’s first appearance as the Coulson-like Claire Temple and Vondie Curtis-Hall’s Ben Urich, all have great arcs. However, the scene stealer is of course, Vincent D’Onofrio as the greatest depiction of the Kingpin to date in terms of complexity and sheer evil, which is ironic as the character had originally appeared in Spider-Man comics, his appearance in the MCU came one month after a deal was made with Sony to use Peter Parker in the franchise.
Overall, the first season of Daredevil finally manages to break expectations of what a MCU television show could be, with a much darker, yet human story, brutal world-building and some of the most powerful moments in the entire franchise. While most of the pre Disney+ MCU shows are mostly ignored nowadays, it was the best decision in the long run to make this, along with the rest of the Defenders Netflix shows, canon again in 2023!
Rated: 5/5
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo
Written by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Jenny Agutter, Robert Redford and Samuel L. Jackson
Music by: Henry Jackman
Rated: 12A
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), despite having saved the world with the Avengers, and having a busy new life working for SHIELD alongside fellow Avenger, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), is still feeling out of place, living in a more morally grey world, than the one he left behind in the 1940s. When Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is seemingly assassinated by the mysterious Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), and a horrifying secret is revealed about SHIELD’s inner workings, Captain America, Black Widow and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a loyal paratrooper known as the Falcon, must prevent their former allies from destroying the world from within…
Like all the other Phase Two films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this film had its script finalized in 2011, which aimed to tell a story inspired by 1970s political thrillers such as Three Days of the Condor and The French Connection. The returning writers from Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, also loosely adapted the Winter Soldier story from the 2005 comic-arc of the same name by Ed Brubaker, who ended up having a cameo in the film. As a returning HYDRA were worked into the script, several ideas were considered, such as bringing back Agent Coulson, who would be revealed to be a HYDRA agent, before changing the role to Jasper Sitwell due to the Agents of Shield television series having Coulson as a main character, keeping Armin Zola’s (Toby Jones) computer form alive in a robot body, Hawkeye joining the rebellion against SHIELD/HYDRA, and the true identity of Robert Redford’s Alexander Pierce, being a revived Red Skull.
Like the last two Phase Two movies, the original director, Joe Johnston, was unable to return, so Arrested Development creators, Joe and Anthony Russo, were hired to co-direct the film together and Anthony Mackie was brought on board as the Falcon, after winning the part from Micheal B. Jordan to give Cap a new companion, as the character was the Cap’s most popular sidekick in the 1970s comics. When released in April 2014, Captain America: The Winter Soldier become one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, it got nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and its massive success led to the Russos being lined up as the most successful directors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after (the now disgraced) Joss Whedon left the franchise after Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
Of all the Phase Two movies, The Winter Soldier has the best writing, with the revelations about the truth of SHIELD and how ruthless HYDRA could be, along with more character development for Captain America struggling to get used to a grey-shaded world where good and evil are not so clear-cut and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow learning to be more trusting of Steve. The fact that they don’t end up in a romantic relationship, is something to be admired, as it ended up being the most popular friendship of the franchise.
The supporting characters are also a huge improvement from the last two entries. Sebastian Stan, returning from First Avenger, is terrifying as the mostly-mute Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie is very likeable as the Falcon, and Robert Redford succeeds at portraying one of the most dangerous figures in the narrative, as the new HYDRA leader, Alexander Pierce. However, the best character development comes from Samuel L. Jackson’s more vulnerable Nick Fury, as we learn more about his past, his relationship with the SHIELD agency and his overall agenda.
The action scenes are also unique, as apart from the climax in which Cap, Falcon, Nick, Widow and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) attempt to take down three Helicarriers, most of the set-pieces are filmed with no CGI, such as the opening boat raid and fight with Batroc (Georges St-Pierre), and both car chase scenes involving the Winter Soldier, keep the style within the political thriller edge the Russos were aiming for. The only problems with these scenes, is that sometimes, the editing is a little off with speed-ups and cutting frames being used a bit too much, making some of the fighting scenes look awkward.
Overall, although I wish that the elderly Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) got a little more screen-time and the absence of the reaction from the other Avengers of SHIELD’s dark secrets is disappointing, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is still one of the best comic book sequels out there, and one of the highest points in the franchise’s entire history.
Rating: 5/5
Chaz’s Cinematic Odyssey 