So You Wanna Get Into Marvel… Part Four

Welcome back to your Marvel crash course. Today’s part will discuss the first third of Phase Three, which includes thirteen movies and six shows, included since their first season falls in this part of the timeline. However, Spider-Man movies will be temporarily skipped.

Phase Three began in April 2016 with “Captain America: Civil War” . After the events of Avengers Age of Ultron, namely the destruction of an entire small country, the government wants to require heroes to register as a form of federal accountability. This registration would be law through what is known as the Sokovia Accords. Iron Man believes it to be necessary and he wants to agree, but Captain America is against relying on the government. This splits the Avengers into a two team conflict. Team Iron Man consists of Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine, and Spider-Man. Team Cap consists of Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man.

As negotiations are being worked out, a bomb is planted by the Winter Soldier that kills the King of Wakanda, a small African nation that has secretly been thriving. This death brings the character of Black Panther into the MCU, portrayed by Chadwick Boseman. However, it is revealed that the Winter Soldier was coerced to plant the bomb by someone who knew his trigger words to become the assassin. Captain America must go on the run to clear his name and save his best friend, while the already dueling teams must face off against Helmut Zemo. Zemo is the true bomber, who needed Bucky Barnes to access the other “winter soldiers”, who were uncontrollable and are held in cryogenic stasis (bodies on ice), in order to attack the Avengers for their role in his family’s deaths in Sokovia.

Another fan favorite, this film is also important for the introduction of Black Panther, Ton Holland’s Spider Man (MCU version, more later), and general social commentary for those who choose to find it. 

In September 2016, the TV show “Luke Cage” ran its first of two seasons. After a failed experiment leaves him with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage tries to live a quiet life in Harlem, rebuilding after a failed relationship with Jessica Jones. When crime and corruption threaten his community, he reluctantly becomes a hero, confronting local crime lords Cottonmouth, Mariah Dillard, and Diamondback. Starring Mike Colter as Luke Cage, the series won a Primetime Emmy, with six award wins and 23 nominations.

 Just one month later, audiences received “Doctor Strange”. After a car accident, a neurosurgeon with a god complex known as Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) must find a way to heal his hands and his mental health. His quest brings him to Kamar-Taj in Nepal where he studies under the Ancient One, who teaches him the ways of magic and alternate realities. With new skills of interdimensional travel and spells, Strange soon discovers that he must protect the world from a former disciple of the Kamar-Taj.

This film and its titular character are crucial to the development of the multiverse, and for our purposes is one of the first introductions to interdimensional concepts in the Marvel universe, preceded by Thor’s Asgardian world and Ant-Man. The multiverse is the idea that multiple timelines are going on at the same time with the same people, just perhaps in a different order or different actions. This is a way for Marvel Studios to maximize the characters and intellectual property included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example, in some of the comics, Winter Soldier and Black Widow have a romantic relationship, bonding over their heritage and past. That would be considered one timeline, or part of the multiverse. However, in the MCU, there is not even a hint of romance between them, hence another timeline. 

March 2017 launched the first of two seasons of “Iron Fist”. The show follows Danny Rand returning to New York City after being missing for years, trying to reconnect with his past and his family legacy. He must fight against the criminal element corrupting his world around him with his incredible kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the awesome power of the fiery Iron Fist. Several characters are also involved in “Luke Cage” but the show amassed only two award nominations.

In April of 2017, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” was released. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt)  and his fellow Guardians are hired by a powerful alien race, the Sovereign, to protect their precious space magic batteries from invaders. When it is discovered that Rocket (the raccoon from the team, voiced by Bradley Cooper) has stolen the items they were sent to guard, the Sovereign dispatch their armada to search for vengeance. As the Guardians try to escape, they also come to deal with Peter’s mysterious parentage, namely the celestial being Ego (Kurt Russell), who is also trying to take over the world in space. Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ego's naive Empath servant, warns the Guardians of Ego's plan, and we later find out that she is one of Peter Quill’s half-sisters. 

August 2017 brought “The Defenders”. Set a few months after the events of the second season of Daredevil, and a month after the events of Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist team up in New York City. This show only lasted as an eight-episode miniseries, and was cancelled by Netflix shortly after. The cancellation was part of a removal of all Netflix-Marvel shows (including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist) by February 2019. This was a result of plans for Disney+, a competing streaming service, and the rising costs of producing content rooted in Marvel intellectual property. 

These films and shows mark only a third of a Phase, the largest to cover. The next third of Phase Three will be next, and I hope to see you there!