So You Wanna Get Into Marvel… Part Three

Welcome back to your Marvel crash course. Today’s part will discuss Phase Two, comprised of six movies and the beginning of three TV shows. Phase Two operates from 2013-2015. 

A year after the release of “The Avengers”, audiences were brought “Iron Man 3”. The final installment in the franchise finds Tony Stark dealing with a terrorist attack connected to his past and some arrogant actions. The Mandarin, the antagonist, is revealed to be a scientist that Stark had arrogantly ignored back in 1999. In addition to the recurring actors, the third film features Guy Pearce as The Mandarin, Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen, and Ty Simpkins as Harley, the tween that assists Stark in Tennessee. Harley is notable for his near parental mentee/mentor relationship with Stark, preceding Spiderman and Stark’s own child. 

Shortly after in September 2013, the first season of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” was released. The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, of which Nick Fury is director, must also assemble an elite covert team as supernatural threats continue to arise. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) puts together a team with Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). They will be joined by civilian new recruit and computer hacker Skye Johnson (Chloe Bennet). In its seven-season run from 2013-2020, the show amassed seven award wins and 49 nominations. 

November 2013 included the release of “Thor: The Dark World”. When Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) reappears from the wormhole she went missing in, it’s revealed that the indestructible magical weapon known as the Aether has entered her, making her the target of the Dark Elves and their leader Malekith (Christopher Eccleston). Thor must protect Asgard and his love, enlisting the help of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), despite his previous mischief. It is in this film that Frigga (Rene Russo), Thor’s mother, dies to protect Jane. 

In March 2014, audiences were blessed with what is one of my personal favorite Marvel films of all time: “Captain America and the Winter Soldier”. Director Nick Fury is killed by the mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier, but manages to warn Captain America that S.H.I.E.L.D has been infiltrated by HYDRA, the Nazi regime that Rogers fought prior to being frozen. With the help of Black Widow and the Falcon, Rogers must investigate and eliminate HYDRA/S.H.I.E.L.D despite being branded as a traitor and fugitive. Little does he know, the Winter Soldier is connected to his past.

Don’t worry, Nick Fury faked his death to escape HYDRA. Who is the Winter Soldier? None other than Steve Rogers’ best friend Bucky Barnes, who was found after his alleged death, injected with Super Serum, given a metal arm, and brainwashed into being a goon for HYDRA. Do you smell a redemption arc coming?

Just a few months later in July 2014, audiences met “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Not yet connected to the Avengers themselves, this film went on to garner two sequels and a magnificent playlist. Kidnapped by aliens when he was young, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) now travels the galaxy salvaging anything of value for resale. After discovering a mysterious orb in another part of the galaxy, he becomes the main target of a manhunt led by the genocidal villain Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). He then slowly accumulates a misfit group of intergalactic criminals to become a “hero team”. 

This team includes assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) who is an adoptive daughter of Thanos (Josh Brolin), the genetically engineered raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper), humanoid tree Groot (Vin Diesel), and powerful inmate Drax (Dave Bautista). The group grows in later films to include Nebula (Karen Gillan), Gamora’s adoptive sister, and Mantis (Pom Klementieff), who can sense and manipulate emotions. A fun fact about this franchise is that one of the aliens who adopted Peter Quill is portrayed by Sean Gunn, the younger brother of director James Gunn. 

January 2015 brought the short-lived TV show “Agent Carter”, focusing on Peggy Carter’s (Hayley Atwell) work after Captain America’s plane went down in his first film. James D’Arcy co-stars as Edwin Jarvis, a friend of Howard Stark who ultimately inspires the Jarvis software for Tony Stark. Only two seasons, but still enjoyable!

April 2015 brought the beginning of “Daredevil”, which lasted three seasons and until 2018. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) was blinded by a chemical spill in a freak accident as a child. Instead of limiting him it gave him superhuman senses that enabled him to see the world in a unique and powerful way. Now he uses these powers to deliver justice, not only as a lawyer in his own law firm, but also as a vigilante at night, stalking the streets of Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil. Despite the show’s relatively limited run, it garnered 10 award wins and 43 nominations.

In the same month, theatres began to show “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, another personal favorite. In the midst of battling HYDRA throughout the world, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner have been building a global defense technology called Ultron. When they manage to download the AI into an Iron Man drone body, the unexpectedly sentient Ultron (James Spader), believes he must eradicate humanity to save Earth. Ultron then appears to eliminate Stark's AI J.A.R.V.I.S. (Paul Bettany) and takes control of all of Tony's Iron Suit drones. He also escapes with Loki’s scepter, which was recently recovered from a HYDRA base in Sokovia where Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker was using it to experiment on humans. Two of these experiments are then recruited by Ultron: twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) who now have super speed and mind manipulation/energy blasts respectively. Though when they discover Ultron’s true plan, they turn against him and become Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. 

After preventing Ultron from inserting himself into a synthetic body, Stark inserts J.A.R.V.I.S. instead, who becomes known as Vision (still Paul Bettany) with the help of Thor’s lightning and the Mind Stone (more on Infinity Stones in later parts). The introduction of the stones, Scarlet Witch, and Vision are arguably the three most important factors of the film. While this universe’s Quicksilver dies in the final battle (rather quickly, pun intended), Quicksilver is also a character in the X-Men universe and will come into play again later. 

The final movie of Phase Two is the film “Ant-Man”, released in July 2015. Ex-convict Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is recruited by Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to don the Ant-Man suit - which grants him the mind-boggling ability to shrink in size while retaining his full strength. Pym - the original Ant-Man during his days with S.H.I.E.L.D - trains Scott and plans a heist to stop his former protégé - Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) - from weaponizing similar shrinking technology. Cross - now operating under the villainous "Yellowjacket" banner - threatens global security with his extremely dangerous innovations. But Scott teams up with Dr. Pym and his daughter - Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) - to infiltrate Cross's lab so as to prevent the subatomic technology from falling into the wrong hands. This film is where quantum physics and quantum realms come in, but don’t fear: there’s no test.

The final show of Phase Two is “Jessica Jones”. Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), a former superhero turned private investigator, struggles with trauma and the aftermath of a violent encounter with the manipulative Kilgrave, a man who can control minds. Operating her detective agency in New York City, she takes on cases that often draw her back into danger while confronting her own personal demons. The show lasted three seasons over three years, and amassed 12 award wins and 27 nominations. While her story was originally just parallel to the main storyline, Jones is officially a part of canon, especially with her anticipated return in “Daredevil: Born Again”, a newer show.

Still here? See you for Part 4, covering Phase 3!