(I thought about doing a live blog but I didn't honestly think it would be very interesting.)
There was some initial debate about whether or not to watch the films within the timeline of the universe, which would mean starting with Captain America: The First Avenger, or watching in release order, which begins with Iron Man from 2008. I won, so Iron Man was first up.
(We also briefly debated including the various TV shows like Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, and the like but ultimately that seemed like too much of a time sink so we're strictly sticking with the movies.)
Iron Man: Robert Downey, Jr. was 43 when he took on the role of Tony Stark and has not really aged a day since then. This was the flagship movie of the MCU and it needed to be exceptional to win the kind of attention necessary to breathe life into this project. Ten years later, it holds up really well by keeping the story simple. Spoiled man gets a rude awakening to the real world. Wants to change the establishment. The Establishment, an older male in a father figure role, doesn't like it and tries to destroy the catalyst using the very tools created to change the world. Fails due to an imperfect understanding of those tools. Simple, iconic, and with mythic overtones.
The Incredible Hulk: Also from 2008, this was a different beast entirely. This was the first collaboration between studios in an attempt to create this shared universe. See, Hulk was distributed by Universal, not Paramount. That's why it doesn't look or feel the same. There's been a lot of Monday night quarterbacking about how this film could have been better in the subsequent decade, especially in light of how Hulk has been handled in later films, but that doesn't really do anyone any good. This is the Hulk movie we got. And probably the only standalone Hulk movie we're ever gonna get. Yes, there are problems with it. Yes, the casting is weird. BUT. It achieved its objective, which was to bring the Incredible Hulk into the MCU and it solidified the tropes we've come to expect: cameos and throwbacks as an homage to the comics, easter eggs for future films and villains, the Stan Lee cameo, and even the stinger at the credits (not post-credit in this case, but just before.)
Iron Man 2: Fast forward to 2010. Remember when we had to wait for a Marvel movie once a year or even every other year, instead of every season? This is a lot of people's least favorite Marvel film but I maintain that it is important to the canon as a whole. It sets up more of the backstory between Tony and his father, Howard, that will be important in Civil War. It brings in Black Widow for the first time and shows how important S.H.I.E.L.D. will become to Tony's future. War Machine makes his first appearance. Tony's issues with the military-industrial complex are furthered, making his later capitulation to the Sokovia Accords a huge shift in character development. This movie is a big deal.
Thor: I had watched this quite recently with Tyler so I checked out a little bit here. (Holy shit, I actually just checked the date I watched it and it was a full calendar year ago. It feels like it was just a couple of months. God, it sucks to get old.) This is the first MCU film that feels like it was actually designed for Blu-ray. The space backgrounds are so gorgeous I can't stand it. Thor is arguably the weakest character of all the heroes until Ragnarok and it's hard not to focus on that. Honestly, Loki gets much more depth of character in the script and I think that's part of why he becomes so popular. (The other reason is Tom Hiddleston.) Loki and his abandonment issues are more interesting than Thor and his entitlement.
Stay tuned for next week when we tackle more of Phase One!
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