Ranking the MCU Post-Credits Scenes

The newest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Doctor Strange, hits theaters this weekend. With that in mind, I tried to think about a post that I could do that would tie into the MCU in honor of its release. The only thing is… I’ve obviously done many, many posts on the MCU over the years. I’ve done rankings of the films themselves as well as for the villains and the scores. Earlier this year when Captain America: Civil War came out, I did a ‘Story So Far’ post detailing everything that had occurred in the MCU up to that point, which I felt was fitting at the time seeing how that film served as the start of Phase Three of the MCU. So, what can I do this time? Well, I decided to do a rankings list of one of the most notable elements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the post-credit stingers. Obviously post-credit sequences in films have been around for years from The Muppet Movie to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But ever since the original Iron Man back in 2008, Marvel Studios has turned them into one of their trademarks. And yet interestingly enough, based on my own experiences going to see MCU films, people STILL leave the theater before the credits are over. And let me be clear, this is still occurring even after 13 films into the franchise’s run. I mean I understand if people have other commitments that they need to get to but at this point people should know that it’s pretty much a requirement that you stay till the end of the credits in a MCU film so that you see everything that happens in it. Anyway, there have been 19 MCU post-credit scenes over the span of 13 films and today I’m counting them down from the worst to the best. Whether it’s a humorous little closing tag or a hint at what’s to come next in a future film, MCU fans always look forward to these little nuggets of MCU goodness.

19. THOR RETURNS TO EARTH (THOR: THE DARK WORLD)

Kicking off this list is the post-credit scene for Thor: The Dark World, in which Thor returns to Earth and reunites with his love, Jane Foster. After their reunion, we cut to another part of London where we see that a frost monster (AKA the big troll-like creature that Thor fought in the first Thor film) from Jotunheim is running amok at the abandoned factory where Jane first came across the Aether. It got transported to Earth by accident during the final battle between Thor and Malekith when the two traveled through the various worlds of the Nine Realms. The main reason as to why this scene takes the bottom spot on this list is quite simple; there’s not that much to say about it really. It’s just Thor reuniting with Jane followed by a brief scene of the frost monster running around London. Sure, the shot of the monster jumping over a bunch of shipping containers while chasing after a flock of birds certainly gets a few chuckles but overall it’s a weak way to end an MCU film. In a way, I guess you can say that it fittingly connects with the fact that Thor: The Dark World was a rather uneventful entry in the MCU, especially when compared to films like Winter Soldier or Civil War. An interesting fact about this scene is that when it was filmed, Natalie Portman was unavailable as she was busy working on another film. So instead, the filmmakers had Chris Hemsworth’s wife Elsa Pataky step in to play Jane in this brief scene. As Portman then went on to joke, this explains why the kiss between the two “was so passionate”.

18. THE AVENGERS TEASE (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER)

There is no doubt that this post-credit scene from Captain America: The First Avenger was quite a big deal when it first came out. After all, it gave us audiences our first look at the epic superhero adventure that was to come the following May. It opens with a scene that would later be shown in Avengers of Cap as he’s hammering away at a punching bag alone in a small gym. After he knocks the bag off its tether (a moment that is even more epic when it’s shown in the actual film as the result of it being intercut with flashbacks of First Avenger), Nick Fury enters the room, telling Cap that he’s here to give him a mission of the ‘saving the world’ variety. We then cut to a series of clips from The Avengers which is basically just a rundown of all the major characters. Sure, there’s no major action sequences that are shown off here (keep in mind that this was in the summer of 2011 before we even got a full trailer for the film) but it certainly must have gotten audiences pumped in regards to what was coming. So why then is this near the bottom of the list, you ask? Simple… because The Avengers has been out for almost five years now. We’ve all seen it so now this post-credit scene is nothing more than just a simple teaser. I mean I still have positive feelings about this scene, mainly from a nostalgic perspective, but as much as I hate to say it, this is one instance of an MCU post-credit scene that you can honestly skip at this point because you won’t miss anything… and that’s because you’re literally going to see everything that happens in it in the next film.

17. HOWARD THE DUCK (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)

Even after two years since Guardians of the Galaxy first came out, sometimes I still marvel (pun not intended) at the fact that the film got away with, let’s be honest, a completely superfluous post-credit stinger featuring an unexpected cameo from a character who, believe it or not, is from a Marvel comic. I’m of course referring to Howard the Duck, who appears as part of the Collector’s archive on Knowhere. The stinger opens as the Collector sits in his destroyed archive following the incident earlier in the film in which his mistreated assistant Carina touches the Power Stone, which causes an explosion that almost completely decimates the entire archive. As he begins to have a drink, one of his specimens, a Soviet cosmonaut dog named Cosmo (who’s a member of the Guardians in the comics) comes up to him and starts to lick his face. As the Collector lets the dog do so, a voice is heard asking the Collector why he’s letting the dog lick him like that. We then cut to the infamous duck as he sits in his destroyed cage as he too has a drink. I mean… yeah talk about one of the most random post-credit scenes of all-time and not just in terms of the MCU. It’s so random that when I went to see it with some of my friends on opening night, one of them audibly shouted ‘Oh my god!’ when Howard (voiced by, believe it or not, Seth Green) appeared on-screen. Obviously, the fact that it’s a pointless stinger puts it near the bottom of this list but the randomness of it all at least gives it a one-up over the previous two entries. Plus, even though it’s clearly not saying much, this is easily Howard’s best film appearance following the infamous 1986 film Howard the Duck produced by George Lucas. Going back to the Collector for a moment…

16. THE COLLECTOR (THOR: THE DARK WORLD)

Now I’ll admit that when I first saw this mid-credit sequence from Thor: The Dark World, I wasn’t too big on it. In fact, it made me quite hesitant about the then-upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy which, for the record, we hadn’t seen any real footage of yet at the time. The scene consists of Lady Sif and Volstagg entering the Collector’s archive to give him the Aether, as they note that it’d be unwise to have two Infinity Stones in one place as they already have the Tesseract on Asgard. As they leave, the Collector remarks to his assistant, Carina, “one down, five to go”. So yeah, at first I wasn’t too big on this scene to the point where I started to have some doubts over Guardians of the Galaxy. The bright and colorful backgrounds of the Collector’s archive came off as being rather tacky to the point where it did not gel well at all with the more grounded color scheme and set design of the film prior. It’s easy to see why director Alan Taylor wasn’t too keen on this scene, directed by Guardians director James Gunn, being included in the film. But of course, since then Guardians has come out and proved to be another excellent installment in the MCU. Thus, I have warmed up to this scene in recent years. It’s still not one of my favorites by any means, namely due to the clashing of different set designs, but I do appreciate it more as a fan of Guardians.

15. PETER PARKER RETURNS HOME (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR)

Civil War saw the long-awaited debut of Spider-Man in the MCU and the Russo brothers gave us a fun little closing tag to end the film on that was based around him. It opens with Peter Parker as he returns home from the big airport battle in Germany. Having sustained some minor injuries during the fight (i.e. a black eye), Aunt May asks him who it was that hit him, to which Peter tells her that it was some guy named Steve from Brooklyn (I’m sure you all know who that guy is). After managing to shoo her away, Peter tests out some of the new equipment that Tony Stark gave him, namely a beam of light that emits an image of his Spider-Man mask on his bedroom ceiling. This is the ‘Spider Signal’, a piece of equipment that Spidey frequently used in the comics. It is used primarily to intimidate criminals, very similar in use to the Bat-Signal for Batman over in DC Comics. Ultimately this scene is another example of how this new film iteration of Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, is very much staying true to the comics. I mean, we saw that right out of the gate when Spidey first appeared in the second trailer for Civil War as his costume closely resembled his original costume from the comics right down to the ‘shutter eyes’. And thanks to this scene, I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to be seeing even more of ‘old-school Spider-Man’ in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

14. THANOS (THE AVENGERS)

The Avengers was the first MCU film to have not one but two post-credit scenes, the first of which being a mid-credit scene. And boy was this one a doozy as it introduced us to the character who will no doubt be a major threat in Infinity War; Thanos. All throughout the film we’ve seen scenes set in space in which Loki converses with a figure known as ‘The Other’. As this mid-credit scene begins, ‘The Other’ meets with his master, a mysterious purple-skinned figure, and warns him about the humans, who at first they thought wouldn’t pose any threat but were proven wrong after the Avengers took down their army of Chitauri. As ‘The Other’ remarks that ‘to challenge them is to court death’, Thanos turns to the camera and smugly grins. Now sure, if you’re not that big of a comic book reader, you probably had no idea who this character was the first time around. But at this point, I think it’s safe to say that most people know who it is now, especially now that he’s appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy and Age of Ultron. The thing is, though… in those films he’s played by a different actor. In the first Avengers, Thanos was played by Damion Poitier and I’m guessing that he was only brought in for that one scene. Ever since, Josh Brolin has been playing the part and will do so again in Infinity War. Now I’m not saying that they should pull a ‘Star Wars Special Edition’ by reshooting this scene with Brolin but now that he’s in the role, it’s kind of weird going back to this scene nowadays and seeing the pre-Guardians Thanos. Hence why his next post-credit appearance takes the next spot…

13. THANOS DONS THE GAUNTLET (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON)

Age of Ultron notably only had one post-credit scene whereas nowadays there are always two major post-credit scenes in an MCU film. I wonder how many people stuck around till the end of the credits only to find that there wasn’t anything there? Anyway, it was only fitting that Thanos appears in the post-credit scene for the second Avengers film and while he only grinned to the camera in the first film, he does a little bit more in this film… you know, more than he’s done while sitting on that throne that he sat in during his scene in Guardians of the Galaxy. Anyway, we open on a vault containing an Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos dons it and remarks ‘Fine! I’ll do it myself!’ meaning that he’s ready to finally start his quest to collect the Infinity Stones, which is a good idea because he technically doesn’t have any at this point. The Tesseract’s on Asgard, The Aether is with the Collector (presumably… Who knows after that archive explosion?), the Power Stone is with the Nova Corps, and the Mind Stone is in Vision’s forehead. Yes, he picked up an empty Infinity Gauntlet. On an interesting note, we previously saw an Infinity Gauntlet during a brief shot of Odin’s Treasure Room in the first Thor film. It’s safe to say that this must be a different Gauntlet. Anyway, it’s unclear when we’ll see Thanos next but this scene does set the stage for what will surely be an epic battle in Infinity War. And like I said before, the key reason as to why this scene gets ranked higher than the Thanos scene from the first Avengers film is the fact that now he’s played by Josh Brolin. Simply put, better continuity.

12. TONY MEETS WITH GENERAL ROSS (THE INCREDIBLE HULK)

Okay technically speaking this isn’t a ‘post-credit’ scene. In fact, it happens BEFORE the credits even start. Still, I think it’s necessary to include this one because boy was it a big deal when it first happened. Tony Stark appearing outside of the Iron Man films? Mind blown! Obviously nowadays this isn’t that big of a deal given all the cameos and crossovers that have occurred since then but I think that this one is still notable on its own merits. After the whole incident with the Hulk in Harlem (I wonder how Luke Cage and co. responded to that one), we see General Ross as he’s drinking his woes away in a bar. Then we cut to a figure entering the bar; it’s Tony Stark. After bantering for a bit, Tony mentions that a team is being put together. Again, obviously nowadays this isn’t anything major given the countless other times that Tony and other characters have cameoed in other MCU films. But in the context of mid-summer 2008, after Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel Studios made it big with the original Iron Man film just one month earlier, this was big. And let’s be honest, part of me wonders if there were people out there who didn’t see the post-credit scene from Iron Man beforehand. I’ll admit that I didn’t stick around till the end when I saw Iron Man in theaters so when I went to go see Incredible Hulk in theaters, basically this was the first time that I learned about the plans for an Avengers film. This scene was even incorporated into one of Marvel Studios’ ‘One-Shot’ short films, The Consultant. So, to put it simply, I’d say that this is still a very noteworthy entry in Marvel Studios’ line of post-credit stingers. 

11. BABY GROOT DANCING (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)

What more can be said about this one? This one’s super adorable and it quite frankly perfectly exemplifies the good feelings that one gets while watching Guardians of the Galaxy. During the climax of the film, the tree-like creature Groot sacrifices himself to save his friends as the Dark Aster crashes down into the city of Xandar. I dare you not to get teary-eyed when Groot comforts a distressed Rocket and says “We are Groot!” But following the final battle with Ronan, it’s revealed that Groot is still alive thanks to his regenerative abilities and is currently in miniature form. And as soon as the credits start, we get a hilariously charming scene of Groot dancing to the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ all while a completely unaware Drax is seated directly nearby polishing his knife. At one point Drax turns around and Groot freezes in place as if not to give anything away. Drax returns to polishing his knife and Groot continues to dance. I mean, there’s not much else I can say about this one. It’s just a super charming way to end the film and I do look forward to seeing a ‘younger’ Groot in the upcoming sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Fun fact; Groot’s smooth dance moves were provided via mo-cap by none other than the director of Guardians of the Galaxy himself, James Gunn, who has stated that ‘I Want You Back’ is his favorite song.

10. BUCKY VISITS THE MUSEUM (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER)

We got a great pair of post-credit scenes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The second one is a simple scene but it’s also an effective way to showcase a change in the character it focuses on. One of the major plot points of the film revolves around its titular character, the Winter Soldier, who is revealed to be Steve Rogers’ best friend Bucky Barnes, who is revealed to be alive after his supposed death in First Avenger but is now a brainwashed soldier of HYDRA. Now, Cap is forced to try and knock some sense into his friend, which he does with one simple line. Said line is one that Bucky said to him back in the 40’s; “I’m with you till the end of the line.” That stops Bucky right in his tracks and effectively started his journey to remember who he is. As the film’s second post-credit scene begins, we start off in the Smithsonian Exhibit in Washington D.C. honoring Captain America, which was complete with narration from Gary Sinise and was where Cap ‘stole’ his original World War II uniform to wear during the final battle with HYDRA. We then see Bucky as he walks up to the one part of the exhibit that focuses on him, “the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country”. Like I said, the key to this scene is that it ends the film on a cliffhanger by showing Bucky’s initial efforts to regain his memory following his fight with Cap. Also, the pulsating music by Henry Jackman that increases in volume as the camera pans over to Bucky is a nice touch. Speaking of good ol’ Bucky…

9. BUCKY GOES INTO CRYOSLEEP IN WAKANDA (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR)

Captain America: Civil War also had a nice pair of post-credit scenes, with the first, the mid-credit scene, giving us a good tease of the world of Black Panther. All throughout the film, Black Panther AKA Prince T’Challa of Wakanda had been hunting Bucky believing that he was the one who bombed the UN conference in Vienna and killed his father, King T’Chaka. Thankfully, he eventually realizes that Bucky was completely innocent and that Helmut Zemo was the one who was responsible for the death of his father. After the big Cap-Iron Man fight in Siberia, Cap and Bucky flee to Wakanda where Bucky voluntarily decides to go back into cryo-sleep. As he sees it, he can’t trust his own mind so it’s better for everybody if he goes under until they find a cure for his brainwashing. And so, he goes back into cryo with his best friend Steve by his side. Cap then goes to talk with T’Challa who tells him that he’s ready to help Bucky find peace after he and his father both became victims of Zemo’s plot. When Cap notes that those who are after Bucky will no doubt come for him in time, T’Challa remarks “Let them try,” as the camera pans out to reveal the jungles of Wakanda complete with a massive stone statue of a panther. In short, Civil War was a great introduction to the character of Black Panther, played phenomenally by Chadwick Boseman, and the mid-credit scene gave us our first look at his home nation which will no doubt take center stage for some epic superhero action in his upcoming solo film which will be hitting theaters on February 16^th, 2018.

8. HOPE IS GIVEN THE WASP SUIT (ANT-MAN)

While Hope van Dyne didn’t get much to do action-wise in Ant-Man, she was still a valuable member of the team and Evangeline Lilly certainly did a great job in the role. One of the best aspects about her role in the film was that there was a legit reason as to why her father, Hank Pym, didn’t just let her put on the Ant-Man suit as part of their plan to steal the Yellowjacket technology developed by his former protégé, Darren Cross. In an emotional flashback scene, he reveals that during a mission to disable a Soviet missile, her mother Janet AKA ‘The Wasp’ sacrificed herself by shrinking down to the sub-atomic level and was never seen again. However, after Scott Lang manages to return from this ‘quantum realm’ during the final battle with Yellowjacket, Hank begins to wonder if Janet is still alive. And as the mid-credit scene begins, it’s clear that he’s finally warmed up to the idea of letting Hope utilize his shrinking technology as he shows her a new Wasp prototype suit, basically confirming that she will be taking on her mother’s mantle in future MCU films. She didn’t appear in the next immediate MCU film, Civil War, unlike Ant-Man, because writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely noted that it would basically be nothing more than just a quick cameo. Sure, it’s a bit disappointing that she wasn’t brought back immediately after that big mid-credit scene but at the same time it’s understandable considering how packed Civil War was already in terms of characters. Thankfully she will be back to officially take on the mantle of ‘The Wasp’ in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. To quote her line in this scene, “It’s about damn time…”

7. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR TEASE (ANT-MAN)

This is another one of those MCU stingers that directly teases the studio’s next film. In this case, Ant-Man’s post-credit scene was directly helmed by the Russo brothers and features a setting straight from Civil War. It’s the scene where Cap and Falcon have found Bucky and are restraining him following the incident at the Berlin facility where Bucky was being held captive but was let out by Zemo, who reinitiated his HYDRA brainwashing with those infamous trigger words (“Longing, Rusted, Seventeen, Daybreak, Furnace, Nine, Benign, Homecoming, One, Freight car”). Falcon remarks that “this would’ve been a lot easier a week ago”. They both realize that they’re unable to contact Tony Stark because of ‘the Accords’ and Cap remarks that this basically means that they’re on their own. To which Falcon responds ‘not quite’ and that ‘he knows a guy’. This scene accomplishes two things. First off, obviously, is the fact that it sets up Civil War. It introduces the Sokovia Accords, without ever going into detail over them, as well as continuing from Winter Soldier, which ended with Cap and Falcon planning to go after Bucky. The other great thing about this scene is that it also serves as a nice bit of closure for Ant-Man. Of course, Falcon made a highly memorable cameo in the film during a scene in which Ant-Man had to infiltrate the Avengers’ facility in New York to acquire a specific piece of equipment for the film’s big heist. It just goes to show that the MCU truly is a connected universe.

6. LOKI IS ALIVE (THOR)

The climax of the first Thor ended with the implication that Thor’s treacherous brother Loki fell into the abyss following the destruction of the Bifrost bridge. However, as this post-credit scene reveals, Loki isn’t quite dead yet. Like pretty much all the Phase 1 post-credit scenes (save for The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, the latter of which he instead had a more substantial role in), it features Samuel L. Jackson returning once again as Nick Fury. In this instance, he converses with Thor’s friend Dr. Erik Selvig by bringing him to a secret SHIELD facility and showing him a mysterious glowing blue cube. We then see Loki reflected in a nearby mirror as it’s revealed that he’s somehow in control of Selvig, coercing him into saying to Fury that “it’s worth a look”. Like the Ant-Man post-credit scene, there are two things to take from this. First, it introduces the object known as the Tesseract, which served as the McGuffin of both Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers and would later be revealed to be an Infinity Stone. Secondly, as noted earlier, it establishes that Loki did survive that big fall and that he will be the primary villain of the first Avengers film. In fact, this scene was directed by Joss Whedon, who would do the same thing again for another ‘Avengers build-up’ post-credit scene that will be coming up in a little bit. It’s also interesting to note how Selvig is apparently under Loki’s control at this point as this is before he was officially made into one of his henchmen in The Avengers. Ultimately, though, this is another classic post-credit stinger that ends on a major cliffhanger. On that note…

5. THOR’S HAMMER (IRON MAN 2)

To me this was an excellent set-up for what was to be the next MCU film at the time, Thor. At one point in Iron Man 2, Tony briefly found himself in a state of ‘house arrest’ being watched closely by Agent Phil Coulson, who warned him that ‘he will taze him and watch Supernanny while he drooled on the carpet’ if he tried to escape. But Coulson ends up leaving eventually to head on down to New Mexico for a different assignment. As the post-credit scene, directed by Thor director Kenneth Branagh, begins, we open on the New Mexico desert. A lone vehicle begins driving through it and stops in front of a small cliff. As Agent Coulson gets out, we cut to a reveal of what he’s looking at; a massive crater surrounded by a bunch of truckers. Coulson gets on the phone, presumably with Fury, and tells him “Sir. We found it,” before we cut to a shot of the mysterious object located right in the middle of the hole; Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. And as the screen goes to black, we hear a bolt of lightning, perfectly matching Thor’s title as the ‘God of Thunder’. Without ever showing Chris Hemsworth as Thor, this scene perfectly builds up the character’s then-upcoming solo film while also confirming that Clark Gregg would be returning as everyone’s favorite SHIELD agent as well. And keep in mind that this was back when many people were unsure about a Thor film so there was a lot of pressure to get this right. Thankfully, the film did turn out good and continued Marvel Studios’ winning streak that is still going strong today.

4. TONY MEETS WITH BRUCE (IRON MAN 3)

I’ll admit that this one is rather polarizing, just like the film that it came from, but I personally love this one. The film opens with narration from Tony as he begins to go over the events of Iron Man 3, beginning with the incident with Aldrich Killian in Bern, Switzerland in 1999 that effectively led to his conflict with Killian’s organization AIM years later. This goes all the way to the end of the film as the post-credit scene reveals that he’s been telling the story to someone this whole time. That someone is Bruce Banner but when we first see him, he’s asleep in his chair and admits to Tony that he fell asleep after the ‘Switzerland’ part. After he tells Tony that ‘he’s not that kind of doctor’, Tony then begins to go into a different story about this old wound from 1983 and questions the fact that he still had a nanny back then at the age of 14 (“that was weird…”). Even though this is basically just a funny little anecdote instead of having some form of set-up for a future MCU film, I love this scene… for various reasons. The first is that, being the first ‘post-Avengers’ MCU post-credit scene, it’s a nice touch to have Tony in a scene with Bruce following the friendship that formed between them in the last film (Science Bros FTW!). Second, it certainly feels like a scene that director Shane Black would put in his films and it does match up with a lot of the humor in Iron Man 3. In fact, he and Robert Downey Jr. did this exact same kind of thing in their 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Really, the only odd thing about this is that, apparently between Avengers films, Bruce got a haircut and grew a beard.

3. THE TWINS (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER)

This is arguably the biggest MCU post-credit scene in terms of what it introduces for future films. Fittingly enough, it was directed by Joss Whedon to help set up Avengers: Age of Ultron. It opens in a HYDRA facility as a man named Dr. List meets with HYDRA leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann). He tells Strucker that Nick Fury has released the secrets of HYDRA’s takeover of SHIELD to the public but Strucker responds by saying that he only leaked “everything he knows about” as we see two secret projects that HYDRA is currently working on. The first is revealed to be the mind-controlling scepter that Loki used in the first Avengers film. As we would later learn in Age of Ultron, this scepter contains the Mind Stone, which is eventually used to bring Vision to life. But then, as Strucker tells List that it’s “not a world of spies and heroes anymore” but instead “the age of miracles”, we see two of the organization’s human test subjects; a man who is a speedster and a woman who possesses telekinetic powers. They are ‘the Twins’, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and the rather sinister feel of this whole scene, right down to the latter abruptly smashing the two cubes that she’s manipulating together to close out the scene, foreshadows the fact that the two start out as ‘enemies’ of the Avengers in Age of Ultron before they join forces at the end. In conclusion, if it wasn’t for these next two classic scenes, this might have been my favorite MCU post-credit scene to date. But on that note…

2. THE ‘AVENGER INITIATIVE’ (IRON MAN)

Even after nearly a whole decade since the release of the original Iron Man, there’s no denying that the original MCU post-credit scene is still one of the franchise’s best. However, as I alluded to earlier in this list, part of me wonders how many people did stick around through the credits to watch this scene in theaters. Because keep in mind, this was the first MCU film ever made so this was before any of us knew that we had to do this on a regular basis. So, in that sense, it’d be totally understandable if some people weren’t aware of this scene the first time they saw the film. As I also noted before, I was one of those people to the point where it wasn’t until The Incredible Hulk that I’d realized that they were preparing for an Avengers film. But at the end of the day, this is still one of the most iconic moments in the entire MCU. It opens as Tony Stark returns home after revealing to the world that he is Iron Man. As he enters the darkened house, he notices a figure out on his balcony. This man then proceeds to tell him the following; “"I am Iron Man". You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet.” As the man steps into the light, we see that it’s Samuel L. Jackson as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury, who states that “I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative’. And just like that, a Cinematic Universe was born. Seriously, I’d argue that this was the moment that officially kicked off the franchise. The first Iron Man was a pretty self-contained superhero story but in this moment, that all changed. Just imagine for a second how big this was when it first happened; a time before any of us thought that a Marvel Cinematic Universe could happen or that it was even possible. And we all know how that turned out…

1. SHAWARMA (THE AVENGERS)

So, what can possibly top the iconic moment where Nick Fury came to Tony Stark to talk about the Avenger Initiative, some of you might ask? Well, taking the top spot on this list is a post-credit stinger that doesn’t set up anything but is instead just a humorous ending tag. It’s the post-credit scene from The Avengers which consists solely of the titular group having lunch at a shawarma restaurant, during which they don’t say a single word. They just eat their lunch and, let’s be honest, after the long day that they just had, can you blame them? This scene is so simplistic that it’s brilliant. In fact, this scene was shot just shortly before the film was released in theaters. Yeah, when the film had its world premiere on April 11^th, 2012, originally it only had the Thanos mid-credit scene attached to it. But just one day later, Joss Whedon filmed a second post-credit scene to tie into a seemingly random line from the film. This scene also reflected a real-life incident that occurred during production of his show Angel in which he and stars Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof went to go get drinks after filming a major scene but then ended up just sitting around quietly because they were exhausted after the shoot. Anyway, going back to The Avengers, after Tony Stark crashes back down on Earth after sending the missile into space to destroy the Chitauri, he asks this to the team, “Ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I want to try it,” And you want to know one of the telltale signs of this being shot long after filming was done? During this entire scene, Cap is covering his face while he’s eating and this is hide the fact that Chris Evans had recently grown a beard. Regardless, this scene speaks for itself and even though it’s basically pointless compared to some of the other MCU post-credit scenes, it’s just awesome. Hence why it’s my favorite MCU post-credit scene to date.

And that’s the end of my rankings of all 19 MCU post-credit scenes that have been released up to this point. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below in regards your personal favorite MCU post-credit scenes.

…

“You’re still here? It’s over. Go home… What are you expecting, Sam Jackson show up with an eyepatch and a saucy little leather number? Go, go… Chicka-chickahhhh…”

(P.S. Yes I know that quote was from a non-MCU film.)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Story So Far

This past November, prior to the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, I tried out an idea that I had been developing for new posts on this blog. Due to the fact that franchises play a key part in the film industry nowadays, I figured that it may be hard for some newcomers whenever they go into the latest installment of a franchise potentially without having seen any of its previous installments. So in honor of the release of what was the final installment of The Hunger Games, I did a post in which I recapped the events of the previous three films in order to A.) get newcomers up-to-speed with what’s going on in the story and B.) refresh the memories of those who have seen the films but may not have seen them in a while. And overall, it seems that a lot of you really liked that post based on its view-count. So as a result, I decided to continue on with this ‘Story so Far’ series and today I’m tackling the current king of film franchises. That’s right, I’m doing the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Back when it all started in 2008 with the original Iron Man, I bet no one would have expected that this would one day lead to one of the biggest franchises in recent memory. But now here we are just less than a week away from the release of the MCU’s 13^th installment, Captain America: Civil War, which also marks the beginning of the franchise’s ‘Phase Three’. So today, to keep everyone up to speed with what’s been going on in the continually expanding world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’ll be going through almost everything that’s happened in the previous two phases/twelve films. The reason why I say ‘almost’ everything is because if I covered every single event that happened in the MCU up to this point, I’d be here all day.

Now this is going to play out much differently than the ‘Story so Far’ post for The Hunger Games. Instead of this post playing out like a straight-forward re-telling of the events of the MCU films, it’s more going to be like a bulleted timeline detailing specific moments from each entry in the franchise. Also, I’m not just going to do this in the order in which the films were released, starting with Iron Man and then finishing off with the most recent release, 2015’s Ant Man. Instead, I’m going to recount the events of the MCU in order of where they stand on what would be considered as the series’ official ‘timeline’. Now obviously there’s a lot to cover here so I’m restricting it to the most important moments in the franchise; in other words, the general plots of each installment. And yes, I’m also including the TV shows in here as well even though recently it seems like they’ve begun to stray away from the continuity of the films. Because if you ask me, until it’s clearly evident that they are 100% separate from the events in the MCU films, for now they are still a part of that continuity even if only in minor detail. For reference, I used the following websites (listed below) in order to construct this post. If you want to learn more about the MCU timeline, at least more than what I’ll be covering today, I implore you to check out the latter link which will lead you to an ‘official’ wiki site for the MCU. But for now, sit back, relax, and follow along with me as we go through the VERY long history of the world that is Marvel Studios’ Cinematic Universe two phases into its run.

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/marvel-cinematic-universe-timeline-avengers/

http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

*In 2988 B.C., the Asgardian army, led by Bor (Tony Curran), confront the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim before they can destroy the Nine Realms with the mysterious substance known as the Aether. Realizing that they’re in the middle of a losing battle, the Dark Elves’ leader Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) sacrifices most of his army and places both himself and his surviving forces into suspended animation. Bor then proceeds to hide the Aether to keep it out of enemy hands. (Thor: The Dark World)

*In the year 965, the Asgardians, led by Odin (Anthony Hopkins), confront the Frost Giants of Jotunheim when the latter group attempts to conquer Earth. After forcing them back to Jotunheim and then proceeding to steal their power source, the Casket of Ancient Winters, Odin negotiates a truce with the Frost Giant leader Laufey (Colm Feore). After the battle, Odin comes across an abandoned Frost Giant infant, who he then proceeds to adopts as his own, Loki. (Thor)

*In the midst of World War II, Brooklyn native Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) attempts to join the military but is continuously rejected due to his frail status. However, Rogers’ determination to join in the fight attracts the attention of defecting German scientist Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), who selects him for a special ‘super-soldier’ project run by the Strategic Scientific Reserve. While the experiment does prove to be a success, transforming Rogers into a much taller and stronger figure, Erskine is killed by an assassin, resulting in Rogers being the only one to be subjected to the super-soldier serum. After initially being used solely for promotional purposes by a U.S. senator, Rogers soon joins in the fight for real as ‘Captain America’ as he and his squad, the Howling Commandos, take on the Nazi organization known as Hydra, led by Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) AKA the ‘Red Skull’, who intends on using a powerful relic known as the Tesseract to take over the world. However, during his final fight with Cap onboard his weapons-loaded aircraft, Schmidt ends up getting ‘dissolved’ by the Tesseract. In order to keep the plane’s weapons from detonating in a civilian-populated area, Rogers ‘sacrifices’ himself by crashing the plane into the Arctic. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

*One year after the end of World War II, SSR agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who was Cap’s love interest in The First Avenger, struggles to cope with his ‘loss’ while continuing to work for the SSR. She soon finds herself having to go against her superiors in order to help inventor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) when he is framed for supplying weapons to enemies of the U.S. With the help of Stark’s butler Edwin Jarvis (James D’Arcy), Peggy successfully prevents the organization known as Leviathan from using said weapons against the U.S. while also finally coming to terms with the loss of Steve. (Agent Carter: Season 1)

*One year after that, Peggy finds herself sent to Los Angeles on assignment in order to help LA SSR Chief Daniel Sousa (Enver Gjokaj) deal with a mysterious body found frozen in a lake (during a heat wave, no less). This investigation soon leads Peggy and co. into a confrontation with scientific prodigy Whitney Frost (Wynn Everett), who has created a substance known as Zero Matter which she ends up absorbing during this time. (Agent Carter: Season 2)

*Sometime after that, Peggy, after retrieving the mysterious serum known as the ‘Zodiac’ from enemy hands, is recruited by Howard Stark to be the co-head of his new organization: S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel One-Shots: Agent Carter)

*In 1988, a young Peter Quill is forced to witness the death of his mother Meredith due to cancer. As he tearfully rushes out of the hospital, he is then abducted by a group of space pirates known as the ‘Ravagers’ led by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker). (Guardians of the Galaxy)

*In 1989, S.H.I.E.L.D. associate Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) furiously resigns from the organization when he learns that they have been trying to duplicate his ‘Ant-Man’ shrinking technology behind his back. (Ant-Man)

*Many years later, genius/billionaire/playboy/philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) ends up getting critically wounded while in Afghanistan for a demonstration of his company’s new weapon, the ‘Jericho’ missile. He is then captured by the terrorist group known as ‘The Ten Rings’, who blackmail him into building a ‘Jericho’ missile for them in exchange for his freedom. Instead, Tony, with the help of fellow captive Yinsen (Shaun Toub), builds a suit of armor powered by an arc reactor generator that Tony also uses to power the electromagnet that’s keeping him alive in the wake of his injuries. After escaping from the Ten Rings and returning to the U.S., Tony then decides to use his new suit of armor to take on those who have been using his company’s weapons on innocent people, becoming the superhero ‘Iron Man’. However, Tony soon finds himself in conflict with his business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), who is revealed to be the one who orchestrated Tony’s kidnapping. Stane collects the prototype suit that Tony created to escape from the Ten Rings and dons it to become the ‘Iron Monger’. After successfully defeating Stane, Tony then publicly reveals to the world that he is Iron Man. He is then approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who intends to talk to him about the ‘Avengers Initiative’. (Iron Man)

*After being exposed to gamma radiation as part of an experiment by the government intended to re-create the ‘super-soldier’ program, physicist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is transformed into a large green monster, the ‘Hulk’, and is forced to go on the run as a fugitive of the U.S. military. Years later, Banner, who has been living a low-key life in Brazil, tries to search for a cure for his ‘condition’. This soon leads to him returning to the U.S., where he reunites with his ex-girlfriend and fellow scientist Betty Ross (Liv Tyler) while still being pursued by her father, General Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt), and the military. During this time, Ross attempts the ‘super-soldier’ experiment again by testing it on soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). However, like Banner, the serum ends up having a negative effect on Blonsky, who then proceeds to transform into the monstrous ‘Abomination’. After stopping Abomination, Bruce then proceeds to go back into hiding and is seemingly now able to keep his ‘condition’ in check. (The Incredible Hulk)

*When S.H.I.E.L.D.’s overseers, the World Security Council, intend to recruit Blonsky into the ‘Avengers Initiative’, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez) sabotage their plan by having Tony Stark meet with General Ross instead (this was also the ‘post-credits scene’ for The Incredible Hulk) so that he and the military wouldn’t give Blonsky over to S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel One-Shots: The Consultant)

*Six months after revealing his identity as Iron Man to the world, Tony Stark is continuously pressured by the government into giving them his technology. While all of this is going on, Tony is also trying to find a replacement for his arc reactor’s palladium core as it has begun to poison him. He is soon confronted by physicist Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a former associate of Howard Stark (whose older self is played by John Slattery) who builds an arc reactor of his own to seek revenge against Tony’s family for ruining his own family’s life, eventually gaining the help of Tony’s business rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell). With the help of notes from his late father, Tony manages to create a new element that he uses in order to better power his arc reactor and, more importantly, not die. And with the help of his friend, Colonel James Rhodes (who, starting with this film, is played by Don Cheadle after being played by Terrence Howard in the first Iron Man), who had taken one of Tony’s previous Iron Man suits to become ‘War Machine’ for the military, Tony is able to defeat Vanko and his army of robot drones at the Stark Expo in New York. However, Nick Fury then proceeds to inform Tony that S.H.I.E.L.D. only intends to use him as a ‘consultant’ for the ‘Avengers Initiative’ due to his “compulsive behavior, self-destructive tendencies, and textbook narcissism”. (Iron Man 2)

*After briefly serving as Tony Stark’s ‘supervisor’ during the events of Iron Man 2, Agent Coulson is reassigned to investigate a strange occurrence in New Mexico. While on the way there, he subdues a few robbers at a convenience store. (Marvel One-Shots: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer)

*After he accidentally ends up breaking the truce between Asgard and the Frost Giants, Odin’s son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is banished to Earth and stripped of his powers. While on Earth, Thor meets, befriends, and falls in love with astrophysicist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Meanwhile, back on Asgard, it is revealed that Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who learns of his true identity as an adopted Frost Giant, had masterminded Thor’s banishment in order to take over as the ruler of Asgard. However, Thor ends up regaining his powers after proving himself worthy of them and returns to Asgard in order to confront Loki. During their battle, Loki seemingly perishes after falling into an abyss. However, it is later revealed that Loki did survive the fall and has taken control of Thor’s scientist friend on Earth, Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard). (Thor)

*Scientists in the Arctic uncover the crashed aircraft that Captain America was in, resulting in Cap waking up in the present day and learning that he’s been ‘asleep’ for about 70 years. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

*S.H.I.E.L.D. begins to experiment on the mysterious Tesseract, recovered by Howard Stark in the 40’s following Cap’s ‘sacrifice’, with the help of Dr. Selvig. However, they are soon attacked by Loki, who takes the Tesseract and hypnotizes both Selvig and Agent Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) AKA Hawkeye into being his minions. This leads Fury into finally bringing in the members of his ‘Avengers Initiative’: Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk (now played by Mark Ruffalo), as well as SHIELD agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) AKA Black Widow and Barton after he’s freed from his hypnosis. Together they take on Loki and his army of Chitauri alien soldiers as they attack the city of New York, after Loki brought them to Earth through a portal created by the Tesseract. While Hulk thrashes Loki around to get him out of the fight, Iron Man ‘sacrifices’ himself by sending a missile through the portal in order to destroy the Chitauri mothership. Thankfully he manages to get back through the portal just in time before it closes. With the day saved, Thor brings the imprisoned Loki back to Asgard while the Avengers go their separate ways for now. Meanwhile, in another part of the universe, a mysterious purple-skinned figure is notified of the failed invasion. (The Avengers)

*Tony begins to suffer from PTSD following his near-death experience during the Battle of New York. To make matters worse, a sinister terrorist known as ‘The Mandarin’ begins attacking various sites all over the U.S. When Tony goads him on after his former bodyguard Happy Hogan (played by Iron Man/Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau) is injured in one of the bombings, the Mandarin destroys Tony’s Malibu home and Tony is forced to fly all the way over to North Carolina, where he begins to mount an all-out offensive on the Mandarin. As it turns out, the man who he thought was the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is actually a drunk British actor named Trevor Slattery while the real mastermind behind all of the bombings was scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who Tony had ignored years earlier while at a New Year’s Eve party in Switzerland. Tony defeats Killian with the help of Rhodey, saves his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) from being subjected to Killian’s Extremis formula, destroys most of the Iron Man suits that he had developed since New York, and finally gets the shrapnel in his body removed once and for all. (Iron Man 3)

*After being arrested at the end of Iron Man 3, Trevor Slattery is put in prison and is interviewed by documentary filmmaker Jackson Norriss (Scoot McNairy). However, it turns out that Norriss is actually a member of the Ten Rings, who aren’t too pleased with Slattery’s recent portrayal of ‘The Mandarin’, particularly the real Mandarin. (Marvel One-Shots: All Hail the King)

*Agent Phil Coulson, who was believed to have been killed by Loki prior to the Battle of New York, is revealed to be alive and proceeds to form a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to combat all sorts of threats in the wake of the first Avengers film. His team includes pilot/former field agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), black ops specialist Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), engineering genius Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), and biochemist Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). During their first mission, Coulson also ends up recruiting a hacktivist named Skye (Chloe Bennet) who is associated with the hacker group known as the ‘Rising Tide’. When Skye’s connections with the Rising Tide start to threaten her relationship with the rest of the team, she admits to Coulson that she joined the team because she’s been looking for her parents. (Agents of SHIELD: Season 1- Episodes 1-7)

*After Jane Foster accidentally comes into contact with the Aether, Thor is forced to bring her to Asgard for protection, as the release of the Aether awakens Malekith and his forces from their long sleep. When the Dark Elves begin to pose a serious threat to the people of Asgard as well as the Nine Realms in general, Thor is forced to do the unthinkable; ally with his brother Loki as he is the only one who knows of a secret way into Svartalfheim. During a fight with Malekith’s forces, Loki is seemingly killed. Thor, with the help of Jane and her friends, then proceed to defeat Malekith in London. Unbeknownst to Thor, Loki survived and has somehow managed to take Odin’s place as ruler of Asgard. (Thor: The Dark World)

*Coulson and his team continue to investigate strange forces on Earth. During this time, they learn of a mysterious figure known as ‘The Clairvoyant’ who is in charge of an organization known as Project Centipede that Coulson and co. have come across a few times. Coulson and May also learn that Skye is what S.H.I.E.L.D. refers to as an ‘0-8-4’, an object of unknown origin. When Skye is critically wounded during a mission, Coulson and the team head to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility where Coulson was supposedly resurrected. It is here that Coulson learns that the drug that revived him, which is subsequently used to save Skye, came from the corpse of a blue alien creature. (Agents of SHIELD: Season 1- Episodes 8-15)

*Following the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers finds himself trying to adjust to modern life in Washington D.C. while also finding himself conflicted with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s arguably extreme tactics of espionage. When Nick Fury is supposedly killed by a mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier, Cap and Black Widow, along with Steve’s new friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) AKA Falcon, investigate into the matter. They soon learn that Hydra, who was thought to have been eliminated after WWII, still lives on and has taken over S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve also learns that the Winter Soldier is actually his best friend from the 40’s, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who supposedly died during the events of The First Avenger. When Hydra plans to use a series of new Helicarriers to wipe out anyone who poses a threat to them, Cap and company go on an all-out offensive against them. They succeed in destroying the Helicarriers and, as a result of Cap’s fight with Bucky, it appears that Bucky has begun to return to his normal self. During this time, Hydra associate Baron von Strucker (Thomas Krestchmann) begins to examine the scepter that Loki had used during the Battle of New York. He is also shown to have two special-powered beings imprisoned; Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) Maximoff AKA Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

*During their hunt for the Clairvoyant, Coulson and his team quickly learn of the whole Hydra situation. It is revealed that S.H.I.E.L.D. agent John Garrett (Bill Paxton) is the ‘Clairvoyant’ and, to matters worse, Ward is also a Hydra mole and Garrett’s protégé. Without S.H.I.E.L.D.’s vast array of resources to help them, Coulson and his team are forced to take on Garrett’s forces by themselves. They succeed in both killing Garrett and imprisoning Ward. The season ends with Coulson, who is promoted to the role of ‘Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ by Nick Fury (who was forced to go on the run following the events of Winter Soldier), beginning to exhibit a strange fixation by carving mysterious symbols into a wall. (Agents of SHIELD: Season 1- Episodes 16-22).

*26 years after he is initially abducted by the Ravagers, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) AKA Star-Lord comes across a mysterious orb artifact while on the planet Morag. He soon finds himself pursued by the subordinates of the Kree fanatical Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and at one point ends up getting arrested along with Ronan’s defecting assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), adopted daughter of the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) AKA that mysterious purple being seen at the end of The Avengers, and bounty hunters Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and the tree-like creature Groot (Vin Diesel). Soon joined by warrior Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), the group of misfits team up in order to stop Ronan from using the artifact within the orb, an Infinity Stone (which was also the power source of both the Tesseract and the Aether), to destroy the planet of Xandar. They succeed and Peter learns that he’s half-alien through his unknown father. (Guardians of the Galaxy)

…also, Howard the Duck.

*After defeating Garrett, Coulson and his team are now forced to operate in secret following the ‘fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ as seen in The Winter Soldier. They soon learn that the mysterious symbols that Coulson has been carving are a map to an ancient alien city, which they race to before it can be found by Hydra. During this process, Skye’s true identity is revealed as a member of the society known as the Inhumans when she gains earthquake-generating powers after coming into contact with a substance known as Terrigen Mist. She also finally comes into contact with both her long-lost father Calvin Johnson (Kyle MacLachlan), who reveals that her true name is Daisy, and mother/fellow Inhuman Jiaying (Dichen Lachman). (Agents of SHIELD: Season 2- Episodes 1-19)

*After being permanently blinded by hazardous chemicals as a kid, lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) moonlights as a vigilante crime-fighter in the Hell’s Kitchen district of New York, effectively becoming the ‘Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’. His actions soon lead to him crossing paths with businessman Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), who intends to destroy Hell’s Kitchen and ‘rebuild’ it through his various dealings with the area’s criminal gangs. Matt, with the help of his best friend and fellow lawyer Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and their new assistant Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), is able to publicly oust Fisk’s true intentions, who is then subsequently arrested. (Daredevil: Season 1)

*After being ‘given’ a vision (courtesy of Scarlet Witch) of the Avengers completely decimated and aliens attacking the Earth unopposed, Tony Stark decides to use the energy from Loki’s scepter, recovered from Baron von Strucker, to power his ‘Ultron’ defense system. However, Ultron (James Spader) ends up becoming a sentient being hell bent on destroying mankind. Eventually the Avengers confront him in the city of Sokovia, which Ultron lifts up into the air as a means of destroying the world once it crash-lands back on Earth. With the help of Sokovia natives Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (who were initially opposed to the Avengers, specifically Tony Stark whose company manufactured the missile that killed their parents) as well as the being Vision (Paul Bettany), who was created from a synthetic body powered by both an Infinity Stone (the aforementioned ‘energy source’ from Loki’s scepter) and Tony’s A.I. Jarvis, the Avengers stop Ultron though Quicksilver is tragically killed during the battle. Afterwards, Tony and Hawkeye decide to ‘retire’ from the team while Thor returns to Asgard in order to investigate further into the ‘Infinity Stones’ situation that has arisen in the past year. This leaves Cap and Black Widow in charge of training the new members of the Avengers: Vision, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, and War Machine, in their new facility in New York. (The Avengers: Age of Ultron)

*The conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans gets nasty when Jiaying masterminds a plot to incite a war between the two parties so that the Inhumans wouldn’t be taken over by S.H.I.E.L.D. While initially torn between the two sides, Daisy helps Coulson and his team stop Jiaying from unleashing Terrigen Mist upon the world, revealing those who are Inhuman and killing those who aren’t. However, sources of the substance do end up leaking into the ocean. This leads Coulson and Daisy into forming a new team of ‘gifted’ individuals like her. The season ends with Agent Simmons being sucked into a mysterious alien monolith that S.H.I.E.L.D. had recently found. (Agents of SHIELD: Season 2- Episodes 20-22)

*Sometime after the events of Age of Ultron, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is released from prison after he was arrested for hacking his former company. Looking to turn over a new leaf so that he can be with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson), Scott is approached by Hank Pym, who along with his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) recruit Scott into their plan to steal a new piece of technology, the Yellowjacket suit, from Pym’s former protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who is close to perfecting his own shrinking technology similar to Pym’s Ant-Man technology. During the set-up for the heist, Scott even ends up crossing paths with Falcon when the former has to collect a specific piece of hardware from the Avengers’ new facility. (Ant-Man)

*As more people around the world begin to be exposed to the Terrigen mist, S.H.I.E.L.D. begins to assemble a team of Inhumans, led by Daisy, to help them confront new threats. During this time, Grant Ward begins to rebuild Hydra following its ‘collapse’ to take on S.H.I.E.L.D. Meanwhile, President Ellis (William Sadler) creates a new task force, the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, led by Rosalind Price (Constance Zimmer), following S.H.I.E.L.D.’s recent fall from grace. While the two parties initially find themselves in conflict with one another over their handling of the Inhuman situation, Price ends up being one of the good guys as S.H.I.E.L.D. confronts Gideon Malick (Powers Boothe), a former member of the World Security Council and Hydra operative. After rescuing Agent Simmons from the mysterious alien realm that she ended up in after being ‘taken’ by the monolith at the end of the previous season, Coulson and Agent Fitz end up traveling to this realm when Ward and Malick plan on bringing an ancient Inhuman, Hive, back to Earth. While there, Coulson kills Ward and he and Fitz return to Earth after seemingly destroying Hive. However, Hive is revealed to have survived and has returned to Earth having taking control of Ward’s body. (Agents of SHIELD: Season 3- Episodes 1-10)

(And that’s all I’m going to say for now in regards to Season 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to the fact that, at the time I’m writing this, the season is not yet over. I’ll go into more detail over what happens during the second half of the season in my upcoming review of Season 3.)

*Years after her brief ‘stint’ as a superhero ended on a dark note, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) has moved on from her past life and has set up a private investigation office in Hell’s Kitchen. However, her latest case leads her to have to once again confront the man responsible for ruining her life, Kilgrave (David Tennant), a man who is able to brainwash anyone he pleases. With the help of her friends, as well as another ‘gifted’ individual named Luke Cage (Mike Colter) who she falls in love with, Jessica is able to stop Kilgrave and kills him so that he won’t threaten anyone ever again. (Jessica Jones: Season 1)

*Following his defeat of Wilson Fisk, Matt Murdock soon finds himself crossing paths with another vigilante, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) AKA ‘The Punisher’, an army vet who seeks vengeance on the gangs of Hell’s Kitchen following the deaths of his wife and children. When the Punisher is captured by the police, Matt and Foggy risk the future of their firm by taking on his case to keep him from receiving the death penalty. While all of this is going on, Matt is also approached by an old flame, Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung), who seeks his help in dealing with the Yakuza. (Daredevil: Season 2)

And that’s where we’ll end things for today. As you can see, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come a very long way since the days of Iron Man. Phase 1, of course, was responsible for setting up the universe and its primary protagonists, from Iron Man to Captain America to more otherworldly beings like Thor. As for Phase 2, you could say that this was the Phase that set up some of the greater forces that are out there beyond Earth, particularly the cosmic side of the universe as explored in Guardians of the Galaxy. Later this year we’ll also be introduced to the mystical side of the MCU courtesy of Doctor Strange. And while we’re still a few years away from it, Phase 3 will culminate with the two-part epic that will be The Avengers: Infinity War as the Avengers take on the Mad Titan himself, Thanos. Simply put, it’s a great time to be a MCU fan and as I’ve been saying time and time again, I believe that Marvel Studios has yet to produce a ‘bad’ film/show. Have there been some weak ones? Sure, like Thor 2 or Iron Man 2. However, I’d argue that even their weakest are better than most entries in the superhero genre and considering that the Creative Committee that was clearly responsible for some of the franchise’s more controversial moves (e.g. the creative differences with Edgar Wright that led to his departure from Ant-Man) has now been disbanded, I’m confident that Phase 3 will turn out to be the franchise’s best lineup of films yet. So with that said, what Phase 3 films are you most looking forward to (aside from Civil War seeing how that’s coming out soon)? Doctor Strange? Thor: Ragnarok? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? Be sure to sound off in the comments below.