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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Note: There will (obviously) be spoilers. Also, these TL;DW articles are starting to
get loooong!
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| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
Iron Man – Tony Stark is a weapons
designer who has a change of heart when he is captured by terrorists and forced
to build weapons for them. Instead, he
builds his first Iron Man armor, escapes from the terrorists, and begins using
his armor to fight against those who would use his weapons to hurt the
innocent. Along the way he comes into
contact with a government agent named Phil Coulson. The movie ends with Nick Fury, Director of
the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and
Logistics Division, meeting him and telling him about the
“Avengers Initiative.”
The Incredible Hulk – Bruce Banner subjected himself
to gamma radiation which (accidentally) turned him into the Hulk, a large green
monster that becomes more powerful the angrier he gets. During the movie he attempts to cure himself,
but fails, instead running off on his own.
Meanwhile, General Thunderbolt Ross attempts to capture the Hulk to
replicate him and create an army of super-soldiers for the U.S. Military.
Iron Man 2 – The US Government is
attempting to take control of Iron Man to build more suits; Tony resists
them. In this movie we meet Natasha
Romanoff (Black Widow), a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent sent undercover to keep an eye on
Tony. Additionally, Tony’s friend, U.S.
Air Force pilot James Rhodes (“Rhodey”), takes one of Tony’s earlier armors to
Tony’s rival weapons manufacturer, Justin Hammer, who outfits it with
conventional weapons systems, creating the first “War Machine” armor. The two of them team up (with help from
Romanoff) to take down Ivan Vanko, the crazed son of Tony’s dad’s ex-business
partner.
Thor – Thor, crown prince of the
alien planet Asgard, is banished by his father Odin to Earth (“Midgard”) to
learn humility. Thor lands in New
Mexico, where he meets humans and has a run-in with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Coulson
and Clint Barton (Hawkeye). His adopted
brother Loki attempts to usurp the throne.
Thor learns his lesson and defeats Loki, who falls into the void. Oh, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is working on utilizing
the Tesseract, a mysterious object of virtually unlimited power.
Captain America: The First
Avenger – Steve
Rogers is a weakling who really wants to fight in World War II. He volunteers for an experiment which turns
him into a super soldier, giving him increased strength, reflexes, durability,
and healing. He helps defeat the Nazis
and Hydra—a group of Nazi scientists bent on taking over the world using the
power of the Tesseract—with help from his Howling Commandos. However, in the process he falls into the
Arctic Ocean and is frozen in ice for about 70 years, waking up around
2011-2012. Shortly after Captain America
was lost, S.H.I.E.L.D. recovered the Tesseract.
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| Image Courtesy www.ifanboy.com |
The Avengers – Loki returns to the picture,
drawn by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s experimentation on the Tesseract, wielding a very
powerful scepter. Using the scepter Loki
is able to brainwash Hawkeye and Erik Selvig into becoming his lackeys to carry
out his plan. Fury and his
second-in-command, Maria Hill, bring together Captain America, Iron Man, the
Hulk, Black Widow, and Thor to confront Loki’s forces, revealed to be aliens
called Chitauri brought through a portal generated by the Tesseract. The heroes argue at first, but are brought
together by Coulson’s death at Loki’s hands.
Eventually the five heroes (joined by Hawkeye after he was freed from
Loki’s control) defeat Loki and his Chitauri army. Thor takes Loki and the Tesseract back to
Asgard. At the very end of the movie,
Loki’s master is revealed to be Thanos, an immensely powerful villain from
Marvel Comics known for his obsession with death.
Iron Man 3 – Tony Stark, suffering from
PTSD as a result of the Chitauri invasion, begins constructing dozens of extra,
specialized, Iron Man armors. Meanwhile,
also as a result of the Chitauri invasion, Rhodey has been working for the US
Government as a government-sanctioned hero going by the name “Iron Patriot”—a
combination of Captain America and Iron Man.
When a terrorist threatens the US, Iron Man and Iron Patriot team up
against him. Tony deploys an entire army
of Iron Man armors (dubbed the “Iron Legion”) under the control of his
Artificial Intelligence butler, JARVIS.
This movie also shows that Bruce Banner has been staying with Tony at
least part-time since The Avengers.
Thor: The Dark World – Thor is back in Asgard
following the events of The Avengers, attempting to keep the peace
between the realms. He is called back to
Earth when Jane Foster, his girlfriend from Thor, discovers a powerful
substance called the Aether. Dark Elves
attack Asgard to claim the Aether and use it to plunge the universe into a new
period of darkness. Thor teams up with
Loki to defeat the Dark Elves, though in the process Loki fakes his own death
and usurps Odin’s throne without anyone finding out. At the end of the movie, the Aether and
Tesseract are revealed to both be mysterious, powerful objects called Infinity
Stones.
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| Image Courtesy marvel.wikia.com |
Captain America: The Winter
Soldier – Captain
America and Black Widow are going on missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. At the same time, Fury reveals that
S.H.I.E.L.D. is in the middle of a project which will place three helicarriers
in the air with the ability to enforce world peace. However, during the course of a mission they
discover that S.H.I.E.L.D. was infiltrated by Hydra following World War II, and
the Hydra faction has succeeded in taking over the organization’s leadership
and other key departments. In fact, the
helicarriers will be under Hydra’s control and execute anyone perceived to be a
threat to Hydra’s domination of the world.
Additionally, Hydra turned Captain America’s old friend Bucky into the
Winter Soldier, a brainwashed assassin.
Captain America, Black Widow, Maria Hill, Fury (who fakes his death),
and a new friend of Captain America (Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon) must team up to
take out the helicarriers before they are operational. At the end of the movie, S.H.I.E.L.D. has
been dissolved, Fury has gone off the grid to hunt down Hydra leads, Cap and
Falcon are chasing the Winter Soldier, and Maria Hill went to work for Tony
Stark. In a mid-credits scene, Hydra
leader Baron von Strucker is shown to be in possession of Loki’s Scepter, along
with super-powered twins Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlet Witch)
Maximoff.
Guardians of the Galaxy – This movie does not have much
connection to Captain America: Civil War. In it a group of criminals must come together
to fight a villain intent on using the power of the Orb (another Infinity
Stone) to wipe out all life on a planet.
We learn that Thanos is trying to bring all the Infinity Stones together
and is using others to do it.
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| Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/Marvel |
Avengers: Age of Ultron – The Avengers assault a Hydra
base and recapture Loki’s Scepter. Tony
uses the scepter to create Ultron, a “peacekeeping” AI to run an army of drones
to protect the world. However, Ultron
goes crazy and tries to destroy the world.
The Avengers team up with Pietro (Quicksilver) and Wanda (Scarlet Witch)
Maximoff, a pair of orphan twins, to stop Ultron (Quicksilver dies). Ultron creates a vibranium body for himself into
which Tony uploads JARVIS, creating the Vision.
The original team goes their separate ways, and Captain America and
Black Widow put together a New Avengers team:
Scarlet Witch, Vision, War Machine, Falcon, and themselves.
Ant-Man – Ex-con Scott Lang was just
released from prison and is trying to be a good father for his daughter,
Cassie. Meanwhile, Hank Pym and his
daughter Hope are trying to prevent Hank’s former protégé, Darren Cross, from
releasing the ultra-dangerous Pym Particle on the mass market, which could
throw the world into chaos with its ability to shrink and expand objects. Hank and Hope “recruit” Scott to join their
team and become the new “Ant-Man.” During
the planning for their heist, Scott encounters Falcon and is able to dispatch
him well enough to break into the New Avengers facility. They stop Cross, though Hydra steals a vial
of Pym Particles. The movie ends on the
note of Hank showing Hope a new Wasp suit:
she will be suiting up next.
Marvel TV has also been going strong for the last 3 years.
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| Image Courtesy www.twitter.com/AgentsofShield |
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – During season 1 of Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. we learned that Coulson had been brought back to life
through alien experimentation (something the Avengers still do not know). After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury tasked
Coulson with rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. and defeating Hydra, plots which carried
through the entire second season as Coulson took down several Hydra heads and
acquired the information the Avengers used to find Strucker in Age of Ultron. Additionally, season 2 introduced the
Inhumans, a group of naturally super-powered individuals in the Marvel
Universe. At the end of season 2,
Terrigen (the substance which caused Inhumans to transform) was released into
the ecosystem, causing Inhuman descendants around the world to unexpectedly
transform. S.H.I.E.L.D. is attempting to
contain and help these new Inhumans under the leadership of Agent Daisy
Johnson, a.k.a. Quake (herself an Inhuman), and the Secret Warriors. S.H.I.E.L.D. is also dealing with the
remnants of Hydra, led by an ancient Inhuman named Hive.
Agent Carter – The first season sees Peggy
Carter, Captain America’s love interest from The First Avenger,
adjusting to life in post-war America while working for the Strategic Scientific
Reserve, one of the espionage agencies which would eventually merge into
S.H.I.E.L.D. Over the course of an
investigation, she comes into conflict with the Russian espionage agency
LEVIATHAN and one of its agents—who is a precursor to the Black Widow. In season 2, Peggy investigates illicit
experiments with Zero Matter/Darkforce (a source of magic) taking place in Los
Angeles.
Daredevil – Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer
whose other senses were enhanced by a chemical spill, begins in season 1 to act
as a vigilante in post-Avengers New York City, confronting organized
crime and becoming a symbol to the honest citizens. In season 2, Matt struggles to balance his
hero and legal careers when confronted by the ultra-violent Punisher, his
ex-girlfriend Elektra, and the dangerous ninja clan known as the Hand.
Jessica Jones – A super-powered private
investigator living in New York City, Jessica Jones must face her greatest fear
when the dangerous Zebediah Killgrave returns to her life. She must also deal with the consequences of
the actions he forced her to commit while under his control.
Marvel has also released “tie-in”
comics with most of their movies. The first
tie-in for this movie, Captain America: Civil War Prelude Infinite Comic,
follows Bucky as he tracks down his Hydra handlers and goes on the run, Brock
Rumlow (Crossbones) as he wakes up from his coma and strikes out on his own,
and Captain America as he balances leading the New Avengers with his search for
Bucky. The comic ends with the New
Avengers on their way to the opening scene of the movie.
The second tie-in comic, Captain
America: Road to War, follows Captain America and Black Widow training the New
Avengers and fighting Ultimo, a giant robot constructed by Hydra from the
remains of Ultron.
So there’s a “quick” rundown of
everything that has happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up until now—or
at least everything relevant to Captain America: Civil War (pretty much
everything). It’s a lot of movies and TV
series, but some of them only have some basic background information. Next up is a quick summary of everything that
happened before Captain America: Civil War:
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
After the events of Avengers:
Age of Ultron, Captain America and Black Widow lead the New Avengers: Vision, War Machine, Falcon, and Scarlet
Witch. The New Avengers are still funded
by Tony Stark, though he has taken a step back from active involvement with
then. They are still working to keep the
world safe, which at this time entails hunting down Brock Rumlow, a.k.a.
Crossbones. They are also trying to
track down the Winter Soldier, who went on the run after the events of Captain
America: The Winter Soldier.
Meanwhile, the world’s governments have really taken everything that’s
happened in the MCU to heart: they need
to do something about these heroes and their battles which cause catastrophic
damage and casualties. Note: One major
issue to keep in the back of your mind is the proliferation of powered
individuals which we are seeing in both the Netflix series and especially on Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the Inhumans.
These circumstances may not be directly referenced, but they are still
happening in the same universe.
That is all the information you
need to see Captain America: Civil War and know what’s going on. If you have time before next Friday, I would
definitely encourage you to watch as many of the movies/TV series as you can to
get caught up. However, if you only have
about 4-6 hours, I would encourage watching the following:
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Introduction to the Winter Soldier and Falcon; the genesis of Captain America’s distrust of modern authority figures (“Hail Hydra”)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – The Avengers are responsible for the destruction of a small European nation; the original Avengers team breaks up, making way for the New Avengers team which starts off this movie
- Ant-Man – We get to meet Ant-Man and see his first encounter with the Falcon; plus this is a hugely fun movie!
I hope that this guide proves
helpful! Enjoy the show!
Do you think I missed anything in
my summary? What 2 or 3 movies would you
recommend to someone watching to get caught up on the MCU before seeing Captain
America: Civil War?
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