Friday 23 May 2014

Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase 2

So. Finally I'm able to force my lazy self to sit down and write again. Well, I'm planing to post a rambling on where the heck I've been gone. Let's just hope I didn't lose my drive to write that one..

Now, back to the topic. So far, Marvel movies has been great. But The Phase 2 movies are just, excuse the pun, MARVELous!

Let's start with the films. The first movie in Phase 2 was Iron Man 3. It's an amazing movie, really different than the previous 2 Iron Man movies in aspect that this is the first film in which the antagonist isn't another man in a suit. No, this villain stripped Tony of his suit and his many resources. And yet, Tony still proved that without his suit, without all his toys and money, He is Iron Man. But he doesn't just stop there! In the previous months, after sleepless nights thanks to nightmares, Tony spend most, if not all, of his time in his lab, creating suits after suits reaching to his 42nd suit just before the event of the movie. This results in a straining of relationship between him and Pepper Potts. However, at the end of the movie, he initiated the House Party Protocol, blowing all of his Iron Man Suits. Conclusion: All Iron Man Suits were destroyed.

The second released movie was Thor 2: The Dark World. Honestly, most of my reason on watching this movie was just to see, what happened to Loki? The famed villain that brought The Avengers for the first time was last seen to be bought to Asgard to face Asgardian court. In this movie, we learn that he was kept cative in Odin's dungeon. However, when Asgard was threatened with a foe older than The All-Father himself, Thor, The Warrior Three, and Heimdall worked together behind Odin's back to get help from Loki. The foe, The Dark Elves, was proven to be a very dangerous one, seemingly making Loki killed when he tried to help Thor. But Loki stands true to his title, The God of Lie. He actually survived and returned to Asgard in disguise. In the end of the movie, Odin congratulates Thor on his actions and, despite his treason by freeing Loki, offered the throne to Thor.. Thor refused, and stated that he'd like to stay on Earth, spending time with Jane Foster. After he leaves, however, it was revealed that Odin was actually Loki, having projecting illusion of Odin on himself. Conclusion: The Villain of The Avengers movie is now controlling one of the most powerful throne in the nine realms.

The latest film released by Marvel was Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. After 2 movies without it's presence, S.H.I.E.L.D. comes back in this movie. In fact, this movie deals mostly with S.H.I.E.L.D.. Long story short, S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised for decades, long before the events of MCU's first movie. The movie reveals that after getting caught in Captain America: The First Avenger, HYDRA Scientist Arnim Zola was invited to join a newly built S.H.I.E.L.D.. He accepted, and used that opportunity to smuggle many HYDRA agents into S.H.I.E.L.D.. Ever since, HYDRA hid inside S.H.I.E.L.D., fueling many conflicts all around the world. S.H.I.E.L.D. officers that almost caught HYDRA was murdered in such a way that it was always thought as an accident. Even Nick Fury was seemingly killed when he gets suspicious. Fortunately, he survived but chooses to be believed dead. To stop HYDRA, Captain America must go into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarter The Triskelion and stop Project INSIGHT, with the help of an Army Officer Sam Wilson, who was also known as Falcon, and Black Widow. He must also go against The Winter Soldier, a mysterious HYDRA Assassin who turned out to be Cap's long lost, brain-washed friend Bucky Barnes. And to stop HYDRA's uses of S.H.I.E.L.D. assets, S.H.I.E.L.D. was also brought down, all it's secrets revealed to the world. Conclusion: S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists.

And finally, the show that tied them all. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. started out just like a normal TV Series. A short plot and a new villains each week. I've even read some reviews stating that it's downright boring! Sure, it has two main plots, Agent Phil Coulson's resurrection after his death in Marvel's The Avengers, and newcomer Skye's origin. But for many viewers, the movie was uneventful compared to other Marvel Movies. However, it turns out that this series was just bidding it's time, building and setting up things before the release of the shocking The Winter Soldier. Once HYDRA comes out, it was an all out war. Specifically, episodes 16 till finale was, for me, not  a TV series, but a Cinema Movie. As their twitter claims, #itsallconnected. If anything, the series opens up, concludes, and reopens more mysteries than most of the movies. And it's really nice to see what happened after S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, and who will lead the effort to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. from scratch. Conclusion: The world loses a hero's protective suits, it's shield, and The King of Asgard is MIA. But that's okay, because S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director Phil Coulson is ready to save the day!


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To date, the published films are Iron Man 3, Thor 2: The Dark World, and Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. Still in production are Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. Oh, and let's not forget the TV Serial Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., to-be-released Agent Carter, and the Oneshots, Agent Carter and All Hail The King.

PS: I haven't actually seen the Oneshots, but I certainly planned to do just that.

-FIN-