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#can we just accept that hela and loki were both adopted?
theonlypterydactyl · 11 months
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Loki and Odin
In the MCU they're brothers, both sons of Odin. Loki was the adopted son and Thor was Odin's actual son. They were both promised the throne, and then Thor was the one Odin crowned to be the next king of Asgard. This is what started their rivalry.
(from the actual script)
LOKI Do you truly think so little of me?
Thor pauses, considers his brother. Then:
THOR Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were gonna fight side by side forever. But, at the end of the day, you're you, I'm me...
THOR (CONT'D)
I don't know, maybe there's still good in you, but let's be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago.
Loki is wounded by Thor's willingness to discard him. Masks his feelings with:
LOKI It's probably for the best that we never see one another again.
Beat. Thor pats Loki affectionately on the shoulder. Hold on Loki. Did Thor just get through to him?
THOR That's what you always wanted.
They care so much about each other, and this scene makes this crystal clear. All they want is to be brothers, but every time they can they throw each other under the bus. They cannot trust each other, and that is ruining their relationship.
The way Loki looks at Thor after. He's hurting and brushes it off as "yes we agree on something"
The way Loki looks at Thor when he says "Loki, I thought the world of you." He's confused and his brows furrow then he just listens to Thor and you watch his heart break. Then Loki just accepts it.
Thor looks at his reflection in a mirror. His wounds are bandaged, including his now missing eye. His armor is clean.
Thor takes a beat, as though trying to get used to the sight of the man looking back at him.
LOKI (O.S.)  It suits you.
Thor turns to reveal Loki standing by the door. A smile.
THOR Perhaps you're not so bad after all, brother
LOKI Maybe not.
THOR Thank you, Loki
Thor picks up soap dish
THOR And if you were actually here, I might even give you a hug
Thor THROWS the dish at Loki. Loki catches it.
LOKI Do we have to hug now?
Thor smiles.
Thor got so used to Loki just pretending to be there for him when Thor needed him the most. It's heartbreaking to see that even after everything that they went through in the movie that Thor still believes that Loki isn't going to be there for him. But, Loki is there for Thor. He's there when his brother sees that he is their father. He's there when Thor needs him.
Not only is Loki there, but he tells Thor that it suits him. Odin lost his eye in pursuit of magic and Thor lost his eye and gained the knowledge to defeat Hela. Thor is now Odin, in a sense, and Loki is there supporting him. He's saying that being king suits Thor.
--
I think their relationship is beautiful and it breaks my heart.
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worstloki · 3 years
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Marvel fucked up by making Hela Loki's sister. I still hate Marvel for that. I will never forgive, nor ever forget they're grave mistake. I will sTaB them all 🗡🗡🗡
on one hand you could not convince me that Loki f*cks, on the other hand, the comedy of having Hela be Loki’s kid or vice versa is virtually unparalleled 
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ellestra · 3 years
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We can be heroes
This episode has proven that Loki has always been his own worst enemy. We see that even at the end of the universe Lokis can escape Alioth but they still keep betraying each other. Eventually they just destroy all they built just to feel like they are the superior one. It's always "why are you the king" and "I should be a one". We can see how much show Loki changed in how little time he has for it. He’s no longer interested in being the Supreme Loki. He has to go find Sylvie and help her realise her plan.
She is the one who made him realise this is not all Lokis are destined to be. Thor said to the main MCU Loki they can change and be something more. And Mobius said they can be even someone good. But she is a walking proof of it.
A lot was said about dealing with the post-colonialism in Thor 3 and Asgardians facing their past but I haven't seen much about how Loki is the product of it's propaganda. He was told his whole life the Jotuns are evil monsters and then he learns not only that he is one but that even they didn't want him. The internalised hate and their rejection just makes him hate them more.
And it makes him want the approval of the Asgardians - the dominant civilisation - even more (he's kind of a reverse of Moses). He wants to be the best of them. And he despises all the ones they consider lesser even more than they do (including humans). So conquering humans is in a way an ultimate Asgardian move on his part. It's easier for Thor to let go of this because Thor is Asgardian no matter what but who is Loki if he doesn't observe the traditions?
Combined with feeling inferior because Thor was walking ideal of Asgardian and Odin's disappointment it all make him act out and finally boil over into full evil. Hurting people and destroying all the relationships until he was left with nothing and he told himself he liked it.
Helping Thor destroy Asgard and still being accepted as one of it's people is part of letting go of the most toxic part of that culture. Something Hela wasn't able to do but Loki could because he realised what really mattered was the people. Or at least his brother. That at least his family always thought he was one of them. They were just as bad at showing it as he was at accepting it.
He was raised primed for self-hatred but his refusal to accept any help made him narcissist who took all his frustrations on others. Show Loki already understood that all it got him was loosing his family and his people. He can't take that back but he can do better from now on and do it right for Sylvie.
Sylvie was raised different. She was told she was adopted. She didn't have the self hatred they grew up with and wanted to be a Valkyrie. I've seen people saying that her Nexus event was that she was set to become a hero and this episode made me almost certain that it was.
I was to say it last week but the post was already too long (as this is getting) and I forgot but like Old Loki says - the Loki's can turn good but TVA enforces their death then. The main MCU Loki never had a chance to fully realise this freedom once he bettered himself Thanos took him out. Sylvie was the one who got away and she became different.
I said I was pretty sure that the Nexus event Sylvie and Loki created wasn't about falling in love and this episode has pretty much confirmed that. It was show Loki believing a Loki can be a hero. And making Sylvie believe herself to be one. They basically supported each other into becoming more and better and all that Loki are not supposed to be and what TVA has been always stopping them from becoming.
I've seen people complaining that Loki is a sidekick in his own show but that is the point. He is the viewpoint character but Sylvie is the hero - she has the drive, the purpose and the ideas how to achieve it. Loki is there to help her achieve it so she doesn't do it alone. This is the whole point and the lesson he had to learn. Supporting someone in saving the world is also a glorious purpose.
This is how main MCU Loki has found his redemption - helping his brother save the day and then saving him from Thanos. I said last week I think Sylvie is an expy of Thor and this support in saving the universe and we see this mirroring in this choice again. (I also said Mobius is the - much better - expy of Odin and nothing shows how much this Loki has grown than Mobius joking that Sylvie is his favourite one and Loki not caring - he still supports them both). And the version of Loki who hid behind another illusion to survive Thanos has done it again in another big sacrifice.
I like how in the final scene when they go to face Alioth Loki stand behind Sylvie. And then makes a decision to use himself as a bait so she can achieve her goal. And then run to stand in front of her when Alioth attacks. All this is pure hero stuff. It's leaving behind the selfish glory for the real glorious purpose. So it matters when Sylvie grabs his hand so they stand together equal and share the magic to win this battle. Because heroes work together. The dictators always have to look for a knife in the back. But heroes don't stand alone. And there can be more than one.
I said it last week and I say it again. The Lokis are not destined to be evil. Their powers are coded that way but we see both Old Loki and Sylvie use their magic to save the day. Even the laugh and the glorious purpose take another meaning when it's about saving others not own glory. The heroism is in choice not in destiny. And taking away choice is what makes TVA evil.
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iamanartichoke · 4 years
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I sometimes wonder if it's because it's more in the past when it comes to Natasha and other avengers, or their ark brings them redemption faster, whereas we see Loki fall, it's there in more real time, so I wonder if people are less likely to forgive because we are more confronted with it that way.
I mean, on the one hand this does make sense - the other Avengers’ backgrounds are either in the past (Natasha) or resolved during their first movie (Tony, Thor). In contrast, we see Loki fall in one movie, we see him being a villain for an entire next one, and then we see him villain-coded with a redemption arc (if you can still call it that at this point bc Loki’s arc has been fucked up so much) in the third. We get a lot more “real time” villain Loki than we do any of the other Avengers. 
But, on the other hand, it works both ways. We get more real time villain Loki, but that also means we get more real time redemption arc. Like, let’s try to break it down here. 
Thor 1: The Fall. Seeing Loki’s backstory play out as it happens allows us to contextualize the circumstances in which it happened - that he found out he was adopted, that he was already a misfit, that he and Thor have been pitted against one another since childhood, competing for something Loki was never actually going to get to have (the throne, yes, but also the respect and acceptance - nay, even love - of his family, friends, and people). We see all of that shatter, and see a Loki driven to so much despair that he literally tries to take his own life. This is not a steep dive into twirling-mustache villainy. This is a mental breakdown causing a rough tumble into morally grey-ism at best. Remember, Loki genuinely thought he was doing the right thing, and there is nothing to indicate why he should have believed otherwise, based on the culture in which he was raised. 
Avengers: The Villain. In Avengers, Loki’s one full villain movie, there are many context clues - and later it was ultimately confirmed - that Loki was not acting of his own volition. Not only was he being influenced by the sceptre, but he’d also spent god knows how long being indoctrinated into Thanos’s inner circle. What happens when you take someone who has already had a mental breakdown, tried to take their own life, has literally nothing left to lose, and you twist and manipulate them - possibly even torture them- to suit your own needs? You get a fucking villain. 
And even then - even then - there are further context clues that Loki (who at this point has probably lost most of his mind, is terrified for his life if he fails in this mission, and still reeling from whatever put him in such shitty physical condition when he first arrived on Earth) didn’t even want to take over Earth. When the battle finally starts, he doesn’t take any pleasure in it. He is stone-faced while flying through the air on a Chitauri ship. He cries when he stabs Thor, after looking genuinely unsettled (at best) by the havoc he’s caused. 
The Dark World: The Redemption. Loki is brought back to Asgard in chains. He’s been muzzled, he’s been defeated and humiliated by Thor, and he’s on the defensive. When he faces Odin - the man who is supposed to be his father - Odin does everything short of spitting directly on him. Loki gets disowned and sentenced to life - all remaining four thousand or so years of it - in prison. His mother isn’t too thrilled with him, and he antagonizes her (but with purpose, bc everything he says to her is true) during what turns out to be the last time he ever sees her. She dies and not only does Loki not get to go to her funeral, but neither his father nor his brother even bother to tell him in person. He has to hear the news from a guard. 
And we, as the audience, see all of that. We see the aftermath of Loki having a total sobbing meltdown, after which Thor shows up and refuses to share in Loki’s grief over their mother and further has the audacity to bargain for Loki’s help even while threatening his life. Loki is promised no gratitude, no forgiveness if he helps - he’s offered nothing but a return to his imprisonment. We watch all of that, and then we still watch Loki fight by Thor’s side and save both Thor and Jane’s lives. We see him die for Thor, see him apologize before he dies. We’ve arguably seen more screen time of Loki being wronged and trying to earn redemption than we do of him being an out-and-out villain. Yet it’s never enough. 
Ragnarok: The Grudging Acceptance. I’m not going to go into how Loki was portrayed in Ragnarok, bc it just invites too much discourse, but in this movie, Loki’s arc is ... stagnant, I think. He’s not a villain. He’s had the throne for years and I don’t think Thor is a reliable narrator in claiming the realms were all in chaos. Loki didn’t kill Odin, and furthermore he willingly brought Thor to where he’d left him. Loki doesn’t try anything manipulative, like striking a deal with Hela or betraying Thor (I’m ignoring the little bait-and-switch in the garage bc come on). Loki was never in cahoots with the Grandmaster, as it was made clear Loki planned to kill him eventually. He shows up to help save Asgard. He saves Asgard, actually, by bringing a ship and summoning Surtur. At the end of it, he gets this from Thor: “Maybe you’re not so bad after all.” 
And I think that kind of sums it up. The audience has seen Loki’s entire arc over the course of four movies. We know his backstory. We saw the fallout. We saw the redemption and the sacrifice, and we saw that Loki, when left to his own devices and away from his family, minds his own business and keeps things running smoothly. And the best he ever got, from anyone, is maybe you’re not so bad after all. 
And I just think that when you compare this background with the things the other Avengers have done - assassinations, fighting wars, selling war weapons, destroying Brooklyn - and consider how they are treated (they’re called heroes, they build a cameraderie with one another, they’re given fresh starts), there’s no way that Loki doesn’t come out severely lacking. 
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malereader-inserts · 5 years
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Someone To You
Fandom: Avengers Pairing: Loki x Male!Reader Summary: Loki’s got a big fat crush, Thor plays cupid’s arrow Word Count: 1,696 A/n: Haven’t wrote for Loki for awhile so here he is!
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If only Loki could wrap his hands around Thor’s throat and murder him, that would be splendid in Loki’s eyes. 
However, the God of Mischief was currently trying to avoid you and his brother, he should have known better not to trust Thor with personal matters such as his huge and growing crush on you. The sweetest and too-good-for-this-world mortal, the avenger that lives without drama.
Loki didn’t know what it was about you that made him swoon like a little girl, but perhaps it was the way you were strangely accepting of his new title of some sort anti-hero, or how you would give him hugs and how oddly affectionate you were for a man in such a horrid world.
Or, how you came into his life when he least expected it and taught him that not everyone is the same.
Nevertheless, Loki was head over heels for you.
And, he wanted to be someone to you.
At first, he was good at hiding it. As you were the one of the few that welcomed him, he tended to stay close by, trying to actually know you - so having an excuse to hang around you was no problem for him. He got to see you make horrible jokes and explain Earth to him, he knows a lot but he can still be a little clueless.
Then, suddenly, spending time with you got too much for him. His chest would tighten when you would smile at him or he would fumble over his words when you talked to him, but played it off so smoothly that you barely take notice of his nervous exterior.
“Want to go for lunch, Loki?” 
It wasn’t a date, it was a simple question. You and Peter hang out all the time, you and Thor go to the arcade when you were free and you drag Steve to bowling and those weren’t dates. You were a nice guy trying to ask a niceish God for food.
Loki was unable to form words just nods and smiles before turning his attention back to the book. You seemed unphased at his offish behaviour.
“Cool, maybe we can do something after that!”
That was the time that Thor found out that Loki had a massive crush on you. Thor, who was present in the room when you asked Loki to go out to lunch with you, was watching his brother very closely. 
Loki was always up his own arse, a lot of confidence and attitude yet you somehow rendered him useless. So, when you had walked out of the room Thor was up in Loki’s business.
“Don’t you have someone else to bother? Like Banner?”
But Thor simply grins, “I know something and I would like to share with you.”
“Do I get bonus points if I act like I care?” Loki responded dryly, looking up from his book. He sighs and lightly pushed the blond-haired God back.
“You would if I told you it’s about you,” Thor teased, typical brotherly behaviour, “You like (Y/n).”
Loki looked startled, then there was no emotion expressed as he tried to conceal his embarrassment. But, Thor stood up straight with a victory smile planted on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I do not blame you, brother, (Y/n) is quite the man - strong, handsome, loyal, loving-”
“Sounds like you’re the one with the crush, Thor,” Loki monotony replied, but Thor rolls his eyes, “Besides, he’s a mortal, he cannot compare to me.”
“You’re right,” Thor nodded, “He’s beyond what you are.”
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“Thor you are not the God of Love, you are the God of Thunder.”
“I could say the same for you Loki, you are the God of Mischief, not the God of being a lovesick fool.”
Thor was met with a glare from Loki, Loki was met with a toothy grin. Loki sometimes wonders why he managed to tolerate his brother or why he was stuck with Thor as the adoptive brother. He wonders if Thor was actually the adopted one, after meeting Hela, and Odin had been telling lies to everyone.
“I can handle my own problems, Thor, thank you very much.” 
Thor shakes his head, side to side with a roll of the eye to accompany the sass. Loki looked disgusted.
“I do not want to be part of your stupid plan.”
“That’s good because you’re not.”
Suddenly, Loki was shoved out of the doorway into you. You looked startled, not expecting to be attacked by Loki at the kitchen doorway. He stood up straight as he fixed his suit as you raised an eyebrow at him.
“Hello,”
“My apologies for landing on you, I forget Thor has a heavy arm.” Loki smiles as you finally understood that Loki was shoved by Thor.
“Ah, well don’t play too rough boys,” You commented, there was a slight tease at the end of your words, “Hey, I’m going out later for some more food - wanna join me?”
“Me?” Loki asked, also coming off offended, his hand on his chest as you stifled a grin.
“Yes, you, there’s no one else in the room.”
Loki looked over his shoulder to mention Thor probably lurking in the darkness of the doorway, But, when he stared at your (e/c) eyes with some sort of happiness, his shoulders relaxed.
“Very well then, I will accompany you.”
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Next time, Thor tried to set you and Loki was when you were trying to find a suit that was going to fitting for Pepper’s and Tony’s wedding. It was requested that as one of Tony’s groomsmen you had to wear a burgundy suit so when you had time you went to Tony’s tailor and got yourself measured.
You were the few of the lucky men to be at Tony’s side. Whilst Tony preferred Thor and Loki in the crowd, he didn’t mind that the two gods accompanied you to get the final fitting.
“Loki thinks you look good, (Y/n),” Thor beams as Loki hits his brother behind your back.
“Really?” You wondered, pressing down the material, “Very comfy, not too big on me, no?”
“Of course not,” Loki quickly responded before Thor said something stupid on his behalf, “It complements you very well, (Y/n), Stark has picked a good colour for his wedding.”
“Hmh,” You nodded, staring at yourself in the mirror.
“Loki thinks you have a nice butt,” Thor announced as Loki snapped his head to his brother, he had to hold back from attacking him.
You paused as you processed what Thor had just said. You snorted to yourself amused, Loki turned his attention to you and found you quietly chuckling to yourself.
“It does look nice in this suit!”
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As of now, Loki was actively avoiding you and Thor since that incident and the wedding, which was happening right now. A number of Thor’s meddling had happened in the in between, Loki had a rough few weeks.
Somehow at the reception, Thor had announced that Loki had a growing crush that was probably bigger than the God’s ego (Not specific since both Thor and Loki have high respects to themselves). 
Loki had seen your face look surprised before turning your head to find Loki in the crowd of people. Loki was thankful that he was dressed for a funeral because at that exact moment he couldn’t wait to stab Thor with a fork, also dressed in black was easier to blend in when the room was dimly lit and disco lights were the only source of brightness.
“Alright, calling all the couples to the dance floor!” The DJ declared, “Or grab that lucky person you want to dance with.”
Loki scoffed, humans and there obsession with being in love. He had noticed that Wanda and Vision were dancing to the slow music, Peter and the girl he invited to the wedding were poorly swaying to the music.
Scott was dancing with Hope, they were very happy at the moment that Loki didn’t notice you sneaking up to him.
“Wanna dance?” You questioned, making the God jump, “I know it’s not like dancing back home for you but if you follow my lead I think you’ll be just fine.”
“I don’t like following,” He responded, but you bumped shoulders.
“Tough luck sunshine, cupid over there won’t stop harassing us until we get ourselves sorted.”
“I think I will live, he’s been on my case since I was brought home. I can last a couple more years,” Loki responded.
“You’re very oblivious, you know?” You casually moved the conversation along, “You’re the only one I invited to run errands with me, you’re the only one I ask to join me for lunch.”
“Am I?” Loki looked taken aback, “What about Steve and the bowling alley?”
“He sucks, he wanted to prove to Buck he was better so he asked me to come along and give him some pointers behind Buck’s back.”
“Okay, what about you and Thor at the arcade-”
“He wanted to get this massive teddy bear at the shop for the tickets, he needed 400 tickets so he dragged me to help him.”
“And that Parker boy-”
“Giving him dating advice, I’m the next youngest so he can always come to me with problems.”
“Oh-”
“Yeah oh,” You ended it flatly, your hands in your pants pocket as you noticed the song changed to another slow rhythm, “So, would you like to dance?”
Loki looked at you, you had finally looked at him. There was a soft smile gracing your lips, there was no evident emotion to see if you were tricking him, nothing but genuine emotion. It was funny that the trickster was afraid of being tricked.
You held out your left hand out to him, he stares at it for a moment, his mind raced thinking what it was like to be touched by you, how soft your hands were going to be. But, an upwards curve appeared on his lips when he realises he didn’t need to think and wonder about it.
Grabbing your hand, you smile at the response.
“It would be my pleasure to dance with you, (Y/n).”
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laurenreviewsmovies · 5 years
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MCU Guide for Dummies
MCU Chronological Timeline
Captain America: The First Avenger (up until Steve crashed the plane in the ocean) (1940s)
Captain Marvel (1995)
Iron Man (2010)
“Nick Fury’s Big Week” (all within the same week in 2011)
Iron Man 2
Thor
The Incredible Hulk
Captain America: The First Avenger (Steve wakes up in modern times)
 The Avengers (2012ish)
(this is where the years start to not add up that much, but this is the order everything happens, and some events still take place at the same time. So I included the years that I accept as canon, but sometimes the MCU contradicts that. Even Marvel has admitted they’ve fucked up their own timeline multiple times)
Iron Man 3 (Late 2012/2013)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy (the saga)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2014) (takes place just months after GOTG1)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
‘2016’ Movies (happening at the same time, more or less)
Captain America: Civil War (this happens first)
Doctor Strange (is starting at the same time the airport fight in Civil War goes down. When Strange crashes his car, he’s listening to potential surgery cases to take. One of them is “a 35 year old Marine Colonel, crushed his lower spine in some kind of experimental armor”. At his youngest, Rhodey is in his mid to late 40s, but this is supposed to be about him)
Black Panther (at the very beginning of the movie, the news is talking about how T’Chaka has been killed in the UN bombing in Vienna the week prior and how T’Challa has to be crowned as the next king)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (the movie starts with Peter’s POV of the airport fight in Civil War, and then follows him in the weeks afterwards. The movies says this movie takes place in 2020? This is the movie that got everyone hella confused and got Marvel to finally admit that they themselves can’t even keep their timelines straight)
‘2017/2018’ Movies (happening at the same time, more or less)
Thor: Ragnarok (you can look at this two ways. Either both Thor: Ragnarok and Infinity War happened in 2017, or they both happened in 2018. They absolutely have to take place at the same time, because Thor: Ragnarok occurs mere days before Infinity War, and the movie ends only minutes before the beginning of Infinity War. This movie takes place roughly two years after Ultron and Civil War, just keep that in mind)
Infinity War (see above)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (this takes place a substantial amount of time after Civil War (about 2 years). Scott agreed to house arrest after breaking the law in Civil War, and his sentence is days from being finished in this movie. It’s pretty much accepted that it takes place a couple of weeks before Civil War. The after credit scene takes place during Infinity War, more specifically, during the exact moment everyone started disappearing because of the Snap)
WHERE WERE ALL THE INFINITY STONES?
(Thanos has now collected all of them, but where did he get them from?)
REALITY STONE (red) – within the Aether which was in The Collector’s collection on Knowhere
MIND STONE (yellow) – used to be in Loki’s scepter, then was in Vision’s head
TIME STONE (green) – eye of Agamotto, property of the Sorcerer Supreme
POWER STONE (purple) – given to Nova Corps by the Guardians of the Galaxy for safekeeping
SPACE STONE (blue) – inside the Tesseract
SOUL STONE (orange) – Vormir, guarded by the Red Skull
MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO TAKE AWAY
(the most important things to remember about each movie, but more in depth summaries of the plot of each movie is explained later on)
Iron Man: Tony becomes Iron Man to escape being held captive in a cave, creates the arc reactor to keep him alive and power the Iron Man suit, shuts down weapons manufacturing branch at his company, comes in contact with SHIELD, is approached by Nick Fury about the Avengers Initiative.
The Incredible Hulk: General Ross is after Bruce because he wants to use him as a weapon for the army. Bruce becomes a fugitive. He essentially learns how to control his transformations into the Hulk.
Iron Man 2: Natasha is introduced. Tony is not recommended for the Avengers Initiative, but Iron Man is. Tony become a consultant for SHIELD. Tony and Pepper finally get together. Rhodey is given an Iron Man suit (War Machine)
Thor: Odin is a bad father. Loki is adopted and has been lied to his entire life and Thor was always favored over him. Thor used to be an arrogant jerk but now he’s worthy. Loki falls of the Bifrost to his supposed death in the void of space after feeling betrayed by his entire family.
Captain America: The First Avenger: Steve was given the super solider serum because he was seen as a good guy who wouldn’t abuse its power. HYDRA is introduced and so is the Tesseract. Bucky is experimented on by HYDRA and falls off a train to his supposed death. Steve crashes a plane into the ocean, is frozen, and is then thawed out in 2011.
The Avengers: Loki isn’t dead, surprise, surprise. He’s sent by Thanos to Earth to retrieve the Tesseract, and he’s gifted with a scepter capable of mind control to help him. The team is formed, Coulson is supposedly killed, and they team up to fight Loki in New York. Tony takes a missile through a wormhole into space and sees the alien threat on the other side. The Avengers win. Loki is taken back to Asgard.
Iron Man 3: Tony has PTSD because of what he saw on the other side of the wormhole during the Battle of New York. He meets Harley (who is one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters so you seriously need to at least watch THIS movie). Tony takes down bad guys and shows that he’s a badass even without his suit. He gets the arc reactor and shrapnel removed from his chest at the end of the movie.
Thor: The Dark World: The Aether is introduced. Loki and Thor team up to defeat the bad guys and Loki supposedly dies protecting Thor. The Aether is revealed to be an Infinity Stone, as is the Tesseract. Jane Foster is reduced from a smart and relatable heroine to a damsel in distress and that’s a bummer.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Bucky isn’t dead, he’s the Winter Soldier. He’s been brainwashed by HYDRA and is an accomplished super soldier assassin. Sam/The Falcon are introduced. HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD after WWII and is exposed in this movie. Steve finds out that the Winter Solider killed Tony’s parents. Bucky starts to regain a few tiny memories.
Guardians of the Galaxy: The Guardians of the Galaxy are introduced as are the Ravagers. Nebula and Gamora are revealed to be Thanos’s adopted daughters, and they don’t like him at all. The stone inside the orb is revealed to be an Infinity Stone, and there is a whole scene giving background on the Infinity Stones and why they’re important. Peter Quill is revealed to only be half-human.
Avengers: Age of Ultron: Thor goes to a magic pond in a cave and has a vision about the Infinity Stones – it’s the first time we see all six. Vision is created as a result of Ultron and Loki’s scepter. The glowing things in the middle of the scepter is shown to be holding an infinity stone, which ultimately gets imbedded in Vision’s head. Tony retires from the Avengers, Clint also retires from the Avengers, Pietro dies, Wanda joins the team, Rhodey, Vision, and Sam officially join the Avengers, Clint has a secret family and a farm, and the Hulk disappears and no one knows where he went.
Ant-Man: Hank Pym and his daughter Hope don’t have the best relationship but they seem to repair it by the end of the movie. Scott is just trying to be a good dad and stay on the straight and narrow after his release from prison, but he gets back into stealing. He masters the Ant-Man suit created by Hank and Janet van Dyne might not be dead. Scott and Sam have a fight. Hope gets the Wasp suit.
Captain America: Civil War: Steve and his friends don’t support the Accords, Tony and his friends do. This results in a fight. Steve lied to Tony about his parents for two years to protect Bucky and there’s a huge fight when Tony finds out Steve lied. The Avengers are ripped apart, right down the middle. T’Challa offers to let Bucky stay in Wakanda. Steve and the others are all considered global fugitives. Steve gives Tony a cell phone to contact him with if he ever needs help. Spider-Man is introduced.
Doctor Strange: Stephen Strange becomes a practitioner of the mystic arts after losing his ability to be a surgeon. Another Infinity Stone, inside the Eye of Agamotto, is revealed. We learn that the sorcerers are in charge of protecting the Earth from otherworldly magical threats. Strange becomes the Sorcerer Supreme.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.: Peter is half-celestial. His father, Ego, is a living planet and is evil and wants to take over the universe. Yondu is the father Peter never knew he really had. Peter briefly realizes he has Celestial powers but then he loses them. Mantis joins the gang. Gamora and Nebula make up and Nebula leaves to go hunt down Thanos.
Spider-Man: Homecoming: Peter really wants to be a full blown Avenger and to have any sort of relationship with Tony, who is his idol, but Tony pretty much ignores him and tells him to stick to small crime stuff. Peter gets involved with Toomes and Tony gets upset with him and takes back the suit he made him. Peter still goes after Toomes and defeats him in his homemade suit. Tony realizes he needs to be a part of Peter’s life more and offers him a position as a full Avenger but Peter turns it down in favor of staying a neighborhood Spider-Man. Pepper and Tony get engaged.
Thor: Ragnarok: Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, is destroyed. Loki is alive and has been pretending to be Odin for, like, four years. Odin dies, releasing Thor’s bloodthirsty sister Hela, who tries to take over Asgard. Thor and the others destroy Asgard to defeat her. Loki and Thor get stranded on the planet Sakaar. The Hulk has been the Hulk for two straight years, transforms back into Bruce, and then back into the Hulk by the end of the movie. Valkyrie joins the gang. Thor become king and realizes he has lightning powers. The Asgardians are heading to Earth when they’re stopped by Thanos’s ship.
Black Panther: T’Challa is now king of Wakanda in addition to being the Black Panther. Shuri is extremely smart. Erik is revealed to be T’Challa’s cousin and he challenges and defeats T’Challa for the throne. M’Baku and the Jabari tribe team up with T’Challa and help him win back the throne. T’Challa decides that Wakanda is going to come out of hiding and share its knowledge and resources with the world.
Avengers: Infinity War: Thanos collects all six infinity stones and the following heroes are either killed or are dusted during the Snap and trapped in the Soul Stone: Sam, Bucky, Mantis, Drax, Peter Parker, Peter Quill, T’Challa, Shuri, Groot, Wanda, Hope, Janet, Hank, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Dr. Strange, Loki, Vision, Gamora. Nebula and Tony Stark are stranded on Titan. Nick Fury pages Captain Marvel for help before he dies.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Janet is rescued from the Quantum Realm. Hope has her own suit and is now The Wasp and she’s kind of better at the job than Scott is. Scott makes up with Hope and Hank. During the Snap, Hank, Hope, and Janet all disappear and leave Scott stranded in the quantum realm.
Captain Marvel: Carol was an Air Force pilot who absorbed the power of the Tesseract and has Kree blood in her veins which makes her insanely powerful. She’s badass, and she’s currently in space trying to help the Skrulls find a place to live (as far as we know). Goose is a super special cat who ate the Tesseract, and Carol gave Fury a specialized pager to contact her in the case of an emergency.
Summary Of Each Movie
(not in chronological order, this is in order of release)
Iron Man
Most important things to take away: Tony becomes Iron Man to escape being held captive in a cave, creates the arc reactor to keep him alive and power the Iron Man suit, shuts down weapons manufacturing branch at his company, comes in contact with SHIELD, is approached by Nick Fury about the Avengers Initiative.
Tony Stark is the son of Howard Stark. His parents died when he was 17, and he inherited Stark Industries. He didn’t take the role of CEO until he was 21, so his godfather Obadiah Stane (one of Howard’s best friends and also the CFO of Stark Industries) was in charge until he came of age. Stark Industries, since it was founded in the 1940s, has been a military contractor and it still is. Tony Stark is kidnapped in Afghanistan while demonstrating one of his new weapons to some military big wigs when he and his escorts are ambushed by terrorists and a bomb blows up in his face. He wakes up in a cave with a car battery hooked up to a hole in his chest to keep the bomb fragments stuck in his chest from slicing through his heart.
While in captivity, he finds out that the terrorists have a LOT of his weapons. It’s more than just a stolen shipment. Somehow, terrorists have been regularly receiving Stark weapons for years and Tony didn’t know about it. The terrorists want him to build his new missile for them. He says okay, but in reality he’s creating the Iron Man armor to escape. He also creates a miniaturized arc reactor (based off the giant one his dad built at Stark Industries) to keep the shrapnel out of his chest and to power the suit. He escapes and makes it back to the United States, where he immediately shuts down the weapons manufacturing branch of Stark Industries indefinitely until he can figure out what the fuck is going on.
He starts working on the Iron Man armor and testing it. It’s an amusing montage. SHIELD enters the picture and wants to talk to Tony.
He finds out that even though he shut down the weapons branch, that the terrorists were still receiving shipments of weapons (specifically in Gulmira). He also found out that his Board of Directors have filed an injunction to stop him from shutting down the weapons branch because they think he’s making crazy decisions because of PTSD from Afghanistan. When he asks Obadiah if he knows anything about these shipments to the terrorists, Obadiah admits that he is the one who filed the injunction against him. Tony flies to Gulmira and destroys the weapons. The US Air Force notices him on the way back and try to take him down, which is how Tony’s BFF Rhodey figures out he’s Iron Man. He is caught by Pepper, his assistant, removing the armor, so she knows about Iron Man too.
With Pepper’s help, they find out that Obadiah was actually behind Tony’s kidnapping. Obadiah paid the terrorists to kill Tony, but once the terrorists realized they realized the target was Tony freaking Stark, they kidnapped him instead. Obadiah has started building his own armor, but he can’t figure out a power source. He takes the arc reactor from Tony’s chest, essentially leaving him for dead. SHIELD and Pepper rush to stop Obadiah while Tony gets a spare reactor and suits up. There’s a fight. Tony wins. SHIELD helps deal with clean up and cover up.
SHIELD writes him a cover story (Iron Man isn’t him, it’s a bodyguard) for the press conference the next day, since the fight happened at Stark Industries and people noticed it. Tony disregards the notecards and announces that he himself is Iron Man.
Post credit scene: Nick Fury approaches Tony Stark to talk about the Avengers Initiative.
The Incredible Hulk
Most important things to take away: General Ross is after Bruce because he wants to use him as a weapon for the army. Bruce becomes a fugitive. He essentially learns how to control his transformations into the Hulk.
Remember in The Avengers when Bruce Banner is like “last time I was in New York, I kind of...broke Harlem”? This is that movie.
Bruce Banner works with and is dating Betty Ross. Her dad, General Ross, comes to talk to Bruce about an experiment with gamma radiation, an experiment that is trying to recreate the super soldier serum used on Captain America. Spoiler alert: it fails. Bruce turns into the Hulk when his heartrate goes about 200 beats per minute. The Hulk goes crazy and wreaks havoc. He becomes a fugitive of the US military, and particularly of Ross (who wants to weaponize the Hulk).
He’s still on the run five years later, hiding out in Brazil. He’s been talking to this guy on the internet (Mr. Blue) about finding a cure. He’s trying to keep the Hulk stuff under control using yoga techniques, and he hasn’t had an incident in five months. An accident at works leads the military to him. A Special Forces team, led by Emil Blonsky, try and take him down but Bruce Hulks out and escapes. Blonsky talks to Ross and agrees to be injected with a similar serum to the one used on Bruce to make him faster, stronger, overall better. It starts to make him go crazy and look crazy.
Bruce reconnects with Betty who is dating someone else (Phil, from Modern Family). Blonsky and the soldiers attack him again and he turns into the Hulk. Blonsky is supposedly killed, and the Hulk runs off with Betty. Bruce and Betty are on the run and meet up with Dr. Blue. Dr. Blue has found an antidote, but it will only reverse each individual transformation, not get rid of the Hulk all together.
Surprise! Blonsky survived. The military attacks while Bruce is with Dr. Blue and they take Bruce into custody. Blonsky stays behind and orders Dr. Blue to inject him with Bruce’s blood (Blue has vials of it from testing). It backfires and turns him into a complete monster (The Abomination). It makes him go completely crazy and he starts attacking Harlem. Ross realizes that the only thing that can stop him is the Hulk so he lets Bruce go. Bruce defeats Blonsky and runs off, on the run again.
Post credit scene: Tony Stark approaches Ross at a bar and tells him that ‘a team’ is being put together.
Iron Man 2
Most important things to take away: Natasha is introduced. Tony is not recommended for the Avengers Initiative, but Iron Man is. Tony become a consultant for SHIELD. Tony and Pepper finally get together. Rhodey is given an Iron Man suit (War Machine).
Approximately six months after Iron Man.
Ivan Vanko is watching Tony’s press conference where he reveals that he’s Iron Man. His dad, Anton Vanko, has just died but not before telling Ivan that that should’ve been him. He has blue prints that Howard Stark and Anton Vanko both worked on, together, for the arc reactor. Ivan starts working on his own arc reactor.
Tony is living it up. He’s been using Iron Man to keep the peace. The government wants to take his suits but he maintains that they’re not weapons and are his private property. He restarts the Stark Expo (the last one his Father did was in the 70s). The palladium core of the arc reactor is killing him. It’s quickly poisoning his blood. He needs the arc reactor to stay alive and power the suit, and he can’t find a substitute for the palladium.
Tony’s starting to act reckless when he realizes he’s going to die soon. He hasn’t told anyone. He makes Pepper the CEO of Stark Industries. She needs an assistant now, so Natalie Rushman (aka Natasha Romanov) is sent in. She’s really been sent there by SHIELD to evaluate Tony and assess whether he is a good fit for the Avengers Initiative. In Monaco, Tony decides to drive the Stark car in the Grand Prix. During the race, he’s attacked by Vanko. Vanko is defeated, but Tony’s arch nemesis Justin Hammer takes an interest in him and breaks him out of jail. He wants Vanko to help him fix his own prototypes of the Iron Man armor so that they are superior to Tony’s. Since Tony is no longer the main weapons contractor of the US Military, Hammer has taken his place, and since Tony won’t give his weapons to the military, Hammer wants to be able to deliver. He wants to demonstrate his superior suits at the Stark Expo to rub it in Tony’s face.
At Tony’s birthday party, he gets super drunk and reckless and is wearing the Iron Man armor. Rhodey says he’s being irresponsible and puts on a suit to try and restrain him. There’s a fight and Rhodey flies off with the suit and delivers it to the Air Force. Hammer is called in to make it even more weaponized.
A hungover Tony is approached by Nick Fury. Natalie is revealed to be Natasha at this time, and they give him a temporary antidote for the palladium poisoning. Nick reveals that Howard Stark was a founder of SHIELD and that he knew him personally. He explains how Howard and Anton worked on the arc reactor together and that Howard had him deported when Anton tried to sell it for profit. Fury delivers some of Howard’s old stuff to Tony (because Tony is supposed to figure something out from it) and leaves Coulson to watch over him. Coulson is called away to go oversee an incident in New Mexico (aka Thor). Tony finds a hidden message in a Stark Expo 1974 diorama, and uses it to make a new element. The new element serves as a replacement for the palladium.
Hammer’s suits are revealed at the Expo but Vanko has sabotaged them to become his own personal drones. Even Rhodey’s suit is taken control of. Vanko uses the drones to attack the Expo. Fun fact: one almost kills a small boy wearing an Iron Man mask...this boy is young Peter Parker. Natasha and Tony’s bodyguard Happy infiltrate Hammer Industries and gives control back to Rhodey’s suit. Stark and Rhodey defeats the drones and Vanko self-destructs his own suit. Pepper and Tony finally kiss after two movies of awkward flirting.
Fury is going over Natasha’s report of Tony with him. She concluded that while Iron Man is a good candidate for the Avengers Initiative, Tony Stark himself, as a person, is not recommended. SHIELD only wants to use him as a consultant, and Tony eventually agrees.
Post credit scene: Coulson shows up in New Mexico, where there is large hammer in the middle of a large crater.
Thor
Most important things to take away: Odin is a bad father. Loki is adopted and has been lied to his entire life and Thor was always favored over him. Thor used to be an arrogant jerk but now he’s worthy. Loki falls of the Bifrost to his supposed death in the void of space after feeling betrayed by his entire family.
In 965 AD, Odin defeats the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. King Laufey and the frost giants were trying to conquer the nine realms. The Asgardians take away their source of power, the Casket of Ancient Winters. Odin also finds a Jotun baby abandoned to die, supposedly, at a temple in Jotunheim. He picks up the baby and his magic changes the baby’s skin color from blue to normal human skin color. He takes the baby back to Asgard with him and raises it as his own, without letting the child know that he was adopted. This child is Loki.
In present day, Thor is about to be crowned king of Asgard. Some Jotuns break into the vault in Asgard trying to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters. A big giant metal guard with a furnace for a face that guards all the stuff on the fault destroys them. This robot thing is called The Destroyer. Thor sees this attack as a violation of the peace treaty between Jotunheim and Asgard and wants to attack Jotunheim in retaliation. Odin forbids him from doing anything but Thor disobeys him and goes to Jotunheim with his friends and Loki. It goes terribly. A frost giant grabs one of Thor’s friend’s arms and it starts to get instant frostbite. He warns everyone else about it – don’t let them touch your skin! A frost giant grabs Loki’s arm but instead of his arm freezing off, it starts to turn blue which shocks the Jotun and Loki. Odin comes and rescues the gang and convinces Laufey to forgive Thor’s arrogant and foolish actions. Odin strips Thor of his powers and banishes him to Earth. He throws Mjolnir through the wormhole as well, but only after enchanting it so that Thor (and anyone else) can only lift it if he’s worthy.
Thor lands in New Mexico where he is hit by Jane Foster (and Dr. Selvig and Darcy) with a van while they’re out in the desert doing science things at night. They drop him at the hospital, and the townspeople find Mjolnir in the desert. Coulson and SHIELD come out and confiscate all of Jane’s scientific data and equipment. Realizing Thor is the only piece of data she has left, Jane goes to find him. Thor breaks into the SHIELD containment area around Mjolnir to try and get it back, but he can’t lift it. SHIELD takes him into custody.
Loki confronts Odin about what happened on Jotunheim with his skin turning blue. Odin admits that Loki was adopted, and that he’s actually the son of the Jotun king Laufey. Before they can talk about that any more, Odin falls into, essentially, a magical coma. Loki is now the acting kind of Asgard, since Thor is banished. He visits Thor on Earth and lies to Thor and tells him Odin is dead. Loki refuses to lift Thor’s banishment. Jane and Dr. Selvig break Thor out of SHIELD.
Loki visits Laufey and offers him the Casket and the opportunity to kill Odin while he’s in his magic coma. Thor’s friends ask Loki to lift Thor’s banishment but Loki says no. Thor’s friends go against Loki and go to Earth to rescue Thor. Loki sends the Destroyer after them and the Destroyers defeats them. Thor realizes that the Destroyer is really just there to kill him and he sacrifices himself so that the Destroyer will stop destroying the town. This proves him to be worthy and Mjolnir flies to him and his powers are restored. He defeats the Destroyer and returns to Asgard.
Loki ends up betraying Laufey once he gets to Asgard. He was really just wanting to use Laufey attacking Odin as an excuse to destroy Jotunheim. He opens the Bifrost (the magic rainbow bridge that can transport you to any on the nine realms) on Jotunheim. If the Bifrost stays open for too long, it will destroy whatever it’s opened on. Thor shows up to stop him. Odin wakes up just in time to catch Thor and Loki from falling of the Bifrost. The Bifrost is destroyed. Loki just wants approval from Odin but Odin refuses to give it so Loki supposedly commits suicide by letting go and falling off the Bifrost into the abyss of space. Thor admits he’s not ready to be king.
Post credit scene: Fury brings Selvig into SHIELD to work on the Tesseract, an object that Fury says might hold untold power. An invisible Loki is revealed to the audience and prompts Selvig to agree.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Most important things to take away: Steve was given the super solider serum because he was seen as a good guy who wouldn’t abuse its power. HYDRA is introduced and so is the Tesseract. Bucky is experimented on by HYDRA and falls off a train to his supposed death. Steve crashes a plane into the ocean, is frozen, and is then thawed out in 2011.
World War II is currently going on. I’m not about to give you background on that.
A Nazi officer named Johan Schmidt steals a relic called the Tesseract from a church in Norway. Via a lapel pin, it’s revealed he’s part of HYDRA. In New York City, shrimpy little Steve Rogers tries to join the army (again) but is rejected for health reasons. He gets into a fight with a bully in an alley and is found by his BFF Bucky, who has been drafted into the Army and ships out tomorrow. They spend their last night together at a futuristic exhibition, where Steve tries to enlist again. He argues with Bucky about it, about why he wants to help. Dr. Erskine overhears him and offers him the change to join the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) as a potential member of the super-soldier project Erskine is working on. He goes to boot camp for this where he meets Peggy Carter and Colonel Phillips. Phillips isn’t impressed by him but agrees to go with Steve after he is shown to be brave and selfless. The night before the experiment, Erskine reveals the Schmidt had tried an imperfect version of the serum and it didn’t work and had bad side effects on him.
Schmidt and Dr. Zola are using the energy of the Tesseract to power Zola’s inventions that would change the outcome of the war. Schmidt finds out that Erskine is testing the serum again so he sends a HYDRA agent to kill him. Erskine and Howard Stark are running the experiment on Steve which works and he’s big and buff now. After it’s revealed it works, the HYDRA agent kills Erskine and runs away. Steve chases after him and catches him but the agent kills himself to avoid interrogation. Since the formula for the serum is lost with Erskine’s death, the Senator backing the project uses Steve as a performer to promote buying war bonds. While entertaining the troops in Europe, he finds out that Bucky’s unit has been captured and that the Army refuses to risk more men to rescue them. Steve, Peggy, and Howard steal a plane and go to rescue them. Steve rescues all of the POWs and finds Bucky isolated in a lab, where he had been experimented on by Dr. Zola. Steve sees a map in the lab of HYDRA strongholds. It’s destroyed when the lab is blown up so Steve is the only one who knows where they are. He forms a team with Bucky (The Howling Commandos) and they go around destroying the bases. While trying to capture Zola on a moving train in the mountains, Bucky falls off the train, supposedly to his death. Zola is captured.
Using the info they got from Zola, Steve goes to finally stop Schmidt. Schmidt’s plan was to send a bunch of weapons of mass destructions to US cities. He has them loaded on an aircraft and he flies off with the Tesseract. Steve sneaks onto the plane and they fight. The Tesseract opens a wormhole in space which sucks Schmidt in. It falls to the floor of the plane and melts the floor, and then falls into the ocean. Steve can’t land the plane without setting off the weapons, so he crashes the plane into ocean. Supposedly killing himself as well.
Howard Stark starts going on missions in the Arctic to find the Tesseract and Steve’s plane. He finds the Tesseract and founds SHIELD with Peggy and Colonel Phillips. In 2011, SHIELD finds a wrecked plane in the Arctic containing Steve. They thaw him out. When he wakes up, he runs off and finds himself in modern Times Square. Nick Fury finds him and tells him it’s 2011.
Post credit scene: Fury finds Steve and tells him that they have an assignment regarding the Tesseract, which Steve is kind of annoyed to find out is still a problem.
The Avengers
Most important things to take away: Loki isn’t dead. He’s sent by Thanos to Earth to retrieve the Tesseract, gifted with a scepter capable of mind control to help him. The team is formed, Coulson is supposedly killed, they team up to fight Loki in New York. Tony takes a missile through a wormhole into space and sees the alien threat on the other side. The Avengers win. Loki’s taken back to Asgard.
This weird alien creature called The Other, the leader of the Chitauri, is telling an unknown third party (Thanos) about how Loki is ready to lead an offensive on Earth and retrieve the Tesseract for them. Loki arrives on Earth with a magic scepter, using the Tesseract to open a portal across space. He mind controls Hawkeye and Selvig and escapes with the Tesseract. Nick Fury declares that they’re at war and need to get the Avengers together.
The Avengers are put together. Captain America and Natasha go to stop Loki in Germany, where he is because he and Hawkeye were trying to find Iridium which they needed to stabilize the Tesseract. Loki and Steve fight, and the fight ends when Iron Man shows up on the scene. On the flight back to SHIELD, Thor lands on the plane and steals Loki away. On the ground, he tries reasoning with Loki, saying that this isn’t like him and that his family wants him to come home. Their conversation is interrupted by Tony, and Tony, Thor, and later Steve all fight in the forest. They come to a truce and bring Loki into SHIELD.
Loki is imprisoned on the Helicarrier while Bruce and Tony try and find the Tesseract. The group of Avengers start to argue, especially after finding out that SHIELD was using the Tesseract to build weapons. It’s because SHIELD is scared of an extraterrestrial threat, and Thor reveals that the only reason that extraterrestrials are taking notice of Earth is BECAUSE they’re messing with the Tesseract and essentially signaling that they’re ready for higher forms of warfare. Hawkeye and goons attack the Helicarrier and free Loki. Hawkeye is then freed from his mind control. The Avengers are scattered after the ensuing fight and Coulson is supposedly killed by Loki (why can no one stay dead in the MCU?!). Fury uses Coulson’s death to rally the Avengers into coming together.
Loki and Selvig have created a device to use the Tesseract to open a portal on top of Stark Tower. Tony and Steve realize that Loki needs a big show of him winning to publically validate himself as the leader of Earth and the Avengers rush to New York City to stop him. The Chitauri come through the portal and there’s a huge battle. They release they can use Loki’s scepter to close the portal but Fury alerts them to the fact that the World Security Council has sent a nuke to NYC to take out the enemy. Tony catches the missile and leads it through the portal, seeing all of the threats waiting behind the portal in space. It destroys all of the Chitauri forces and the mothership. The Avengers corner Loki and Thor takes him and the Tesseract back to Asgard. Fury says that the Avengers will return if the world needs them again.
Post credit scene: The Other reveals to his master that Loki failed, and that they had seriously underestimated the people of Earth. He says that to challenge the Avengers would be to court death. His master turns and smiles at this prospect. It’s revealed by face, but not by name, that his master is Thanos (and that line is clever because in the comics, Thanos isn’t trying to balance out the universe. He’s killing everyone because he’s in love with Death and is killing people to offer her to win her affection).
Post credit scene: The Avengers are eating Shwarma after the Battle of New York.
Iron Man 3
Most important things to take away: Tony has PTSD because of what he saw on the other side of the wormhole during the Battle of New York. He meets Harley (who is one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters so you seriously need to at least watch THIS movie). Tony takes down bad guys and shows that he’s a badass even without his suit. He gets the arc reactor and shrapnel removed from his chest at the end of the movie.
In 1999, Tony is hanging out with Maya Hansen, who is working on a treatment called Extremis that it an experimental regenerative treatment that would allow from recovery of crippling injuries, essentially by regrowing limbs and stuff. He’s approached by Aldrich Killian, the head of AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics), but Stark promises to meet with him and then blows him off. So he’s created an enemy out of Killian, and even though Maya was a one night stand, he left her with a solution to one part of the Extremis formula she had been struggling with.
In modern times, Tony is struggling with anxiety and PTSD. His outlet for dealing with it is to build A TON of Iron Man suits. He’s together with Pepper now, but she doesn’t approve of his coping mechanisms. She meets with Aldrich who is working with Maya and Extremis and is trying to get Stark Industries to invest. She declines, and Happy (the bodyguard) doesn’t trust Aldrich and his henchman, so he follows them.
There’s a terrorist known as the Mandarin who keeps televising attacks and he can’t be caught because there’s a lack of forensic evidence. When Happy follows Aldrich’s henchman, he is injured in a Mandarin attack. When questioned about the Mandarin on TV, Tony threatens that Mandarin and gives out his home address, saying he’s not scared of him. The Mandarin bombs Tony’s house while Maya is over trying to talk to Tony about how she thinks Aldrich might be evil. Tony is assumed to be dead, and Maya and Pepper flee together. Tony was actually rescued by JARVIS and one of his Iron Man suits. It crash lands in Tennessee, and is out of power/not functional, so he has to lug it into a small town. He breaks into the garage of a ten-year old named Harley Keener, who informs him that the whole world thinks he’s dead.
The two team up and he finds out about Aldrich and his testing of Extremis. It actually causes people to explode if the virus is not accepted by the body. The Mandarin attacks leave no evidence because the people were the actual bombs. Tony traces the Mandarin to a mansion in Miami, and Harley stays behind in Tennessee to charge the suit. Meanwhile, Killian comes and kidnaps Pepper and maybe Maya (she doesn’t trust him at all but she still seems to be working with him, for his money). He also lured Rhodey into a trap to steal the War Machine armor. So everyone is chilling at the mansion.
Tony breaks into the mansion with homemade weapons and it’s badass as hell. He discovers that the Mandarin is actually an English actor. He’s taken captive by Killian, who is revealed to be the real mastermind of the Mandarin. Maya had mentioned to Killian that Tony might be able to help them solve the whole people-keep-exploding problem so that they can sell Extremis, and Killian injected Pepper with it to blackmail Tony into finding a cure. The armor charges and flies to meet Tony in Florida. He and Rhodey escape and have to go save the President, who Killian and friends had kidnapped to make a huge Mandarin spectacle. Tony calls in all of his many suits in to remotely kick ass. Pepper falls to her apparent death, but it’s revealed that she survived the Extremis virus and she reemerges to kill Killian when he’s about to kill Tony. Tony self-destructs his army of suits and fixes the Extremis virus. He then uses this virus to help him undergo surgery to remove the shrapnel from his chest and remove the arc reactor.
Post credit scene: Throughout the movie, Tony has been basically narrating everything...at least at the beginning and end. It’s revealed during this scene that he had been telling this all to Bruce to get it off his chest, but that Bruce had nodded off at the very beginning.
Thor: The Dark World
Most important things to take away: Loki and Thor team up to defeat the bad guys and Loki supposedly dies protecting Thor. The Aether is revealed to be an Infinity Stone, as is the Tesseract. Jane Foster is reduced from a smart and relatable heroine to a damsel in distress that’s a bummer.
In the past, Odin’s father fought the Dark Elves. The Dark Elves wanted to unleash a weapon known as the Aether on the nine realms which could only be done during the convergence, when all the realms lined up. In present day, Loki is taken back to Asgard. He would’ve been killed but his mother argued against it, so he’s sentenced to eternal imprisonment by Odin for his crimes against Jotunheim and Earth. Thor and his friends are going around trying to keep peace in the nine realms. When he returns, he discovers that another convergence is about to occur.
In London, Jane and Darcy show up at an abandoned factory where the laws of physics pretty much don’t apply. Jane gets transported to another world while exploring, and encounters the Aether, which infects her by flowing into her body. Heimdall sees this (Heimdall can see everything in the nine realms), and Thor comes to bring her to Asgard to get help. Odin recognizes the Aether and says that it will kill her and that this means something bad is coming. The Dark Elves attack Asgard and Frigga, the Queen, is killed. The Elves wanted to take Jane (aka the Aether) with them, but they had to leave before they could. Thor helps Loki escape and they use Jane to lure the leader of the Dark Elves to Svartalfheim. The leader of the Elves draws the Aether out of Jane but Loki and Thor are unable to destroy it while it’s exposed. The Elves takes the Aether and leave, and Loki ends up taking a sword that was meant for Thor. He supposedly dies, what a surprise. Thor and Jane team up with Selvig and they find out that the center of the convergence will be in Greenwich. Thor fights with the elves when they come to Greenwood and he ultimately defeats them and destroys their ship.
Thor returns to Asgard and yet again refuses the throne when Odin offers it to him. He tells Odin about Loki’s sacrifice and he turns to leave. As he leaves, Odin transforms, and it’s revealed that he was actually Loki in disguise.
Post credit scene: The Warriors Three (Thor’s friends) take the Aether to the Collector on Knowhere for him to protect and keep safe. They say that with the Tesseract already stored on Asgard, it would be dangerous for two Infinity Stones to be so close together. This reveals that the Tesseract and the Aether are both Infinity Stones.
Post credit scene: Thor arrives back on Earth to make out with Jane, essentially.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Most important things to take away: Bucky isn’t dead, he’s the Winter Soldier. He’s been brainwashed by HYDRA and is an accomplished super soldier assassin. Sam/The Falcon are introduced. HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD after WWII and is exposed in this movie. Steve finds out that the Winter Solider killed Tony’s parents. Bucky starts to regain a few tiny memories.
Steve Rogers has no credentials for any sort of job in the modern era, so he works for Fury and SHIELD. He and Natasha regularly work with a Strike Team led by Brock Rumlow. He’s trying to adjust to modern society. Him, Natasha, and the team are saving hostages from a SHIELD ship when Steve realizes that Natasha has another agenda, a secret mission of her own – to get data from the ship computers for Fury. Steve confronts him and Fury talks to him about Project Insight, which is supposed to be a preemptive protection program. It would eliminate threats before they were threats. Fury can’t decrypt the data though and he becomes suspicious of the leader of the Project, Secretary of Internal Security and SHIELD official, Alexander Pierce, and he asks him to delay the project. On his way to meet with Maria Hill, Fury is attacked by the Winter Solider.
Fury hides out in Steve’s apartment, but he is shot down by the Winter Soldier. He gives Steve the flash drive of information and warns him that SHIELD is compromised. Steve chases after the Winter Soldier but he disappears. Fury supposedly dies. Steve hides the flash drive at the hospital when he is summoned by Pierce. Pierce wants the information that Fury gave him, but Steve refuses and then fights off everyone and becomes a fugitive of SHIELD. Natasha retrieves the flash drive and they are both on the run now. They go to a bunker of SHIELD’s and finds a supercomputer that is preserving the consciousness of Dr. Zola. Zola reveals that HYDRA has infiltrated SHIELD and has been a part of SHIELD since the end of World War II. HYDRA, acting as SHIELD, has caused global chaos to further their own agenda. When people became a problem or a threat, they were eliminated. It’s revealed that the Winter Solider and HYDRA killed Howard and Maria Stark in 1991. We find out that Pierce is basically the head of HYDRA at this point, and that Rumlow is also HYDRA. Natasha and Steve are attacked by HYDRA and escape, and they hide out at Steve’s new friend Sam’s house.
The three of them team up and find out via a HYDRA mole in SHIELD that Zola wrote an algorithm that would identify people that would pose future threats to HYDRA. HYDRA then used this algorithm with Project Insight...so essentially, Project Insight’s purpose wasn’t to protect the world from potential threats, but was to kill anyone who might pose a threat to HYDRA now or in the future. They’d do this with the three Helicarriers that were to be launched. The three heroes then get into a fight with HYDRA and the Winter Soldier, and it’s revealed that the Winter Soldier is actually Bucky. Bucky had been experimented on with a super solider serum when he was captured by Zola during the war, and this serum allowed him to survive his fall from the train. He’s been brainwashed by HYDRA and doesn’t remember who he is, and he has a metal arm. Before the launch of the Project Insight Helicarriers, Natasha and Fury show up and overpower Pierce. Natasha releases all of the information about HYDRA/SHIELD online, exposing HYDRA. Steve and Sam are working to shut down the three Helicarriers. They shut down two but Steve is confronted by Bucky on the third. He stops the Helicarrier but refuses to hurt Bucky. He and Bucky are both thrown into the Potomac as the Helicarriers crash into each other and fall out of the sky. Bucky pulls Steve out of the river and leaves him on the bank before disappearing. Now, Steve’s new mission is to take out the remaining HYDRA cells and also search for the Winter Soldier.
Post credit scene: Foreshadows Age of Ultron. It shows HYDRA scientist Wolfgang von Strucker using Loki’s scepter to experiment on people – and it shows two of the subjects, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, in cells.
Post credit scene: Bucky, in disguise, visits the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian and comes across a memorial for Bucky Barnes.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Most important things to take away: The Guardians of the Galaxy are introduced as are the Ravagers. Nebula and Gamora are revealed to be Thanos’s adopted daughters, and they don’t like him at all. The stone inside the orb is revealed to be an Infinity Stone, and there is a whole scene giving background on the Infinity Stones and why they’re important. Peter Quill is revealed to only be half-human.
Peter Quill was abducted by space pirate aliens (The Ravagers) in 1988 after his mother dies of cancer. Fast forward to 2014, Peter is still with the Ravagers. He goes to a planet to retrieve an orb. Quill gets the orb and Yondu (leader of the space pirate aliens crew) finds out that he stole it and puts a bounty out for him. Ronan is a Kree working for Thanos. Thanos has lent him his adopted daughters Gamora and Nebula. Ronan sends Gamora to retrieve the orb. On Xandar, Peter tries to sell the orb but has no success. He fights with Gamora, who wants the Orb, and Rocket and Groot join in because they want the bounty on Quill’s head. They’re all arrested and sent to space jail, where they meet Drax. Gamora reveals that she is betraying Ronan, she doesn’t want to give him the orb and its power. She was actually going to sell it to a buyer she already had lined up, so that gang breaks out of prison and goes to meet with the buyer.
The buyer ends up being the Collector on Knowhere. The Collector reveals that inside the orb is an Infinity Stone. There are six infinity stones scattered across the universe. They’re items of immeasurable power and only the most powerful of beings can wield them. There’s an explosion and the Guardians escape with the orb. The Guardians flee but are tracked down by Ronan’s followers as well as Nebula. Ronan takes the orb, and the Ravagers save the stranded Guardians. The Guardians decide to trade the orb if the Ravagers help them get it back and then to let them go. Ronan puts the Infinity Stone in his hammer and takes the power for himself instead of giving it to Thanos. Nebula hates Thanos, so she sides with Ronan. Groot sacrifices himself to save the Guardians. Ronan goes to destroy Xandar but he is met by the Guardians. Peter frees the stone from the hammer, and the Guardians use it to destroy Ronan. They give the empty orb to Yondu and give the Stone to the Nova Corps on Xandar for protection. The Nova Corp expunges their criminal records and reveals to Quill that he’s only half-human.
Post credit scene: Baby Groot is dancing in a pot to The Jackson 5.
Post-credit scene: The Collector is sitting in his archive with Howard the Duck and Cosmo the space dog.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Most important things to take away: Thor goes to a magic pond in a cave and has a vision about the Infinity Stones – it’s the first time we see all six. Vision is created as a result of Ultron and Loki’s scepter. The glowing things in the middle of the scepter is shown to be holding an infinity stone, which ultimately gets imbedded in Vision’s head. Tony retires from the Avengers, Clint also retires from the Avengers, Pietro dies, Wanda joins the team, Rhodey, Vision, and Sam officially join the Avengers, Clint has a secret family and a farm, and the Hulk disappears and no one knows where he went.
The Avengers have been taking down HYDRA cells and searching for Loki’s scepter, which was stolen by HYDRA. HYDRA used the Scepter’s powers to make two enhanced individuals: Wanda, who has freaky mind powers, and Pietro, who has super speed (“He’s got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.” “Huh?” “He’s fast, and she’s weird”). They find it and before Tony can grab it, Wanda uses her mind powers to trigger his PTSD from the wormhole. This prompts him and Bruce to restart their idea for Ultron, a global peace-keeping initiative. They fail - they can’t get it to work over the three days they spent trying. They leave the scepter in the lab and go to the party. Ultron comes online by himself, takes control of some Iron Man drones, kills JARVIS, and escapes.
The Avengers track Ultron down in South Africa, where he’s trying to get some Vibranium from Ulysses Klaue. Wanda and Pietro have teamed up with Ultron because Ultron has determined that the greatest threat to global peace are in fact the Avengers, and Pietro and Wanda blame Tony for their parents’ death. Wanda gets in almost everyone’s head and triggers the Hulk into attacked Johannesburg. The Avengers have to hide out at a safe house, which turns out to be Clint’s farmhouse with his secret family. Nick Fury shows up and rallies them to fight. Ultron is trying to build himself a better body, and Wanda finds out that he doesn’t just want to kill the Avengers – he wants to exterminate all humans. Steve, Clint, and Natasha steal Ultron’s new body, but Ultron gets away and kidnaps Natasha.
Tony and Bruce uploads JARVIS’s code to the new body and Thor shows up after returning after having a vision about the Infinity Stones. Thor uses the stone from inside the scepter and Mjolnir to bring the body to life. Vision is created and Natasha sends a signal that shows she’s in Sokovia. The Avengers rush to fight Ultron in Sokovia, where he is planning to lift the city upwards and drop it like an asteroid to cause a mass extinction. Wanda and Pietro switch sides and they all fight Ultron’s army of robots. SHIELD shows up and they evacuate all the citizens and then blow up the city while it’s in the air so it doesn’t fall. Pietro saves Clint’s life by sacrificing his own. The Hulk flies off in a Quinjet after the battle and refuses to get in contact with the Avengers.
Post credit scene: Thanos states that he’s getting tired of waiting for his minions to get the Infinity Stones for him. He puts on the Infinity Gauntlet and says that he’s going to go get them himself.
 Ant-Man
Most important things to take away: Hank Pym and his daughter Hope don’t have the best relationship but they seem to repair it by the end of the movie. Scott is just trying to be a good dad and to not go back to prison after his release, but he gets back into stealing. He masters the Ant-Man suit created by Hank and Janet van Dyne might not be dead. Scott and Sam have a fight. Hope gets the Wasp suit.
In 1989, Hank Pym resigns from SHIELD because he discovers that Howard Stark and SHIELD are trying to replicate his Ant-Man shrinking technology. In present day, his daughter (who’s not his biggest fan) Hope van Dyne and his mentee Darren Cross (sadly, NOT Darren Criss) have essentially taken over Pym Technologies and shut him out of it. Cross is working on his own shrinking suit and Hank doesn’t trust that, so he hires recently-released-from-prison former thief Scott Lang to break in and steal the suit. Scott has had trouble holding down a job since his release and he wants to be able to pay child support and do well by his daughter Cassie, so he agrees.
Hope has begun to distrust Cross too and she and Hank team up to train Scott on how to use the Ant-Man suit. It’s revealed that Hope is estranged from her father because she blames him for her mother’s death. He mother, Janet, had supposedly died (shocker) when she tried to stop a Soviet missile and disappeared into the Quantum Realm, because no one can return from the Quantum Realm...right? Scott tries to break into the Avengers compound to steal a part needed for the heist, and he briefly fights Sam Wilson. Cross finishes his suit and unveils it, and plans to sell it to HYDRA. When the they attempt to steal the suit, Scott, Hope, and Hank are captured. Scott breaks free and he and Hope kick ass and take down the HYDRA goons. Cross escapes and Scott runs after him. Cross puts on his suit and he and Scott fight while shrinking. Scott messes with Cross’s suit so that it keeps shrinking uncontrollably, and Cross pretty much shrinks to death. Scott accidentally gets sucked into the Quantum Realm, but he survives and makes it back out which leads Hank to wonder if his wife might still be alive.
Post credit scene: After being upset the whole movie that her dad was giving a random criminal a suit and not her, Hank gives Hope an unfinished ‘Wasp’ suit and she says “it’s about damn time”
Post credit scene: It’s part of a scene from Civil War. Bucky, Sam, and Steve are talking. They say they need help but can’t ask Tony, and Sam says he know “a guy” (Scott, who he found in Ant-Man) who can help them
Captain America: Civil War
Most important things to take away: Steve and his friends don’t support the Accords, Tony and his friends do. This results in a fight. Steve lied to Tony about his parents for two years to protect Bucky and there’s a huge fight when Tony finds out Steve lied. The Avengers are ripped apart, right down the middle. T’Challa lets Bucky stay in Wakanda. Steve and the others are all considered global fugitives. Steve gives Tony a cell phone to contact him with if he ever needs help. Spider-Man is introduced.
Steve and the Avengers are supposedly going on all these mission to take down HYDRA cells that still exist, but Steve is also secretly trying to find Bucky. Steve takes a not-combat-ready Wanda along on a mission and she ends up killing a bunch of civilians and the world is scared and pissed. It’s been in the works since NYC and DC and Sokovia, but General Ross (now Secretary of Defense Ross) shows up to bring up the Sokovia Accords. The Sokovia Accords are the result of the UN wanting to hold the Avengers accountable – they’ve been running around the world wreaking havoc and then disappearing and not dealing with the aftermath. 117 countries have signed the Accords and the UN is going to enact them the next day. If the Avengers don’t sign, they’ll either have to retire or be branded illegal vigilantes. The Avengers debate it. Tony is in favor of it, he wants accountability and has already signed, and Steve is against is because he’s an idiot and he thinks that governments have agendas (he apparently doesn’t know that the UN isn’t a government) and that the Avengers know best. It’s later kind of inferred that he was also worried that the Accords wouldn’t let him find and rehabilitate Bucky.
Peggy dies and Steve goes to Europe for her funeral. The Accords are being signed in Vienna and are spearheaded by T’Chaka, the king of Wakanda. The UN building is bombed and T’Chaka is killed. According to surveillance, Bucky is the one who bombed the UN, and T’Challa (prince of Wakanda) wants revenge. Steve and Sam tracks down Bucky before the Security Council can bring him in and believe him when he says he’s innocent. Bucky has been living on his own and regaining his memories. Bucky, Sam, and Steve run from the Security Council, and later fight with T’Challa before being taken into custody. Tony shows up and offers to wipe everyone’s slate clean, legitimize everything that just happened, and get Bucky psychiatric help if Steve and Sam just sign the Accords. He agrees with Steve that amendments are needed and that that can be achieved if everyone signs, and Steve almost signs but he gets angry when Tony mentions he’s having Vision keep Wanda inside the Compound because the world is wanting her head because they think he’s dangerous. A UN psychiatrist is revealed to be a bad guy and he triggers Bucky into becoming the Winter Soldier. Everyone fights with the Winter Soldier and Steve and Sam eventually run off with him.
Bucky talks about how he’s not been doing any of this bad stuff and how the guy who was pretending to be a psychiatrist is out to get them. He talks about how there are actually five other winter soldiers that are being kept in stasis in a HYDRA bunker in Siberia. They rationalize that this bad guy (whose name is Zemo) is wanting to trigger these soldiers. Rather than going to the UN or asking Tony for help, Steve, Sam and Bucky don’t think that they’ll have the time to deal with all the bureaucracy and go to stop the soldiers and Zemo themselves.
Sam, Bucky, and Steve have broken the law by fleeing UN custody, and Tony is sent to stop them before they can go to Siberia. Both sides have recruited backup. On Tony’s side are T’Challa, Rhodey, Spider-Man, Vision, and Natasha. On Steve’s side are Bucky, Sam, Hawkeye, Wanda (who was broken out of the compound by Hawkeye), and Ant-Man. There’s an epic airport fight. Bucky and Steve escape after Natasha flips sides and lets them escape. Rhodey is paralyzed during the fight. Wanda, Sam, Clint, and Scott are arrested and sent to the Raft, an underwater prison for superheroes.
Tony finds out that Zemo is the one who is behind all of this and realizes that he was wrong in thinking that it was Barnes. He goes to the Raft and talks Sam into revealing where Barnes and Steve went. He shows up in Siberia to help them defeat the soliders and they are briefly all on the same side. BUT HEY! Remember how Steve found out that Bucky killed Tony’s parents two years ago? Yeah, Steve never told Tony any of that, and Steve has been using Tony’s money to fund missions to search for Bucky. Zemo is found to have already killed all the soldiers – the soldiers was never his plan. He wants to make the Avengers rip themselves apart, and he does so by showing Tony the video of the Winter Soldier killing his parents. Tony is initially mad at Bucky but then, once he discovers that Steve knew for two years and never told him, he’s mad at both of them. The three of them fight, and Bucky and Steve disable Tony’s suit and leave him injured in Siberia. T’Challa had followed them and realized Bucky wasn’t responsible for his father’s death. He offers to take them to Wakanda. Steve breaks the others out of the Raft, Natasha joins them. Steve send a letter and a cell phone to Tony in case Tony ever needs to contact him for help.
Post credit scene: Bucky decides to go back into cryostasis until a cure can be found to undo HYDRA’s mental programming. T’Challa grants Steve and the rogue avengers asylum in Wakanda.
Post credit scene: Aunt May asks about why Peter has a black eye and he lies to her about it. Peter Parker is sent a new set of web-shooters by Tony, and they shine a spider-man symbol on the ceiling.
Doctor Strange
Most important things to take away: Stephen Strange becomes a practitioner of the mystic arts after losing his ability to be a surgeon. Another Infinity Stone, inside the Eye of Agamotto, is revealed. We learn that the sorcerers are in charge of protecting the Earth from otherworldly magical threats. Strange becomes the Sorcerer Supreme.
Kaecilius and his followers break into the compound at Kamar-Taj and steal a page from a book that belongs to the Ancient One. In NYC, Stephen Strange is shown to be an arrogant and cocky neurosurgeon. He gets in a car accident that severely injures his hands, ending his career as a surgeon. He exhausts all of his money trying to find a cure. As a last hope, he approaches a guy names Pangborn who was apparently paralyzed below the waist but regained use of his legs. Pangborn tells him he found healing at Kamar-Taj and Strange goes to Kamar-Taj and begs for be taken in. Mordo, a sorcerer who studies under the Ancient One (the Sorcerer Supreme), finally takes him in.
The Ancient One demonstrates her power to Strange and he begs to be taught. The Ancient One, Mordo, and Wong (the Master in charge of the library) teach him. Strange also himself teaches himself by reading almost all the books in the library. Strange learns how Kamar-Taj is connected to and is accessible to three sanctums across the world, which together form a protective shield against ‘magical’ threats against the world. The Sanctums are in New York, Hong Kong, and London, and Kaecilius wants to destroy them so that the world would be open to attack from the Master he serves, Dormammu (who lives in the Dark Dimension). Strange also learns about the Eye of Agamotto which can control time (it’s actually an Infinity Stone). Wong and Mordo warn him not to mess with the laws of nature, like Kaecilius.
Kaecilius uses the stolen page from the book to contact Dormammu. He destroys the London sanctum which weakens Earth’s defensive shield. He attacks the New York sanctum where he kills the guardian but fights Stephen. Stephen receives help from the Cloak of Levitation, and Mordo and the Ancient One show up. It’s revealed that the Ancient One was using magic from the Dark Dimension to prolong her life, which causes Mordo to become disillusioned in everything he’s been taught. Kaecilius kills the Ancient One and heads to Hong Kong. By the time Mordo and Strange get to Hong Kong, Wong is dead and the Sanctum has fallen and Dormammu is descending. Strange uses the Eye of Agamatto to reset everything and then he enters the Dark Dimension to fight Dormammu. He traps both himself and Dormammu in a time loops and lets Dormammu kill him over and over and over until Dormammu agrees to give up if Strange breaks the time loop, and leave Earth with Kaecilius and his followers. Mordo, still disillusioned by everything and now by Strange, leaves. Strange takes the place of the guardian at the New York Sanctum and since the Ancient One is dead, he’s essentially now the Sorcerer Supreme as well.
Post credit scene: A scene from Doctor Strange. Dr. Strange asks Thor why he brought Loki to Earth and Thor states that they’re looking for Odin and once he finds them that they will all return to Asgard. Hearing this, Dr. Strange agrees to help them find Odin.
Post credit scene: Karl Mordo confronts Pangborn and takes away the magic that was healing him, leaving him paralyzed. He’s undoing this kind of stuff because he says there are “too many sorcerers”.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Most important things to take away: Peter is half-celestial. His father, Ego, is a living planet and is evil and wants to take over the universe. Yondu is the father Peter never knew he really had. Peter briefly realizes he has Celestial powers but then he loses them. Mantis joins the gang. Gamora and Nebula make up and Nebula leaves to go hunt down Thanos.
This takes place a few months after the first Guardians of the Galaxy. The Guardians are essentially heroes for hire and are going around the galaxy getting paid to do certain jobs. They get hired by the Sovereign race and their leader Ayesha to protect some batteries, but Rocket ends up stealing them. They receive Nebula as payment and try and escape before the Sovereigns realize Rocket stole the batteries. The Sovereigns pursue them and attack, and a mystery figure on a nearby ship helps them get away. Their ship crashes and the mystery figure lands near the crash. The mystery figure reveals himself to be Ego, Peter’s father. He had paid Yondu to pick Peter up on Earth after his mother died and deliver him to Ego’s planet, but Yondu stole Peter instead. Ego invites Peter, Gamora, and Drax to go back to his home planet with him and his ‘pet’/servant Mantis, an empath.
Yondu and his crew have been exiled from the Ravager society by the Ravager leader Stakar Ogord for child trafficking, which goes against the Ravager Code. Ayesha tries to hire Yondu to recapture the Guardians, but Yondu practically raised Peter and is hesitant to turn him in. The crew mutinies against him and only Yondu and Kraglin, his right hand man, survive. The crew kidnaps Groot and Rocket, who stayed behind to work on the ship repairs. Groot steals back Yondu’s fin which controls his arrow, and the four of them escape.
Ego reveals to Peter that Yondu hadn’t actually been trafficking children. He tells Peter that he paid Yondu to deliver him only. In reality, Ego had been paid to collect and deliver tons of Ego’s kids to him but Yondu then realized that Ego wasn’t wanting his kids because he was a caring father – he was killing them. Ego doesn’t tell Peter any of this. Yondu had discovered that Ego was trying to find out if any of his kids carried the Celestial gene, since all his kids were potentially half-celestial. When the kids couldn’t access the Celestial power, they were killed and Ego stored their bones in a cave. He doesn’t tell Peter any of that, he doesn’t tell him that Yondu found out. When Yondu discovered this, he refused to deliver the next to him – and the next kid just happened to be Peter. Ego just told Peter that Yondu stole him and that Ego has been looking for Peter ever since.
Ego wants to take over the universe. He has planted parts of himself on all these different planets he has visited (where he met women to have kids with), but he needs the power of two Celestials to activate those parts of himself. Ego is essentially the planet he lives on (his brain is the planet’s core), and if he can activate the other parts of himself on other planets, he can take them over. Peter ends up being able to control Celestial power, and Ego invites him to join in his universal domination. Peter refuses and Ego forcibly drains the celestial power from Peter anyway. Nebula and Gamora discover the cave of bones and realize Ego is evil and rush to help Peter, as do Rocket, Yondu, Kraglin and Groot. Rocket makes a bomb out of his stolen batteries, and while Peter fights Ego the Guardians blow up the brain and the planet disintegrates. Peter loses his Celestial powers when Ego dies and Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter. Peter realizes Yondu has been like his real father this entire time: he didn’t kidnap him, he protected him from Ego. Nebula and Gamora make up and Nebula leaves the gang to go hunt down Thanos herself.
Post credit scene: Kraglin is playing with Yondu’s arrow and accidentally hits Drax.
Post credit scene: Stakar decides to get the ‘band’ back together.
Post credit scene: Ayesha is creating a creature in a weird golden cacoon that will be capable of destroying the Guardians. She decides to call her creation “Adam” (most important one).
Post credit scene: Peter walks into teenage Groot’s room and acts like a total dad.
Post credit scene: the Watchers walk away from their informant (Stan Lee).
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Most important things to take away: Peter really wants to be a full blown Avenger and to have any sort of relationship with Tony, who is his idol, but Tony pretty much ignores him and tells him to stick to small crime stuff. Peter gets involved with Toomes and Tony gets upset with him and takes back the suit he made him. Peter still goes after Toomes and defeats him in his homemade suit. Tony realizes he needs to be a part of Peter’s life more and offers him a position as a full Avenger but Peter turns it down in favor of staying a neighborhood Spider-Man. Pepper and Tony get engaged.
This takes place right after Civil War. Ignore when it says that it’s 2020. It’s not. They’re wrong.
Right after the Battle of New York, Adrian Toomes runs a salvage company and his crew is working on cleaning up the city. The cleanup is taken over by the Department of Damage Control (DODC), which Tony Stark helped found with the government. Toomes is angry that they’re out of business now and he steals of truck of alien tech. He and his men use that tech to make weapons that they sell on the black market. They do that for years. That takes us to 2016. We see Peter’s point of view of the events in Civil War. After they get back from Germany, Tony drops him back off at his apartment and says that Peter isn’t ready to be a full blown Avenger yet, so Peter has to go back to school like nothing has changed. He keeps giving Tony and Happy updates on his adventures around Queens but is pretty much ignored by the both of them. His best friend Ned discovers his identity.
Peter discovers that some guys in Queens are using alien tech to make illegal weapons. Peter chases after one of Toomes’s guys making a sale but Toomes swoops in with his Vulture wings and drops Peter in a lake. Tony remote-pilots a suit and tells him to not get involved with these criminal. Toomes’s guy left behind a small piece of alien tech which Peter pockets, and he and Ned try and figure out what the power core can do. Peter is tracking the guy, and he’s headed to Maryland – close to where Peter is headed with his decathlon team. He abandons the team, disables the tracker Tony put in his suit, and stops Toomes from hijacking a DODC truck. Peter gets trapped inside the truck and is consequently trapped in a DODC warehouse until he can escape, which causes him to miss the decathlon tournament. The alien tech core is still in Ned’s backpack and it goes off while the team is inside the Washington Monument. Peter rescues the team, including his crush Liz, as Spider-Man. When he returns to New York, he follows Toomes onto the Staten Island Ferry where he’s meeting with Mac Gargan to make a sale. Toomes escapes, Gargan is captured, and Iron Man has to come in and save the day. Mad that Peter disobeyed him, Tony takes away the suit he made Peter and says that they’re done.
Peter tried to return to being a regular high schooler and asks Liz to homecoming. When he goes to pick her up for a date, he realizes that Toomes is her dad. On the ride to the school, Toomes is able to deduce that Peter is Spider-Man. He threatens him and says that if he interferes with his plans, he’ll retaliate. Peter tries to get himself to go into the dance but he realizes that Toomes is going to try and hijack Tony’s plane that is moving all of his stuff out of Avengers tower, which he just sold. He puts on his old homemade suit and follows Toomes to a warehouse. Toomes drops the warehouse on him but Peter is able to lift the building off himself and get onto the plane, causing it to crash on the beach by Coney Island. He defeats Toomes and leaves him tied up near the recovered cargo for the authorities and Happy to find. Liz moves away after her dad is arrested, and Tony admits he was wrong and that he should’ve been more involved in Peter’s life. He promises to be more involved and offers Peter a full time position as an Avenger but Peter declines, thinking it’s a test. It wasn’t a test, and Tony proposes to Pepper in place of the “big announcement” that they told the room full of reporters they had. Tony gives Peter his high tech suit back and Aunt May walks in on Peter in it, figuring out his secret identity.
Post credit scene: Toomes encounters Gargan, the Scorpion, in prison who asks Toomes to confirm the rumor that he knows who Spider-Man is. Toomes refuses to reveal his identity.
Post credit scene: Captain America films another PSA about how patience isn’t always worth it, effectively breaking the fourth wall.
Thor: Ragnarok
Most important things to take away: Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, is destroyed. Loki is alive and has been pretending to be Odin for, like, four years. Odin dies, releasing Thor’s bloodthirsty sister Hela, who tries to take over Asgard. Thor and the others destroy Asgard to defeat her. Loki and Thor get stranded on the planet Sakaar. The Hulk has been the Hulk for two straight years, transforms back into Bruce, and then back into the Hulk by the end of the movie. Valkyrie joins the gang. Thor become king and realizes he has lightning powers. The Asgardians are heading to Earth when they’re stopped by Thanos’s ship.
Thor has been spending the past two years (after Ultron) searching the universe for the Infinity Stones. He hasn’t found any and is currently captured by Surtur, who wants to unleash Ragnarok (aka Armageddon) on Asgard like the prophecy foretold. To start Ragnarok, Surtur has to drop his crown into the eternal flame that is in Asgard’s vaults. He reveals to Thor that Odin is no longer on Asgard. Thor escapes and returns to Asgard to find Loki masquerading as Odin. He forces Loki to take him to where he sent Odin, which was a retirement home on Earth that is now demolished. Dr. Strange helps them find Odin in Norway. Odin reveals that he is dying and that his powers have been the only thing keeping his bloodthirsty, war-hungry firstborn daughter Hela trapped in prison. When he dies, she will be released. Then he dies, and she is released. She declares herself Queen now that Odin is dead, catches and destroys Mjolnir when Thor throws it at her, and when Loki tried to get the Bifrost to transport them back to Asgard, she clings to them and kicks them out into space on the ride back. Hela arrives in Asgard, kills everyone who opposes her and refuses to submit to her, and resurrects her giant pet wolf and raises a zombie army. When she tries to open the Bifrost to go conquer some more realms, she finds that the sword that opens the Bifrost has been stolen (by Heimdall, who is hiding out in the mountains with Asgardian refugees).
Thor and Loki have both crash landed on Sakaar, which is basically a trash planet since it’s surrounded by wormholes. Because time and space are wonky, Loki arrives weeks before Thor even though he was kicked off the Bifrost only seconds before Thor. In that time, Loki has gained the Grandmaster’s (the leader of Sakaar) favor. Thor on the other hand is found by Scrapper 142 (who is later revealed to be a Valkyrie, a member of the all-woman group of warriors on Asgard who are supposedly all dead) and is brought to the Grandmaster to fight in his Tournament of Champions. If Thor can defeat the Grandmaster’s champion, he will get his freedom. While waiting to fight, Thor makes friends with fellow prisoners Korg and Miek. Inside the collusieum, Thor waits to find out who his opponent is and it turns out to be the Hulk. Thor doesn’t want to fight him but he can’t make contact with Bruce inside of the Hulk so they battle. Thor discovers he has lightning powers and the Grandmaster ends the fight prematurely to prevent him from winning. Thor wakes up in a room with the Hulk and triedsto convince him and Valkyrie to help him escape to no avail. He manages to escape and tries to make it to the Quinjet which brought the Hulk to Sakaar, but the Hulk chases after him and destroys the Quinjet’s engines. Inside the Quinjet, Hulk sees a video of Natasha which prompts him to transform back into Bruce Banner for the first time in 2 years. Bruce mentions that this is the first time the Hulk has been in control for that long and he’s scared that if he turns into the Hulk again, he may not be able to turn back.
The Grandmaster thinks that Thor kidnapped the Hulk since no one can find the Hulk and he sends Loki and Valkyrie to find him. Loki and Valkyrie end up fighting, and Valkyrie wins and takes Loki captive. She finds Thor and Bruce and says that she’s tired of running from her past and wants to join the team and save Asgard. She offers Loki up as a peace offering, and Loki doesn’t want to be left behind now that he’s fallen out of favor with the Grandmaster so he helps them steal one of the Grandmaster’s ships. Loki tries to betray Thor but Thor saw that coming and was ready for it. Thor frees Korg and Miek and leaves Loki behind. Eventually, Korg and Miek and the revolution they started arrive at the hangar and Loki convinces them to team up with him. Both groups head to Asgard.
Hela’s forces are attacking Heimdall and the refugees but Thor and the gang draw her attention away from them. Thor fights her in the palace while Heimdall and the others try and help the refugees to the Bifrost. The zombie army and the giant wolf try and stop them. Hulk comes back and fights the wolf while Loki and the Sakaarian revolutionaries show up in a giant ship. The refugees start to get on the ship and Thor loses an eye in his fight with Hela. He uses his new lighting powers and gets away from Hela to join the fight on the bridge. Realizing that Hela is only getting stronger the longer she stays on Asgard, Thor and the gang realize they’ll have to destroy Asgard to destroy her. Thor gives Surtur’s crown to Loki to drop in the eternal flame to summon Surtur to start Ragnarok. While running through the vault to get to the flame, Loki can’t help but get distracted by the Tesseract. Surtur comes in and destroys Asgard and Hela, and the Asgardians get away. Thor is the new king of Asgard and proclaims that they’re going to head to Earth for refuge.
Post credit scene: Thanos’s ship shows up in front of the Asgardian ship before the Asgardians can make it to Earth. This happens mere minutes before the beginning of Infinity War.
Post credit scene: The Grandmaster, when cornered by Sakaarian citizens, congratulates them on the revolution and calls it a draw.
Black Panther
Most important things to take away: T’Challa is now king of Wakanda in addition to being the Black Panther. Shuri is extremely smart. Erik is revealed to be T’Challa’s cousin and he challenges and defeats T’Challa for the throne. M’Baku and the Jabari tribe team up with T’Challa and help him win back the throne. T’Challa decides that Wakanda is going to come out of hiding and share its knowledge and resources with the world.
A meteorite containing vibranium crashes into Wakanda and the five tribes battle over it. One warrior ingests an herb which turns him into the first Black Panther. All the tribes but the Jabari tribe join together to form the nation of Wakanda. The Jabari live in isolation in the mountains. Wakanda isolates itself to protect the Vibranium and to prevent more fighting, they pretend to be a third world country. In 1992, T’Chaka (the current king) visits his brother N’Jobu is Oakland, California. His spy, Zuri, has been undercover as N’Jobu’s friend and discovered that N’Jobu was working with Ulysses Klaue to steal vibranium. N’Jobu tries to attack Zuri and T’Chaka kills N’Jobu to protect him. The Wakandans leave, leaving N’Jobu’s son behind.  In modern times, T’Challa arrives home for his coronation. Part of the coronation is ritual combat, where T’Challa is stripped of his Black Panther powers and anyone can challenge him for the crown. The challenge ends when one of the fighters either yields or dies. M’Baku of the Jabari challenge him but T’Challa wins.
Klaue is working with Erik Stevens to steal a Wakandan artifact from a museum in London. Klaue is going to sell that Vibranium to a seller in South Korea. T’Challa, Nakia (his maybe girlfriend) and Okoye (the general of his kingsguard) go to capture him. W’Kabi, Okoye’s lover and T’Challa’s friend tells them to bring Klaue back alive because he has to pay for all the pain he’s caused them. Klaue was going to sell the Vibranium to the Everett Ross and the CIA, but a fight breaks out and Klaue is captured by T’Challa who agrees to let the CIA take him in. Erik and the rest of Klaue’s gang break him out of CIA custody and Ross is gravely injured protecting Nakia. When trying to pursue them, T’Challa notices that Erik is wearing a Wakandan ring on a chain around his neck. Only two of those rings existed – his father owned one and his uncle owned the other. The gang retreats to Wakanda with Ross, where Shuri heals him. W’Kabi is extremely upset T’Challa let Klaue get away. They talk with Ross once he wakes up and he explains that Stevens was a US black ops solider. T’Challa confronts Zuri about why Erik had the other ring and Zuri reveals that Erik is actually T’Challa’s cousin and that T’Chaka and Zuri had covered up (from the Wakandans) what happened with N’Jobu, and they had left Erik behind to maintain the lie.
Erik shows up at the Wakandan border with Klaue’s body as a peace offering. He is taken before T’Challa, the royal family, and the council of elders and reveals that he is N’Jadaka, son of N’Jobu. He uses the ring to prove his identity. As a member of the royal family, he has the right to challenge T’Challa for the throne. Since it is past the coronation, T’Challa doesn’t have to accept the challenge but he does anyways. Erik kills Zuri when he tries to intervene during the ritual combat, and he defeats T’Challa and throws him off the waterfall, supposedly killing him (that’s new). Erik is given a heart shaped herb to become the next Black Panther and orders the rest of the herbs to be burned. Nakia steals one and she, the royal family, and Ross escape and run to the Jabari tribe for help. They offer the herb to M’Baku who then reveals that his tribe found T’Challa’s body and that he was barely alive. They give T’Challa the herb and he wakes up and is healed. He goes to challenge Erik is who is sending out planes with vibranium weapons to start revolutions all over the world. Shuri and Ross remote pilot a plane to shoot down the planes and T’Challa, Nakia, the Dora Milaje, and Shuri fight against Erik, W’Kabi, and their army. The Jabari join the fight and help defeat W’Kabi and the army while T’Challa fights Erik. T’Challa stabs Erik and offers to help heal him but Erik refuses to be incarcerated and would rather die a free man so he refuses and dies. T’Challa and Shuri establish outreach centers and decide to start sharing Wakanda’s secret with the rest of the world.
Post credit scene: T’Challa goes before the UN to bring Wakanda into the world’s eye and share its knowledge and resources.
Post credit scene: Shuri visits a supposedly healed Bucky Barnes in Wakanda, saying he has much to learn.
Avengers: Infinity War
Most important things to take away: Thanos collects all six infinity stones and the following heroes are either killed or are dusted during the Snap and trapped in the Soul Stone: Sam, Bucky, Mantis, Drax, Peter Parker, Peter Quill, T’Challa, Shuri, Groot, Wanda, Hope, Janet, Hank, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Dr. Strange, Loki, Vision, Gamora. Nebula and Tony Stark are stranded on Titan. Nick Fury pages Captain Marvel for help before he dies.
Thanos has already gotten the Power Stone from Xandar when he shows up on the ship of the Asgardian refugees. He slays half of the Asgardians and the other half are nowhere to be seen. He threatens Thor to prompt Loki to give him the Tesseract, which Loki had stolen from the vault before they destroyed Asgard. Thanos crushes the tesseract to get the Space Stone out of it. Loki tries to attack him, as does the Hulk, but Thanos overpowers the Hulk and kills Loki. Heimdall send the Hulk to Earth and Thanos and his adopted children (Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, and Corvus Glaive) disappear using the Space Stone as the Power Stone causes the space ship to explode. Hulk crashes into the New York Sanctum, transforming back into Bruce, and Wong and Strange go collect Tony. Bruce explains Thanos’s plan to collect all of the stones and Strange and Tony figure out that they have two stones on Earth (Vision has the Mind Stone, Strange has the Time Stone). Before they can figure out a plan of action or use the cell phone Steve sent Tony, Maw and Obsidian arrive to get the Time Stone. Obsidian is banished through a portal by Wong and Maw captures Strange. In trying to save Strange, Peter and Tony sneak aboard Maw’s space ship as it flies off. Bruce uses the cell phone to contact Steve and warn him to look out for Vision.
Vision and Wanda are spending time in Edinburgh when they’re attacked by Midnight and Glaive, but Steve and the rogue Avengers come to their rescue. They return to the Compound where they meet up with Rhodey and Bruce. Vision offers to sacrifice himself so that Wanda can just destroy the Mind Stone, thus preventing Thanos from being able to get all six, but Steve refuses to let him do so. Bruce rationalizes that they might be able to remove the stone without killing Vision. They go to Wakanda to reunite with Bucky and to get Shuri’s help removing the stone. While they’re trying to remove the stone, Midnight, Glaive, and Obsidian show up with an army. The Avengers fight alongside T’Challa and the Wakandan warriors while Shuri tries to remove the stone.
The Guardians of the Galaxy find Thor floating in space. They rescue him and he warns them about Thanos’s plan. He, Rocket, and Groot go to Nidavellir to get a new weapon. There, Thor gets a battle-axe called Stormbreaker that can kill Thanos and also summon the Bifrost. Peter, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis go to Knowhere to get the Reality Stone but Thanos has beaten them to it and kidnaps Gamora since Gamora is the only person who knows where the Soul Stone is. He has captured Nebula and tortures her in front of Gamora until she tells him where the stone is. He takes her to Vormir with him and sacrifices her to obtain the Soul Stone. The other Guardians show up on Titan, where Tony, Peter, and Strange have crashed Maw’s ship after killing him, and although there’s initial confusion, they realize they’re on the same team in wanting to defeat Thanos. Strange uses the Time Stone to look into the future and out of the millions of possible futures, he only sees them winning in one. Thanos was supposed to rendezvous with Maw on Titan, so they come up with a plan to remove the gauntlet from him when he arrives. Thanos shows up and they almost get the gauntlet off, but he breaks free and there’s an all-out fight. Thanos is about to kill Tony but Strange sacrifices the Time Stone in exchange for his life (he tells Tony it was “the only way”). Thanos now has five stones and disappears to go to Earth for the last stone.
Thor shows up with his new weapon and badass lightning powers to help with the battle in Wakanda. Wanda is drawn away from protecting Vision and Vision is stolen out of Shuri’s lab. Thanos’s children are all killed and Thanos shows up and tries to get the stone from Vision. As the Avengers try and fail to subdue Thanos, Wanda and Vision realizes that there is no other option and Wanda destroys the Mind Stone, effectively killing Vision. Thanos uses the Time Stone to undo all that, and he then plucks the stone from Vision’s head and kills him again. Thor comes out of nowhere and buries the axe in Thanos’s chest but Thanos is still able to Snap and kill off half the universe. Half of the heroes are turned to dust and sent to the Soul Stone: Sam, Bucky, Mantis, Drax, Peter Parker, Peter Quill, T’Challa, Shuri, Groot, Wanda, Hope, Janet, Hank, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Dr. Strange. Nebula and Tony Stark are stranded on Titan.
Post credit scene: Hill and Fury disappear as a result of the Snap, but not before Fury can use his pager to send an alert to Captain Marvel.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Most important things to take away: Janet is rescued from the Quantum Realm. Hope has her own suit and is now The Wasp and she’s kind of better at the job than Scott is. Scott makes up with Hope and Hank. During the Snap, Hank, Hope, and Janet all disappear and leave Scott stranded in the quantum realm.
After Civil War, instead of going on the run as fugitives, Scott and Clint accepted deals of house arrest to be able to be with their families. Scott begins to realize he has become quantumly entangled with Janet when he went into the Quantum Realm. Hank and Hope are still mad at him for stealing the Ant-Man suit and running off to Germany, thus making them accessories and making them fugitives of the law. Scott calls Hank to apologize and he also mentions the quantum entanglement. Scott is within days of being finished with his house arrest when he is kidnapped by Hank and Hope. They’re trying to make a quantum tunnel and now that Scott has had contact with Janet, they need him. When trying to get a part for their machine (with Hope acting as the Wasp in her own suit), they’re attacked by Ghost (Ava Starr) whose physical form is in an unstable molecular state. Foster, one of Hank’s former partners, has been helping her try and find a cure using Janet’s quantum energy. They kidnap Scott, Hank, and Hope to ask for help. Believing this will kill Janet, Hank refuses and the three escape. The three of them open the tunnel and make contact with Janet who gives them her exact coordinates. Hope and Hank are arrested as Scott rushes home to avoid being caught out of the house, and Ava is able to come in and steal the shrunken lab (they’ve been shrinking the lab to transport it).
Scott helps Scott and Hope escape FBI custody and they find the lab. Scott and Hope distract Ava while Hank enters the Quantum realm to find Janet. Hank is able to find her and bring her back, and Janet is able to help temporarily stabilize Ava. She has an idea on how to permanently cure her by harvesting quantum particles. Scott goes home and is let off of house arrest and Ava and Foster go into hiding.
Post credit scene: Hank, Hope, and Janet are watching as a shrunken down Scott collects particles in the Quantum Realm when the Snap happens. The three of them are victims of the Snap and Scott is stuck in the Quantum Realm.
Post credit scene: One of the giant ants is playing with the drum set in Scott’s house while an Emergency Alert can be heard on the TV.
Captain Marvel
Most important things to take away: Carol was an Air Force pilot who absorbed the power of the Tesseract and has Kree blood in her veins which makes her insanely powerful. She’s badass, and she’s currently in space trying to help the Skrulls find a place to live (as far as we know). Goose is a super special cat who ate the Tesseract, and Carol gave Fury a specialized pager to contact her in the case of an emergency.
Since this movie only came out three weeks ago, I’m not going to give a summary. Go see it if you want to know what happens. I’m only including what the most important things are and what the post credit scenes were.
Post credit scene: A scene from Avengers: Endgame. Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Rhodey and watching the information come in about the aftermath of the Snap around the world at the Compound when they notice that Fury’s pager that had been sending a message to Captain Marvel has shut off. While they’re gathered around it, Carol sneaks up behind them and upon them turning around she demands to know where Fury is.
Post credit scene: In Fury’s office, Goose barfs up the Tesseract on Fury’s desk.
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Odin’s a Bad Father
I . . . I had to defend ODIN as a father to someone because I MENTIONED him giving Loki a chance as an infant in a FrostMaster fanfiction . . . I’m gonna have a tangent.
Okay, we get it, yes, thank you, Odin was a TERRIBLE dad. Back up for a second and let’s talk about it, alright? There’s a lot more here then just ‘Odin’s a bad dad because our favorite character was mistreated’, WAY more. And being that I’m an outspoken little prick, I want to talk about it.
1. Odin Lied to Loki: Well . . . yes and no, considering the political climate when Odin found Loki (i.e. the massive Jotunhiem/Asgard conflict that raged for years AND that Odin’s own father died during), he probably thought it best on both sides that he keep Loki’s origin and identity a secret. Asgardians HATED Jotuns/Frost Giants and they weren’t quiet about that hate so while it was risky to allow Loki to retain an Asgardian disguise, it would have been incredibly more so if he brought a tiny Jotun prince back with him (and think about how Asgardians would have handled the heir-apparent to their enemies being within their reach? We already know that not all Asgardians are perfect angels sprinkled in honor and righteousness). Also, I don’t remember Odin ever saying he hated Jotuns or instructing Loki and Thor to do so, he told them of the history of the conflict and that he won the war and they were at peace. Thor was the one stirring up trouble, not Odin so . . . 
2. Odin mistreated Loki: How? Odin could have kept Loki as his prisoner or as a trophy of war, he could have used him as a bargaining chip, he could have kept him in a dungeon for his entire life, he could have done a million atrocities but what did he do instead? He adopted Loki, made him a prince of Asgard, and kept his true identity a secret to keep him safe. Is lying to your kid harmful? Yeah, even the myths of SANTA CLAUS and the EASTER BUNNY is considered a bad thing to some people. And I’m not sure how detrimental being told ‘you’re adopted’ is to someone who was adopted as an infant/a child considering I am not a child who was adopted nor am I a psychologist nor do I have ANY knowledge of that, but I do think Odin thought he was doing what was best at the time without knowing how everything would play out, which is kind of the gamble parents make with some things.
3. Odin said Loki should have died as an infant: Uh, yeah? Loki was abandoned to die by his own father, if Odin (or anyone else who would have taken pity on him) hadn’t been there, Loki would have died. As an infant. Perhaps the connotation feels different when said different ways but he isn’t wrong, harsh wording aside. I’m not sure what else i should say on that point given that Odin is telling a hard truth and nothing more. I do, however, think what he meant when he said that was something like ‘I did all of this for you and this is how you repay me?’, which is more of an incredulous response than a ‘I wish I’d left you to die’ type of thing. Odin is shocked by what Loki has done, of his children (all three) Loki was not the one he thought he’d have trouble with, Loki was quieter and better mannered than Thor (I cannot speak for Hela since we don’t get much of how she was in her off-time in Ragnarok), he was a studious person while Thor (and Hela) was combative and boisterous, so shock of shocks for Odin to find his youngest son causing all the problems while his headstrong elder son is the one joining a superhero group and saving Midgard, more than once.
4. Odin put Loki in prison: Yeah, instead of banishing him or executing him, remember all the shit Loki did? Think he got off pretty easy just being put in a cell, and if you look at the cell he was in it was a lot better furnished than the others and he didn’t have to share it with other criminals and he could just sit and read (which he used to do anyway), so it wasn’t so much a punishment as I think Odin wanted it to be and even his one point of separating Loki and Frigga didn’t work since she went behind his back to visit her baby boy. Anyone remember how Odin banished Thor to a realm Thor had never been to with no friends or anyone he knew, no money, nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat and without his one weapon? All he did was pick fights with another realm (understatement of course), Loki broke a whole lot more and he got a timeout. Maybe I’m splitting hairs or I’m missing something or the symbolism of the punishments are lost on me but . . . I dunno, if Thor was everyone’s favorite you’d think he’d get away with being a petulant child more. Also, Odin didn’t want Loki on Earth where he had no control over how Loki was treated, they could have and probably would have done really not good things to him whereas in Asgard, Odin has all the cards.
5. A point I would like to make because no one else seems to say it: No one gonna mention Frigga so I have to be the bad guy, huh? Okay, fine, Frigga lied to Loki and ‘mistreated’ Loki as much as Odin. Oh, sure she did it in a softer fashion, but a lie is still a lie, you can’t just sit back and pretend she didn’t have a hand in all this! She taught him magic, she knew how to change his appearance (don’t tell me she didn’t because no) and she could have told him but she didn’t. I love Frigga, I really do, between the two losing Frigga was way more heartbreaking than losing Odin a million times would have been, but stop demonizing Odin because he’s the more obvious target. 
6. Last point I want to make because I can: Odin loved Loki. Had a hard time showing it maybe, said or did things that might not have conveyed that, fucked up a few times with his decisions, but he loved him. He said as much and Loki eventually began to accept that love too (or did y’all just gloss over that Loki put Odin in a Home on Midgard in Ragnarok instead of just killing him as everyone suspected he did at the end of Dark World?). Clearly their relationship is distant and strained, there’s loads of baggage and things left unsaid and scar tissue, but there is something there, a quiet, tentative something but we can’t pretend it isn’t there.
Did I talk enough? Can I go now? I mean, Jesus, Odin is my least favorite character too but come on! Squealing at me that ‘nuh-uh, he was bad because my favorite character wasn’t treated like a perfect angel’ is a pathetic, childish argument. Loki is not perfect, yes he has suffered a great deal (get away from me Russo brothers) and yes he has mudddled through it mostly alone, but HE ISN’T PERFECT and neither is Frigga, or Thor, or Odin! I can’t believe that I’m defending Odin of all people on TUMBLR where Loki is pretty much a patron deity and everyone’s husband, but I’m miffed! Miffed that everyone else’s redemption arc counted except Odin’s, everyone else gets to fuck up over and over and be better for it and be a hero but Odin is still shit to everyone. And yeah, you’re allowed to hate him, he’s a fictional character set up as a force to rebel against in the eyes of his children, they all eventually try to push against his authority and control as king and father, but can’t we all agree that a flawed character isn’t a villain by default?
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jeongincore · 6 years
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Shit i really liked and kinda didn’t like about Ragnarok
I recently saw ragnarok and became so rejuvenated that i brought my marvel blog back but i wanted to seriously talk about like things that i liked and really didn’t just to get shit out there. 
Things i really liked (like so much that i am obsessed)
-Thor’s new hair cut/outfit, i think its actually super suitable. Gives that sort of cool ass warrior refugee look. Plus, Chris Hemsworth is beautiful. 
-The humor, oh god it was hilarious, i’ve never laughed so genuinely and so much in my life and it made the movie so charming and relatable. It was also such a departure from The Dark World and the first Thor, which dealt with so much emotional baggage for not only just Thor, but for Loki, who basically suffered throughout both movies. 
-Hulk being an actual toddler/Bruce Banner being so fucked up and anxious because WHEN DID HE GET ON AN ALIEN PLANET. 
-”You’ve been on other planets before i assume” “Yeah, one!” “well now it’s two” 
-Valkyrie. Her entire everything gave me so much to love and adore. Tessa Thompson has stole my heart yet again. 
-TAIKA WAITITI AS KORG WAS ACTUALLY SO FUNNY
-The little tiny glimpses of Loki and Thor’s childhood, aka the snake story, get help. It really showed how much time Loki and Thor had spent together, which i assume is a lot because age in Asgardian years work differently probably? Like imagine that, Loki and Thor spending time together and being inseparable for 100 years. It showed that they were always close despite loki feeling different or alienated, which explains why its so hard for Loki to just leave thor for dead. 
-”You’ll always be the god of mischief, but you can be so much more” See that shit destroyed me. Thor acknowledges that Loki is not like him. He’s a trickster, manipulative, and selfish. But he also acknowledges that Loki is so much more than his tricks and lies, which shows so much character growth in Thor, who sees loki as more than just an asgardian prince that was raised the exact same way opposite of Thor, but as his own fucking person.
-Thor actually not being stupid and falling for Loki’s tricks, aka his magic projections of himself/his petty, stupid betrayals. Tom mentioned that Thor was evolving and that Loki was finally starting to realize that he’s the only one not growing. Scenes like the betrayal scene and the snake scene, although meant to be hilarious, point out that Thor isn’t that idiot that just was too trusting of his brother, he sees through Loki’s tricks, he’s seen them for years, and it really shows that Loki’s getting predictable with his fake deaths and betrayals, which might hint at him changing? 
-IT FIXED THE INCONSISTENCIES. The main reason i didn’t like Dark world, though i did see it as amazing for its ability to mix the emotional darkness between Loki and Thor along with the humor throughout the movie, was because it pointed Loki out to be the type of cold blooded monster that would murder his own father. I mean I’m no Loki apologist, i love the kid but he’s killed, he’s manipulated, he’s hurt everyone around him, but i doubt he could ever kill Odin, no matter how much of a shitty father he is. Also low-key hated the whole “Loki if you betray me, ill kill you” Thor bullshit. We all know thor wouldn’t be able to do that, he still hopes Loki is his brother. 
-AGAIN, THE SNAKE SCENE WAS SO FUNNY. 
-”I thought the world of you Loki.” Ouch. 
-Hulk and Val’s bromance. 
-The entire Valkyrie v. Hela scene. It was so beautiful and ethereal i actually nutted. 
-LOKI DIDN’T NEED TO COME BACK. HE DIDN’T NEED TO GO BACK TO THE SHIP WITH THOR. HE DIDN’T NEED TO GO BACK TO ASGARD. HE COULD HAVE NOT. BUT HE DID. BECAUSE SOMEWHERE IN THERE UNDER THE SELFISHNESS MAYBE HE CARES.
-Loki’s face when odin called him his son. 
-Loki’s face when Hela told him to kneel. 
-Loki refusing to let Thor go back to Asgard. “Are you serious? you can’t be thinking of going back there, that’s madness!” is that? Loki cARING? 
-Loki’s character development. 
-thor in a jean jacket and hoodie in new york. 
-Thor spilling beer everywhere. 
-Loki letting Thor take the orgy ship. 
-Jeff Goldblum. Thats it. 
-LOKIS FACE WITH THOR AND ODIN ON THE ROOF OF THE CASTLE I SCREmed AFTER ALL LOKI DID HE WAS STILL PUT THERE AS A PRINCE OF ASGARD BYE.  
-”Hello father” “OH SHIT” 
-The entire play. Loki’s rule as a benevolent god/king in which, before everyone feared him for a dictatorship militaristic form of ruling he could have, but in reality he just like ate grapes and watched plays. 
-Thor wanting to be a Valkyrie. The crowned prince of asgard, wanting to be an elite team of woman warriors. 
-VAL IS GAY AND IN TESSA THOMPSONS WORDS, HAD A GIRLFRIEND THAT SACRIFICED HERSELF TO SAVE HER. 
-Val kicking Loki’s ass. 
-THE RETURN OF THE DOUBLE BLADES OUT OF NOWHERE. 
-Loki in a suit. 
-HEIMDALL I LOVEJWIFHTGE.
-”I thought you didn’t want to talk about it” “heres the thing” 
-”Hello!” “Hi” *blasts everyone in room with giant laser guns* 
-”What are you? Thor, god of hammers?” 
-IMMIGRANT SONG. 
-”i swear i left him right here” “where? on the street? Or in that nursing home thats being torn down?” 
“I’m not a witch” “Why do you dress like one then?” 
-Loki rolling his eyes when thor is approached by fans. 
-Loki calling stephen strange a shitty sorcerer and going at him with stabby hands. 
-Confirmation of loki’s love of stabbing. 
-Confirmation that Loki is a snake, and also Thor’s favorite snake.
-Loki reciting Thor’s prayer to odin with him mY SON. 
-The avengers parallel. “He’s my brother!” “adopted.” 
-”mbLERG ITS ME” 
-”AGH LOKI!” 
-’DIRECT ME TO WHO’S ASS I HAVE TO KICK” 
-”Where? the devil’s anus?” 
-Bruce fighting evil with fireworks. Good job sweetie. 
-Bruce flopping like a fish on the bifrost. 
-Thor and his sparkles. 
-Lightning eyes. 
-Odin finALLY DYING. THANK GOD. 
-*Loki on a death trip* ‘this is a terrible idea” 
-Loki somehow reciting a spell to bring surtur back. what a weirdo. how did he know that. 
-LOKI COMING BACK. 
-im here. 
-Loki
-Brodinson. 
-Thor and Bruce’s bromance. 
-Jane not being there. I mean it makes sense she dumped him, he left her for two years chasing down infinity stones and constantly almost dying while she had no way of contacting him because Thor’s ass didn’t know how to use fucking email. Also i just really honestly never liked her character to begin with, i mean sure i love that Jane is a strong, smart woman but tbh i just wanted to Fast forward every time she was on screen. 
-The cute death wolf. 
-”THATS HOW IT FEELS!” “sorry i just really like the sport” 
-THOR ACTUALLY BEING PORTRAYED AS LESS OF A JERK WITH CACTUSES SHOVED UP HIS RECTUM AND MORE LIKE THE SWEET, CHARMING, CHARISMATIC AND SLIGHTLY ARROGANT BUT MEANS WELL MAN HE IS. 
-Val being there as a cool as member of the team rather than just the love interest of Thor. Protect her at all cost even though she probs doesn’t even need it. 
-”I’VE BEEN FALLING FOR THIRTY MINUTES” 
-Stan Lee’s cameo as the dude who cut Thor’s hair. Thank you for doing all of us a giant favor. Please do the same to Loki. 
-loki beating someone up with his horn hat. 
-Loki twirling his horn hat. 
-Loki being such a self serving, extra asshole that he came from the fucking fog screaming “YOUR SAVIOR HAS ARRIVED” 
-Bruce asking where tony was and then complaining about his tight crotch pants. 
-LOKI’S COSTUME CHANGE GOD I HATED THE OLD ONES BLESS UP. 
-Loki’s costume being mainly blue, black, and gold :-)))))))
-Loki being 100% done with everything that happens. 
-Val knocking Loki out when he makes her relive her trauma why do people ship this you go honey that was a dick move
-Thor throwing various things at Loki to make sure he’s not a mirage. 
-he’s a friend from work, something a kid from make a wish that met chris suggested, being in the film and all of the trailers. I hope that made that kid smile. 
-”In return, i wish to be granted safe passage through the anus” 
-LOKI FINALLY ACCEPTING THAT HE DIDN’T WANT THE THRONE WITHOUT A FAMILY. THAT HE’D RATHER WATCH HIS BROTHER TAKE IT AND STILL HAVE A BROTHER THAN HAVE A THRONE WITH NO ONE TO SHARE IT WITH. 
-LOKI SHOWING UP ON SCREEN DURING THOR’S CORONATION. 
-Loki being genuinely worried about and double checking if Thor really wants to bring him back to earth after what he did kill me honestly that would probably hurt less. 
-Loki’s face when thor said that going their separate ways was what Loki always wanted bc in reality that is the opposite go back. 
-Hela not being Loki’s daughter because 1) it proves that ya’ll should stop hoping that a comic soap opera about rich petty alien boys with daddy issues would be anything like classic norse mythology, and 2) when the fuck and how the fuck and why the fuck 
-Loki suggesting that he and Thor both rule over Sakaar together lmao ouch. 
-Loki just being really cute and quirky. 
-Thor being so fucking amazed by Val all the time. 
-”You’re late.” 
-”I saw you coming” “course you did.” 
-THE GUNS NAMED DES AND TROY I WANTED TO FUCKING DIE. 
What i didn’t like much; 
-Hela. I loved her character, but honestly here is where i think there might’ve been some failure despite how much i loved that movie. She seemed so out of place as a villain, and i feel like the whole related shit tried to mimic Guardians vol. 2, but honestly the fact that Thor didn’t care much about her made her feel so out of place. But i did like some parts, like how she was so disappointed about not being remembered or what her existence and disappointment did to how loki was raised. 
-Dr. Strange? Ok that was weird. It makes sense and it was funny to see him but to be honest i wasn’t into it. 
-tHE SCENE WITH VAL AND A GIRL BEING CUT. WHYWHYWHY
-tbh was not fond of frost master, don’t hate me. 
-Loki possibly taking the tesseract????? And hinting that he might turn evil again??? don’t do this to me marvel. 
-loki possibly being turned into the quirky sidekick of his brother. Loki is Thor’s equal, not his annoying little brother/wacky sidekick. I didn’t get that vibe often, but sometimes i did honestly. 
-RIP thor’s hammer. 
-ODIN BEING A PIECE OF SHIT YET AGAIN. 
-Hela’s entrance. it was so quick and like out of place i was like what wait, Loki and thor didn’t even have time to prepare or even mourn. 
-the comedy. It was its best and worst part of the movie. Sometimes it was tasteful. Other times it was too much. Thor and Loki didn’t even get to mourn for their dad who tbh was an asshole but still their dad before there was a annoying joke about kneeling. It took away from the story sometimes.
-the lack of hugging between thor and loki.
-The way they glossed over the warriors three’s death like they weren’t Thor’s closest friends and the only ones there for him when Odin tried to banish Thor to earth :-))))) I mean after all that shit he went through I’m pretty fucking sure it probably hasn’t caught up to him but ya bitch still pissed. 
-The way, Thor, who basically admitted that Loki actually meant the world to him and was the only family he had left, didn’t ask where he was after asgard exploded? Like tbh i get it, he trusts Loki, his brothers capable and strong and most of all really fucking smart, but i’d still be like :-) the fuck is Loki. I think this is a directing error though rather than like the characters fucking up but i was freaking out, i mean asgard was literally pebbles and everyone was out BUT my son. 
-No sif, i mean i get it Jaime Alexander was busy but like y'all could’ve explained smh. 
-Loki not getting a hair cut. When will his emo phase end. 
-Not getting that one flashback to 80′s asgard with mullets and emo loki. 
Overall it was pretty fucking cool, one of the best movies of the trilogy. I fell in love with the marvel cinematic universe all over again. But it wasn’t perfect. 
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maryxglz · 6 years
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Last weekend, Thor: Ragnarok opened to a huge domestic box office, and the general consensus is that the film finally gets Asgardians right, with director Taika Waititi giving the entire cast room to stretch their comedic chops. However, no two actor have the same chemistry as Hemsworth and Hiddleston. Their long-standing sibling dynamic is equally hilarious (“I’m not doing ‘Get Help’”) and heart-wrenching (“I am here”), but most importantly, it adds new depth to the typically lonely journey of a superhero protagonist.
The average American has at least one sibling, yet our entertainment landscape is littered with orphaned singletons, both children and adults. It’s not just superheroes that suffer from this affliction, either. From The Wizard of Oz to Harry Potter, genre protagonists rarely have both parents, let alone siblings or an extended family. The reasoning behind this is simple: it’s far easier to write a character with few attachments, as it streamlines their narrative for maximum plot momentum. But Thor: Ragnarok showcases how the drama inherent to family (bound to by blood and/or upbringing) can be leveraged uniquely for both humor and pain.
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The film side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has little in the way of family drama. Sure, Daddy Issues™ abound from Iron Man. and Star-Lord. to Black Widow, and the Wasp. Complex romantic entanglements drive Captain America and Bruce Banner. Ant-Man has a daughter, but divorce means he doesn’t have to find a babysitter before saving the world. Scarlet Witch had a brother, but Quicksilver died before their relationship could develop. These familial attachments may color how Marvel characters react to stimuli, but they’re mostly ancient history. Other than Thor and Loki, the only siblings in the MCU with any weight are Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan). That is a damn shame as Thor: Ragnarok proves.
First, there is Thor’s side of things. He’s a big golden retriever puppy inside the body of a god who loves CrossFit. All Thor wanted growing up was to fight side-by-side with Loki forever, two brothers kicking ass across the Nine Realms. This aspiration still blinds Thor to Loki’s baser nature, as Thor jovially brushes off the ramifications of Loki’s actions that others will not. This is especially evident at the end of Thor: Ragnarok when Loki shows concern about returning to Earth, but Thor is convinced everyone will forgive Loki as easily as he has. This doesn’t mean Thor is without flaws, because he is also kind of a dick. Anyone with an older, bigger brother recognizes how Thor antagonizes Loki. Thor wants Loki to love him, but only on the condition that Loki acknowledges Thor is better at everything. Even when he’s not.
Then there’s Loki. A classic case of “Youngest Child Syndrome,” he was never as big or strong as Thor and the Warriors Three (plus Sif). So he turned to his mother Frigga (Rene Russo), who taught him magic and coddled him, no doubt a contributing factor in Loki turning into a selfish prig. Loki wants to be loved, but not at the expense of his selfishness. His nature both pulls him to Thor for acceptance and pushes him away before Thor can hurt him again. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Thor: The Dark World. An uneven film, Thor and Loki teaming up with each other, even as their mutual distrust is ever-present just under the surface, is one of the film’s high points. Thor: Ragnarok builds off that narrative, using the familial momentum to have Loki finally grow up a bit, putting his life in avoidable danger to help the denizens of Asgard escape certain destruction.
At the end of the day, both brothers want the companionship and acceptance of the other, but their natures make this desire impossible.
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Of course, none of this would be possible without the VIP of this family: Odin (Anthony Hopkins). The worst dad in the Nine Realms, Odin kept secrets from his sons and pitted them against each other for his affection all their lives. When the boys’ schemes for their father’s love spilled over into violence or complications, Odin would simply fall into “Odin Sleep,” leaving his wife Frigga to fix the issue. And this is to say nothing of how Odin literally imprisoned his eldest child, Hela, away for eternity because he suddenly decided ambition was bad*. Why even adopt Loki if you were just going to treat him like garbage, Odin? ANSWER ME, OLD MAN.
The result of this broken family dynamic is some of the best character storytelling in the MCU. Loki isn’t a great villain because Hiddles looks good in a horned crown, but because audiences recognize themselves in his motivations. We might not agree with them, but we can at least see where Loki is coming from. Thor might be the hero, but he is humanized by his hubris. Audiences recognize and respond to this because family is a universal language whether you live in Midgard or Asgard. So why not dip into that well more often?
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While it’s unlikely Tony Stark will suddenly discover a long-lost sibling or Vision will have time to literally create a nuclear family for himself before Infinity War, Marvel seems ready to expand family drama beyond the Thor franchise. Based on the trailer and character poster taglines, Black Panther looks promising in the “my family is the cause of, and solution to, all my problems” department. T’Challa (Chadwick Bozeman) must deal with his mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and his sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright). Perhaps it’s telling that both Marvel heroes that deal extensively with family dysfunction come from monarchies, a system of government that is custom made for ongoing interpersonal drama. But even peons butt heads with their siblings and parents. As Marvel heads into the next chapter with Phase IV, maybe the time for COSMIC THREATS is over — after all, where do you go after Thanos? — and the time of Machiavellian schemes by loved ones is dawning. As Thor shows, drama doesn’t need to have galactic stakes to make for good entertainment.
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storytime-reviews · 6 years
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Thor Ragnarok Review
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There’s no doubt about it, Thor: Ragnarok is the best Thor movie to date. No contest. There was just always something lacking about the previous two films, as much as I enjoyed them, but this is not the case for the third instalment. 
Moreover, Ragnarok is comedic genius, but that is no surprise, given the direction of Taika Waititi, who directed and also wrote Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What We Do in the Shadows, both well received comedies. 
On top of that, the script and plot is simply miles ahead of its predecessors, and I enjoyed the film from start to finish. The energy of the cinema was vibrant, full of fans desperate to see the first screening available, and we laughed almost the whole way through. The score was also very fitting and simply lifted every scene to greater heights. 
Furthermore, not only was Ragnarok the best Thor film, I also believe it is one of the best Marvel movies so far. If the Thor films can dramatically increase for the better in such a short amount of time, I can’t wait to see what happens next. 
Without further ado, I’m going to linger on some of my favourite aspects of the film, wherein spoilers abound.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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There is so much to love about Thor: Ragnarok. To be honest, I don’t even know where to start, because I just want to rave about practically all of it. I must admit, although I had seen some great reviews from the critics, I was a little hesitant in my expectations simply because the previous films weren’t particularly impressive, although I did enjoy them. 
At the same time, I had high hopes because of director Taika Waititi, who is a comedic genius, and I was looking forward to his take on Thor. All I can say is, I was incredibly impressed and my expectations were vastly exceeded. If I were to speak on behalf of the entire cinema I was in, I’d say that they all enjoyed it just as much. We all laughed together at some great lines and scenes, and this occurred throughout the entire film, without the awkwardness of trying too hard. If you thought that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was pretty funny, Ragnarok was even better. Much better. 
There are so many great, funny scenes, that I couldn’t possibly mention them all. Of course, one of the most obvious ones is the fight scene between Thor and Hulk, with Thor excited that he’s fighting his friend, but also Loki’s horrified reaction. In fact, Thor and the Hulk together have a multitude of hilarious scenes. I absolutely loved their little fights in the room together, even as it became a much more serious note with Thor attempting to console Hulk. I loved the parallel between this scene and the one when he is Banner again, Thor trying to make them happy by stating his preference for one over the other. Another well used joke is Thor’s attempts to get Hulk to become Banner again by using Nat’s method. This is used many times throughout the movie, and never failed to make the audience laugh every single time. The whole lot of scenes between Doctor Strange and Thor towards the beginning with the jokes at Thor’s expense, were also extremely amusing. As much as I care little for Dr Strange personally, I loved that absolute shock on Thor’s face every time that Dr Strange used his magic. 
Another scene that jumps out is Loki’s attempt to distance himself from Thor once on Sakaar, reminding us of Thor’s distancing himself from Loki in the Avengers by saying that he was adopted. Another Avengers reference-in which Loki jumps up excitedly as Hulk ‘smashes’ Thor in the gladiatorial fight, treating him like a rag doll, just as Loki was fought towards the end of Avengers. The audience could not get over the running gag of Thor assuming that Loki wasn’t really there, and throwing something at him to prove it. However, perhaps the best joke was towards the beginning of the movie, when Thor first returns to Asgard, only to see a play re-enacting Loki’s ‘death’ from the previous movie. Loki of course has been using his time pretending to be Odin to glorify his own memory. If that wasn’t funny enough, Matt Damon plays Loki, whilst Chris Hemsworth’s own brother, Luke, plays Thor, and Sam Neill is Odin! Not only is this a spectacular piece of comedy and parody, it enables Thor to fully realise the identity of ‘Odin’. 
But Thor: Ragnarok is not just a funny film. It has so much emotional depth as well. Even more significantly, this depth is not simply explored through Thor, but many of the other main characters as well. Whilst I did not immediately come to like Valkyrie (after all, she was essentially providing slaves for the Grandmaster on Sakaar), I came to really love her and understand how she got to this point. The last time that she faced Hela, all of the other valkyries were destroyed, and she must relive this when Loki gets inside her head. It’s no surprise that she ends up spending her time on Sakaar, getting drunk and trying to forget. But even though she refuses to help Thor at first, and then reluctantly leaves for Asgard with Thor and Banner, she pushes through all of her pain to do the right thing. To be a hero again. Even when it seems impossible, she takes everything in her stride and is invaluable as a member of the team. Valkyrie was a great addition to the Thor films, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her again and getting to know more of her backstory. 
It’s also made clear that Hulk/Banner has spent the 2 years since Ultron on Sakaar, and when he finally becomes Banner again, it’s obvious that he has spent this whole time as Hulk. No wonder Thor was unable to get him to snap out of it during the fight, or even afterwards. Being stuck as Hulk for so long made it extremely difficult for him to transition back, even though he had a handle on it for so long. Banner spends much of the rest of the movie convinced that anything could trigger a transition back to Hulk, and that the likelihood is he would be Hulk forever. After 2 years as Hulk, it’s easy to see why all of his senses are overloaded on Sakaar when he changes back to Banner, and it’s almost heartbreaking to see his struggle. However, when all hope seems lost at the appearance of the Fenris wolf, Banner barely hesitates to become the Hulk once more, even though he may never be able to change back. It truly demonstrates how much of a hero he is, that he would sacrifice his real self for the Asgardian people, people he doesn’t even know. This is Banner’s most heroic moment to date. 
The first Thor film spent much of its time on constructing and deconstructing Thor’s identity of himself. In his struggles, he learns to become the man that Odin had always hoped he would be, someone worthy of ruling. It is a worthy character study, although lacking in some other areas. Thor: Ragnarok devotes several scenes to Thor’s identity crisis, particularly his faith in himself and his powers. Whilst he must learn to become a good leader and a compassionate man in the first film, in the third he struggles a little to believe in himself and his abilities. When Hela utterly destroys Mjolnir towards the beginning of the film, Thor cannot help but feel overwhelmed and out of his depth. Even as he fights the Hulk he struggles with his powers, until the end, wherein he finds the strength inside himself to fight with everything he has. This is a Thor we have not seen before, absolutely radiating with power, a true god of thunder. When he later fights Hela one on one, it is not until he is reminded of his true power that he is truly able to match her. Mjolnir, Odin states, was only meant to help him control his powers, and now we are starting to see just how powerful Thor really is, just as he is realising it himself. 
Perhaps my favourite character development is Loki’s. We spend much of the film unsure as to his real alliance. He has exiled Odin in order to be on the throne, he refuses to help Thor escape from the Grandmaster on Sakaar at first and instead watches as Thor is forced to fight. Given his history, it is difficult to determine to which side Loki will swing, and for a moment it appears that he is truly on Thor’s side during their escape, only to attempt to betray Thor at the last moment for money. Whilst this may initially be surprising, the surprise only lasts a few brief seconds. After all, this is Loki’s modus operandi. Luckily, Thor has spent enough time being duped and betrayed by Loki that he has come prepared. I was worried that this would be our last glimpse of Loki (as he is a favourite of mine), but what follows is hopefully finally the beginnings of some great character development for Loki. He in fact frees the slaves and returns to Asgard with them, to help the resistance against Hela. Thor is understandably surprised by his appearance, and they fight side by side against Hela and her army of undead Asgardian warriors. Thor even entrusts Loki with the most crucial part of his plan. It’s clear in this movie that Thor has come to accept the trickster side of Loki, for all of his faults, though he cannot completely trust him. The elevator scene is particularly beautiful, as the brothers reminisce about their past, and yet it is also a little tragic to witness how far apart they now are, their paths diverging. My favourite scene between them would have to be the first post credits scene, which truly appears to emphasise Loki’s desire to change. Of course, he’s not going to give up his trickster nature, but I truly believe we are seeing the beginnings of Loki choosing to be on the good side, on Thor’s side, for the first time. I’m sad that we didn’t get to witness a hug, but so happy to see that Loki chooses to remain with Thor, to found a new Asgard with him on Earth. 
One aspect of a majority of Marvel movies that I’ve always complained about is the lack of good, interesting, three dimensional villains. There are exceptions of course, I think Iron Man works well with the combination of terrorists and Tony’s mentor, the appearance of Hydra in CATWS definitely made the movie, the Vulture in the recent Spiderman, and of course Loki in both Thor and the Avengers. Unfortunately, good villains are hard to find, provided with very little motivation and emotional resonance, simply acting as something for our heroes to fight. Whilst I would have liked to see a little more development of Hela, I loved that she had such a personal connection to our protagonists and that we were provided insight into her backstory and motivations. Not only is Hela connected to Thor as his older sister, she is also the very being that Valkyrie fought against, resulting in the deaths of all of her sister warriors. And Hela is not just motivated by the throne, believing herself the rightful heir as the eldest child, she is also motivated by her own father’s actions long ago. For Hela not only surprises Thor and Loki with her connection to them, but also the fact that she essentially fought as their father’s second when he destroyed other kingdoms and realms to be dominant. Asgard was built on so much bloodshed that Odin initiated, with Hela as his prize weapon, it’s no wonder she was upset when he eliminated all trace of her because her ambitions went even further than his. At this point, I think it’s important we acknowledge Odin’s terrible parenting skills. The fact that Hela is connected to the other characters makes this fight much more personal, and much more interesting because of it. 
One of my favourite aspects of this movie is that it is not a cop out. It is titled Ragnarok, and Ragnarok does happen, they do not stop it as I believed they would, and I’m actually glad for it. Even though this film was called Ragnarok, it felt like a plot twist of sorts, as I hadn’t expected this to happen (though I’m not a comic books fan, so I suppose this storyline is probably from the comics and didn’t come as a surprise to others). It’s also oddly beautiful, as Thor realises that Asgard is a people, not a place. In sacrificing the place, the Asgardian people are saved, and Hela is defeated. The prophecy is fulfilled, but ultimately, as the people are safe, Asgard is not truly destroyed. The ship in the post credits scene is likely Thanos’, so I assume that they never make it to Earth to found a new Asgard. I loved that Heimdell was leading the resistance whilst Thor was on Sakaar, and I must admit that I felt sorry for Hela’s minion, played by Karl Urban, who simply wanted to survive. He did redeem himself at the end though when he sacrificed himself for the Asgardian people. I’m glad this happened, because the movie spent a lot of time demonstrating his distaste for Hela’s actions and ambitions. 
There was a lot to love about this movie, although I will mention that it’s unfortunate that Natalie Portman will not reprise her role as Jane, whether that was her decision or the studio’s. Regardless, I wasn’t pleased that in a great cast of many characters with significant scenes, only two of these are female characters. Furthermore, one is the villain and the other is an eventual love interest. I think we can all agree that it would be great if Marvel diversifies in a number of areas. 
I highly recommend Thor: Ragnarok. It’s brilliantly directed, written and acted on every level, so make sure you see it as soon as it comes out in your country! Australians and New Zealanders will appreciate the Aussie/Kiwi actors and references throughout the movie, so make sure you watch/listen out for them!
I honestly can’t wait for the Marvel films leading up to Infinity War, and I hope that the next instalment of Thor is just as epic as this one!
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inkblackfingers · 6 years
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Thor: Ragnarok in no particular order
I can’t even begin to articulate how much I loved this movie, it was beyond gorgeous and I love everything about this.
Here’re some thoughts I had about it, as always, in no particular order.
SPOILERS AHEAD
It’s a bit long, so I put it under a read more.
I was completely and absolutely expecting a record screech at the beginning. Everything about Thor slowly turning on a chain and literally interrupting a giant flaming being as he slowly, slowly rotates is perfect. 
Okay, but the entire theater burst into laughter when Skurge said that he got Dan and Ger from Texas, because ofc.  And the shocked horror on those girls faces when they get absolutely coated in dragon slime is hysterical.
That fucking statue I’m still laughing at it. And the play?? Loki, what the actual hell were you thinking? Yeah, I’ll pretend to be Odin, but I won’t act anything like him and I’ll make a giant statue of me and commission a play all about my heroic and tragic “death” and just laze around eating grapes all day and nobody will say anything. How on earth did nobody else realize that it wasn’t Odin?? 
On that note, Thor instantly realizing that it’s Loki is the actual best and I love that his preferred method of solving problems (a blow with Mjolnir) has now been upgraded to forcing his opponent to choose whether they’d rather get a face full of star metal or lose.
As much as I loved everything about Loki’s “human” outfit in the Avengers, I really really love the all-black ensemble, especially next to Thor’s actually normal clothing. 
Also, Tony is totally still keeping an eye on the internet, and there’s going to be a random picture of Thor on a random corner in NYC with two girls and he’s going to be so confused.
Stephen Strange you absolute dick I love you to death.  I would watch an entire movie of Stephen just being a complete dick to other superheroes with his magical powers. 
Thor calling for Mjolnir and both of them just listening to the sounds of breaking glass and his little smirk when he apologizes? Payback’s a bitch, Stephen :D
“I have been falling for THIRTY MINUTES”
Strange, who just spent the last ten minutes generally fucking with Thor, taking one look at Loki being furious and going, fuck this, get out.
Everything about Odin saying “my sons” (i’m not crying you’re crying) And him praising Loki for the spell that he used against him?? I mean, he’s still a shitty dad, but at least Loki has at least one (1) memory of him being a good dad.
Hela: long black hair, black cape, black and green clothing, obv v dramatic.... Are we sure that *Loki* is the adopted child?
I immediately remember I’m so gay when faced with Tessa Thompson as a drunk hot mess. 
So the god of *thunder* is taken down by....electricity?? @marvel, does not compute
Everything about the little amusement-park ride of the history of Grandmaster is pure gold, especially with Thor just screaming at the end.
Listen..... Loki totally got a sugar daddy. That is all. 
15/10 Best Stan Lee cameo ever
Oh my god Hulk I love you bb and I’m so glad that you finally found a planet that totally accepts you. (Now if you could work on that being a planet that doesn’t require you to be angry all the time or uses you as a form of entertainment, that’d be great, thx)
Thor finally using his GODDAMN powers, perfect.
Everything about Hulk is perfect. Especially him sparring with Valkyrie, and everything about his conversation with Thor that totally doesn’t have me crying a little inside, but also how he’s basically a giant toddler
Hulk butt. Somebody had to animate Hulk butt. Is it based off of the butt of @markruffalo? People (me) need to know.
Also, I’m really reminded of that one post?? It’s basically etched into my mind at this point, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
That fucking bounce off the window and Thor just picking himself up and going straight through the window and sliding down literally all the buildings.
Pointbreak is the password I’m dying of laughter (@marvel, I need to know all of the avengers’ sign-ins ASAP. Is Steve’s Capiscle or Captain Handsome? Is Clint Hawkass or Legolas? Is Nat Itsy-Bitsy Spider? Also, what’s Tony’s sign-in? You know who I am? The Mechanic? Please, my crops are dying)
Also, once Tony finds out about everything that just happened, Thor’s sign-in is definitely changing to Sparkles.
Why are Tony’s clothes on the quin-jet? (Actual question: why haven’t I already seen fics/art about why Tony’s clothes are on the quin-jet?)
Bruce’s password being Strongest Avenger, and Thor’s look of betrayal in the background is beyond hilarious. (Also can we talk about Tony’s nicknames for literally everyone??)
Okay, but drunk Valkyrie and Bruce trying to figure out how they know each other is the actual cutest.
Thor just chucking something at Loki to check if he’s actually there is beyond perfect. Yes you did good my space labrathor, you have finally learned.
Everything about Thor’s childhood story. (Also, can we just appreciate Frigga for a moment? An eldest daughter that got banished by her husband, and two sons, who basically hate each other. One of them likes picking up snakes and the other likes stabbing his brother. You deserve all the awards for parenting. All of them.)
Idris Elba is beyond the best and if Asgard was a democracy, he would totally have been running the Nine Realms. (Like he basically was already)
Everything about Asgard being the people, not the place is going to make me cry.
Thor sitting on the throne, literally calling Hela to him from across Asgard is something that he totally came up with after asking himself What Would Loki Do? (Answer: be as over the top extra as possible, always)
Well, now Thor can inherit the kingly eyepatch
GODDAMN it Thor, go pikachu already, you did it before and you don’t need to talk to your father while you’re literally dying
Thor descending on the horde of zombies in slow motion, lightning sparking around him as he lays waste to them with the Immigrant Song playing #aesthetic
I know that Fenris is basically a giant zombie wolf, but there’s a part of my brain (the largest part. like 85% of it) that’s going PUPPER!!! WHO’S A GOOD DOGGO???
Okay, I know I already said stuff about Valkyrie, but that stride down the rainbow bridge with explosions in the background and her just absolutely destroying those zombies?? #aesthetic
Also, I thought I had reached peak gay after watching Wonder Woman, but then Tessa Thompson happened.
Loki doing his knife flip and Valkyrie swinging her sword #reasonsi’mpan
I love circular prophecies so much, but also: 1) what happens to the rest of the stuff in the vault? like the tesseract or the casket of ancient winters? the tesseract’s an infinity stone, so it’s not going to be destroyed by the explosion right? 2) I’m not entirely sure if this is comics or mcu, but isn’t Asgard necessary to the stabilty of the other realms? what’s going to happen to the other ones now that Asgard is literally dust??
Other things I love in this movie: Thor finally learning to not always blindly trust Loki, every single rock paper scissors pun, Hulk being a giant cranky adorable toddler. 
Things I dislike about this movie: why on earth did you cut the bisexual Valkyrie scene???,  @marvel give us the goddamn hug that we’ve been waiting for since the first Thor!!!!
Is that a skrull ship? Or Thanos’ ship? Or the Guardians/someone related to them??? Uggggghhhh, I need the official Infinity War trailer already (like I haven’t watched the leaked version like a dozen times)
Also, Taika Waititi directed one of my *other* favorite movies, What We Do in the Shadows, so that’s another reason why I like Ragnarok so much. (Also that it’s super colorful, has no bullshit romance, has an interesting plot and characters that aren’t ooc...)
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bereft-of-frogs · 5 years
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A Theology of the MCU: Myth, Marvel, and Mímir’s Well
(I love coming up with pretentious essay titles ya’ll this is one of my true academia skills)
aka, solving the in-universe discrepancies between the Marvel Asgard and Myth Asgard that no one asked for but I’m going to do anyways
So I was finally inspired to work out what I thought about the in-universe Norse Mythology and how it related to the actual Asgardian characters we know and love by this post. I’ll get to what I agreed with and what I didn’t a little later, but this kind of meta has been long coming because I def use and abuse mythology and should figure out what I think about how mythology and the relations between myth Thor & Loki and ‘real’ Thor & Loki before I screw anything up too badly.
The easy explanation is that the contents of the mythology in the alternative universe depicted in the MCU is just different. Our only real engagement with the myth in the movies is when Selvig pulls out the children’s book at the library and the images clearly look like Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, rather than other depictions of the mythological Thor and Loki.
[Sidenote: eddas for dummies ’s illustrations of the Norse gods are great: https://edda-for-dummies.tumblr.com/]
So we could just say that things are different, they match onto ‘reality’ a little better than the Norse mythology we’re familiar with in our version of the universe, and done.
Or we could make things more complicated.
Which, in my opinion, is infinitely more fun. And I apparently have a lot of time on my hands (lol I don’t, I’m just procrastinating), so I’m writing up my explanation of how the ‘real Asgard’ and ‘myth Asgard’ were connected in the Viking Age and how the real Asgardians could have inspired their mythological counterparts.
And the answer is syncretism!
One of the main problems the original post points out is that the dates don’t line up. Loki is commonly accepted to be born in 965 CE, as stated in Thor. So he was born after the myth development and worship, and at the start of the Christianization of Scandinavia. Thor is accepted to not be that much older, given their similar appearance as children and other general character/relationship traits. How is this possible?
My headcanon explanation is: the Thor and Loki of the myths are actually amalgamations of several different Asgardian heroes, or even other deities from the proto-Indo-European mythology, that are eventually condensed into the figures of Thor and Loki (and Frigga and Heimdall, etc etc). (Very common in real world mythological and religious development.)
But since it turned out that these figures were real in the MCU and there was indeed a physical place called Asgard where Odin reigned, with Valkyries and gods, a Valhalla, etc…So that’s where I got the ‘amalgamation of several Asgardian heroes’ thing. Perhaps two thousand years ago the barrier between Asgard/Midgard was thinner, or it was more acceptable to travel on Midgard. Asgardian heroes, infinitely stronger and magical and seemingly immortal, travel on Midgard and have adventures and are seen as gods. The stories told, the sagas, poems, etc are all depicting something much more concrete, and material, than distant deities. Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology has its flaws, but the introduction does contain one of my favorite quotes: “…myths of a people who did not entirely trust or even like their gods, although they respected and feared them.” which I feel like would be a good description of this relationship. They write down stories of stuff they did with their wandering friends, and over time they take on spiritual significance.
“But,” you say, “that doesn’t 100% make sense either. There are references to Thor and Loki earlier than 965CE, and there are some stories that you pick out and attribute to the ‘real’ Thor and Loki when you’re using and abusing mythology for fanfiction inspiration. How do you explain that, hmmm?”
This is where the original post was like a lightbulb going off. Mímir’s Well could give a humans a glimpse of the wider Realms and/or future. (Or at least I think it was supposed to be Mímir’s Well…I think the movie may have said something about the Norns, but I also have Thoughts about the Norns,* so I’d prefer to have it just be Mímir’s Well.) But I thought the ‘drunk Viking fell in a well’ was a little reductionist.
Absolutely no disrespect to OP intended! I love that post. It’s brilliant and the meta on the ages are so well thought out I have officially adopted that explanation for the age discrepancies. I just have a lot of Feelings about the development of religious systems and tend to be sensitive about attributing religious development to things like ‘drunk people making up stories’ because I think spirituality/religion of any kind is a profound reflection of man’s attempt to make sense of the universe, and so complex and varied and beautiful and I’ve struggled a lot against people who don’t understand, or purposely misrepresent, the fundamental societal purpose of religion and the quest for meaning…but anyways…
So yeah, due to my weird neuroses about religion and myth, I want to give the early poets more credit than ‘drunk Viking that fell in a well.’ Instead of accident or foolish ignorance, there could have been a mortal, or several mortals, who gained particular favor among visiting Asgardians and were gifted with knowledge of the future and of Asgard and built their myth upon that. Because of increased traffic between Asgard/Midgard, early Scandinavian societies were interacting more with Asgard than modern humans. So they were getting stories of Asgardian heroes, interacting with travelers, etc. They prove themselves to Asgardian travelers in various ways, then the Asgardians show them the wells. Perhaps mortal sorcerers were held in higher regard as well. Anyways, they also enter Mímir’s well at the invitation of whatever Odinic wanderer that may or may not be Actual Odin, and see the future, but distorted by their own limited perception and experience.
You have to keep in mind that linear time is essentially a social construct. (I’m only half joking with that.) Especially in Norse mythology, where time is simultaneously linear and cyclical. So, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter that the timeline doesn’t add up. When the mortals enter the well they see things that happen no matter where they happen in the timeline. So they see Ragnarök, which has both not yet happened and already happened. For another example, they could see the essence of Loki’s betrayal/fall from grace, and it gets combined with another figure, who, let’s say, went to a feast and insulted all those assembled.
This makes it super easy to steal from the myths at will, and kind of sort myths into ‘yes this story involved the ‘real’ Thor & Loki’ and ‘nope this involved someone else and was later attributed to Thor and/or Loki.’ So I sit there and say like “Ah, I like this one, someone saw this in the well” and “nope, I don’t see this one as fitting their characters, that one was from another Asgardian hero.”
Examples of the divide:
People seem to generally like ‘lips sewn shut’ storyline (‘The Treasures of the Gods’ in Crossley-Holland), the birth of Sleipnir (‘The Building of Asgard’s Wall’), and I’ve seen the Lay of Geirrod (‘Thor and Geirrod’) done fantastically well. I tend to lift themes/motifs pretty frequently (and that’s how I stole the essence of Helreith Brynnhildr, which was written down in the 13th century, but actually happened to the Valkyrie in the 21st) and there are other stories I’ve seen less frequently adapted, like ‘Thor’s Journey to Utgard’ that I think make sense, but I don’t really see either Thor or Loki as having wives or children, so I can file that as someone else.
[Two more headcanon-y headcanons: there was another figure that was more like the myth-Loki - blood brother of Odin who at some point betrayed them, and was the more malevolent figure, that was syncretized with Loki at some point. And Hela got so much more distorted because of whatever Odin did to erase her from memory. He was successful on Asgard, where he had more control/power, but he couldn’t catch everything on Midgard, which was already starting to grow more distant from Asgard, if the Hela thing occurred between Thor and Loki’s births like the timeline seems to imply.]
So yeah. This is a thing I did. I did a lot of thinking about this while washing dishes the last couple of days. I just really like exploring the relationship between mortals and the gods, which would also be important if Asgard was going to sail their way to Earth and rebuild in Norway, like Odin wanted them to in Thor: Ragnarok. (That was a great line too: “Remember this place. Home.” Ahhhhhh, we can have such interesting interactions between modern Scandinavians and Asgardians and it would have been great. Thanos ruins everything. But also, we probably never would have because I don’t anyone working at Marvel cares to think this much about myth…)
*My Thoughts about the Norns: I weirdly like the idea that the Norns are essentially the True Deity. Mostly because I’m super, super into triple goddesses. And the way (though I’m pretty sure I picked this up from other fanfiction), the characters invoke the Norns like ‘God’. (tbh it’s also a good cheat for fixing dialogue where I’ve snuck in a ‘oh my god’ or ‘godforsaken’ etc.) You’ll also notice though, that I only ever have the like ‘highborn’ Asgardian characters invoking the Norns. The ones who have their names directly taken from mythology (Thor, Loki, Heimdall, Frigga, Odin, etc, plus I think people who were actually living in Asgard, so most of the survivors on the Ark), invoke the Norns, but other ‘lowborn’ characters from the Nine Realms will say ‘gods’ instead. That worked itself into the second chapter of ‘Misuse of Magic’.
God, I’m such a nerd. I’m going to go put myself in nerd timeout. Bye…
[PS - I used the Kevin Crossley-Holland anthology, The Penguin Book of Norse Myths, above because well…I own it. And it’s in my apartment and not my parents’ basement. But I do recommend, accessible but with an extensive notes section.]
Did I do it right? This is the first time I’ve ever posted this sort of thing hope it’s okay ahhhh
back to timeout
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