- Iron man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (2017)
- Spider-man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
Maybe you weren’t living in that cave I mentioned before and your case is different. Maybe you have never felt interest in this franchise or have seen some of them (or all) but you cannot connect the dots, or you are probably like my mom, who has seen most of them but the week after she has forgotten everything. If you can identify yourself with any of these cases and for some reason you plan to go to the theater to see Avengers: Infinity War soon (voluntarily or because you had no other alternative) and don’t want to be lost during the film, a brief tour through this saga may be useful. It’s really a long list of movies and it can be quite intimidating to catch up on your own, so I've prepared this guide to help you survive that night at the theater. And before I begin, let me break the release order of the films to avoid confusion.
During World War II the Nazis had a scientific division known as HYDRA, which was directed by Johann Schmidt. He forced Dr. Erskine to develop the serum to create perfect soldiers according to the Nazi ideal, submitting himself as a test subject. However, the formula was not perfected and Schmidt was deformed, adopting the name of Red Skull. Then Dr. Erskine fled to the United States, where he was recruited by the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR). There he perfected the serum of the super soldier that was applied to Steve Rogers, who was chosen by Erskine for being a good man at heart because, according to the doctor's words, the formula amplified what was already inside the heart of the subject.
That's how the sick and little Rogers became the Captain America and met agent Peggy Carter the woman he would fall in love with, and the engineer, inventor and billionaire Howard Stark, who also created Captain's shield with a strange metal called vibranium. Dr. Erskine died taking the secret formula of the super soldier with him to the grave.
The obsession of the Nazis for the occult led Red Skull to track down and find an ancient artifact guided by the norse myths, the Tesseract, a powerful source of energy (this will be important in the future) with which he was able to energize weapons and vehicles for the HYDRA army.
During the war the Captain fought with his childhood friend Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos against the HYDRA forces, but in one of those battles they lost Bucky, who was presumed dead (remember this for later).
After a final fight inside an HYDRA airplane Captain America defeated Red Skull, which disappeared mysteriously because of the Tesseract and was not seen again. Unfortunately the Captain decided to sacrifice himself by crashing the plane in the Arctic to prevent a bomb from injuring innocent people. Steve Rogers was presumed dead by his friends and Peggy, although in reality he was in a state of hibernation under the ice for decades. After this the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) is replaced by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), a new organization that had Peggy Carter and Howard Stark among its founders.
S.H.I.E.L.D. fought HYDRA until they were supposedly eliminated, however HYDRA was not completely defeated, but managed to infiltrate inside S.H.I.E.L.D. where they were growing under their noses. That would have important repercussions later on. Throughout the years S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to operate as a secret government organization dedicated to espionage and the defense of order and law and sometimes working with people with exceptional abilities, this was the case of the scientist Hank Pym and his wife Janet Van Dyne, who were known as Anti- man and the Wasp, heroes with the ability to shrink thanks to the Pym particles developed by him. However, after the loss of his wife Dr Pym decided to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1989 and ensured that they cannot copy his technology.
In 1991 Howard Stark and his wife died allegedly in a car crash accident, but in reality they were killed by the Winter Soldier, a mysterious HYDRA agent who worked in the shadows and whose works spanned several decades, so which his existence was considered a myth.
Years later, in an attempt to replicate the serum of the super soldier, a division of the army led by General Thaddeus Ross performed experiments with the help of Dr. Bruce Banner, which result in an accident that transformed Banner into a green and uncontrollable beast known as the Hulk. Banner fled tormented by the monster he has become and stayed out of reach of the army.
Howard's son, Tony Stark, who inherited his father's fortune and armament empire as well as his intelligence, grew up as an egocentric man, but found a new purpose for his life and a change of heart when he was kidnapped in the Middle East in an attack ordered by his partner Obadiah Stane. It was in the captivity inside a cave (probably the same cave where everyone who had never heard of the MCU was) where he met Yinsen, a wise scientist and also a prisoner, who helped him see life with a new perspective, and where he built his first exo-suit prototype with which he escaped from his captors. Committed to his new mission to end the arms and death legacy of his family, he perfected his design, became Iron Man and defeated his partner who also built his own exo-suit.
After that Tony Stark met Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. which spoke him about the initiative to create a group of extraordinary people called The Avengers.
Shortly after, General Ross discovered the whereabouts of Bruce Banner and continued the persecution. Ross was helped by Emil Blonsky, a mercenary who underwent a treatment to improve his skills since Ross continued his investigation to try to reproduce the formula of the super soldier. Banner in his alter ego Hulk defeated Blonsky, who also became a monster known as Abomination and disappeared again from the army's radar, although under the eyes of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Tony Stark experienced side effects on his body, the result of the radiation emitted by the reactor core embedded in his chest, which prevented tiny pieces of shrapnel from reaching his heart as a result of the attack he suffered in the Middle East (besides being the same technology that gave energy to his exo-suits). The solution to his health problem was found in the investigation of Howard Stark, his father, who was handed over by Nick Fury who also revealed to Tony that Howard was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The appearance of new threats led Stark to ally with his old friend James Rhodes, Colonel of the Aviation, who adopted the alter ego of War Machine using a modified version of an exo-suit of Iron Man, and with Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow, a russian agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
But the appearance of a mysterious hammer in New Mexico revealed that they were not alone in the universe. In addition to existing multiple planets with intelligent life other kingdoms existed, including Asgard, a world that in the past had contact with the world of men originating the old Nordic legends (in fact the asgardians left the Tesseract in earth). Asgard was ruled by Odin, and he had two sons: Thor and Loki.
Loki felt envy of his brother because he would inherit the throne and started a plot to banish him from Asgard and gain favor with Odin. Thor was also arrogant and reckless, that's why his father banished him to earth with his hammer, which he could only use if he was worthy. On earth Thor gained human allies, including a contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. through Agent Phillip Coulson, he also first met the archer Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, another agent of this organization.
Loki was defeated and later he associated with the lackeys of Thanos, a powerful being that was collecting the Infinity gems, stones with an immense power and that together would give him unimaginable abilities. The Tesseract located on earth was one of these powerful gems.
The intention of Thanos was to recover the Tesseract (which contained the space gem) that was on earth in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. He sended Loki with an army of Chitauri and gave him a scepter that contained another infinity gem inside, the mind gem, to control anyone who got in his way.
The idea of Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D, came alive and the Avengers were formed by Captain America (who was alive and had been found on the ice by S.H.I.E.L.D. months ago), Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye (which was initially controlled by Loki thanks to the mind gem).
Loki and the Chitauri army were defeated by the Avengers. Thor took Loki as a prisoner and the Tesseract back to Asgard.
It wasn’t long before a new threat appeared. The Dark Elves, former enemies of the asgardians, returned to retrieve the Aether, an ancient and powerful weapon that could grant its bearer unlimited power. Another powerful ancient artifact? Yes, you guessed right, it was another infinity gem, the reality gem. This was taken from them thousands of years ago by Odin's father and was hidden in Asgard.
After the death of Queen Frigga (wife of Odin), Loki joined Thor to fight the elves led by Malekith, but apparently died. The elves were defeated and the Aether (reality gem) was taken out of Asgard because the Tesseract was already there and it wasn’t safe to keep two infinity gems in the same place.
The reality gem was given to the Collector, a millenarian being who collects all kinds of objects and artifacts and who lives in space. Anything else? Yes. Loki did not die, somehow he took the appearance of Odin, replaced him and started to rule Asgard while Thor remained on earth. The whereabouts of Odin were unknown.
Back to earth an intense drama was about to explode because HYDRA, that continued hidden under the noses of S.H.I.E.L.D. and infiltrated within its ranks and inside the World Security Council (higher-ranking body that supervised S.H.I.E.L.D.), advanced in its plans of world domination. Director Nick Fury noticed the irregularities but was attacked by the Winter Soldier, whose true identity was Bucky Barnes, the friend of Captain America who was presumed dead since WWII. Bucky's body was recovered by HYDRA at that time and subjected to a process that gave him superhuman strength while his mind was washed and programmed to fulfill the assassination missions that HYDRA assigned him for decades. After each mission he was frozen for years until the next.
With the help of Black Widow and his new ally Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, Captain America stopped and exposed the HYDRA infiltration. This led to the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. since it was no longer a reliable organization in the public eye because it was compromised with undercover agents of HYDRA since the beginning of its operations.
The Winter Soldier remembered fragments of his life as Bucky and saved Captain’s life, then he disappeared. Nick Fury went into hiding because there were still agents and secret operations of HYDRA all over the world and he would not waste his time giving statements to the authorities.
Baron Von Strucker was in one of those secret HYDRA operations, he had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. the scepter used by Loki during the Chitauri invasion, with the mind gem inside. With it he conducted experiments that granted powers to his test subjects: Wanda and Pietro Maximoff from Sokovia.
Meanwhile, Thanos continued his search for the infinity gems, focusing on the power gem. For this, he commissioned his adopted daughter Gamora and Ronan the Accuser, a powerful leader of the Kree race.
Gamora, who hated Thanos for murdering her real family, crossed paths with Peter Quill aka Star Lord (Who?) and they joined forces with Rocket Raccoon, Groot and Drax to become the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Guardians defeated Ronan with the power of the infinity gem and delivered it to the authorities of the planet Xandar.
Back on earth the Avengers continued to eliminate HYDRA cells and reached the base where Strucker experimented with the mind gem.
There they ran into the Maximoff twins. Pietro (QuickSilver) had super speed and Wanda (Scarlet Witch) powers of telekinesis and mental manipulation, although the real extent of her powers is still unknown. Wanda could mess with the minds of her victims, which she did with Iron Man, showing him visions of a possible future that terrified him.
However the Avengers won that round, the HYDRA agents were subdued and the spear recovered with the gem, although Von Strucker and the Maximoffs escaped. Fear of what could happen in the future led Tony to use the mind gem to create an artificial intelligence with which he finished Ultron, an automated defense program with the intention of providing greater protection to the world.
Ultron came to the conclusion that to save earth it had to eliminate human beings and he rebelled, attacking the avengers and escaping with the scepter. Later Ultron killed Von Strucker, recruited QuickSilver and Scarlet Witch and began preparations to build a new body made of synthetic fabrics, vibranium (the strange metal extracted from the supposedly undeveloped African country Wakanda) and the mind gem.
But Tony uploaded Jarvis (an artificial intelligence that he created years ago) in that body giving birth to Vision.
Vision joined the Avengers along with the Maximoffs, who decided to stop working for Ultron. In a decisive battle in Sokovia the Avengers defeated Ultron's robots but not without devastating collateral damage, as Ultron caused the city to rise through the skies, and its drones to attack the population. The city was destroyed and many lives were lost, including QuickSilver’s. Vision was the responsible of ending Ultron’s existence.
At the end of the battle Banner, who had developed a romantic relationship with Black Widow, left the place in a Quinjet and disappeared, fearing to hurt Natasha in his outbursts of anger.
Thor left earth to investigate about the gems. And the Falcon, Vision, Scarlet Witch and War Machine officially joined the team.
But the Avengers weren’t the only ones to have adventures. An ex-convict named Scott Lang tried to have a normal life and recover his relationship with his daughter but fate put him in front of Hank Pym (former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the superhero known as Ant-man), who hired him to recover the technology to shrink that his business partner stole him. In order to accomplish that he passed the torch to Scott and he became the new Ant-man.
Then Hank gave his daughter Hope a prototype that would be used by his mother (the missing Janet Van Dyne) to be the new wasp.
The Sokovia catastrophe, along with other events in which the Avengers participated, led the governments of the world to propose control measures over "enhanced" individuals, including the Avengers, through the Sokovia Accords, a document that sought to limit the action of the Avengers. Tony Stark agreed on the guilt he felt for the deaths of innocents in Sokovia (after all the creation of Ultron was his responsibility), but Steve disagreed because he thought that the Avengers should act independently. To him governments and organizations could easily become corrupt (such as S.H.I.E.L.D. which was infiltrated by HYDRA all the time), preventing the avengers from acting when necessary or forcing them to act to pursue political interests. To continue operating as a team, they would have to sign those agreements. This fractured the team.
To those differences was added the attack occurred during a conference in Vienna where the Sokovia Accords would be ratified. In that attack the king of Wakanda died in the presence of his son T'Challa, who inherited from his father the title of king and the alter ego of the Black Panther.
The attack was orchestrated by Helmut Zemo, a soldier from Sokovia who lost his family in the tragedy and wanted revenge on the avengers. Zemo incriminated the Winter Soldier and directed the authorities towards him. His intention was to fracture even more the Avengers team because he knew that Steve would try to protect him.
Convinced of Bucky's innocence in the attack and defending his stance against the Sokovia Accords, the Captain assembled his team in order to stop Zemo's plans: Falcon, Ant-man (who had previously known Falcon) , Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Bucky Barnes.
Tony recruited those who agreed with him to capture the Captain and his allies: Black Panther, Black Widow, Vision, War machine and Spiderman ... What? Yes, Spiderman, a young Peter Parker who had no idea what was happening there.
The battle was epic but Vision accidentally injured War Machine, from his own team (this is still a mystery because an artificial being should be extremely precise in its actions).
The Captain's team made time for him and Bucky to escape and go after Zemo because they believed he was going to activate an army of sleeping winter soldiers (yes, there were many of them). Also Black Widow who was initially on the side of Iron Man helped the Captain to escape because she believed in him, at the risking of being put into the custody of the authorities. Iron man tracked and followed Steve and Bucky. At the same time, Black Panther followed Iron man. In the final encounter they discovered that Zemo did not plan to wake up the other winter soldiers but reveal that Bucky killed Tony's parents so that Iron man and Steve would fight to the death, because Tony would try to kill Bucky and Steve would defend him because he acted under the mental control programming of HYDRA. That’s how Zemo completed his revenge against the Avengers by separating them for good. Iron Man was defeated and the Captain and his allies became fugitives.
Bucky, fearful that HYDRA's mental control would force him to harm innocents, took refuge in Wakanda, Black Panther´s country, to be treated. In fact Wakanda was not an underdeveloped country but it housed a great secret: it was a technologically superior nation because of a giant meteorite of vibranium that crashed in that area millions of years ago, causing mutations in plants and therefore in their inhabitants.
However, despite their advanced technology they were still a nation proud of their customs and with a long tradition of warriors.
For centuries this nation remained hidden, pretending to be a poor country but finally T'Challa decided to reveal the truth about Wakanda.
After a while Tony offered Peter Parker aka Spiderman to officially join what was left of the Avengers (I guess he fell short of staff), but he declined the offer because he did not want to move to the Avengers complex but to remain a local hero and help ordinary people.
Also on earth but isolated from all previous events, was Dr. Stephen Strange, a talented surgeon who after an accident was unable to practice his profession and was forced to seek an alternative to his condition. What he got changed his life, training in the use of magic and becoming a Supreme Sorcerer.
It is on this path that he acquired the Eye of Agamotto, a talisman that allowed him to control time and that was in fact ... Yes, another infinity gem, the time gem. No doubt this will lead him to meet the Avengers and Thanos in the future.
Finally, Thor returned to Asgard and realized that Loki had usurped the throne of Odin. They both went to earth to find him and ask for help from Dr. Strange. They met with their father who was about to die and shared a final moment toghether before Odin died.
But they weren’t the only children of Odin, a long time ago he had a daughter named Hela, which became uncontrollable and was banished from Asgard. Hela appeared and attacked Thor and Loki, destroying the mjolnir hammer, source of many of Thor's abilities.
Then they were teleported to remote places in the universe. Thor appeared on a planet where he was captured and forced to fight in the arena as a gladiator. There he found his friend Bruce Banner who after his disappearance was abducted by aliens and taken as a gladiator a while back.
In the time he had been there he remained transformed into the Hulk, getting to enjoy the attention he received as a gladiator. He was not a monster but a celebrity. Thor gathered a team formed by Hulk, Loki and the asgardian Valkyrie to face Hela, who had taken over Asgard. The power of Hela increased more and more as Asgard was the source of it. The only way to destroy her and save the Asgardians was to destroy Asgard.
In the process Loki passed near the Tesseract and possibly took it before Asgard was destroyed.
Thor, his friends and the surviving asgardians escaped in a spaceship and then were intercepted by a larger ship in which Thanos or some of his allies could be traveling.
So that´s everything you need to know to see Avengers: Infinity War. Thanos will finally appear to personally take all the infinity gems and our heroes will have to unite to stop him. It has been ten years of an impressive interconnected narrative that many studios would like to have (and have tried to replicate it more times than the serum of the super soldier), and this week arrives its peak, becoming an unprecedented event in history of cinema.
If you liked this Post I invite you to follow me to enjoy all the content that I'm preparing daily for you.
