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The Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it is about to end. Having been kickstarted 10 years ago – with Iron Man – the series’ current iteration will come to a close with the film all 22 films have been building towards.
Avengers: Endgame is more than just a sequel to last year’s devastating blockbuster Infinity War. It’s a celebration of the characters, creatures and weapons that have been introduced throughout what Marvel boss Kevin Feige has dubbed The Infinity Saga.
Nothing has been done like it before in the history of cinema and it’ll be intriguing to see what the studio has up its sleeve for the next saga that’ll play out over the next 10 years.
While Infinity War was made with the intention of allowing Marvel newbies to watch along, Endgame is the opposite end of the spectrum. In other words, a refresher is required.
We have you covered – below is a recap of the entire Infinity Saga and everything you need to know before seeing Avengers: Endgame.
PHASE ONE
Iron Man (2008)
We meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), a billionaire genius who develops weapons for a living. After inheriting Stark Industries, he’s injured and captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. To save his life, a fellow prisoner implants an electromagnet into Stark’s chest to keep the shrapnel shards that wounded him from reaching his heart.
To escape, Stark secretly builds a small, powerful electric generator called an arc reactor to aid a prototypical suit made of powered armour. He’s ultimately rescued by his friend, Colonel James Rhodes.
Once home, he halts all production of weapons while making a more advanced armour suit. He soon discovers that his father Howard’s old partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), is trafficking weapons to war-torn countries. He dons the Iron Man suit to prevent him from doing so and, with assistance from his personal assistant Pepper Potts, defeats Stane, killing him in the process.
Stark reveals himself to be Iron Man at a press conference and is approached by SHIELD director Nick Fury about something he calls “the Avenger Initiative”.
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First appearances: Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), James Rhodes (Terence Howard), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), JARVIS (Paul Bettany), Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
We learn the story of Bruce Banner who, after getting blasted with gamma rays in a “super-soldier” experiment-gone-wrong, is able to transform into a big green creature whenever his heart rate exceeds 200 bpm. He spends the majority of the film trying (and failing) to find a cure and to stop his blood supply from falling into the hands of the military.
A British marine named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) wants the power for himself and, after injecting himself with a combination of Banner’s blood and the “super-soldier” formula, rampages through Harlem as the Abomination. Hulk, realising there’s a benefit to his alter ego, stops Blonksy and hands him over to the man who created Hulk in the first instance: General Thaddeus Ross.
Months later, Banner – who can now control his power – is approached by Tony Stark about joining a team of superheroes.
First appearances: Bruce Banner/Hulk (Edward Norton), Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Now a famous superhero, Stark comes up against Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a man who builds a miniature arc reactor similar to his own. Stark defeats him easily leading to Vanko’s imprisonment. We learn, though, that Stark is crippled by the thought he’s going to die: his arc reactor is slowly poisoning him.
His reckless behaviour caused by his impending death draws the ire of his girlfriend Potts, who has been replaced as his personal assistant by a lady named Natasha Rushman, and Rhodes. Eventually, Rhodes confiscates the Iron Man suit and hands it over to the US Air Force; they intend to make a weaponised version against Stark’s will.
Meanwhile, a rival industrialist named Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) fakes Vanko’s prison escape and tasks him with building a range of advanced suits to upstage Stark’s.
Concerned about Stark’s well-being, Fury reveals that Rushman is, in fact, an agent named Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff. He also tells him that Stark’s father was a founder of SHIELD and, after searching through his old records, Tony finds an element that will prevent the arc reactor from poisoning his body, thus saving him.
When Rhodes’ weaponised suit is publicly unveiled, Vanko takes control of it while he’s wearing it and programmes him to attack Tony. Romanoff eventually gains control of the suit leaving Stark and Rhodes to team up to take him down.
SHIELD agent Coulson informs Fury that a large hammer has been discovered at the bottom of a crater in a New Mexico desert.
First appearances: Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), Howard Stark (John Slattery)
Thor (2011)
On the planet Asgard, rebellious Norse God Thor is stripped of his powers and banished to Earth by his father Odin, whereupon his world collides with that of a team of scientists led by Dr Jane Foster. With the help of her team members Dr Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis, Thor locates his missing hammer, which is protected by an enchantment that allows only the worthy to wield it. Thor, though, is unable to lift the hammer – a moment that’s glimpsed from afar by skilled archer Clint “Hawkeye” Barton.
On Asgard, Loki realises he’s the biological son of a rival race and was adopted by Odin years before. Devastated, Loki takes control of the throne and conspires to have his adoptive father killed. A trio of Asgardians flee to Earth in an attempt to bring Thor back, but Loki susses out their plan and sends a deadly automaton known as the Destroyer after them. After almost sacrificing himself, Thor rediscovers his power to lift the hammer and returns to his home planet to defeat his brother, leaving behind Foster with whom he’s fallen in love. Her team later searches for a way to open up a portal to find Thor in Asgard.
In an attempt to stop Loki’s destructive plans once and for all, Thor strands himself on his home planet. Loki, after having his please for approval denied by Odin, falls to his death.
Back on Earth, Selvig arrives at a SHIELD facility where Fury appears and shows him a mysterious blue object that holds untold power. However, it’s revealed that Selvig is actually working under the influence of Loki - who survived his fall – thanks to a weapon called the sceptre.
First appearances: Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Heimdall (Idris Elba), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Dr Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings), Rene Russo (Frigga), Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Sif (Jaime Alexander), Hogun (Tadanobu Asano), Fandral (Josh Dallas), Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
We learn the mysterious blue object, that we now see in the clutches of Nazi officer Johann Schmidt back in 1942, is called the Tesseract.
Over in New York, Steve Rogers – a physically-impaired individual – is recruited into the Strategic Scientific Reserve as part of a “super-soldier” experiment due to his spirited nature and desire to fight in World War Two. The result makes him much taller and extremely muscular. He tours the world as Captain America to promote war bonds, but – after learning his old friend Bucky Barnes might still be alive – is flown behind enemy lines where he infiltrates Schmidt’s Nazi group, known as Hydra.
After rescuing Bucky and other soldiers, he learns that Schmidt underwent the same procedure as himself, but it went wrong and turned him into Red Skull.
Howard Stark equips Rogers with a shield made out of a rare material called vibranium. During an assault on several Hydra locations, the newly rescued Bucky falls to his death from a moving train, much to Rogers’ despair. Rogers tracks down Schmidt and alights his aircraft, but he disappears into a wormhole he opens using the Tesseract, which falls to the ocean below. Howard Stark later recovers it from the ocean floor.
Unable to land the plane without detonating the many weapons on board, Rogers crashes into the arctic and is presumed dead for decades. 70 years later, he’s approached by Nick Fury who wants to enlist him on a mission.
First appearances: Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper)
Avengers Assemble (2012)
Loki barters with an alien race called the Chitauri, promising them the Tesseract on the condition they give him an army that’ll help him overtake Earth. When the object malfunctions and opens a wormhole, Loki arrives on Earth and uses his sceptre to enslave Dr Erik Selvig and Hawkeye.
Fury consequently assembles the Avengers. Romanoff recruits Banner to help trace the Tesseract because of its gamma radiation emissions. Meanwhile, Loki – caught by Stark, Rogers and Romanoff - surrenders and is transported to SHIELD’s aircraft. One of Loki’s enslaved prisoners, though, destroys an engine, sending the ship hurtling to the ground. This unleashes Hulk and in all the chaos Agent Coulson is killed and Loki escapes.
Using the Tesseract, Loki opens a wormhole through which his Chitauri army arrive to attack New York. The Avengers unite again to fight the army. When Fury’s superiors launch a nuclear missile, Stark intercepts it and guides it into the wormhole, destroying the Chitauri’s fleet and killing their army back on Earth. When his power runs out, Hulk saves Stark from falling to his death.
Thor returns Loki to Asgard along with the Tesseract. Meanwhile, the Chitauri leader, who survived the missile, confers with his master about the failed attack on Earth. It’s Thanos.
First appearances: Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Thanos (Josh Brolin), The Other (Alexis Denisof)
PHASE TWO
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Stark is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after nearly dying in the battle against Loki, and his paranoia has seen him build dozens of Iron Man suits, much to the displeasure of Pepper. After his bodyguard Happy Hogan is injured in an attack by a terrorist known only as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), Stark is prompted into action. He arrogantly issues a televised threat to the villain who sends gunship helicopters to destroy his New York home. Potts survives and Tony escapes in an experimental new suit powered by his artificial intelligence, JARVIS. However, it runs out of power and he finds himself stranded in rural Tennessee.
With the help of a 10-year-old boy (Ty Simpkins), Tony tracks down the Mandarin to a house in Miami. He soon realises, though, that he’s a foil: the Mandarin is actually an English actor named Trevor Slattery employed by the real terrorist – scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). He wants Tony’s help in refining Extremis, a virus designed to cure his own disability, and has imprisoned and exposed Pepper in the hope of blackmailing him to do so. During an altercation with Killian, Stark sees Pepper fall to her death – but her newfound Extremis powers help her survive. She kills Killian.
Pepper has her Extremis powers stabilised and Tony, after destroying his many Iron Man suits, undergoes an operation to have the shrapnel near his heart removed. He throws the arc reactor into the sea and vows to continue as Iron Man without it.
First appearances: Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Dr Jane Foster finds herself teleported to another world after time portals begin opening up on Earth and finds herself infected by Aether, a weapon that heralds a catastrophic prophecy. Thor finds her and brings her to Asgard, but is warned by Odin that this substance will kill her. Aether’s arrival on the planet awakens the Dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) who hunts down Foster, killing Thor’s mother, Frigga, in the process.
Thor enlists the help of Loki who is imprisoned for his war crimes on Earth. Together, they lure Malekith out of hiding using Foster. Their plan works – but after the Aether is removed from Foster, it merges with the Dark Elf who escapes. Loki dies in the process.
With help from Dr Erik Selvig, who’s back to full health after being mentally enslaved by Loki, Malekith is defeated. Back on Asgard, Thor – who refuses the throne – tells Odin about his brother’s sacrifice, but when he leaves, it’s revealed that it’s not Odin after all: it’s Loki, who is still alive and has taken his form.
The Aether is given to a man named The Collector in a bid to keep it apart from the Tesseract; the two are Infinity Stones and to have them close together would be unwise. Despite this, The Collector reveals his intention of collecting the five remaining Infinity Stones for an unknown purpose.
First appearances: Fandral (Zachary Levi), Taneleer Tivan/The Collector (Benicio del Toro)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Two years after the events of Avengers Assemble, Rogers is working for SHIELD alongside Romanoff under Nick Fury. However, the latter is assassinated by a group working for the mysterious figure known as the Winter Soldier. Fury’s body is claimed by Agent Maria Hill.
Rogers goes on the run after keeping a flash drive handed to him by Fury before his death from senior SHIELD official Alexander Pierce. Together with Romanoff, they discover that Hydra infiltrated SHIELD during World War Two – and that Pierce is their leader. They team up with Rogers’ friend, the pararescueman Sam Wilson whose wing-pack gives him the name Falcon. However, they’re soon ambushed by the Winter Soldier whom Rogers is disturbed to learn is actually his presumed dead best pal Bucky Barnes; his body was claimed by Hydra after his fall and they brainwashed him into becoming an assassin.
Rogers unveils Hydra’s true identity upon the world and attempts to get through to Barnes whose orders are to kill Captain America. But, when Rogers is thrown off a space vessel into the river below, the Winter Soldier drags him to safety and flees. Cap and Falcon decide to look for him, believing they can bring Bucky to the fore. We later see the Winter Soldier stood over Bucky’s gravestone.
At a secret Hydra lab, a shadowy figure known as Baron Strucker observes two siblings with superpowers: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
First appearances: The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes(Sebastian Stan), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), Brock Rumlow/Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Baron Strucker (Thomas Krestchmann), Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), PietroMaximoff/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson),
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
As a child, Peter Quill is abducted by alien space pirates and raised in outer space. 26 years later, he steals a coveted orb from the planet Morag and a bounty is put out for his capture by a figure known as Ronan the Accuser, who sends a woman named Gamora to hunt him down. She later retrieves the orb, causing a battle in broad daylight that involves two bounty hunters called Rocket – a talking racoon – and a tree-like humanoid named Groot. They’re all rounded up and put in prison.
While there, prisoner Drax the Destroyer recognises Gamora as being associated with the aliens who killed his family: Ronan and Thanos, the latter of whom is her father. It’s here that Gamora reveals she’s betrayed Ronan and wants to keep the orb from him as she doesn’t want him to harness the power it holds. They escape and soon discover the orb holds an Infinity Stone. A fight ensues and the orb falls into Ronan’s clutches, who betrays Thanos and wants to keep the stone for himself.
After Groot sacrifices himself to save the gang from dying in a spaceship crash, Quill distracts Ronan and, using the power stone, kills him. In the aftermath, the group have their criminal records quashed and Quill learns that he’s half-human – his father hailed from an ancient unknown species.
First appearances: Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker), Laura Haddock (Meredith Quill)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
In the fictional Eastern European country of Sokovia, the Avengers assemble to raid a Hydra lab containing sibling duo the Maximoffs, known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
While there, they locate Loki’s sceptre. Within the weapon’s gem, Tony and Bruce discover artifical intelligence and secretly use it to create a global defence programme known as Ultron. However, their plan backfires and an enemy is born with the belief that he needs to wipe out humanity to save Earth. He destroys JARVIS, tries to kill the Avengers and steals the Sceptre. He recruits the Maximoffs, working under the power of the sceptre, and heads to weapons expert Ulysses Klaue to obtain rare material called vibranium from a country named Wakanda. However, after they discover Ultron’s plans to wipe out all humans, they turn against him and team with the Avengers.
Stark discovers that JARVIS is still alive and uploads him into a synthetic body whose forehead contains one of the six Infinity Stones. Ultron uses the vibranium to lift a literal city into the sky with the intention of throwing it to the ground and, in the ensuing battle, Quicksilver dies trying to protect Hawkeye while Black Widow attempts to lure Hulk out of a hesitant Banner to help stop Ulton. Ultimately, it’s Thor and Stark who thwart his destructive plans and Vision destroys what’s left of the evil AI’s body.
Banner decides to leave Earth, worried his alter ego will hurt Romanoff whom he’s developed feelings for, while Hawkeye hangs up his bow and arrow to spend time with his wife and kids. Together with Rogers, Romanoff opens an Avengers HQ in a bid to train up new recruits, including Falcon, Scarlet Witch, War Machine and Vision.
First appearances: Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), Vision (Paul Bettany), Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini), FRIDAY (Kerry Condon)
Ant-Man (2015)
Burglar Scott Lang breaks into a house and steals what he thinks is a motorcycle suit, which he soon discovers can shrink him down to the size of an insect. It turns out Lang was lured to the house by Dr Hank Pym, a scientist who once resigned from SHIELD after discovering their attempt to replicate the shrinking suit he designed decades before. He’s discovered a similar suit is being made by his former protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), and wants Lang to become Ant-Man to steal it.
He’s trained by Pym and Pym’s daughter, Hope van Dyne, who soon learns that her deceased mother Janet disappeared into the quantum realm years before while on a mission as a superhero called the Wasp. Lang is sent to Avengers HQ to steal a device that will aid their heist and he encounters – and fights – Falcon in the process.
Scott and Hope defeat Cross, who wants to sell his suit to Hydra, but the former finds himself zapped into the quantum realm. While there, he somehow reverses the effects and returns leading Hank to believe his wife may actually still be alive. He unveils a new suit he’s made for his daughter who he wants to become a new version of the Wasp.
Meanwhile, Captain America and Falcon are revealed to have Bucky Barnes in their custody. Steve wants to contact Tony about what to do next but says he’s unable to due to a new superhero regulation laid down by the Sokovia Accords. Falcon, recalling his encounter with Ant-Man, tells Cap he knows someone who can help.
First appearances: Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Hope van Dyne/The Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Luis (Michael Peña), Kurt (David Dastmalchian, Maggie (Judy Greer)
PHASE THREE
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
One year after defeating Ultron, the Avengers accidentally kill Wakandan humanitarians while fighting a Hydra agent. As a consequence, Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross reveals plans to pass the Sokovia Accords, which will establish a UN panel that will control the team. This splits the group: Tony, still feeling guilt over the creation of Ultron, approves, but Cap is insistent that he trust his own judgement over a government’s.
As the Accords are about to be approved, Wakanda king T’Chaka is killed in an explosion and CCTV footage reveals that Bucky – whose brainwashing has been activated once again – is the culprit. T’Chaka’s son, T’Challa, vows to kill Bucky and goes after him in costume as Black Panther. Learning of their location, Cap tries to save Bucky and apprehend him, still believing he can save him from his Winter Soldier fate.
Rogers eventually learns that Barnes wasn’t the bomber and, unwilling to wait for authorisation to capture the real man responsible, goes rogue alongside Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant-Man. Stark assembles a rival crew, including Black Panther, Black Widow, War Machine, Vision and new recruit Spider-Man, and they fight. Black Widow, though, lets Cap and Bucky go, but the rest of his team are imprisoned.
Stark eventually learns that Bucky was framed and hunts down Rogers to strike a truce. However, he discovers that Bucky, while brainwashed, assassinated his parents decades before – and that Cap knew this. They fight once again and, after deactivating Stark’s armour, Rogers flees, leaving his shield behind. He then breaks his allies out of prison.
Bucky, granted asylum in Wakanda, returns to cryogenic sleep until a cure can be found for his brainwashing.
First appearances: T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Martin Freeman (Everett K Ross), Marisa Tomei (Aunt May), T’Chaka (John Kani)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Neurosurgeon Stephen Strange loses the use of his hands after a car accident. He seeks out an immortal guru named the Ancient One who he believes can heal him. She begins to teach him magic and Strange discovers that Earth is protected from threats from other dimensions by a shield generated from buildings known as the Sanctums.
After learning how to bend time with help from a mysterious object named the Eye of Agomotto – which contains an Infinity Stone – he’s forced to face down an evil wizard named Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) in order to protect the sanctums. Strange discovers and reveals that the Ancient One has been drawing power from the Dark Dimension to sustain her long life, a fact that incites fury in his mentor Mordo. In a post-credits sequence, he steals the mystical energy from one of the Ancient One’s former proteges, stating that “Earth has too many sorcerers”.
Strange’s path crosses with Thor who we learn has brought Loki to Earth and wants Strange’s help in locating his father, Odin.
First appearances: Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wong (Benedict Wong), The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017)
The Guardians crash on a planet where Quill meets his father, Ego (Kurt Russell) who is soon revealed to be a villainous Celestial that adopted a humanoid guise after manipulating the matter around its consciousness to form his home planet. We learn he hired Yondu to bring Quill to space as a young boy after his mother’s death, but Yondu decided to raise Quill himself.
Ego’s plan, to create new extensions of himself across the galaxy, is revealed to Drax by his empath servant called Mantis. The two form an unlikely bond. The Guardians unite to defeat Ego. This includes Nebula who, having being imprisoned by the Guardians, develops a bond with her sister Gamora after finding themselves in mortal danger. When Quill’s safety is endangered in the process of escaping the nefarious Ego, Yondu dies saving his life.
Despite being offered to join the Guardians, Nebula leaves intent on killing her father, Thanos.
First appearances: Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
After the events of Avengers Assemble, Adrian Toomes – the owner of a salvage company – is driven out of business after an operation to clean up the city is overtaken by Tony Stark. He retains the Chitauri technology they’ve scavenged and years later, creates a suit with mechanical wings to seek revenge. He calls himself the Vulture.
Peter Parker, fresh from his escapades helping Stark in the Civil War fight against Captain America, is told he’s not ready to become an Avenger. To abate him, Tony gives him a newer high-tech suit. Scouring the streets for crime, Parker spots shady individuals selling alien weaponry and happens upon the Vulture’s dealings. Stark bails him out when he finds himself in trouble and warns him to steer clear; he doesn’t listen. Stark is forced to don his Iron Man suit and teams up with Spider-Man up to bring the Vulture to justice.
After successfully preventing the Vulture from hijacking a plane filled with weapons that are being transported to Avengers HQ, Tony asks Parker if he wants to become a full-time Avenger. He declines, expressing a desire to return to his studies.
First appearances: Adrian Toomes/The Vulture (Michael Keaton), Michelle “MJ” Jones/Zendaya, Ned (Jacob Batalon)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Two years after the events of Age of Ultron, Thor, imprisoned on an alien planet, learns his father is no longer on Asgard. He’s told of a forthcoming prophecy named Ragnarok that will destroy the realm. He returns to Asgard, retrieves Loki and locates Odin with help from Doctor Strange on Earth: he’s in Norway. Upon finding him, Odin tells his son he’s dying and that Ragnarok cannot be prevented. His death unleashes his firstborn, Hela (Cate Blanchett), whose dark power saw her imprisoned years before.
Hela destroys Thor’s hammer and after he tries to teleport away with Loki, finds himself stuck on a trash planet where his world collides with a slave-trader named Valkyrie. They’re brought before the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) and, before too long, Thor is made to fight as a gladiator and is assigned a battle with the champion: Hulk!
It turns out Hulk crash-landed on the same planet after absconding years earlier. He hasn’t been Banner since then. However, after Thor helps him uncover his ship, Banner returns after watching a video message from Romanoff.
Meanwhile, Hela arrives on Asgard, intent on destroying it. Soon enough, Thor, Banner and Valkyrie arrive to do battle, as does Loki who steals the Grandmaster’s vessel, which all of Asgard’s inhabitants escape onto. Thor, battling Hela, loses his eye and, after a spiritual vision of his father, realises he doesn’t need his hammer to beat her and realises the only way to defeat Hela is to unleash Ragnarok. This kills her, but also destroys Asgard.
During the battle, Loki happens upon the Tesseract and steals it. Now the king, Thor decides to bring his people to Earth – but the ship encounters a much larger spacecraft in the process.
First appearances: Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi)
Black Panther (2018)
We’re introduced to Wakanda, a country where vibranium is secretly used to develop advanced technology. Following the death of his father in Civil War, T’Challa becomes king. On Earth, a crook named Erik Stevens steals a Wakandan artefact from a London museum for the arms dealer, Ulysses Klaue, who wants to sell it to CIA agent Everett Ross. Klaue tells Ross that Wakanda’s international image as a Third World country is a front for a technologically advanced civilisation.
After Ross is shot protecting T’Challa’s girlfriend Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), the king brings him to Wakanda and asks his sister Shuri to use their technology to heal him. Stevens follows and reveals himself to be N’Jadaka, the son of T’Chaka who has a claim to the throne. He’s deeply resentful of T’Challa having been left behind on Earth by their father as a child. He defeats T’Challa in ritual combat and assumes control of Wakanda.
With help from Shuri, warrior Okoye and Ross, they overcome Stevens who dies after refusing to be healed by Wakandan technology.
T’Challa establishes an outreach centre back on Earth that he assigns Shuri and Nakia to run. He then reveals Wakanda’s true nature to the world before the UN.
Meanwhile, back on Wakanda, Shuri is shown to be helping Bucky with his recuperation after he’s granted asylum there following the events of Civil War.
First appearances: Okoye (Danai Gurira) Shuri (Letitia Wright), Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Having gained possession of the power stone, Thanos breaks onto the spacecraft carrying Thor, Loki and the many Asgardians they saved. His minions extract the Space Stone from the Tesseract that Loki stole and Thanos kills him in the process. This time, he’s really dead. Thanos destroys the ship.
Hulk arrives on Earth and, reverting to Banner, explains to Doctor Strange how Thanos plans to acquire all six Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all humanity. Thanos’ minions arrive to retrieve the Time Stone from Strange, who is taken prisoner. This captures Parker’s attention who pursues their spaceship with Stark.
Vision – who has the Mind Stone in his head – offers to sacrifice himself after learning of Thanos’ plans. Rogers, though, suggests they take him to Wakanda believing the country has the resources to remove it without killing him.
The Guardians find respond to a distress call form the Asgardian ship and find Thor in space. They head to the planet Knowhere, assuming that Thanos is after the Reality Stone – and when they arrive, they find him there: he already has it. He kidnaps Gamora who reveals the Soul Stone is on the planet Vormir to save the life of her sister Nebula, whom Thanos had previously captured. When they arrive on Vormir, Red Skull tells Thanos he can only take the Stone if he sacrifices someone he loves: he kills Gamora and takes the stone.
Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which Thanos loses. He arrives on the planet Titan, where he’s overpowered by Parker, Stark, Quill, Drax and Mantis – but Quill allows him to break their hold after attacking him for killing his love, Gamora. Stark’s life is spared when Strange surrenders the Time Stone to save his life.
The Avengers assemble in Wakanda to fight Thanos’ army. Thanos himself arrives and removes the Mind Stone from Vision’s head, killing him. With all the stones in his possession, he activates the Infinity Gauntlet and clicks his fingers – wiping out half of all living life in the universe, including Bucky, Black Panther, Groot, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Mantis, Drax, Quill, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
Fury also turns to dust – but not before he’s able to transmit an emergency signal.
First appearances: Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Ross Marquand)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Dr Hank Pym opens a tunnel to the quantum realm, believing his wife Janet could still be alive in there. Sure enough, after being briefly trapped there in Ant-Man, Lang – now on house arrest after helping Rogers in Civil War – has become “quantumly entangled” with her and receives a message from her. Together, they work to build a stable quantum tunnel so they can take a vehicle to the quantum realm and retrieve her.
Opening a stable version of the tunnel, Pym, his daughter Hope, and Lang are able to contact Janet, who gives them a precise location to find her, but warns that they only have two hours before the unstable nature of the realm separates them for a century. Pym manages to enter and successfully brings her out alive, leading to an emotional reunion.
Lang returns to the quantum realm in a bid to harvest its energy at the exact same time that Thanos clicks his finger – and finds himself stuck inside as Hank, Hope and Janet turn to dust.
First appearances: Janet Van Dyne/The original Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Starforce member Vers – who suffers from amnesia – crash lands on Earth in 1995, attracting the attention of SHIELD agents Fury and Coulson. While there, Vers learns about her past: she was a pilot presumed to have died in 1989 while testing an experimental jet engine.
She later discovers she is called Carol Danvers who, destroying an engine to prevent an alien race from acquiring it, absorbed the energy from the ensuing explosion, which gave her superpowers. This was the cause of her amnesia. After realising the Kree alien race have been suppressing her powers all this time and defeats evil forces, including Ronan the Accuser, from retrieving the Tesseract – a mysterious blue object that finds its way into Fury’s possession.
Before returning to space, Danvers leaves a pager with Fury, telling him to contact her in the case of an emergency. Inspired by Danvers, Fury drafts an initiative to locate other superheroes, naming it after her Air Force call sign: “Avenger”.
In present day, Danvers arrives at Avengers HQ having had the pager activated by Fury.
First appearances: Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson)
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