I will divide this by phases, starting with Phase One moving chronologically forward.

For this segment, I'm going to focus on the films and heroes owned by Marvel Studios. This is going to be long- so fair warning now, but it sums up 13 different films. I remember when I heard the movie was coming out- after having seen Spider-Man in theaters, I was sold. I assumed that all the films in Marvel were owned by Marvel Studios, and to this day, the ownership/licensing is still all wonky, with properties spread across multiple studios. Despite all of this- Marvel still has the strongest hold on the film and has the most successful film series in all of history. See, Marvel movies don't follow the typical sequel fashion. With all of these reboots happening, it's definitely a challenge to find quality movies. Marvel Studios has perfected the art of the sequel. Iron Man started an established continuity with overlapping story arcs, not too different from their comic arcs. I'm a bit sad that Edward Norton didn't continue past The Incredible Hulk and would be replaced by the adequate Mark Ruffalo., and he does a great job, I just liked Norton a bit more. This timeline should cover when each film/event happens. The films included in Phase One are: Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and concluding with The Avengers. Iron Man, introduces Tony Stark-- genius, billionaire playboy, philanthropist. after being injured in the Middle East and captured by a terrorist group. Tony gets a near lethal dose of shrapnel from his own weaponry and luckily the doctor who he is kidnapped with saved his life. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get it out, and the only thing keeping the shrapnel from killing him is an electromagnet binding the shrapnel in stasis. He then builds a suit secretly, breaks out, and goes home-deciding he will no longer make weapons. Then he goes on to make the Iron Man suit after tinkering. The post credits scene shows Nick Fury (director of SHIELD) talking to Tony Stark about the Avengers initiative. About 9 months before the events of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk takes place. In this film we follow Bruce Banner trying to control his powers and find a cure for the Hulk. Bruce hides in Brazil, but is in contact with a doctor who needs his blood samples to try and find a cure. During this time, he is being tracked by SHIELD and General Ross Finally due to some slip ups- he is tracked down, and eventually escapes. Iron Man 2

Phase Two:

Phase Two, begins with Iron Man 3, dealing directly with Tony Stark's PTSD from the Battle of New York outlined in the conclusion of The Avengers, after a near death experience, Tony started dealing with various symptoms of PTSD, and it became a part of his character. Followed by, Thor: The Dark World, This film illustrates a more mature Thor, making his choice to be with Jane Foster. - Loki fakes his death, and this sets up the stage for both Infinity Wars, and Guardians of the Galaxy in its post-credit scene. The Thor Films take mythology and mix it with a scientific aspect translating it so we can understand how people move between different worlds, and how Loki escaped to terrorize New York in the Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, (one of my top 5 favorite MCU films) exposes a long backstory of Hydra having infiltrated SHIELD after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. In this we are reintroduced to Bucky, but no longer the same Bucky from the first film, Bucky escapes, and Nick Fury is removed from Shield. Meanwhile, Agents of SHIELD, follows alongside as the show is turned on its head. One of the agents is revealed to have been Hydra, and betrays his team. Next, Guardians of the Galaxy steals the show and tunes our attention to space, where yet another infinity stone is revealed, and the heroes reluctantly fight together to get the stone before it falls into the wrong hands. Hands down, this is definitely my no. 1 or close to it in the MCU so far. Chris Pratt kills the role, and the all star cast really worked so well together to give us something so different in the MCU. After this, we return back to earth for Avengers: Age of Ultron- reuniting our heroes from the first Avengers movie, and in trying to protect the earth, Tony Stark unleashes a rampant AI. Vision is created from one of the infinity stones, and Ultron is eventually defeated by the newest avenger, Vision. Finally Phase 2 is wrapped up by Ant-Man, Paul Rudd kills it as Scott Lang. This was probably the funniest of all the Marvel Films, and definitely in my top 5 favorites.

Phase Three:

Needless to say, I can't quite finish my review, or give my thoughts on a phase without all of its parts. So I'll write about what I know. We got off to a strong start with Captain America: Civil War, and I am beyond excited with how Phase Three is already looking. This is the biggest Non-Avengers film- in that it stars the entirety of the Avengers, minus The Hulk. Marvel Fans were treated to the newest Spider-Man, perfectly portrayed by Tom Holland. Civil War is probably my favorite movie in the series so far. I am just excited because my Top 5 change every single year. I loved the complexity and how the film kind of derailed the fairy tale narrative we got in phase 1 This movie summarizes the aftermath of all the destruction caused from phases one and two. The film really puts phase 3 in a very strange direction. much darker than before. Perhaps we can thank the Netflix Original Series' (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, which kind of tie in after phase 1, through phase 3) for the darker tones. The second film starting this weekend with Doctor Strange coming out this weekend, I am full steam ahead on this hype train. I will follow this up with a full review on Doctor Strange!