The Marvel Cinematic Universe is coming up on an extremely exciting time. After a decade of filmmaking and countless trips to the movies, the entire MCU will come to a head with Avengers: Infinity War. The Russo Brothers are juggling a ton of characters in the upcoming blockbuster, also have the added pressure of making the films accessible to moviegoers who haven't seen every single installment. With 18 movies out so far, everyone was bound to miss at least a few movies. Luckily, CinemaBlend has thought about this, and we've recapped the entirety of the MCU in just a few short minutes. So sit back, enjoy, and cram before seeing Infinity War.
Is your head spinning yet? While comic book fans and cinephiles have sat through countless hours of Marvel content, not every detail was retained. And with all the characters popping back up and Thanos scouring the MCU for Infinity Stones, it's good to know where everyone stands.
During our recap, it's become clear how far in advance aspects of Infinity War were introduced in the shared universe. For instance, the tesseract aka the Space Stone, was first introduced way back in Phase 1's Captain America: The First Avenger. While it's been tossed around a few times throughout the tenure of the MCU, it's pretty remarkable that it's true purpose so many years later. Also, Hawkeye was in the first Thor for a hot second, before he served as a zombie for basically all of The Avengers.
From the recap, it also becomes clear that certain movies are far more important to the MCU as a whole than others. Obviously Tony Stark's first two adventures shaped the shared universe at all, but it's interesting to note the juxtaposition between the recap of Captain America: Civil War _and a movie like _Spider-Man: Homecoming.
The events of Civil War changed the MCU as we knew it, and fractured the Avengers into two specific teams. Steve Rogers has essentially given up the role of Captain America, while he and his team are presumably in hiding for the two years following that movie's conclusion. Plus it brought both Spider-Man and Black Panther into the narrative. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Homecoming gave Peter Parker a fun adventure that didn't move much of the greater MCU's story forward.
Aside from the Tesseract, the location of the MCU's other Infinity Stones is perhaps the most important aspect of this quick review. The Power Stone is currently under the protection of Guardians of the Galaxy's Nova Corps, after Peter Quill directly made contact with it in their first film. As far as we know, the Reality Stone is still under the protection of Benicio del Toro's Collector, which likely explains his role in Infinity War. The other two known Infinity Stones are in the possession of Vision and Doctor Strange respectively, so those two Avengers are going to be in the hot seat when Thanos comes knocking.
Avengers: Infinity War will arrive in theaters April 27th. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
