An Antihero's Anecdote

The Guardians of the Galaxy

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The entire galaxy is swarmed by criminals who refuse to abide by the law and will go by any means to assure their own personal gain. The galaxy needs a group of heroes to stop them, a band of men and women sworn to protect the galaxy, another group of … criminals? The Guardians of the Galaxy are manned by almost entirely criminals, and the only one that isn’t a recognized malefactor is the former assistant of a villainous primordial god who wished death across Earth and possibly the rest of the galaxy as well, so kind of in the ballpark. However, despite the past of each individual, and even the current and future deeds are done by the Guardians (We’re all looking at you, Rocket Raccoon), the Guardians have risen to the occasion of protecting the galaxy, and have done so through bravery, sacrifice, and plenty of cassette-based music.

The first movie starts off to arguably the saddest movie entrance of all time. Young Peter Quill waits in a separate room as doctors treat his mother, who is riddled to the bone with cancer. He then is told to say his final goodbyes, and whilst destroying the hearts of the audience, Quill refuses to embrace his mother as she passes, as he is too scared of losing her. Then after she passes on, he runs away from the hospital, where he is abducted by a massive alien spaceship, of course. Quill is also seen using his walkman playing a mixtape of old classics, which he continues to use throughout his adventures in space. The shot changes to a shot of Quill dancing around on a barren planet, tossing and kicking space-rats while he looks for an orb with a hidden power inside. This scene is actually revisited in another scene later in Avengers: Endgame, but we will save that for later. The orb is revealed to be the prize of the space pirates, known as the Ravagers, but Quill instead decides to sell it at a black-market vendor on a planet known as Xandar. He learns here that he instead in control of the power stone, the powerful essence of creation that has eliminated entire planets. He is hunted by the daughter of Thanos (by now, you should all know who this is) and the assistant of Ronan the destroyer, Gamora. Gamora intends to retrieve the stone for Ronan so he may destroy Xandar (being a Kree terrorist) and then return it to Thanos for his snapping obsession. The Ravagers place a bounty on Quill’s head for stealing the orb, which is then pursued by bounty hunters Rocket Raccoon and his pal Groot. They all engage in a valiant and rather hilarious brawl, before all being arrested and sent to a prison in the middle of space. Gamora explains here that her intentions were never to give the stone to the two tyrants, and that she secretly hates her father. They are detained and shenanigans ensue, as they normally do with the Guardians, until late in the night, Gamora is abducted and threatened by a man known as Drax, who had lost his entire family to the hands of Ronan. The rest of the Guardians prevent this from happening, although Gamora makes her case about how she hates Ronan and Thanos just as much as the rest of the lot. Ronan and Thanos debate about their next move, alongside Nebula. Nebula is another adopted daughter of Thanos, who has been cybernetically enhanced to match the skillset of her sister. Back at the prison, Rocket establishes a plan to get the crew out of jail. This, of course, goes horribly but eventually works out accordingly, and Star-Lord (Quill) gets his walkman and the orb back from detainment. We saw the loyalty of Groot, the brilliance of Rocket, the strength of Gamora, the leadership of Quill, and the hilarity that surrounds Drax’s persona that would eventually make up the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Guardians go to meet The Collector in Knowhere, a secret buyer of all things in a secret and desolate corpse of a celestial being. A drunken Rocket and Drax get into an altercation while the romance between Quill and Gamore begin to appear, and the Collector becomes ready for the Guardians following the brawl. Inside the museum, the Collector explains the powers of the power stone and the infinity stone’s source. His assistant (although treated as a slave) is infuriated with her past harassments and unfair treatment and tries to use the power stone to kill the Collector, even after he had explained how only beings of immense powers are capable of withstanding the energy within the stone. Safe to say, she disintegrated and the entire museum blew up (leaving two easter eggs of Howard the Duck and Cosmo the space dog wandering about. These are two of the best Marvel characters ever, and I suggest taking a look into them.) Gamora quickly snags the power stone and goes outside to find that Drax has called the armada of Ronan to enact his vengeance upon him. Yet again, and no it isn’t even for the last time, hilarity and battle ensued, but this time the guardians lose. Ronan retrieves the stone and almost kills Drax in the progress had it not been for the medical professional that is Groot, and Gamora is lost in space. Rocket tries to cut the losses until Quill attracts the Ravager ship, and floats off into space, supplying her his mask which allows her to breathe, and luckily they are both saved in time by the Ravager crew. The Ravagers press Quill for abandoning them, but he convinces them to help save Xandar and then sell the stone. Groot, Rocket, and Drax almost blow up the ship in an effort to save Quill and Gamora. No, it does not make sense, let’s just move on because the movie gets faster from here. Xandar, the Ravagers, and the Guardians become unlikely allies as Ronan’s ship appears above Xandar. The Ravager ships manage to outsmart Ronan’s fleet and the Guardians sneak on board, while Yondu takes out foot soldiers on the ground.  Yondu Udonta is the captain of the Ravagers and the man who kidnapped Quill as a kid outside of the hospital on Earth. Yondu is, as Quill said, the only family he has ever had. The Guardians blast their way through the ship and shoot Ronan with a form of powerful rocket (no not the raccoon). Ronan absorbs the blast and blasts the Guardians as the ship begins to fall. Groot uses his super growing powers to engulf the Guardians in a protective shield of himself, which will protect the Guardians, but not Groot. “We are Groot,” he says, as the ship crashes, Groot explodes into twigs and branches, and Ronan stands above them all. Before destroying Xandar, Quill distracts Ronan with a dance battle. This movie is amazing. Anyways, as Ronan is distracted, Drax and Rocket destroy the hammer that Ronan keeps the stone in, Quill dives for the stone and becomes absorbed in its power. The rest of the Guardians join in to help Quill take on the stone’s power, and they subsequently destroy Ronan. They leave the stone in a secure module (and hand a different module off to Yondu and the Ravagers, who think they just cashed in with the earnings that would come from selling it), and hand the stone off to the Nova Corps, the police force on Xandar who had fought alongside the Guardians. The Guardians ship, The Milano, is rebuilt, Quill finds out he is a demi-god sort of, and then opens a gift from his dying mother, explaining why he calls himself Star-Lord and gifting him Awesome Mix Vol. 2, hinting at a second movie. Also, Rocket planted a piece of Groot in a pot, and Baby Groot was born. Baby Groot loves to dance, but we will see that in Guardians 2. And as for Xandar? The next time we hear of them, a purple man destroys the whole planet for the power stone, and it doesn’t get better after that.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is one of my favorite movies, and it should be a lot easier to go through it. The Guardians act as mercenaries around the galaxy and work for a golden race of people known as the Sovereign. They find a massive space slug, and in return retrieve a prisoner known as Nebula (remember her?), so that they may see her brought to justice, and have the bounty collected on her head. Rocket steals some batteries from the Sovereign, resulting in a space battle from thousands of golden ships, that overwhelm the Guardians until a tiny man on a spaceship wipes them all out in a second. The Guardians crash land through an asteroid field, due to the arrogance of Rocket and Quill that leaves the ship destroyed, and Drax almost killed as he was tethered out the back of the ship. May I add here, that the actors and actresses for these characters are perfectly fit for the role (including Vin Deisel as Groot). Continuing, the man on the spaceship from before turns out to be Quill’s father named Ego. Ego invites the Guardians to his home planet, and they accept despite Quill’s suspicion. They eventually leave, as Rocket is left to watch Nebula and repair the ship while they are gone. Meanwhile, Yondu is going through an episode of hatred and depression as his Ravager crew did not become rich (since they never had the stone to sell) and loyalty is separated as many Ravagers believe Yondu has become weak due to his fatherhood of Quill. The Ravagers agree to hunt down the Guardians and find themselves engulfed in traps set by Rocket, but eventually, end in a debate between the two parties regarding Yondu’s leadership. Nebula breaks free, incapacitates Yondu, and assumes leadership. Back on Ego, Quill learns of his past and the reasoning behind his father, a primordial god, loving his mother, a mere Earthling. We learn of the horrors of Drax’s past, thanks to the telepathy skills of Mantis, a quirky but naive character who assists Ego, especially putting him to sleep when he is unable to rest. This trick came in handy against Thanos in Infinity War. It turns out that Ego is actually the planet that they are on, but he also embodied a human body to find other life in the universe, in which he found Quill’s mother Merideth. Back on the Ravager ship, Rocket and Yondu are interrogated, Groot is abused, and Yondu’s loyal soldiers are cast out into space to die. One of the leaders of the revolution against Udonta is Taserface. The scene in which Rocket embarrasses Taserface is hilarious, and I suggest you watch it. Nebula cashes out of the take from the bounties on Rocket and Yondu with a ship and a new hand, which she will use to track down Gamora to kill her, and then Thanos when she is done with her sister. The Ravagers beat and abuse Groot, who then stumbles on to Yondu and Rocket in the prison. Groot helps Yondu fetch a fin, which he wears on his head and control a mind-controlled arrow. Groot brings back a Ravager emblem (which he thinks is a hat, and is relieved it is not as Groot hates hat), underwear, a space rat, a prosthetic eye, a desk, and somebody’s toe. Easily one of the funniest scenes from one of the best Marvel characters of all time. You can try to change my mind, you will fail miserably. Rocket, Groot, Yondu, and one of Yondu’s loyal companions, Kraglin (played by Sean Gunn, the director James Gunn’s brother) escape from the ship, blow it up, and Taserface alerts the Sovereign of the Guardian’s location. Back on Ego the planet, Ego explains how his presence must be on his planet often so that he does not perish, and teaches him how Ego’s primordial DNA is infused within him, and that he has godlike powers. Nebula chases down Gamora but quickly put aside their differences as they realize that their hatred is purely from Thanos, not each other. Ego plans to infect the entire universe with himself. Quill learns that Yondu was delivering multiple of Ego’s children to him, all of which would die as they could not assist Ego’s plan for universal domination. After Ego explains that he had to kill Quill’s mother in order to ensure his plan would come through. This is followed by Quill shooting Ego a lot. The Guardians go to save Quill, as his life is drained by Ego to fulfill his mission. Ego’s infestations around the universe implode and begin to infect, as Yondu and the Guardians stop the process. Ego attempts to destroy the Guardians as the Sovereigns appear. The Guardians fight them off valiantly, as Quill used his godlike power to destroy Ego’s defenses, and Rocket’s bomb kills Ego while Mantis uses her powers to drive him to sleep, but in the meantime, Yondu dies saving Quill the same way Quill saved Gamora in the first movie. Yondu dies as a valiant Ravager, and has a funeral according to Ravager customs, establishing his reformation to valor. Rest In Peace, Mary Poppins. Throughout the universe, Ego’s infection claimed the lives of many and caused so much destruction, but thanks to the Guardians billions of lives were spared. I’m going to add here that the music in this movie is equal to the level of amazingness in the first movie, and if you don’t watch the movies, please listen to the soundtracks. The Guardians will continue to fly throughout the galaxy saving lives and making money, until a handsome space pirate crashes into their ship, following the distress call of a destroyed spaceship.

This post isn’t about Infinity War or Endgame, and to be honest the Guardians don’t portray an important role to the movies as a team, but instead as individuals. The most notable of the group are Rocket, Gamora, Mantis, and Groot. The movie, for the Guardians, starts off with the distress call that finds Thor’s entire spaceship full of Asgardians destroyed, with no survivors noticeable until Thor hits the windshield (or space dust-shield? asteroid-field?) of the Milano. The Guardians realize he is alive, and bring him into the ship, and continue to make jokes about how manly the resting Thor is compared to Quill. Thor is awoken by Mantis’ powers, and confrontations arise between the two parties (specifically behind the inferior-felt Quill) until Thor explains they have the common enemy of Thanos. It is agreed between Quill, Gamora, and Thor that family sucks since they all have at least one homicidal family member. Thor steals food and an escape pod to head towards the Dwarven star of Nidavellir with Groot (who is grown to a teenager by now) and Rocket Racoon to craft a new powerful weapon. The other Guardians go back to Knowhere to stop Thanos from retrieving the reality stone from the Collector, who the Asgardians left it with the conclusion of Thor: The Dark World. The Guardians are defeated by Thanos at Knowhere, as he already has the stone, Gamora is stolen for interrogation on the whereabouts of the Soul Stone, and Quill leads the rest of the pack onto Thano’s ship where they meet Iron Man, Spiderman, and Doctor Strange. After realizing their common alliance with Thor and hatred of Thanos, they team up on Titan, Thano’s home planet, to defeat Thanos. Thanos finds the Soul Stone on Vormir, where he must sacrifice the soul of who he loves most to earn it. This leads to the murder of Gamora, and Thanos achieves the Soul Stone. When Iron Man’s team and the Guardians fight off Thanos, they almost steal the gauntlet as Mantis puts Thanos’s mind to rest. Mantis senses the pain Thanos feels and announces it. Star-Lord realizes his girlfriend and the love of his life is dead, and beats Thanos, waking him up in time to get the gauntlet back, and victoriously fend off the Avengers/Guardians. People hate on Star-Lord for this, but personally, I think it to be necessary. Many theories suggest that had Thanos not woken up, did his duty, and destroyed the stones in Endgame, then more villains would keep coming until everyone lay dead anyways. In this case, Quill is the ultimate hero, but in terms of immediate victory, Star-Lord cost the lives of trillions. Back on Nidavellir, Thor awakens the dying star to form his new axe, Stormbreaker, and almost dies from the power enforced upon him. Groot (showing the importance of his role in the movie) picks up the metal pieces of Stormbreaker, infusing it with his own wood, and chops his arm off to hand to Thor, so that he may channel his energy and survive. The three then return to Wakanda, where Thano’s army arrives to retrieve the mind stone and kill thousands of Chitauri, the alien race serving Thanos. This is where things get sad and gloomy, so here is a picture of Groot holding up Stormbreaker before we continue, to lighten the mood.

Groot and Rocket are small and weak and despite taking out many Chitauri, are no match for Thanos. Thor is the last one to stand a chance, driving Stormbreaker into Thano’s chest. In his dying breath, Thanos snaps and kills half the universe, and then teleports away to a farming planet for his “retirement”. All the Guardians except for Rocket and Nebula die to the snap and are not seen until the last fight scene of Endgame.

Rocket plays an important role in the survivors following the snap, and five years later when Ant-Man and Iron man discover time travel, Rocket, and Nebula lead the Avengers into the past to retrieve the stones, including the scene from Guardians of the Galaxy where Quill first retrieves the power stone. The Thanos from 2011, from this timeline where Quill retrieves the power stone, sense Nebula’s presence through radio frequencies (two Nebula’s sharing the same technology in the same timeline. It’s weird but as they are both bloodthirsty robot aliens, it makes sense kind of). This legion of Thanos kidnaps the modern Nebula, replaces her with his loyal daughter, who goes to the present day and sends back the coordinates to her father, who timejumps and attacks the Avengers compound. To keep this post about the Guardians, we won’t detail the entirety of Avengers: Endgame. What is relavent is that 2011 Gamora, who is working for Thanos, saves present-day Nebula’s life, killing her sister in the process. The Guardians that were snapped away return via Doctor Strange’s portals after Hulk’s snap brought back all those who died from the Snap five years ago. The Guardians fight alongside every Marvel hero to exist against Thanos, and after Iron Man’s sacrifice, attend his funeral. To understand the importance of Iron Man’s sacrifice from the Guardian’s persepctive, Drax actually wore a shirt to the funeral service. Although this is funny to point out, it also shows the amount of respect and honor bestowed upon tony Stark for finally saving their souls from Thanos. The Guardians band together and are in the middle of filming their upcoming movie, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3, which includes a new Guardian and a former Avenger. Thor, son of Odin, joins the Guardians in the next adventure which is confirmed to be the end of the Guardian’s stories.

Do I know what Guardians 3 will encompass? No. To be frank, I do not believe anybody does, but we can all agree that it will have just as much hilarity, action, and tradgey as the other movies. I believe Guardians 3 will feature a reconnection between the 2011 Gamora and the present Guardians of the Galaxy, but also endulge on the idea of th emultiverse in thevast corners of space. For those of you who are not in depth of Marvel movies as I am, it is rumored that the multiverse will be the main catalyst for the next saga of Marvel movies (The infinity stones being the catalyst for this past saga). I think the Guardians will part ways into their own existences, ones where Gamora’s planet is not decimated by Thanos, Nebula isn’t ripped apart and put back together again, and maybe we even get to see Groot’s home planet. Importantly, I think Star-Lord will see his mother again, and then decide to be with Gamora and live a normal life, while Thor retires as a Guardian and king, and lies to rest with the rest of his family in Valhalla. In conclusion, I think it will be a great movie, but a heart-throbber as it will end one of my favorite movie series of all time. The movie is supposed to come out in 2022, while director James Gunn directs the revamped Suicide Squad for DC Studios, so at least we have time. Until then, we have until then for the Guardians to touch our hearts, and our funny bone, one last time.

“You said it yourself b****, we’re the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

-Peter “Star-Lord” Quill, to Ronan the Accuser

 

S.H.I.E.L.D.

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Who doesn’t love a good old governmental agency? Neither the FBI nor the CIA has anything compared to the best of them all, SHIELD. SHIELD, or the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. As Agent Grant Ward from the hit TV-show, Agents of SHIELD, would say, it really seems like somebody wanted their initials to spell out SHIELD. Whatever they named the organization, SHIELD was meant to protect the world and civilians from extraterrestrial, paranormal, and other situations that the public was not ready todeal with. Whether it be 084s, Inhumans, or the Avenger Initiative, SHIELD was meant to be a protective administration, and it has one of the most interesting stories within Marvel.Following the events of World War II and the successful project of Captain America and the super solider serum, an organization was compiled to prepare and protect the world for extroadianry events, such as Captain America, Red Skull and the Tesseract. Howard Stark, a wealthy weapons manufacturer trying to make the country a better place, Peggy Carter, The British love interest of Captain America and intelligence behind some of America’s greater operations during World War II, and Chester Phillips, a general in charge of selecting the candidate for the Super soldier project, came together and founded SHIELD. at first shield was news to detain and capture former Hydra bases and artifacts, as well as arrest their scientists and soldiers. SHIELD quickly became a superpower amongst the entire world in trying to protect civilization from what they were not ready for. Peggy Carter served as the first president and established precedents and rules for the future of SHIELD to follow. Shield began to assimilate some of the German Nazi scientists from Hydra into their own operations to enhance their science division. One of the first was Arnim Zola, who following his death had his consciousness placed in a mainframe of SHIELD. From here Zola would begin to infiltrate SHIELD. The next heads of S.H.I.E.L.D. ran and obviously different organization. The new head of shield was an agent known as Nick Fury. fury was a relentless and untrusting soldier, who constantly went behind peoples backs to do what he believed was right. we see specifically in The Avengers how fury had The Avengers go against each other and mistrust shield with his ulterior motives. Fury is known for not trusting anybody, and constantly had dark operations amongst his organization. his second in command Maria Hill was just as untrusting and as dangerous. Maria Hill oversaw directing the soldiers and agents of shield directly when Fury was handling the big picture stuff including United Nations and personal government discussions. together the team of Maria Hill and Nick fury ran a very successful operation at SHIELD. Nick fury and Maria Hill directly oversaw the Avenger initiative which saw Black Widow, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Hawkeye band together on multiple occasions to protect the world.  Nick fury had another very close agent named Phil Coulson. Phil Coulson was said to have been dead due to a stab wound by Loki in Avengers. However, Nick fury went behind everybody’s back again and brought Phil Coulson back from the dead using one of the alien technologies that he had found in previous encounters. Phil Coulson only believed to have come out of a vacation from Tahiti and would be assigned a special task group to go across the world and act as administrators of SHIELD’s protection. this team is known in the Marvel cinematic universe as the agents of SHIELD. 

Now I personally recommend Agents of SHIELD as my favorite TV show of all time. Due to this, I’m going to also recommend that you are to watch this show and learn about it instead of just reading this blog post about it. So, to not spoil some of the more recent seasons I am only going to talk about smaller sections of the first few seasons. one of the important parts of agents of shield is the continuity of the artifacts and weapons they come in counter with. in the first season alone, they encounter something called the centipede serum, which is a failed attempt to replicate the Supersoldier serum that created Captain America. they also deal with an artifact known as the obelisk, which could teleport anyone that rendered inside of it to a distant alien planet where death itself lived. The agents of shield are responsible for bringing Inhumans into the Marvel cinematic universe. he also introduced an alien race known as the Kree. many other cameos from the movies are present in agents of shield, including lady Sif from Thor, Maria Hill, and sometimes Nick fury himself. Phil Coulson has to find out what happened during his “vacation” while he mentors a newly formed agent in Daisy Johnson also known as Skye. one of the biggest issues that the Marvel cinematic universe faces is more prevalent in Agents of SHIELD than it is ever shown in the movies. this antagonist of course being the ultimate villain of SHIELD. It is revealed within Captain America: The Winter Soldier and more prevalently in agents of shield that SHIELD is compromised. Many Hydra agents had been sneaking around inside shield infiltrating their ranks to regain world control through SHIELD’s numbers and war power. Nick Fury was almost assassinated, member of Phil Coulson’s team even turned out to be loyal to Hydra. It is Phil Coulson and his team, which include Melinda may, grant Ward, Leopold Fitz, Emma Simmons, busy Johnson, and Phil Coulson himself, to locate every remaining Hydra threat and eliminate them and following this elimination rebuild shield from the ashes.

One of the biggest topics to talk about within SHIELD is the multiple uses of the Heli-carrier. Nick Fury use the Heli-carrier as a mobile base of operations for The Avengers and SHIELD itself. The Heli-carrier was used to house the Avengers and SHIELD in The Avengers, and a trio of them were built to preemptively strike criminals down before they can attack. Hydra infiltrates and takes over the project pretending to be SHIELD, as Alexander Pierce gains control of SHIELD. Nick Fury fakes his death following an assassination attempt by the Winter Soldier. Following the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, all the Heli-carriers were destroyed. However, Nick Fury showed his deceitful skills once again, secretly repairing one to save thousands of lives in the evacuation of Sokovia in Age of Ultron.  The heli-carrier was destroyed again and did not make another appearance. Instead the Bus, Zephyr One, Zephyr Three, The Playground and the lighthouse would serve as SHIELDS headquarters under the administration of Director Phil Coulson, and Director Alphonso Mackenzie, a newer member of Coulson’s team. 

With the last season of Agents of SHIELD coming to a close, Nick Fury drifting off into space with what we believe to be a newer organization called SWORD, and most importantly all members of Hydra have been exterminated, SHIELD has given us some very memorable and interesting storylines. between the mistrust, the secrets, heroism, and most importantly in a Marvel film or TV show, the witty banter, SHIELD has had a lot to offer in terms of entertainment and suspense. although I do not believe SHIELD is going to be disbanded, it seems to be a lot less prevalent or important in the next few phases of the Marvel cinematic universe. Nevertheless, SHIELD will always be the foundation behind the Marvel cinematic universe, and most of the heroes within it. Without them, we would have no Avengers, no Captain America nor Captain Marvel, no Spiderman, no Hydra, and a lot of missing plot holes. SHIELD uses its features to bring a whole new story into the lives of Marvel fans. there will never be an issue nor a problem that could ever uproot the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. SHIELD is both metaphorically and literally shield that protects the world that Tony Stark proposes to The Avengers, and they do a marvelous job at doing just that.

 

“Nick Fury gave me this badge. When he did, I swore an oath. We all did. To serve when everything else fails. To be humanity’s last line of defense. To be the shield.”

-SHIELD Agent and Director Phil Coulson

Asgard

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Gods among us. Or are they? Marvel has done an excellent job explaining the mythological religions, mainly the Norse mythology. The realm of Asgard, the tales of Thor and Mjolnir, even smaller features such as Fenrir, Heimdall, Yggdrasil, and the Bifrost are explained through one simple word. Aliens. The gods of our world are in fact real, but they are in fact an extremely advanced species of aliens that arrived on Earth during the dark ages. The story of the Asgardians became not only legend but worthy of worship, and allowed for a scientific explanation (for atheists and genius like Tony Stark) of gods on Earth.

Asgardian mythology began in Thor, as Odin explained to his two sons the war between Asgard and the realm of the ice giants, Jotunheim. This sparked the rest of the conflict of the movie, as a disgruntled Loki feels inferior under his brother’s shadow and later discovers that he himself is the son of Laffey, the ruler of Jotunheim. We are introduced to Lady Sif and the Warrior Three, the trusty companions of Thor. We also learn of the Bifrost, otherwise known as the rainbow bridge, which connects Asgard with the rest of the nine realms of the world tree, or Yggdrasil. What is intriguing is how these aspects stay connected to real-life mythology while contributing to the comic book aspect. Even the tale of Mjolnir is existent, explaining how it was built using dwarf star energy and dwarven metals (made by the same dwarves who built Thano’s infinity gauntlet) and how the magic of Odin gave the credible “worthiness” requirement of wielding the magic hammer. The interesting part of Asgard, however, has nothing to do with mythology or lore, but instead the emotional aspect.

Towards the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok, Odin explains how Asgard is an idea, a people, not a place. During the events of Ragnarok (also mythologically accurate, somewhat, only that Fenrir the wolf destroys Asgard, not Hela and Sutur), Thor loses Mjolnir, his father, his eye, and Asgard. Thor was also named king, following Odin’s death, since his mother had died in the previous movie. Thor then is attacked by Thanos at the beginning of Infinity War, killing half of the remaining Asgardians, and allowing Thor to move Asgard to a new home in Norway. It is a beautiful scene (when you disregard Thor’s depression and guilt) to see the rest of the Asgardians bond together and create positivity and a future out of pain and destruction. With Thor: Love and Thunder coming soon, we will see Jane Foster, Thor’s former lover, take the mantle of Thor and be the new ruler of Asgard, not the place, but the people and culture.

“Asgard is not a place, it’s a people” -Odin; Thor Ragnarok

Big Hero 6

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Wait. What are the giant, cuddly and medically-qualified marshmallow and his team of college scientists/superheroes doing in a blog about Marvel? Well, believe it or not, but Baymax and the Big Hero 6 squad are actually property of (and created by) Marvel Studios. In recent data leaks and rumors about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which have been rampant with the upcoming and current depictions of Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man: No Way Home, along with the X-Men and the Fantastic Four joining the MCU’s ranks, a surprising detail has been announced. The Big Hero 6 team is reportedly going to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Whether this is in an animated area, or live-action (which would be a dream come true), having Baymax in the same universe that Deadpool and Iron Man are in is something of pure nerdy fantasies and I am all for it. So in celebration (or wishful thinking) of the alleged news, this post will be centered around the solo movie, Big Hero 6, and it’s robotic lead Baymax who could have easily defeated Thanos all by his lonesome.

Big Hero 6 is a group consisting of five college students, Hiro Hamada, GoGo, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Wasabi, along with their robotic pal Baymax. The group was formed in the legacy and honor of Tadashi Hamada, who died trying to save his old professor Robert Callaghan from a fire at the university. Before his death, Tadashi was attempting to get Hiro to be productive with his life, and use his brain to invent groundbreaking technology. Hiro invented microbots that could build structures as tall as a skyscraped in a matter of instants, working like builder ants, latching onto each other to perform insane feats. Hiro presented these at the Technology Fair that claimed his brothers life. After mourning and cutting himself off from the rest of the group, Hiro encounters Baymax again. Baymax is a revolutionary medical robot that was able to detect allergies and injuries within seconds. Baymax alerts Hiro that the only microbot left from the fire was trying to lead somewhere. Baymax follows it to an abandonded factory where a man in a Kabuki mask attacked them with Hiro’s microbots. Hiro assembles his old friends and builds them suits with powers similiar to their scientific studies, and as “Immortals” by Fall Out Boy plays, Baymax is programmed and suited to be the bulky (but yet still lovable) superhero that we know and love today. Formatted with wings and training, Baymax and Hiro fly around their home city of San Fransokyo and trace the DNA of the Kabuki man with one of the most powerful bio-medical scanners ever thought of. Big Hero 6 follows the trace to a facility with two stargates, one heavily damaged, along with security feed from the destruction.  The Kabuki man tries to foil their plans again but is defeated by Hiro and Baymax. The man is unmasked to be Callaghan, who caused the fire that killed Tadashi, in order to steal Hiro’s microbots. Hiro becomes infuriated and rips out Tadashi’s healthcare chip, leaving him to be a crazy ninja hitman. The rest of Big Hero 6 prevents Baymax murdering Callaghan, but the professor gets away. He goes to torture his rival, Alistair Krei. Krei had employed Callaghans daughter as test pilot for a wormhole device, but she was lost between dimensions. Callahagn rebuilds the portal to steal everything Krei ever worked for, and then him. After Big Hero 6 destroys all the microbots and they are absorbed into the wormhole. Callahagn is arrested as Baymax senses a life form from inside the portal. Hiro and Baymax go in to save the lifeform after realizing it is Callahagn’s daughter in cryostasis. Baymax is hit by debris and is unable to make it back to the portal which is closing soon. After a sad exchange, Baymax sacrifices himself and uses his rocket fist to power Hiro and Callahagn’s daughter to safety. When Hiro returns, he uses his brothers notes and work to recreate Baymax. The movie ends with the establishment of Big Hero 6, and the revelation that Fred’s dad is actually a superhero and is actually Stan Lee. Interesting.

Big Hero 6 is honestly one of the best movies I have ever seen, and there is nothing I want to see more then a Baymax “Ba-la-la-la” handshake in live action. There is not too much detail or comic comparison with the two entities, except that Fredzilla, Fred’s superhero persona, is a 10 mile high dragon, not a costume worn by Fred. I am intensively excited to see what Disney and Marvel Studios have in mind for Big Hero 6. I will update this post immediately following any new information.

“We jumped out a window…!” -Baymax

Ultron

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What will happen when robots finally outwit, outmaneuver, and overcome the human race. Will, for starters, if the robots had a leader to do so, it would most certainly be Ultron. This sentient artificial intelligence, who rivals some of the most brilliant minds in the Marvel Universe (who also happens to be his creators) and has caused significant damage to the world and to the Avengers. In the comics, Ultron is invented by Hank Pym (otherwise known as Ant-Man) to rival his colleague Tony Stark’s JARVIS technology, to protect the world from new futuristic and modern danger such as cyberhacking, and using the internet to locate and detain criminals. Pym also began to act as a father to the technology, the way that some pet-owners do with their pets, except this pet could speak back wuth fluent English (or any language for that matter), had a free-thinking and all-knowing mind, and also wanted to destroy all of humanity. Through time, Ultron noticed the flaws and weaknesses of the human race, and rebelled against his father figure in Pym, turning hostile. The story goes in all sorts of directions as Ultron has been a big baddy in Marvel Comics for years, much like Thanos and Doctor Doom. Many odd stpries surround the comic-based Ultron, and many are worth exploring.

Ultron is more sentient then some may think. He was fully capable of love and emotion, although he tended to lack these traits. Much like Ultron imitated Tony Stark in the Cinematic Universe, Ultron had actually used the brain waves of his creator to develop his own thoughts. This is the foundation of his erratic behavior as Hank Pym was an agressive and twisted scientist who had never been treated right by his colleagues (thus the lack of faith in humanity there was transfered to Ultron). This also causes Ultron to develop a crush on Hank Pym’s wife/girlfriend Hope Van Dyne, otherwise known as the Wasp. Ultron was so obsessed that he built an AI girlfriend based completely off of Hope, named Jacosta (pictured above alongside Ultron). Jacosta betrayed Ultron, much like the Vision who was built by one of the Fantastic Four as Ultron’s ally against the Avengers, and joined the Avengers in their efforts against the tyrannical AI. Jacosta makes a cameo appearence in Age of Ultron as a hard drive, when Tony needs to replace JARVIS with a new AI. He chooses FRIDAY, over a few other disks on the table, one labeled JACOSTA. Hopefully we see more of her in the future of the MCU. Speaking of the MCU, the movies counter-part of Ultron, played by legendary ‘The Office’ actor James Spader, was equally as interesting but all the more different.

Ultron, much like Thanos, believed heavily in darwinism. The strongest will survive, and the weak deserve to perish for the stronger’s benefit. The similarity also continued into both of the characters wanting to completely destroy all biological life by the end of thier plan. Ultron, who only appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, was born to the brilliant minds of Bruce Banner and Tony Stark, who tried to make a “suit of armor around the world”. Ultron was built to be the end of the Avengers, establishing world peace and no longer needing Earth’s mightiest heroes to fight anymore. Immediately, when Ultron wakes up, Jarvis begins to communicate as Ultron searches the internet. Ultron is so smart and strong he overpowers Jarvis’ security protocols, and kills the AI. Ultron then hacks into Tony’s Iron Legion suits, or as I call them overqualified barriers, and attacks the Avengers before escaping through the internet to a town in Sokovia. Meanwhile Ultron befriends two mutants named Wanda and Pietro Maximoff and enlists them to fight the Avengers. They do the heavy lifting while Ultron buys vibranium from Klaue, the Black Panther secondary antagonist, and begins to build a new body for himself. An indestructible one that would render him invulnerable. The body is built and wired, and now his conciousness needs to be uploaded, but Black Widow interferes sending the body back to Banner and Stark whilst Widow is captured. Infused with the Mind Stone, the remnants of JARVIS, and Thor’s lightning, the Vision is created. Vision and the Avengers meet up with the Maximoff twins who betray Ultron after they discover his plan is not to wipe out the Avengers but instead all of humanity. In Sokovia, Ultron has his droid factory, Black Widow who he begins to crush on (maybe because of Tony’s old crush on Widow, after all Ultron has the same personality as the witty Stark), and a city strapped to booster jets which he plans to exterminate humanity, much like the asteroids did to the dinosaurs. A huge fight scene ensues, and persoanlly one of my top 3 in the MCU as we see jokes from Ultron, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, the brilliance of Iron Man and Cap, and the tragedy of Pietro’s death and Wanda’s power overload. Vision is ultimately the tool that ends Ultron as he hunts down and destroys every last robot connected to Ultron, thus destroying the AI’s presence. Ultron’s actions in Sokovia rippled through Captain America: Civil War which divided the team over the lives lost and jurisdiction of the Avenegers following Sokovia’s collapse. Meanwhile Hulk also drifted off into space, which set up the Thor: Ragnarok movie, leading directly into Infinity War and Endgame. Ultron will always be one of my favorite and most interesting villians in the comics and the MCU, as his wittiness, his unique capabilites, and his almost unstoppable powers are bound to entertain any audience member to the bone.

Purge me from your computers; turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing! When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world… will be metal!” – Ultron

Deadpool

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Welcome back to the Antihero’s Anecdote! For new readers, there are spoilers below for multiple Deadpool-related entities (as you should expect for future blog posts as well). Enjoy and leave any questions or comments down below. One of the greatest antiheroes and comic book characters of all time. Trained assassin, cancer survivor, former Avenger (kind of), and a genuinely good person. Wade Wilson, better known as Deadpool, was Marvel Comics response to a popular DC villain/anti-hero, Deathstroke (whose real name is Slade Wilson). Like Deathstroke, Wade was a trained master in hand-to-hand combat, swords and knives, guns, explosives, etc. However, there are two extremely contrasting characteristsics between the two, which in my opinion make Deadpool a legendary comic book character. Aside from the uniform orange/steel colored armor that Deathstroke wears being substituted by a red and black skintight suit, Deadpool replaces Slade’s power-hungry and angry attitude with wittiness and jokes. Where Slade commands armies and trains militaires, Deadpool is hanging with Spider-Man or pranking Thanos. Throughout his comics, tv-show cameos, his two solo movies (we do not count the X-Men cameo in X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and the influence that they bring, Deadpool truly is a legendary comic book character.

The first Deadpool movie does Wade Wilson’s beginnings juustice, and Ryan Reynolds portrayal of the character percieves the sadness, joy, and chaos that is Deadpool’s origin story. Wade Wilson was a trained assassin for the US Army, mercenary following his dishonorable discharge, and a participant in the Weapon X program, famous for giving Wolverine his adamantium skeleton and powers, and also recieved powers from the program. Wade entered the program hoping it would cure his cancer, since he had been diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer that already spread to his liver, lungs, and brain. The process gave Wade super-stamina, regenerative powers, agility, superhuman strength but left him completlely disfigured as the cancer was still present. The healing factor kept Wade alive, but did not remove the cancer. The movie does an excellent job explaining hte science behind the process, as his body is deprived of oxygen whilst attempting to draw out the mutant gene. The deprivation leaves Wade’s skins and organs disfigured, but again functional due to his healing factor. Deadpool also possesses some other skills and abilities, varying from precision firearm accuracy with nearly any weapon, a master with his dual katanas, and even being able to read minds and teleport in some forms of his power. Deadpool also had mental health issues, which during his mutation evolved into small subconsiousness that speak directly within his head. Wade is always accompanied by a disembodied voice that warns and urges Deadpool along his misadventures. One strange ability, not seen in many characters, is Deadpool’s understanding of the meaning of life, or at least his. Deadpool has stated that he is depressed as he knows that he isn’t real. He will address the audience of movies and comic books directly, knowing that his purpose is simply to be entertainment for those endulging in said movies and/or comic books. Although this results in many hilarious third-wall breaking scenarios, it is sad to see such a happy and jolly character feel so blue about his life. Deadpool has a team known as the X-Force which normally consists of Cable, a time-traveling cyborg, Domino, the woman of luck, Psylocke, a telepathic mutant, and Archangel, a winged mutant with a very confusing family history. Finally, Deadpool is immortal. This is due to a curse placed on him by Thanos due to reasons which will be addressed in the next paragraph, and it may surprise you as much as it surprised me when I read the comics.

Of all Deadpool’s comic books and alternate storylines, two stand out from the rest. The first is an ongoing storyline that is present throughout numerous comic books, and may even be explored within Deadpool 3, which will be the first R-rated movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The chimichanga-loving “Merc with a Mouth” is constantly seen against “The Mad Titan”, Thanos. Thanos has been known to prank and annoy Thanos for decades of comic books, but the ultimate rivalry between the two is because they are both in love with the same woman. To make matters even weirder, that woman is the personification of Death, and it is to appease Lady Death that originally sends Thanos to unlock the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, and kill half of the population of everything (not a pro-genocidal way to save resources like the MCU suggests). However, Lady Death only uses Thanos as a tool to create death, but she romantically favors Wade Wilson. The two end up getting married in one comic storyline, The Wedding of Deadpool (Vol 11 #27), which broke the Guinness World Record for most characters on a comic-book cover. However, the storyline more frequently used is where Thanos cheats to assure his victory. Here, Deadpool would be unable to love Death unless he himself died. Thanos uses his cosmic power to make Deadpool immortal, rendering it impossible for Wade to ever be with his Lady Death. Although Death still denies her relationship with Thanos, eventually the Titan will perish to Death, while Deadpool roams Earth for eternity. You never think a Marvel character who loves unicorns, innuendos and tacos so much would have such a depressing backstory, but alas, much sadness pursues. The next comic book was a single issue crossover that was a lot of fun to read.

In one comic book storyline, Deadpool single-handedly kills the entire Marvel Universe! Then in a second issue, with even more characters, he does it again! This is impressive, but it has been done many times before (for example, read our Cosmic Ghost Rider post to see Frank Castle kill the Marvel Universe thousands of times, from thousands of other universes, in one battle!). However, one Deadpool issue sees Wade Wilson pit up against a homicidal hillbilly with a more powerful, but equally homicidal, symbiote named Carnage. After Carnage escapes prison and commits serial murders in Kansas, Deadpool watches the news thinking to his disembodied voice about how he is the only one crazy enough to take on Carnage and succeed. Deadpool tracks the homicidal maniac through a hilarity-ensued scavenger hunt. Cletus Kasady, the human within carnage, looks back on his actions of villany as insane, and he should instead stick to reasonless murder. Meanwhile, Deadpool fires a rocket at Cletus, sparking a battle that ultimately ends up with deadpool skewered on an elephants tusk at the nearby zoo and his face being removed by a sonic blast. Deadpool and Carnage ocntinue their wild goose chase, which leads Deadpool into an abandoned lab, where four symbiotes leak out of their dead hosts and bond to Wade. The symbiotes each take an appendage, and they all agrre that Carnage must be stopped (especially the symbiote Riot who is a natural leader, as seen in the Tom Hardy movie: “Venom”). Deadpool ambushes Cletus, who is hospitalized after their last battle, and disguises one of the symbiotes as himself to distract Cletus. Deadpool captures Carnage in a cell, and removes his symbiotes back to the army, thinking of how he can cure even more people of insanity in the future. Deadpool has also said in another storyline that he would not want to bond to a symbiote, as his life is insane and chaotic, and he would never force anything to endure it with him. So another fun story outlined with sadness. That’s why you got to love Deadpool.

From his adventures with symbiotes and Thanos, killing the entire Marvel Universe (twice), and even more stories such as teaming up with Spider-Man, aiding Hawkeye with his deafness, his personal connection to the Avengers and Captain America, or even whatever shows up in the next implementations of the character in the MCU, I could probably do a whole semester of blogs on Deadpool! As much fun as that would be, we have plenty more to discuss and for me to share with you, such as a popular new show on Disney+ with a brand new episode coming out this Friday which is rumored to be a big eye-opener. I may holdoff to avoid spoilers, but you should all watch the show a few times in preperation anyways. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this post on Wade “Deadpool” Wilson.

“Maximum Effort!” -Wade “Deadpool” Wilson

Captain America

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The only way I can think of utilzing the last passion blog is by dedicating it to the First Avenger, Captain America. Steve Rogers was always a scrawny but courageous kid from Brooklyn just trying to make the world a better place. He ended up being a hero in World War II, a savior of the modern world, a fugitive, and even worthy to handle the mighty hammer of Mjolnir. Rogers was the epitome of a hero and an American, standing up for his beliefs and his ideals, while saving lives in the mean time. Cap led the Avengers throughout, and sacrificed every piece of him that he could offer until the very end.

Captain America was always a patriot but unfortunately was rejected from the militairy many times due to his fragility and health issues. Rogers constantly argued with his friend Bucky Barnes, who is already enlisted,  about how one day he will be able to serve in the militairy alongside him. Steve always focused on joining the army so that he could help people. A scientist of the SSR, Strategic Scientific Reserve, named Abraham Erskine gives Rogers the all-clear to enter the super soldier program. Due to his physical attributes being enhanced, Erskine needed a soldier with pure will and determination for the project. Throughtout training led by Agent Peggy Carter, Rogers showed exempelary progress as a soldier and a candidate, showing bravery, courage, and that he deserved to be the super soldier. Meanwhile in Nazi Germany, the science branch known as Hydra had rose to power using revolutionary power and methods to create futuristic weapons to prevail in World War II for the Axis Powers. Hydra is led by a man named Johan Schmitt, who is attempting to recreate the super solider serum on himself. In doing so, Schmitt turned his skeleton red, and his skin and muscle above the skull decayed. Back in America, Rogers undergoes the super soldier experiment and becomes taller and bigger in muscle mass, he also gains increased strenght, speed and stamina. A Hydra agent hidden in the facility tries to steal the serum, and kills Erskine in the process. Cap chases him down only for the agent to kill himself with a cyanide pill. Rogers is left back as the SSR is directed to enter the war and fight Hydra so that he may be studied on. Rogers instead becomes a symbol of hope for the war, raising donations for the war efforts under the name of Captain America. Rogers goes over seas to boost the morale of the soldiers, where he again meets Agent Carter. He learns that Bucky is missing along with his crew, so Rogers single-handedly went to go free them. Rogers does so, causing havor throughout the entire Hydra base and saved the squadron. Cap, Bucky, and a group of freed captives known as the Houling Commandos celebrated thier freedom by liberating other Hydra outposts, until only Schmitt’s remained. In an attemtp to ctach Schmitt’s right hand man, Arnim Zola, a high speed train pursuit takes place, and Bucky Barnes falls from the train to his death. Zola is captured, reveals the final locaion, and Rogers leads an assault on the base. The SSR rips through Hydra, leading Schmitt to evacuate with an object known as the Tesseract, an object of immense extroardinary power. Schmitt, known as the Red Skull, tries to absorb the power and create mass destruction. He is disintegrated leaving Rogers to divert the plane and save lives. Rogers sacrifices his life, crashing the plane into the arctic ocean, and freezing himself. This preserves Cap into modern times around 2010, where Nick Fury introduces Cap to an organziation we are very familair with here at An Antiheroe’s Anecdote, S.H.I.E.L.D.

The First Avenger finally got to meet the rest of the team in the first Avengers. Rogers is approached in a Brooklyn gym by Nick Fury where he is told to suit up for a mission. Rogers meets the new team aboard a helicarrier, where they are briefed on the matter at hand. A god named Loki was ravaging through the country after stealing one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s favorite toys, the Tesseract from the first Captain America. The team finds Loki’s location, at a formal party overseas, and after a brief altercation where Captain America used the gift of gab to school Loki’s dictator-like speech over the civilains, the god of mischief is detained. However, on the way back, Loki’s brother Thor steals Loki from the ship in an attempt to arrest him for crimes committed in Asgard, the brothers’ homeland. Iron Man and Captain America follow after him, where Tony and Thor begin brawling, and Cap tries to intercede. In doing so, Thor smashes his mighty Mjolnir onto Cap’s vibranium shield, made by Howard Stark, and the clashing reuslts in a sonic boom, wiping out the trees around them. Thor tags along with the Avengers, ultimately joining them, and Loki is brought on the helicarrier. The team divides as secrets withheld by S.H.I.E.L.D. are revealed by Tony, and after Cap finds Hydra weapons on board, joins the bombardment. Even Tony and Cap begin to argue, with Thor joining in, until the helicarrier was attacked. Captain America and Iron Man teamed up to restore the generators as well as one of the wings keeping the helicarrier in flight. Loki escapes but his minions are defeated including one of The Avengers named Clint Barton otherwise known as Hawkeye. The Avengers begin to track Loki and find out that he is in New York City. after figuring out that Loki has a flair for the dramatic, they realize that he’s trying to put on a show for the rest of the world and prove that he is powerful. in doing so The Avengers understand that Loki plans to use Tony Starks tower as a base of operations. after investigation they find Erik Selvig, who is under mind controlled by Loki, building a portal to the Chitauri mothership. Loki plans to open a portal above New York City and unleashed the race of Chitauri to destroy it. Captain America and the rest of The Avengers fend off some of the chitauri while Tony Stark begins to banter with Loki inside of his penthouse. Rogers starts commanding the police while also wiping out many of the chitauri, and establishes his role as leader of The Avengers in commanding them against the invaders. after many aliens are taken out, and Iron Man pushes the nuke into the wormhole (which you could read more about in our first post dedicated to Iron Man), Captain America and the rest of The Avengers confront Loki and apprehend his staff which is given to S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. Following the victory, the team go for a celebratory shawarma feast at a nearby restaurant. S.H.I.E.L.D. besides to keep The Avengers in touch and following the world-renowned respect and love for The Avengers now earned for their valiant effort against the Chitauri, S.H.I.E.L.D. recognizes The Avengers as not a threat, but as heroes. little do they know, S.H.I.E.L.D. themselves would be the ones that could not be trusted. 

If you don’t get rid of your demons oftentimes, they will come back to haunt you. Steve Rogers this means a lot more than just a few accidents in the past. The Nazi group known as Hydra had reestablished themselves within S.H.I.E.L.D. After Nick fury shows Steve Rogers project insight, which reveals the creation of three new helicarriers, that will be able to use facial recognition and high caliber weapons to destroy evil before they commit a crime. if in the wrong hands it could be extremely detrimental and millions possibly even billions could lose their lives which was the argument that Steve Rogers made against project insight. later Steve Rogers returns to his apartment and here’s that there is an intruder inside. Steve takes precaution only to find a bleeding Nick Fury sitting in his lounge chair. fury is writing messages for Steve to read so that no one can overhear them. in doing so Fury tells Rogers that  S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised. following a small discussion, a sniper shot flies in from Steve’s window, piercing Nick Fury’s chest and killing him. Steve chases after the culprit, a man with a metal arm and a lot more eye shadow than necessary. Steve meets his friend and fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. operative named Natasha Romanoff otherwise known as the Black Widow, where they’re both confirmed by a doctor that Nick Fury is dead.  Captain America returns to the triskelion where project insight is continuing and is told by a man named Rumlow that Alexander Pierce, the world secretary of security, is expecting him. Captain America retrieves a USB from Nick Fury and hides it out of suspicion. After trying to leave the building Rogers is assaulted by Rumlow as well as a few other S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives. Steve gets the USB back and teams up with Black Widow yet again to continue their search. their search leads them to camp Lehigh where Captain America had been chosen for the Super soldier project. there they find an ancient computer system with a conscience. The conscience is assumed by old Hydra scientist Arnim Zola. Zola explains to the pair that Hydra had been living inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. this entire time and using project insight to finally make their mark on the modern world. Zola explains how Hydra has been secretly pulling the strings this entire time, and that S.H.I.E.L.D. it had always been a cover for Hydra. The building is targeted by a missile, but Romanoff and Rogers survive. afterwards they go to a friend of Rogers house named Sam Wilson otherwise known as the Falcon. They not only use the Falcons house as a base of operations but they in list the Falcon on their road to fighting Hydra. the three storm the triskelion, only to be infiltrated by the man who had killed Nick fury. This man goes by the name as The Winter Soldier and is leading a group of other mercenaries against the trio. The three are arrested and placed inside of a van with two guards. one guard stands the other garden reveals herself to be Maria Hill the right-hand woman of Nick Fury. Hill leads the group to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. location where Nick Fury is alive and well. The remaining agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. prepare for an all-out battle, where Hydra led by Alexander Pierce pry into the mind of Bucky Barnes, who was secretly the Winter Soldier. Hydra erases Bucky’s memory so that he would forget that he was lifelong friends with Steve Rogers. The people aligned with shield and Hydra divide within the triskelion as the group of Falcon, Captain America, and the Black Widow make their appearance known. Black Widow infiltrates Alexander Pierce’s meeting with some of the world highest council members and make Pierce surrender. fury arrives via helicopter and reminds Pierce that he’s always one step ahead of him. Both scan their retina so that Black Widow can unveil all S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra’s files to the Internet. Meanwhile Falcon and Captain America take out the Heli carriers one by one. on the last helicarrier Captain America finds conflict with The Winter Soldier. Rogers refuses to fight with one of his lifelong friends and decides to instead beat him to a pulp, try and get him to remember who he is. Rogers and Barnes lay on the floor as the helicarrier crashes into the ocean surrounding the triskelion. Rogers is assumed dead until Barnes drags him from the river, leaving him on the shore and going on his own path to figure out who he really is. Fury decides to keep his status as dead unbeknownst to the public and holds a fake funeral for him. Bucky travels to the Smithsonian where he finds an exhibit about Captain America and the howling commandos, where he learns more about himself as a soldier in World War Two and more importantly as captain America’s most trusted friend. It is then hinted that another Hydra superior officer named Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is attempting to recreate the same experiments that red skull was doing in World War Two. with a little bit more Intel from the Agents of Shield TV show, the Avengers raid Wolfgang von Strucker’s base in the next Avengers franchise film.

The Avengers team up once more to drain out any more Hydra personel left in the world. The most important at the time is Wolfgang Von strucker, who is performing experiments on people using the staff of Loki, apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first Avengers film. Captain America as well as the rest of The Avengers teamed up and took down many Hydra forces storming the base in Germany. once breached Captain America took on von Strucker himself and apprehended him while Iron Man took the staff from its pedestal. During their conflict The Avengers met up with two villains with superpowers. one was a young girl who can move items with her mind while the other one was able to run at supersonic speed. The Avengers returned home for a party at Starks penthouse. the party featured many of the normal Avengers teammates such as the Falcon, Rhodey, and even Stan Lee doing a cameo as a veteran. The Avengers got into a little bit of a competition trying to lift Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. Brody and stark tried to use their Iron Man suits to do so, Bruce banner pretended to use the Hulk’s force, Black Widow refused to participate, the only one who can move it a smidge was Captain America. a little behind the scenes fact tells us that that is because he is holding back a secret that is revealed to us during Captain America: Civil War. During the party’s conclusion a robot of starts had burst into the room commanding his presence. seem to have a mind of his own and as if he was being powered by some sort of artificial intelligence, which was weird as banner and stark had just created an all-powerful artificial intelligence to act as “a shield around the world”. This AI named Ultron went onto the Internet for a mere 5 minutes and saw all the disaster that humanity has caused and represents. It just goes to show you a lot about who we are as people. Ultron recognized the biggest threat to humanity were The Avengers who continued to save them. he then attempted to take them out using other stark industries issued robots. Ultron is destroyed but his mind is transported through the Internet into a facility in Sokovia. it is here that Ultron builds an army of other robots. The Avengers try to track down Ultron and track him down to a man named Ulysses Klaue, who was a known smuggler of vibranium. Ultron had hoped to build himself a body of vibranium and power it with the essence inside of Loki’s staff, which in fact was the mind stone. The Avengers and Ultron clash when Ultron tries to strike a deal with Klaue and ultimately chops off his hand. The Avengers are then attacked by Quicksilver who quickly disarms them, otherwise known as the boy who could run fast, the girl who can move things with their mind, or Scarlet Witch, made every Avenger see their worst nightmare except for Hawkeye. Captain America So what his life would have been like if he never went into the ice, and if he finally got to live the life, he wanted with the girl he was in love with. He was emotional before coming back to reality, where Ultron was again destroyed but replaced with another body through the Internet. Tony goes to battle the Hulk after he goes on a rage following scarlet witch is interference with his mind, and when he returns, they go to a S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house with the rest of The Avengers. it turns out that the safe house was Clint Barton’s farmhouse with the rest of his family inside. Thor leaves after encountering a vision of scarlet witch’s, and decides to act upon it, and the rest of The Avengers contemplate their next move. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, otherwise known as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, uncover ultron’s true plans for reality. it revealed that even though they don’t trust The Avengers after Starks missile had killed their parents, they would rather side with them than a homicidal robot. The Avengers, with the help of the Maximoff Twins, steal the body that Ultron had planned to use for himself, and try to make another robot. they insert Jarvis, iron man’s AI system, into the body and before they could animate the body Captain America interferes. in the middle of the fight, Thor returns and animates the body himself using his lightning. the red figure emerges, and instantly grabs Mjolnir, proving that he is worthy enough to be trusted. he is known as the Vision, and he helps The Avengers, and the Maximoff Twins fight against Ultron. The Avengers travel to sokovia where Black Widow is being held. Ultron uses hundreds of jet boosters to send the city miles into the sky. The Avengers, alongside one of Nick fury’s Heli carriers, evacuate the city and continue their brawl with the artificial intelligence. While Hawkeye tries to save a young boy’s life Quicksilver steps in front of an attack and is killed from the bullet wounds. This causes scarlet witch to go on a rampage destroying hundreds of robots at a time. The Avengers can place sokovia back down on the ground, but there were still many casualties. the nearby forest vision destroys the last of the Ultron robots. Hulk disappears on the Quinjet, most of The Avengers retire except for Captain America and Black Widow, will continue to train the new recruits which consists of Scarlet Witch, Falcon, War Machine, and Vision. Despite the happy ending, the detriment in Sokovia will come back to haunt The Avengers.

The Avengers are tested when controversy and personal trial intervenes as well as a international restriction on superpowers. the new Avengers are off on a mission to stop the smuggling of a bio nuclear chemical weapon by Rumlow, now known as Crossbones, in Lagos. Crossbones Attempts to kill himself with a suicide vest but the explosion is contained by scarlet witch. her powers overwhelm her any explosion is released destroying the building and killing many of the workers from Wakanda. Steve Rogers consoles Wanda and tells her that mistakes happen, and it makes people better heroes. Meanwhile Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross explains that since the explosion occurred The United Nations has barred The Avengers from working privately and will need to sign the Sokovia Accords which gives all jurisdiction of The Avengers to the United Nations, as well as document a rapid growing number of enhanced individuals. Captain America believes that signing the accords is basically surrendering what they had planned to do Meanwhile Tony Stark disagrees saying that The Avengers have caused numerous lives in collateral damage. during the debate, Steve Rogers learns that his old love, Peggy Carter had passed away in her sleep. A man named Helmut Zemo continues to learn about a mission in 1991 performed by Hydra. Zemo plans to rip The Avengers apart by revealing secretive information. The United Nations meet to sign the Sokovia Accords, but during a speech from King of T’Chaka of Wakanda, a bomb goes off killing the King and many other UN representatives. It is rumored that The Winter Soldier is to blame, like the fact that Bucky Barnes was not a man of violence anymore. Bucky is captured after an altercation between Captain America, Falcon. and Prince T’Chala as the Black Panther. While imprisoned, Zemo poses as a psychiatrist and reads the signal words that activate the sleeper agent within The Winter Soldier. This causes Bucky Barnes to relive his moments as The Winter Soldier and try to escape the facility before being apprehended by Steve Rogers. he reveals to Rogers that Helmut he’s headed to a Hydra facility in Siberia that contains five other winter soldiers. Captain America understands that he needs more firepower to defeat him and pause upon the retired Clint Barton to free Wanda Maximoff from The Avengers facility. Rogers also recruits Scott Lang also known as Ant-Man. Captain America tries to flee Germany and get to Siberia but is stopped by Iron Man and his compatriots, including a new hero named Spiderman. a large brawl ensues but ultimately Captain America and The Winter Soldier can escape thanks to Black Widow’s betrayal. The rest of Steve Rogers’ team is apprehended and arrested for their crimes. Captain America and Bucky Barnes reach Siberia but are met by Iron Man, who thanks to a recent discovery learns that Bucky Barnes could not have been the one to cause the explosion at the UN, as Zemo had left all the evidence in his Berlin hotel room on purpose. The three continue through the facility find the five sleeper agents murdered in their tanks. Zemo stands behind a wall and explains to the trio that he alone could not have destroyed The Avengers, which he wanted to do because his family was murdered when Sokovia collapsed. he then plays a video of Bucky Barnes as The Winter Soldier murdering Howard and Maria Stark, Tony’s parents. it is revealed that Captain America had been keeping the secret that he knew that Bucky had killed Tony’s parents. it is this secret that prevents Steve from wielding Mjolnir Age of Ultron. The three begin to fight with each other with Iron Man opposing the other two. pieces of iron man’s armor are chipped away but Tony ultimately prevents The Winter Soldier from a scaping before doing damage. using his arc reactor, Tony blows off the winter soldier’s metal arm. Captain America then incapacitates Tony Stark ripping off his mask and destroying his arc reactor. Tony tells Steve to drop his iconic shield as he does not deserve it and Steve obeys. Steve walks away with the crippled Winter Soldier as Black Panther captures Helmut Zemo on the roof of the facility. Black Panther then agrees to facilitate Bucky Barnes while he rehabilitates due to his unjust anger and accusations. Meanwhile Captain America breaks out every member of his team, except for Hawkeye an Ant-Man who accepts plea deals, from the supermax facility. he explains to Tony via phone call that he will always be there for him no matter what. this promise is tested in captain America’s last two movies in the Marvel cinematic universe.

In Infinity War, Steve Rogers and his band of fugitives are working as antiheroes still doing good around the world without anyone commanding them what to do. first time we see them onscreen is when they defend Vision and Scarlet Witch from the children of Thanos. Captain America and the rest of his squad go meet Rhodes and Bruce Banner. they understand that Thanos is after the Infinity gem within Vision’s head. The squad decides to go to Wakanda to have the stone removed. in the process, Steve reunites with Bucky Barnes now known as the White Wolf, and they fight side by side against the waves of Chitauri until Thanos arrives. Steve goes toe to toe with Thanos, but he’s ultimately thrown aside as Thanos retrievs the last stone from Vision and does his iconic snap that wipes out half of all existence. Steve survives with Black Widow, and Rhodes, but Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Bucky Barnes are among the deceased. In Endgame, Captain America is leading support groups for those who lost loved ones in the snap. he still works alongside the remaining Avengers and plans with them to bring back those they lost. After Ant-Man comes to The Avengers facility and introduces the idea of time travel, Captain America quickly tries to employ Tony Stark and Bruce Banner to help. stark at first refuses, but later returns to the facility with Cap’s old shield and the secret to breaking time travel. Captain America stays alongside Tony Stark the entire time throughout their time traveling adventures, which included a nod to the comic in which he said hail Hydra to Brumlow and Sitwell during the attack of New York, and even getting into a fight with his former self, which he disarmed with the knowledge of Bucky Barnes living status. After running out of Pym particles and still needing the tesseract, cap returns to camp Lehigh retrieve more Pym particles while Tony retrieves the tesseract. this is where Captain America gets the idea of going back to Peggy Carter once this is all over after seeing her office. The Avengers come back to modern day and build the new stark gauntlet, which Hulk uses to bring back all those that were lost. Meanwhile, Thanos from 2011 returns to destroy the entire universe instead of only half of it. Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America team up for the last time as they take on Thanos. Iron Man is thrown away, Captain America’s indestructible shield is broken, and Thor is nearing death from Thanos’ hand when the Mad Titan is struck by Mjolnir. When Mjolnir flies back to its users’ hand, it lands in the palm of Steve Rogers who now possesses the power of Thor. with this new power, Steve Rogers challenges Thanos one on one, and ultimately does more damage than any of the other Avengers did once again showing his bravery and his strength not only in physical form but in his heart. Meanwhile, when the end looked grim, multiple portals opened up with thousands of heroes ready to stand by The Avengers side, all of which were snapped away five years prior. Cap assembles The Avengers, as they charge Thanos and his Chitauri army. Steve Rogers is not seen for most of the battle as the stark gauntlet is passed repeatedly. in the end Tony Stark retrieves the stones, and snaps away Thanos and his army, killing himself in the process. Rogers attends Tony’s funeral Before he is sent back into the past to put back all the stones. When Hulk attempts to pull Steve back through time, he doesn’t show up. as it turns out, Steve went on to live the rest of his life with Peggy Carter and is seen on a park bench nearby as an old, crippled man. he passes on the helm of Captain America to Sam Wilson, who will portray Captain America alongside The Winter Soldier in the upcoming Disney+ series the Falcon and The Winter Soldier. The final Avengers movie fades out Captain America and Peggy Carter dancing, and we see Rogers finally at peace in the world, getting the joy that he finally deserves.

Captain America will always be my favorite Avenger, although it is close between him and Iron Man. The sheer will that he possesses, the courage that he inspires, and the strength of a superhuman really inspire people like me and captivate audiences into watching these movies dozens of times over again like I have. it was Captain America that made me fall in love with the Marvel cinematic universe, and it’s only right that Captain America deserves the last and hopefully the best blog post on the Antiheroes Anecdote. Steve Rogers will always represent the true meaning of an Avenger and the epitome of a hero. 

 

 

“I can do this all day” -Steve “Captain America” Rogers

Scarlet Witch and The Vision

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From experimented twin and Stark Industries AI to two of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, WandaVision is one of the strongest and most loving couples in the MCU. Even though Vision is technically a synthetic being, made of Vibranium, the JARVIS artificial intelligence, and the Mind Stone, he has taken the hand of meta-human Wanda Maximoff, otherwise known as Scarlet Witch. Both beings are of extraordinary power, both derived from the Mind Stone placed within Vision’s head. Scarlet Witch has the ability to read and manipulate people’s minds as well as moving objects with her mind, and Vision has incredible strength, flight, laser beams, as well as molecular manipulation which is being able to make himself as heavy as a planet, or light enough to pass through objects. Their story, romance, powers, and rather interesting combinations combine to create a beautiful storyline and one of the best in the MCU.

The story began in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Scarlet Witch was a villain and The Vision hadn’t even been envisioned yet. After her parents were murdered by a Stark Industries missile, Wanda and her brother Pietro vowed vengeance against Iron Man and agreed to experimentation. Wolfgang Von Strucker, a modern HYDRA scientist, experimented on the twins with Loki’s staff, which unbeknownst to them contained the Mind Stone. The experiments granted Pietro the ability to run really fast and he became known as Quicksilver, and Wanda the above-listed powers. They fought off the Avengers at Von Strucker’s facility and once again at an illegal Vibranium sale alongside Ultron. Ultron ultimately revealed that he planned to destroy the entire world, thanks to Wanda’s mind-reading capabilities, and they quickly abandoned their fight with the Avengers and joined them. Meanwhile, Thor recuperated from the false reality placed within his mind by Scarlet Witch and envisioned a powerful being who was able to save the world. Thus, while Tony and Bruce built a new AI to defeat Ultron, Thor struck the humanoid figure with lightning, and out rose a red being, with the voice of JARVIS and the mind stone in his head. He was then known as The Vision after Thor’s vision. Not that complex. Vision, alongside Scarlet Witch and the rest of the Avengers, battled Ultron. Pietro died in the battle, causing Wanda’s powers to peak and devastation to ensue. Vision destroys the last robot in Ultron’s army, and both members are inducted into the new team of Avengers.

Captain America: Civil War saw a change for both of these characters. While trying to detain a HYDRA agent named Crossbones, Scarlet Witch accidentally blew up a building causing major collateral damage. She is confined to the Avengers campus alongside Vision while Captain America and Iron Man feud over the passing of the Sokovia Accords. Hawkeye comes out of retirement to break out Scarlet Witch, where Wanda and the Vision part ways, with Vision siding for Iron Man after Wanda left him in the ground and Wanda following Captain America. Thye both fought valiantly in the battle of Germany, with Wanda entrapping Iron Man multiple times, and Vision halting the progress of Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Unfortunately, Vision had tried to shoot down Falcon and almost killed War Machine in the process, paralyzing him. The Vision then tried to restore his humanity, despite not being human, and grow a relationship with Wanda. They both eloped from the rest of the Avengers, now led by the fugitives Captain America and Black Widow, and ran into conflict in Infinity War where their wills were truly tested.

Vision is hunted down by Thanos and his minions as an infinity stone was planted in his head. He is stabbed and beaten until the Avengers returned to save his life. Scarlet Witch also makes attempts to stop this progress of killing her android boyfriend. Due to the constant shift of different groups of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, both Scarlet Witch and the Vision have little screentime despite their major roles in the movies. The couple travel to Wakanda with the Avengers where the lead scientist Shuri attempts to remove the Mind Stone from Vision’s head so that he may survive and fight Thanos without being a liability. Scarlet Witch was kept nearby to destroy the stone once it was removed. However, Wanda is drawn out into the Wakandan battlegrounds, and Vision is ambushed again. He makes his way to Wanda who is forced to destroy the stone in his head so that Thanos can’t get it. Wanda kills the love of her life, and Thanos sympathizes with her before using the Time Stone to bring him back to life. Thanos then proceeds to rip the stone from Vision’s forehead, killing him yet again. Poor Vision. Thanos uses the stone to perform his infamous snap, which vaporized the Scarlet Witch who was next to Vision’s dull grey body.

In Endgame, Scarlet Witch comes back at the end of the film when all of the snap’s victims are returned to life with Hulk’s snap. Not much happens for her, especially since Vision is dead and she had little screentime. She exhibits her powers against a Thanos from the past, who is the main antagonist of the second movie, and proves her own whilst doing so. She tears through the ranks of Thano’s army and helps deliver the gauntlet which ends up in Thano’s hands (although we all know Iron Man got the stones) but ultimately provides no other great detail of her character, rather than her existence being the sole memory of Vision.

In the upcoming WandaVision show, coming in December 2020, we see a very different change of scene than the characters we know in the previous movies. For starters, Vision is alive and well, and they are both parents of two living in the suburbs of an odd town. It is rumored that Wanda, out of the depression of missing Vision and practicing her craft, accidentally created a new dimension where Vision never died, but still connects to the universe where the MCU movies occur.  This show is going to be a landmark of the MCU, in my opinion, starting the new theme of the Marvel universe, full of the multiverse and time travel, after moving on from the Infinity Saga. If these theories prove correct, we have a gateway into combining more Marvel entities such as Venom and Into The Spiderverse, the X-Men, Deadpool, etc. into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and finally giving the Marvel audience the greatest crossover event of all time (beating out Infinity War and Endgame at their very well defended titles).

“-Wanda, if you do this, they’ll never stop being afraid of you.              -I cannot control their fear. Only my own”

 

-Vision to Scarlet Witch, followed by Wanda’s response, in Captain America: Civil War

 

 

Spider-Man

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Finally, a post dedicated to your friendly neighborhood passion blog, umm I mean friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! The protege to Tony Stark, and everyone’s favorite masked web-slinger/ high school student. The rights to Spider-Man were actually bought by Sony in 1999 for around $10 million, in which Sony also refused a $25 million deal which included Spider-Man AND every other character in the Marvel comic books. Sony turned it down as they believed no one would care for any character other than Spider-Man and unfortunately for Sony, they were awfully wrong. When Disney acquired Marvel (for a whopping $4 billion in 2009) they wanted to bring Spider-Man back into the Marvel family. So aside from the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield renditions of the webbed-slinger (although more on those two later), Spider-Man entered the MCU through Tom Holland and has since appeared in five MCU films, including his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War, two stand-alone films, and the two most recent Avengers films. Another Spider-Man standalone movie is in the making right now, with many speculations of what to come soon.

Captain America: Civil War saw the first appearance of Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tony Stark travels to Queens, New York to enlist the web-slinger to join his comrades in Germany, to fight the fugitive, Captain America. Under the allude of an “internship” at Stark Industries, Peter Parker gets permission from his guardian, Aunt May, to go with Stark. Spidey steals Captain America’s shield, almost bests both the Winter Soldier and the Falcon simultaneously, stands his ground against Captain America, and eventually gives the brilliant idea of wrapping up the giant Ant-Man, finally bringing him down. Spider-Man is injured in the fight, sent home, and isn’t seen until his first standalone film: Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was a humorous and adventurous growing up story for the high school scholars student/ vigilante, as he tries to prove himself a hero to his own personal hero, Tony Stark. Parker is seen early on going about his normal superhero routine, rounding up purse-snatchers, stopping illegal weapons trades, and causing a disturbing car alarm. Unlike most of the other heroes in the MCU, Parker has a secret identity unknown to anyone other than Stark and himself. Parker still reminisces of his adventures in Germany alongside team Iron Man, especially since he got to keep the modern Spider-Man suit built by Stark Industries. We also meet Ned, Peter Parkers nerdy but witty best friend, who provides comic relief throughout the movie. Ned quickly finds out Peter’s identity after waiting in his room to build a Lego Death Star set but instead finds Peter swinging in through the window. Peter had been in the middle of a bank robbery, trying to stop a group of robbers wearing Avengers masks, but equipped with strange alien technology that almost levels the entire city block. Peter begins investigating to find the man responsible. His name is Adrian Toomes (who hails from my hometown of Staten Island!) and he was a cleanup crew worker who was in charge of picking up the remnants of Manhattan following the Battle of New York in The Avengers. Toomes and his company were replaced by SHIELD operatives when Toomes decided to smuggle some alien technology from the Chitauri, weaponize it, and sell it to the public. Spider-Man chases down Toomes, who is in a flying combat suit that he uses to smuggle the technology, which he calls The Vulture. Spider-Man pursues the Vulture all the way to Washington DC, posing as a school trip, where he saves his classmates in the Washington monument and locks himself in a SHIELD bunker with his personal AI assistant, Karen. When Spider-Man comes home, Iron Man warns Spidey to not continue his investigation. Spider-Man does not abide Starks’s warning to stop pursuing the case and tracks a weapons sale on to the Staten Island Ferry. The result is the weapon goes off, Toomes gets away and Iron Man has to save Spider-Man who was too busy keeping both sides of the ferry together using his “webs”. Tony in turn takes back the suit as punishment, and Peter is left to battle Toomes all by himself. Meanwhile, he must undergo an even more frivolous task. High school prom. Peter finally gets the courage to ask out his crush, and she says yes! Hard part over, or at least it seemed so until Peter went to pick her up only to discover her father is Adrian Toomes. The two recognize each other, although Peter did so in the house while Toomes did so in the car ride to school. Toomes threatens Parker to leave him be as he only has one heist left, the plane carrying the belongings of Avengers Tower to the new Avengers campus upstate. Spiderman, with his old makeshift gear from before the Stark suit, battles it out with Toomes and ultimately wins, although the plane crashes. Toomes is arrested, his daughter moves away with her mother (leaving a girl named MJ, played by Zendaya, to be Parker’s new love interest), and Stark gives Peter the suit back, with a new surprise. Parker is taken to the Avengers campus in upstate New York and asked to be an Avenger. He declines, wanting only to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and while joking about how Stark was merely testing him. When he left, Pepper Potts walks in demanding Tony where the kid is, and that she has hundreds of reporters waiting on some big news. Instead of Parker’s acceptance as an Avenger, the big news is Pepper and Tony’s engagement.

So Peter kind of died. He came back, but I’m still drawn between how to feel about it as I love Spider-Man, and my girlfriend loves Tom Holland, so his absence in most of Endgame was a compromise. Anyways, Infinity War was a tough ride for Peter. He had to abandon a field trip to fight Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw, members of the Black Order of Thanos, then stowed away on an alien ship (although he did get a new Iron Spider suit!) and helped Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy (most of them anyway) go to Titan and battle Thanos. Spider-Man was the one that almost got the gauntlet off of Thanos, before being disturbed by Star-Lord, and ultimately failing. Peter also saved Mantis’ life with the Iron Spider suit, while also catching the rest of the Guardians mid-air with his web slingers. When Parker and the company failed to defeat Thanos, they remained on Titan, Thano’s home planet, until eventually, he snapped in Wakanda. This left only Iron Man and Nebula alive on Titan, with Peter being the last of the deceased to die. However, Peter felt the pain of death and was the only one to do so, because of his spidey-sense, leaving us with one of the most emotional scenes in Marvel history, as seen below.

Endgame was a short screen-time performance for Holland, as he came back in the final climax of the movie after Hulk’s snap brought everyone back from the dead. Spider-Man had reunited with Tony in a heartfelt conversation which was met with a hug between the two before they continued their battle. Spider-Man snatched the gauntlet from the battlefield, before handing it off to Captain Marvel. Spider-Man is then seen comforting the dying Iron Man after he had snapped Thanos and the Chitauri away, crying as his mentor and hero passed on from this realm to the next. Spider-Man is seen at Iron Man’s funeral before getting his second standalone film, Spider-Man: Far From Home.

To be honest, I have only seen Far From Home, the second Spider-Man standalone film, three times. Since it is not on Disney+, I had to rent it on Amazon Video and binge watch it twice in a row following its original release in theaters. With that being said, I may miss a few details, so bear with me. This film is also the most recent MCU film to date and highlights Peter Parker finally having to fill in Tony Stark’s shoes following his death in Endgame, so careful of spoilers if you haven’t seen this one yet! Parker is now doing appearances as Spider-Man with Happy Hogan, Stark Industries’ head of security, and his Aunt May. His high school is running a European field trip, and Peter decides to take a break from Spider-Man following his loss in Endgame. Stark leaves Peter his glasses, which come fitted with AI and a multitude of uses (like sending a homing missile at your classmate who may or may not be flirting with your crush. Thanks, Tony!). The glasses are called the EDITH glasses, or Tony’s love of acronyms spelling out, Even Dead, I’m The Hero. Parker is overwhelmed with the responsibilities of the glasses and filling in Stark’s shoes, so he does not do much with them yet. Meanwhile, Nick Fury and Maria Hill of SHIELD are battling out elemental creatures, giant monsters made from water, fire, wind, sand, etc. They are helped by a man from another universe, known as Mysterio. True Marvel fans already knew that this guy was up to no good. In Italy, Spider-Man meets Mysterio while fending off one of the elementals, and teams up with him to battle the other emerging creatures, such as the fire monster in Prague. Parker has a difficult time juggling his social and personal life with his Spider-Man identity, unable to choose between a date with MJ and saving the world. In Austria, Parker is given a new black suit to spy around Europe and accidentally lets off a homing missile to his classmate, yah yah, you already know. Following the defeat of the fire monster, Parker sits down with Mysterio and talks about his feelings and his stress. He surrenders the EDITH glasses, thinking that Mysterio is a better fit to fill in for Iron Man than Peter ever was. When Peter leaves, Mysterio reveals that it was all a hoax, as he had secretly hated Stark and wanted to see his corporation burn down from the inside. Mysterio banded together with a team of disgruntled ex-employees of Starks and made fake image renderings that acted as elemental creatures being attacked by Mysterio. Unlike comic-book Mysterio, Jake Gyllenhaal had no superpowers. Peter and MJ go on a date, where she suspects Parker of being Spider-Man. She gives him a projector which displays the rendering proving Mysterio to be a fraud, and now in control of millions of Stark Industry drones. Mysterio planned to stage an Avengers-level threat and defeat it, making himself a hero. Spider-Man pursues but through illusions from the projectors, Spider-Man is hit by a train. Yep. Somehow, he survives, and Happy Hogan picks him up to bring him back to London. On the flight, Parker makes a new suit and prepares for his battle against Mysterio. Parker took down many drones but lost most of his web fluid in the process. Happy Hogan leads the class to safety, as Peter uses his genius to create weapons on the spot. Parker breaks Mysterio’s dome, revealing the drones and losing most of their control. Parker almost arrests Mysterio, before he realizes he is another illusion, and just nearly prevents Mysterio from killing Spider-Man, as Peter takes back the glasses and stops the attack. With great power comes great responsibility, and Peter should not have the power nor responsibility of these glasses in my opinion. Mysterio dies on the bridge, but not before recording himself revealing Spider-Man’s identity and acting as if Peter had killed him. These files are linked by Mysterio’s old friends, exposing Peter Parker as Spider-Man to everyone, and told to NYC by none other than J. Jonah Jameson. Also, we see that Fury and Hill were never really there, but instead Skrull impostors working on Fury’s orders from space.

I have never been more excited for a movie than I am for this next Spider-Man movie. The next phase of the MCU is rumored to introduce the multiverse and having Garfield and Macguire reprise their roles as Spider-Man but from alternate universes. This is every Spider-Man fan’s dream come true, as the debate of the best Spider-Man may finally be settled. It is also rumored that the Sinister Six will be included, the six most deadly Spider-Man villains, Tom Hardy’s Venom, Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool, and the Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy from Into The Spiderverse. If even half of these rumors come true, I will be watching this movie many, many, many times. You guys have no idea how excited I am for the next phase of Marvel movies, and the collaboration of Spider-Man that may make this the best movie of all time.

“I’d rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Somebody’s got to look out for the little guy, right?”―Peter ‘Spider-Man’ Parker to Tony Stark about joining the Avengers

The Hacksmith

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There has never been a single Marvel fan who has never uttered some form of the line: “I wish I was (Insert favorite Marvel superhero here)!”. However, most of these fans have never had the means, or let’s be honest the willpower, to create such weaponry and powers. That all changed with the introduction of the Hacksmith. The Hacksmith, otherwise known as James Hobson, is a Canadian engineer who runs Hacksmith Industries. Hacksmith Industries is a direct nod to Tony Stark’s Stark Industries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the only difference being the limits of the real world and a some-odd billion dollars. However, Hobson and his team are the closest the world has ever seen to a real-life Iron Man, making a fully functional helmet, two working repulsors, a real arc reactor (which just powers things really fast, but does not have unlimited sustainable energy like the movies, as this is impossible) and an AI system named JARVIS running the facilities, whilst their personal robot assistant Dum-E delivers and spills coffee everywhere. Hacksmith Industries has shown some of the most insane builds that go far beyond this post, and even far beyond the Marvel universe. During quarantine, I watched and studied a lot of the Hacksmith YouTube channel (which will be linked below with a strong recommendation to check it out) and realized how much the channel had made me understand Marvel, and unleash the geek that loves superheroes. This post will only encompass a few of his builds, of course, all Marvel-related, but it is again highly recommended that you check them out and show them some support.

Let’s stick with the comparison to Iron Man, shall we? This section will encompass the builds described before, but with a tad more detail. To start, Dum-E, because as you probably know, Dum-E was the first technological advancement by Tony Stark, and thus has an important role in Hacksmith Industries. Dum-E is a remote-controlled robot that can grab a coffee and deliver it to the Hacksmith crew, although he often spills it out along the way.  Next, we have JARVIS, whose video can be found here, and JARVIS is an AI who controls the entire workshop, from lights to WiFi, to door mechanisms, etc. JARVIS does it all at Hacksmith Industries, and he continues to be improved over time. Next up we have the Iron Man helmet and repulsors. The gauntlet repulsors have the ability to cut through steel and provide protection and functionality to the user. The helmet has a heads up display and night vision within it, and the face retracts and implants just like the real ones in the movies. If you are as intrigued as I was when I heard of this, you can find the repulsors here and the helmet video here. And finally, last and certainly least, the arc reactor. The arc reactor is simply a glorified and bulky portable charger, and although it is not the Hacksmith’s fault, it is not a video I enjoyed all that much. However, if you want to see that video, I left it right here. Hacksmith Industries may not be Stark Industries just yet, but hopefully, James will be able to mount a full-blown Iron Man suit soon.

Some of the best videos James and his team do, aren’t even the builds, especially if you’re not one to care about the technicality and functionality. Often the most exciting videos are the testing or Make It Break videos, where James tests the functionality and durability of his creations. My favorite is the Make It Break episode where James tests his Captain America Shield against a jet engine (which is attached to an Iron Man suit). They mimicked the battle from Civil War and the scene was ultimately amazing to watch. The shield held up, but James was still thrown back. Dents in the shield marked a victory, while the metal began to steam.  I recommend watching this seven-minute video here or just skipping ahead to see the climax of the confrontation. Hacksmith Industries has tested multiple forms of Thor’s hammer’s, Iron Man’s blasters, Thano’s sword, real lightsabers, and full exoskeleton suits. The work is done at Hacksmith is impressive and the revolutionary innovations made at their engineering dreamhouse may just change the world of real-life superheroes forever.

Now, this is my favorite video, and for obvious reason. James brings along a fellow engineering friend named JT and they build a real-life system that allows them to grapple and travel along their roof like Spider-Man. Now, this is cruel but funny, JT falls in a hilarious way within the video, and as he is ok following the fall, I can say how funny it was, and get on to marveling at the work done at Hacksmith Industries. James and JT built grapplers that retract and shoot out via a shackle hook on the wrist mount and electric boards controlling the release and contraction of the hook. The rig ends up becoming very large, looking like an exoskeleton, but it will have to do due to the lack of radioactive spiders at Hacksmith Industries. The video is rather short, and the project had to be finished without JT as he had to go back to South Africa following his internship, but the final test was ultimately really cool, and the building of it was amazing to me.

The Hacksmith has been one of my favorite YouTubers over the past year and his videos continue to intrigue me. As I mentioned before, I strongly recommend the Hacksmith Youtube channel, which you can find by clicking the picture below. He has made dozens of other projects, many of MArvel ones such as Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, and Star-Lord, while also building other cool inventions based off of the Fallout video game series, Batman, the Predator, a fully functional lightsaber, and even a cybertruck made completely from scratch. If you have the free time, and especially if you have the curiosity, check out the channel and support him. The Hacksmith comes out with videos every week or a few weeks, and every person working at Hacksmith never fails to disappoint my geeky side. With over 10 million subscribers and growing, the Hacksmith is growing and he may just be the world’s very first superheroes.

“I did it first on the internet, which means I did it first”  -James Hobson aka ‘The Hacksmith’

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