IT'S 'WAR'
Marvel’s latest Avengers film is finally here.
Get caught up on key developments in the Marvel superhero film series
“Avengers: Infinity War,” opening Friday, makes its predecessors seem like small potatoes. The 19th film within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it combines nine franchises and more than 30 major characters. Audiences now have a decade’s worth of people and plot points to keep track of, beginning with 2008’s “Iron Man,” and retaining that much information would be a superhuman ability in itself.
We’re here to help. Here’s a look at some of the key developments in the series so far.
“GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY” » After the universe began, the Cosmic Entities formed six Infinity Stones: Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Soul and Time.
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE
FIRST AVENGER” » Thanks to a government experiment, Steve Rogers becomes Captain America, defies orders and singlehandedly frees almost 400 captured Allied soldiers from an Austrian facility run by the villainous organization Hydra, which turns Bucky Barnes into the Winter Soldier.
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE
WINTER SOLDIER” » Shortly after World War II, three of Captain America’s allies — Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and Chester Phillips — create SHIELD: the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. The secret government organization is built to protect the United States from all threats. But early on, Operation Paperclip recruits multiple former Nazi scientists; among them is Arnim Zola, who secretly rebuilds Hydra.
“THOR” » Odin banishes Thor to Earth after he makes the Frost Giants, inhabitants of the planet Jotunheim, declare war on Asgard. After Thor, Jane Foster and Erik Selvig deal with SHIELD, Loki sends the Destroyer, an Asgardian robot, to Earth to try to kill Thor. Thor and Loki fight, and the former ends up in Asgard with the Bifrost Bridge (a portal between the Nine Realms) destroyed. “MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS” » Loki uses the Scepter to control Clint Barton, Erik Selvig and other SHIELD agents, ordering them to kill Nick Fury and steal the Tesseract. Loki briefly loses the Scepter to the Avengers, but he regains it and murders the SHIELD’s Phil Coulson. (Coulson is later brought back to life by SHIELD.)
“MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS” » Erik Selvig, whose mind is controlled by Loki, uses the Tesseract to open a portal above New York’s Stark Tower. This allows the Chitauri, Thanos’ personal army, to drop into
New York. The Avengers fight them off and eventually capture Loki.
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE
WINTER SOLDIER” » It is revealed that Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD for decades. Natasha Romanoff releases all of SHIELD’s files to the public.
“AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON” » Ultron uses vibranium and the Scepter’s Mind Stone to create Vision, who later joins the Avengers, along with twins Wanda (Scarlet Witch) and Pietro (Quicksilver) Maximoff and they team up to destroy Ultron. Quicksilver is killed while saving Hawkeye. The devastation of this battle kills many innocent civilians and lays the groundwork for the events of “Captain America: Civil War.” After the Battle of Sokovia, a number of the original Avengers sort of retire:
Tony Stark (Iron Man) shifts to a less intensive role; Barton retires to be with his family; Thor leaves to focus on the Infinity Stones; the Hulk disappears. A new team forms and consists of Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, Sam Wilson and James Rhodes.
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL
WAR” » The Avengers, while on a mission to stop Crossbones — also known as Brock Rumlow — from stealing a biological weapon in Lagos, Nigeria, accidentally cause civilian deaths. As a result, the United Nations ratifies the Sokovia Accords, which put the Avengers under government oversight. During the ratification, a terrorist bomb in Vienna, where the Accords are set to be signed, kills T’Chaka. Camera footage suggests that Bucky Barnes is behind
the attack — we later discover that he was framed — and T’Challa vows to get revenge.
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL
WAR” » The Avengers, split into teams led by Captain America and Iron Man, fight over whether to sign the Sokovia Accords. Vision accidentally fires a beam at War Machine’s Arc Reactor, causing the suit to crash and paralyze Rhodey. Those against the Accords end up on the Raft, a prison for people with superhuman abilities, but are later broken out by Captain America.
“BLACK PANTHER” » After T’Chaka’s assassination, T’Challa assumes the throne. He is soon challenged by Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, who reveals himself to be the secret cousin of T’Challa and his sister, Shuri. Killmonger seeks revenge for his murdered father and is eventually defeated, but T’Challa is inspired to rethink and eventually overturn Wakanda’s isolationist policies.
“DOCTOR STRANGE” » Doctor Strange trains at the mystical Kamar-Taj under the Ancient One and Karl Mordo. While there, he finds the Eye of Agamotto, which contains the Time Stone. Strange uses the Eye and its time-reversing power to trap the evil Dormammu in a time loop. He ends the loop after Dormammu agrees to banish himself, Kaecilius and his Zealots from Earth. He then returns the Eye of Agamotto to Kamar-Taj.
“THOR: RAGNAROK” » Odin dies, and Hela, the banished goddess of death and Odin’s secret daughter, is set free from millennia-long imprisonment. A vengeful Hela destroys Thor’s famous hammer, Mjolnir, and knocks Thor and Loki off the Bifrost Bridge. She then massacres the Asgardian armies and installs herself as queen of Asgard. But in a climactic final battle, Hela is defeated when Loki summons Surtur, a leader of one of the Nine Realms. An Asgardian prophecy that claims Surtur will be the one to bring about the doomsday event Ragnarok is proved true, destroying Asgard (and himself) in the process. Thor takes the throne and heads to Earth with the other survivors, including Valkyrie and Loki. Their ship is suddenly attacked by a mysterious enemy.