My Take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe

It's all building towards SOMETHING, but to what??

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, with all its flaws, has definitely been one of the better things to come to superhero films. After all the Marvel garbage we've had to suffer through over the years (Spider-Man 3, Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four, Ang Lee's Hulk), we finally got some worthy adaptations of some of the lesser-known properties of Marvel's canon. And while the overall quality of the universe has varied, it definitely feels like the stories of the individual heroes are slowly coming together for next year's Avengers movie. I'm giving my individual opinion of these films, in order of release, and will try to speculate on where the story is going. First up, Iron Man.

Jon Favreau's original 2008 Iron Man is, without a doubt, the best of the bunch. Taking advantage of an action-packed script by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, and the utterly perfect star casting of Robert Downey Jr. as eccentric billionaire Tony Stark, the film was a hit with critics and audiences, the MCU was launched in style with one of the best superhero films to date. Jeff Bridges was also awesome as chilling villain Obadiah Stane, with strong casting for Gwyneth Paltrow as well. I would say that Terrence Howard was good casting, but they blew this by failing to keep him around for the sequel. I really have no complaints about this film, it's just that good. Samuel L. Jackson's surprise cameo, in effect announcing the MCU, just made it better.

The Incredible Hulk is a decent, fun summer blockbuster, and director Louis Leterrier certain didn't ease up on the action the way that Ang Lee did. Edward Norton could be awesome as almost anything, so good casting as Bruce Banner, and Tim Roth was an interesting villain. However, I think that this film's release was ill-timed, as it was only 5 years out from the Lee film. I think it would have been wiser to focus on Thor or Captain America first, and then to come back to the Hulk before the Avengers. Certain aspects of the film are generic or unconvincing, such as the one-track General Ross (despite William Hurt's best efforts), Liv Tyler's unconvincing love interest, and the just plain annoying Tim Blake Nelson. The film gets more right than wrong, I suppose, and is definitely better than Lee's movie.

WHAT THE F*** HAPPENED?!!

Jon Favreau's sequel, for all its merits, stinks of the movie-killing bile known as STUDIO INTERFERENCE. They wanted Iron Man 2 to be more than a sequel, they wanted it to set up The Avengers. However, it tries to be both, and never completely succeeds. Superfluous plot points (why does Tony have to be dying? So Agent Romanoff can have a purpose, of course!), the overly ninja Scarlett Johansson, the unnecessary extended cameo of Samuel L. Jackson, and the just plain annoying acting by Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer culminate in another case of sequel-itis. I also think Don Cheadle is inferior to Terrence Howard. If it wasn't for the continued acting prowess by Downey and Paltrow, the hilarious scenery chewing of Mickey Rourke, and the thankful appearance of War Machine, the movie might have killed the universe. The worst entry, but still OK.

Idris Elba's golden helmet is indescribable. Words like "majestic" simply don't cut it.

Though The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 were by no means bad, Thor was something of a return to form for the MCU. Considering how utterly absurd the trailers looked, I'm thankful that this one worked out. Kenneth Branagh was the PERFECT choice to direct Thor, and kudos to them for going with Aussie unknown Chris Hemsworth instead of star stunt casting. The fantastical Asgardian scenes were brilliantly done, creating a sense of awe in the viewer, and the mythical presence of Anthony Hopkins' Odin and Idris Elba's Heimdall (with his magnificent golden helmet) only adds to this. The Earth scenes are a little run-of-the-mill and dull, and Natalie Portman spends too much time looking less astrophysicist and more horny chick. Thor's a blast though, and helped get this series back on track. Tom Hiddleston's Loki is looking like he could be the villain of the whole damn thing.

FLAME ON!!...Wait, I've changed characters? I'm not Peter F***ing Sellers.

Captain America: The First Avenger is next, and so far it looks pretty awesome. Chris Evans (despite my reservations about his casting) looks good as both the skinny little Steve Rogers and the muscular and resolute Captain. Hugo Weaving's Red Skull looks just plain SICK, and Tommy Lee Jones' speech in the trailer very nearly gave me chills. I feel this should have been released earlier in the MCU, but its looking damn good.

Obviously, Joss Whedon's Avengers movie is where this will all come together next May, and it's being kept tightly under wraps. I've heard rumors that Loki may use the Cosmic Cube seen in Thor and the Captain America trailer to summon the alien Skrulls, but that's all just speculation at this point. Mark Ruffalo has replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, no clue how he'll fit into the story. I've heard that Don Cheadle won't be in it, but Downey, Hemsworth, Jackson, Johansson, and Evans all will be, along with Stellan Skarsgård from Thor, and Clark Gregg as SHIELD agent Coulson. I presume Hiddleston will return as Loki. If anyone can pull this off, it's Whedon, so I think they've got the right idea.

Can't forget that Iron Man 3 is due a couple of years down the road either, without Favreau in the director's chair. He's been replaced by Downey's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director Shane Black, and his days from writing the Lethal Weapon movies make me think that he may be a worthy choice. But this isn't even close to production yet, so I'll have to hang on for this one.

My star ratings for the MCU so far:

Iron Man- 4.5/5
The Incredible Hulk- 3.5/5
Iron Man 2- 3/5
Thor- 4/5