Marvel’s upcoming juggernaut, The Avengers: Infinity War, is the 19th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bumped up one week to debut worldwide on April 27, you have even less time than you thought to catch up on the first 18 movies in the series. The Geekiverse is here to help you with a little refresher on all things MCU. What would you do without us?The Geekiverse is covering all current 18 MCU films in the lead-up to The Avengers: Infinity War, as well as a list of Infinity War Essentials to get you primed and ready for the movie when it releases on April 27. Bookmark our Infinity War Hub to keep up on all the latest with new coverage weekly.

MCU Movie #1: Iron Man

Release Date: May 2, 2008

Story Snapshot: Before becoming Iron Man, Genius, Playboy, Billionaire, and Philanthropist Tony Stark travels to Afghanistan to deliver a demonstration of his new missile, called the “Jericho.” Ambushed by a terrorist group, Stark is critically injured by one of his company’s (Stark Industries) own weapons. After building a powerful suit to escape captivity, Stark returns home. With his newfound perspective on life, he decides to change the company’s purpose and no longer will build weapons. Much to the chagrin of partner Obadiah Stane, his father’s friend and co-manager at Stark Industries, a rift begins to grow between the two. Stark finds out that the company had sold weapons to the terrorist group and thus, dealing under the table to both the United States government and its enemies. Stane plans to overthrow Stark within the company and steals the arc reactor that is in his chest. The arc reactor is a rare piece of technology that is helping to keep Stark alive, keeping the shrapnel from the incident in Afghanistan from getting to his heart. In a final showdown, Stane dons one of the suits built by Stark, and the two square off. Thanks to the help of Pepper Potts, Stark’s Personal Assistant, Stark defeats Stane. The following day at a press conference, Stark confirms to the public that he is indeed Iron Man, despite the suggestions of the organization S.H.I.E.L.D.

Notable Appearances:

-Iron Man #1 (Robert Downey Jr.)

-Pepper Potts #1 (Gwyneth Paltrow)

-James “Rhodey” Rhodes #1 (Terrence Howard)

-Nick Fury #1 (Samuel L. Jackson)

Stan Lee’s Appearance: Stan’s first MCU appearance is as a Hugh Heffner-like character, seen on the red carpet before Stark heads into the party. Watch it here.

The Post Credit Scene(s): Marvel started a trend in movies that has successfully made movie goers everywhere remain in the theater all the way through the end of the credit roll, even if it isn’t clear that there will be a scene or two (or four, right GOTG Vol. 2?). Nick Fury makes his MCU debut by appearing in Stark’s home. When Stark asks who Fury is, Fury introduces the idea of the “Avenger Initiative,” laying the groundwork for the MCU’s 6th film, The Avengers. Watch it here.

In Your Collection: Iron Man can be purchased in a Blu-ray/Digital bundle or as part of a trilogy collection that features Iron Man, Iron Man 2, & Iron Man 3.

Why it’s relevant to The Avengers: Infinity War:

It launched the MCU with a bang – Can you believe it’s really been 10 years? 2008 was a massive year for superhero films. Not only did Marvel successfully launch its ambitious, unprecedented Cinematic Universe with Iron Man & one month later, The Incredible Hulk, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight released to high critical and box office acclaim. Comic book movies would be changed forever with Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker. Marvel showed it could produce a successful take on Iron Man & The Hulk, respectively, eventually leading to the intricate, massive MCU that we have come to know and love. Without these three films, we wouldn’t be here, ten years later, talking about the third upcoming Avengers movie.

It set the tone for Phase 1 – Iron Man laid the groundwork and tone for what fans could come to expect for the rest of the “Phase 1” MCU films, which would include The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, & 2012’s wildly successful The Avengers. Iron Man was the ideal blend of action and origin, sprinkled in with RDJ’s sense of humor and swagger that he would so masterfully bring to the character of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man for the next decade.

Iron Man laid the groundwork and tone for what fans could come to expect for the rest of the “Phase 1” MCU films, which would include The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, & 2012’s wildly successful The Avengers. Iron Man was the ideal blend of action and origin, sprinkled in with RDJ’s sense of humor and swagger that he would so masterfully bring to the character of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man for the next decade. It cast Robert Downey Jr. as a version of himself – RDJ is one of the best castings of all time and would certainly appear on just about anyone’s list of the best comic book heroes brought to life. There’s no shortage of awesome superhero castings these days. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Chris Evans as Captain America, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine are just a few. But at the top of the list for me, it’s RDJ as Iron Man. He wasn’t kidding with the last line of dialogue in the movie. “I am Iron Man.” There’s no acting there, it’s a match made in heaven.

Side note: Isn’t Jeff Bridges wonderful as Obadiah? So underrated.

Iron Man became a pillar of the entire MCU – It depends how you look at the MCU. Some would say Captain America is the backbone of not just the Avengers, but the movie franchise as a whole. I argue that it’s Iron Man, because Captain America: The First Avenger doesn’t happen without a successful box office run from Iron Man.

It depends how you look at the MCU. Some would say Captain America is the backbone of not just the Avengers, but the movie franchise as a whole. I argue that it’s Iron Man, because Captain America: The First Avenger doesn’t happen without a successful box office run from Iron Man. It taught us that a shared universe could exist in cinema – The movie introduced us to the ambitious idea of a shared universe between comic book characters. No one’s been able to come close to what Disney and Marvel have done, with a combined $14 billion-plus in revenue from the 18 films that have been released so far. It is the highest grossing franchise in Hollywood history.

Fun Fact: This was Terrence Howard’s only appearance as Rhodey. Don Cheadle would take over the role in Iron Man 2.

Iron Man is important for so many reasons, not the least of which is getting to see how much Tony Stark has changed and grown throughout the years. His arc is one of the most satisfying of any of the heroes to date. Starting off as a punk-ass kid who found his family fortune through selling weapons to the rest of the world, Stark’s moral change of heart puts him on a course that is entertaining and enriching to watch throughout the Iron Man, Avengers, and more recently, the Captain America and Spider-man movies. He quickly became the backbone of the MCU. Seeing his guilt and trauma after The Avengers has us feeling that we might be seeing more of that in Infinity War. Well, if the trailers are any indication…

Some Assembly Required Part 2: The Incredible Hulk

Josiah LeRoy is The Geekiverse’s founder. He is re-watching all 18 MCU movies in an effort to properly rank them before Infinity War comes out. Now that’s dedication.

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