It has been 10 years since Tony Stark crash-landed in a desert after building the first Iron Man suit in a cave using scrap metal from his own missile and a car battery. Look how far we have come!
Here are a few reasons why every Marvel fan is filled with emotions as April 26th comes closer and why it was all worth it to stick by Marvel and witness this amazing unfolding of events. The list is in no particular order, mainly because I love them too much to rank them.
1. The golden trio: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) may have been Captain America longer than Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been Iron Man but Iron Man was the first Avenger to be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). And if you have seen all the Iron Man movies, you will agree with me when I say team Tony, Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Happy (Jon Favreau) is unbeatable, whether it’s fighting a business rival like Obadiah Stane (Iron Man 1) or a wide known terrorist head like the Mandarin (Iron man 3).
2. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes
If you have ever complained about being in a long distance friendship, you can look at this duo because their friendship not only survived separation over space and time but also intense brainwashing from Hydra. Their love for each other is so strong that it broke the mind spell of the winter soldier, or Bucky (Sebastian Stan). Take heart, because if your friendship is true it will survive all testaments.
3. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johanson) and Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner)
The perfect undercover super-spy duo who can defeat anyone, if they tried. From there casual references of past missions to Barton’s kids calling Natasha Aunt Nat, they are the perfect example of partners in crime AND you can’t convince me otherwise.
4. The Revengers
HAVE YOU SEEN THOR: RAGNAROK? Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, is a powerful demigod, fighting along with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) a former villain and his adopted brother, Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) a drunk celebrity warrior and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) an incredibly smart scientist with a temper. Their mission: to defeat their sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett), a goddess of hell who was imprisoned by their father so long ago that nobody even remembers her. I mean, talk about family drama.
P.S. Look out for the rock, paper, scissors jokes made and implied in the entire movie by the amazing Taika Watiti who plays the role of Korg (a being made of rocks) in the movie.
5. Loki
He is the ultimate trickster, and he tricked us all into falling in love with him. His redemption arc is one of the most amazing and hilarious arcs I have witnessed in a cinematic universe. Loki is also one of the most respectable villains because Tom Hiddleston’s British politeness is so prominent in his portrayal as Loki and the fandom stans a villain who can talk so formally.
6. Peter Parker
Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is one of the most relatable superheroes of all time. He is a high-schooler who continuously makes movie references (much like myself). I have loved Spider-Man since his animated series, The Amazing Spider-Man, aired on the Disney Channel and I haven’t stopped loving him since.
7. Dr. Strange and his cape
Who says magic items don’t have feelings? Dr. Strange’s cape is a self-governed entity who has an amazing sense of humor and killer sarcastic instincts. The cape is very choosy and sometimes smarter than Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), an actual neurosurgeon. Their partnership dynamics are worth shipping!
8. Groot and Rocket
Talking tree meet raccoon cyborg. The relationship describes itself, a perfect father-son dynamic in the MCU.
Also. Baby Groot <3.
9. The pairing of Drac the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff)
This pairing gave us the iconic line, “Kick names, Take ass.” ‘Nuff said.
10. The sibling dynamics in the entire series
From the loving, albeit dysfunctional, sibling love between Wand Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to the absolute love-hate relationship between Gamora (Zoe Saldano) and Nebula (Karen Gillian)—both adopted by Thanos. MCU gives us a lot of quality sibling content, but my favorite is the forever changing relationship between Thor and Loki—going from stabbing each other to shooting aliens together within seconds.
11. Nicholas J. Fury and his entire team
The toughest guy in the whole MCU, recently exposed in the movie Captain Marvel, is a fan favorite. He is also a cat person (sorry for the spoiler here). Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his team are like the backstage crew; without them, the Avengers couldn’t have saved the world (see agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the full scoop).
12. Bruce Banner, Hulk and Thor
Again, Thor: Ragnarok was a game changer for the Thor movie series in the MCU. Bruce Banner, Hulk and Thor become the kind of friends that lift each other up and support each other unconditionally. I mention both Bruce Banner and Hulk because they are two different personalities and Thor: Ragnarok establishes that pretty firmly.
13. Captain Marvel
One of the highest grossing MCU movies, Captain Marvel is the most feminist superhero movie I have seen. With the reasonable super suit to Brie Larson’s powerful and moving performance, Captain Marvel is an influencer for all the little girls who have been denied something or were belittled after failures just because they were girls.
14. Female icons (Hello!)
Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow, Gamora, Nebula, Valkyrie, Okoye (Danai Gurira), Shuri (Letitia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Pepper Potts, Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlett Witch, Hope Pym a.k.a. The Wasp (Evangeline Lily), Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), Maria Hill (Cobie Smolders) and Hela. In my opinion, just the names are enough.
15. Stan Lee
The creator and the God of the Marvel Universe. He is the only character who has appeared in every Marvel movie since the inception of the Marvel cinematic universe. Thank you, Stan Lee, for giving us such amazing characters and role models. You will forever live in our hearts.
I, for one, cannot wait to see Avengers: Endgame on the 26th of April. Infinity War was one of the few movies that made me cry and I know I am going to cry during Endgame because it is the end of an era. Marvel has confirmed that some of the OG Avengers will not be surviving their second confrontation with Thanos (Josh Brolin). The MCU mantle, following the events of Endgame, will be passed on to the new-age superheroes and even though I am heartbroken over the impending loss of our beloved characters, I cannot wait to see what is next in MCU.
See you on the other side!
Related Articles:
- Stan Lee: The Man, the Legend, The God.
- Why I Fell in Love with the Umbrella Academy
- Reasons Why I Adored Isn’t It Romantic
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