We're Almost There...

     This has never been done before. I mean this is something different, we have never seen anything like this. Since the release of the first Ironman film in 2008, the geniuses at Marvel studios had been cooking up quite a plan, a plan to join Ironman with the other heroes of the Marvel Universe. After Tony’s first meeting with Nick Fury after the credits of Ironman, every Marvel film afterwards was set in the same world and geared with the same theme, the creation and evolution of “The Avengers Initiative”. Four years in the making, five different films, “earth’s greatest heroes” and we are just two weeks away from superhero history.

     It all began with the birth of Ironman in 2008. After performing several heroic stunts and attracting the media, Tony is approached by Agent Colson, of the Strategic Homeland Interven- you know what I mean. After revealing himself to be the ironclad hero in front of the whole world, Tony is paid a quick visit by the director of SHIELD himself, Nick Fury (who first mentions the Avengers). Later that year The Incredible Hulk was released, which was originally thought to be a sequel to the movie in 2003, but of coarse it wasn’t. The only references made to the Avengers in this film was the use of a serum, resembling the super-solider serum (which Captain America would use later in the Marvel films) and the appearance of Tony Stark, SHIELD’s newest consultant (the events of this Hulk movie were later revealed to have taken place after the events of Ironman 2).

     Which brings me to the next film from Marvel studios, Ironman 2 released in 2010. Of coarse by this point we all knew that there was an Avengers movie in the works aimed for 2012, so there wasn’t much of a shock when this movie featured many appearances by Nick Fury, the Black Widow, Agent Colson and many SHIELD agents. At the end of the film Fury refuses to accept Stark into the Avengers Initiative because of his “textbook… narcissism?” But he did offer Tony a chance to be a consultant for the group, which he accepts. Keeping with Marvel’s trend of footage after credits, we see Colson arrive at a large crater in New Mexico and at its center, a hammer!

     Thor was such an awesome movie, but that’s not my focus right now. I’m more concerned on the various hints of Avengers throughout the movie. Agent Colson appears on many occasions like stealing all of Jane Foster’s research or interrogating Thor. He is even in the scene where Thor breaks into the lab SHIELD quickly built to retrieve his hammer. Colson has Hawkeye on standby to takedown Thor id necessary… did I mention Hawkeye was in this movie too? The end sequence involves Nick Fury showing Jane’s scientist friend a piece of “god-like” technology in the form a bright, glowing blue cube. Loki, who was thought to have died earlier in the film, is seen in nearby reflection saying: “This looks interesting” (or something like that).

     The cube, that Nick Fury has at the end of Thor, is the very same cube that Red Skull seeks and obtains in Captain America: The First Avenger. Along with the origin of Cap himself, the movie introduces the Howling Commandos, a group of soldiers led by Nick Fury in early comics. We also got our first glimpse at a young Howard Stark, known to be one of the founding members of SHIELD. Over the coarse of the film, various characters stated that the cube was created by the gods and holds unlimited power. This is proven when Red Skull grabs the cube and a portal to a space-like background (much like the one in Thor) is seen and Red Skull is sucked up into it as the cube plummets to Earth’s surface, later to be discovered by Howard. Many assume that the cube is the weapon that Loki will seek in the upcoming Avengers film. As you all know Cap wakes up in the 21st century and is greeted by Nick Fury. Cap realizes that this new time will take some getting used to because, “I had a date”. After the credits Fury comes to Cap with a mission involving the safety of the world. The film ends with a quick teaser of The Avengers.

     So there you have it. I’m sorry for everyone who read this article already knowing all this information, or more, but this was more for my benefit. Four years of films, it’s easy to lose track of some key scenes. But we’re almost there, just a couple weeks and the greatest team-up of all hits theatres. I’ll probably go see it twice, hell ill see it three times because I know for sure that this movie will be awesome. I’m also glad to know that Marvel feels confident enough in their films to reveal that sequels to Cap, Thor and Ironman 2 will all be released within a couple years. The Avengers will make superhero history, on May 4th, The Avengers Assemble!