A Marvel Movies Timeline To Watch From Beginning To Endgame

A Marvel Movies Timeline To Watch From Beginning To Endgame

Growing since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has established itself as one of the great blockbuster feats of all time – doing more than any franchise ever to establish a big screen continuity unlike anything audiences have ever seen. Mixing both period and contemporary stories, the movies have allowed fans to have a fascinating perspective on the history of the fictional world, with each new release adding a bit more to the larger picture. Of course, after more than 20 films things have gotten pretty damn complex, so for those of you who get a bit lost in it all we’ve specially designed this feature.

There are basically two ways to enjoy the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we will take a look at both in this piece. The first approach is to watch all of the titles in the order in which they were released in theaters, a.k.a. Release Order; while the second is to take in all of the stories based on the times they are respectively set, a.k.a. Chronological Order. Read about both below, and you can choose the methodology that best suits you in the run up to Avengers: Endgame this summer.

Iron Man (2008)

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Thor (2011)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

The Avengers (2012)

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)

Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)

Ant-Man (2015)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Doctor Strange (2016)

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Black Panther (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018)

Captain Marvel (2019)

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

In the establishment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios made specific choices regarding what characters they wanted to introduce to audiences and when, and if this is the part of their specific creative process that you personally take into consideration when watching the movies, then Release Order is probably the best choice for you. It’s not only the logical and most straightforward way to go about things, but it’s also likely the order in which most audiences have already seen the films anyway (for obvious reasons).

What we’re looking at here, however, is more than 40 hours of entertainment, and not everybody has that kind of time to spend rewatching movies. The good news is that not every single film is absolutely necessary viewing in the run up to the end of Phase 3, and taking certain shortcuts could save you some time without hampering any of your comprehension.

Take, for starters, the year that kicked the whole thing off: 2008. The first movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jon Favreau’s Iron Man, is truly necessary viewing to understand the full breadth of this franchise, given that it introduces/establishes arguably the most important character (Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark); some of the most important supporting players (such as Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Clark Gregg’s Phil Coulson, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts); the world’s advanced technologies/science-fiction rules; and the larger tonal approach to the material. You don’t really have full context for the MCU until you watch Iron Man.

Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk, on the other hand, is a different story. While it’s true that the film does exist within the continuity, and Bruce Banner/Hulk remains a massively important character in the franchise, the reality is that Marvel Studios’ second film isn’t exactly key within the larger legacy. Not only is the story very insular and self-contained – ultimately introducing only two characters who would return in later movies – its main star isn’t actually a part of the Marvel family anymore. Edward Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo going into the making of Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, and that blockbuster by itself does a fine job establishing the hero/monster (more on that particular title in a bit).

Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2 is another film that isn’t absolutely vital to the construction of the MCU, beyond further establishing the key characters mentioned earlier (and introducing Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow), but Kenneth Branagh’s Thor and Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger are two titles that should be rewatched. Origin stories are important in understanding where a hero is coming from, and that is very much true in watching the physical transformation of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, and the emotional maturity of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. It’s also worth noting that both films bring major narrative elements to the franchise as well, with the former giving audiences a taste of the universe beyond Earth, and the latter introducing the Tesseract a.k.a. the Space Stone.

Circling back to The Avengers, it should probably go without saying that the team-up movies are absolutely vital viewing in reflection on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this includes Whedon’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron as well. It takes massive world-changing events to bring all of these disparate heroes together – ones that fans should witness and understand to get a full grasp on the big picture – and the blockbusters also expose the nature of relationships key to the future. Some of this is cute stuff like the history between Black Widow and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, and the budding romance between Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany’s Vision, but it’s also massively important stuff like the serious friction between Iron Man and Captain America.

Moving into Phase 2 there is once again a mix of must-sees and skippables – with the 2013 features falling into the latter category. Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 is certainly fascinating from a character perspective, as it shows how Tony Stark has seriously changed following a full-scale alien invasion, but it’s also very much its own thing and doesn’t leave too many threads hanging. Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World is a bit of a different situation, as it is the film that brings the second Infinity Stone – the Aether a.k.a. The Reality Stone – into the mix, but the overall story doesn’t really provide anything to the larger story unfolding in the MCU, so it’s one of the titles you can probably relive just by reading a plot recap.

Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a film that is a bit on the fence in this conversation, as it very much is at its heart mostly a Captain America story, but there is enough significance that I would argue that it should be a part of any Marvel Cinematic Universe catch-up. It may not play around with Infinity Stones, but the developments with Black Widow, Sebastian Stan’s Winter Solider, and Anthony Mackie’s Falcon are definitely important to understand, and there is a pretty damn big happening that goes down in the form of S.H.I.E.L.D. being totally destroyed. Plus, it also happens to be one of the best MCU films to date.

Leaving Earth behind, James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy films then came along to add another key piece to the larger comic book movie universe, but in looking back on everything fans can probably get away with only watching the first one and not Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. While the 2014 release gives us our first adventure with the titular team, brings the very important Power Stone into the mix, and gives us our first real look at Josh Brolin’s Thanos, the sequel is definitely more about advancing the core ensemble and telling a specific story with those characters.

Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange then return us to the origin story conversation, and it’s the same situation with the titles mentioned before. Both films not only do a great job giving us a sense of exactly who the heroes are and what they fight for, but also add to the larger understanding of the fantastical elements of the universe – specifically with shrinking powers, alternate universes, and the legitimate existence of magic.

Much like The Avengers films, the fact that Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: Civil War features as many heroes and big world events as it does is why it needs to be a part of any Marvel Cinematic Universe recap. Even more so than Avengers: Age Of Ultron, this is the title that advanced character relationships to where they needed to be in the run-up to the Russos’ Avengers: Infinity War, and the emotional changes that they go through are necessary to understand where they are mentally going into the ordeal that winds up changing life as they know it.

Obviously Avengers: Infinity War is the big daddy that absolutely must be seen leading into the events of Avengers: Endgame, but the selection of titles released in 2017 and 2018 in regards to rewatch is basically up to individual viewers. Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther and Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man And The Wasp all have fun individual stories that wonderfully expand the specific worlds of the titular characters, updating audiences on where they all stand following the events of both Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, but they also don’t individually quite change the entire face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. I would certainly put more emphasis on watching them over Incredible Hulk, the Iron Man sequels, or even Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, but they also aren’t must-sees.

Finally we have Marvel Studios release #21: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Captain Marvel, which is most definitely a film that needs to be seen in advance of Avengers: Endgame. The film not only introduces what will certainly be one of the most important heroes in the entire franchise – Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers – but also once again shows audiences a side of the universe that no previous release has shown us. Those who see the movie prior to Avengers: Endgame will get to learn a whole lot more about some of continuity's most serious intergalactic conflicts, not to mention a peek into the pasts of some key characters, such as Nick Fury and Phil Coulson. And, of course, the blockbuster also provides some very important information about the modified pager that Fury can be seen using in Avengers: Infinity War's post-credits scene.

This is definitely the most straight-forward and logical way for any casual fan to reacquaint themselves with the stories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but if you’re looking to change things up a bit and perhaps have a new experience, you may want to give Chronological Order a try.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain Marvel

Iron Man

Iron Man 2

Thor

The Incredible Hulk

The Avengers

Iron Man 3

Thor: The Dark World

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Guardians Of The Galaxy

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Ant-Man

Captain America: Civil War

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Doctor Strange

Thor: Ragnarok

Black Panther

Ant-Man And The Wasp

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Endgame

While watching the Marvel Studios releases in the order they came out makes plenty of sense, it should be noted that doing so results in viewers bouncing all around the franchise timeline with very little rhyme or reason from a larger narrative perspective. In contrast, there is a way to watch the movies linearly – you just have to know the proper order. Fortunately, we have you covered, and can guide you through the process of watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe chronologically.

Technically the furthest back in time we’ve seen in these movies are the flashback sequences at the start of Thor: The Dark World (2988 B.C.) and Thor (965 A.D.), but the full story set furthest into the past is Captain America: The First Avenger – an adventure that entirely takes place towards the end of World War II. Spanning about two years (1943-1945), the story takes us from the transformation of Steve Rogers into Captain America, to his bold sacrificial move in the Arctic Circle that led him to being frozen in ice for decades.

After that, the next bits on the timeline come from flashbacks in Ant-Man And The Wasp and Ant-Man, namely scenes set in the 1980s with Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Janet Van Dyne. Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War also have pieces from the past, with notable sequences set in the early 1990s – but the second full feature to watch in the chronological order approach is Captain Marvel. With the exception of some moments set in the late 1980s, which is when Carol Danvers had her accident and made her way into space for the first time, the majority of the story takes place in 1995.

Skipping ahead a few decades there is then the grouping of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk. The reason the movies are put in that specific order is because there are key clues in each one that tell you when they are set in context to the others. Iron Man and Iron Man 2 are obviously connected, as the second picks up exactly where the first leaves off. We can tell that Thor plays out in the second half of Iron Man 2, however, because Phil Coulson leaves his Tony Stark babysitting duty to investigate the Mjolnir crash in New Mexico. As for The Incredible Hulk, you can actually see a news broadcast from the first half of that film in the background of Iron Man 2’s second to last scene.

Set in 2012, The Avengers is the full narrative that follows the events of The Incredible Hulk – but squeezing into the aftermath is also the opening of Spider-Man: Homecoming, which takes place during the cleanup following The Battle Of New York. Unfortunately, there is a bit of controversy here, though. For a reason that’s not yet clear, the web-slinging feature follows that bit up with a title card that says “Eight Years Later,” despite the fact that Spider-Man: Homecoming is set only four years later, in 2016. There is hope that continuity error will eventually be cleared up, but it hasn’t happened yet.

From 2012 to 2014 the release order synced with chronological order for a few years, but then the next change came with the arrival of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2. While the sequel was released a little less than three years after its predecessor, the story picks up just two months later after its predecessor, which means that the two films are better watched back-to-back when experienced in the grand scheme of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since then, most of the films released have also mostly been set around the time of their theatrical debut – though given the clear relationship in their stories and a bit of fun overlap, Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming are two titles also best viewed together. It should also be noted that viewings of Ant-Man And The Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War should be flipped, given that the mid-credits sequence of the July 2018 release reveals that the events of the main body of the feature take place before Thanos’ invasion.

No matter the order in which you decide to watch the films, one thing that’s for certain is the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has spun an epic big screen story so far in its decade-plus existence – and it’s not stopping any time soon. While Avengers: Endgame will be a film that puts a cap on everything we’ve seen from the franchise so far, we’re now just a few months away from the start of a new generation, Phase 4, and surely those titles will also do their part to change the way we view this gargantuan franchise.

No, DC Didn’t Push Back On James Gunn’s Brightburn

No, DC Didn’t Push Back On James Gunn’s Brightburn

It's no secret that the superhero genre is dominating the film industry. And with so many shared universes bringing comic book adaptations to theaters, there is some fear about superhero fatigue, where the genre will become too saturated and overstuffed to truly resonate with audiences.

In order to combat this concern, filmmakers have started to put their own spin on comic book movies, breaking new ground for the genre in the process. That's certainly the case with the James Gunn produced Brightburn, which is a horror-infused take on Superman's origin story. But given the similarities between Brightburn's powers and Superman's, did DC ever push back on the project? According to Gunn himself, not even a little. As he put it:

Well no, because there’s a lot of similar stories that have been told in comic books over the years, from all sorts of different comic book publishers And I have a pretty good relationship with DC.

While Brightburn's protgonist Bradon Beyer shares the same abilities as DC's Man of Steel, it doesn't look like the comic book behemoth had any problem with James Gunn's upcoming horror/superhero movie. Clark Kent is the only hero in the history of media, plus Gunn has a working relationship with DC Studios.

James Gunn's comments to CinePop make a great deal of sense, especially considering his upcoming collaboration with DC for The Suicide Squad. Following his (temporary) firing from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Gunn put his creative energy into bringing Brightburn to life. He also picked up a gig to write and direct The Suicide Squad, which may or may not be a reboot from David Ayer's previous film.

Related: James Gunn Had A Really Good Time Writing The Suicide Squad

DC must have known about Brightburn ahead of bringing on James Gunn to direct the villain-centric blockbuster. So if there was any issue with the upcoming genre-bending film, the studio had the chance to make their intentions known. But that didn't happen, allowing Gunn to bring a new type of superhero movie to theaters.

Another point James Gunn made in his above comments is just how many comic book character are really out there. So while Brightburn's main character will have similar powers to Superman's, the pop culture lexicon includes plenty of fictional characters who can fly, shoot lasers out of their eyes, and utilize super strength. Brightburn isn't actually about Clark Kent, after all.

Still, the similarities between Brightburn and Superman's origin story helped the buzz and anticipation for the new movie. Now that Brightburn is finally in theaters, we'll see how well this strategy worked in the box office.

Brightburn hits theaters today. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Hobbs And Shaw Trailer Has Dwayne Johnson Take On A Helicopter With His Bare Hands

Hobbs And Shaw Trailer Has Dwayne Johnson Take On A Helicopter With His Bare Hands

The Fast and Furious franchise found its groove when it let itself get a little nuts. It's now commonplace for the films to not let reality stand in the way of a moment that's going to look awesome on screen. I think Hobbs & Shaw, the franchise's first spinoff, is going for a "hold my beer" sort of moment, because the new trailer for the Dwayne Johnson/Jason Statham buddy pic might have one of the most insane, and yet completely awesome, moments yet. Check out the new trailer below, and make sure you don't miss the end.

The trailer opens up with the sort of entertaining, almost silly, action that made Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham so much fun in The Fate of the Furious. It was that chemistry that led to Hobbs & Shaw becoming a film in the first place. However, it's when the trailer comes to an end, and we see cars racing down the road and Dwayne Johnson attempt to pull down a helicopter on the end of a chain that things feel the most like a modern Fast & Furious movie.

Interestingly, we also learn that the full title of the movie is apparently Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. Nobody wants to forget that this is still part of the Fast & Furious franchise. Those films, especially the most recent entries, have been huge money makers around the world and clearly the hope is that Hobbs & Shaw will follow the main franchise to big box office returns. By including the Fast & Furious name in the title, that will help attract an audience all over the world.

While this may not be a standard Fast and Furious movie, it clearly is still going to feel like one, because "family" is going to be a major part of the story. We get to meet more of Deckard Shaw's family, in the form of Vanessa Kirby. However, we also see the movie go to Hobbs' home, and get to meet his entire extended family, who are apparently going to fight the bad guys with traditional Polynesian weapons. Because of course they are.

We also get to meet Idris Elba's new character who will be the big bad of the movie. He's apparently been genetically engineered, so he's basically an evil Captain America, though he refers to himself as "Black Superman." I'm not quite sure why the villain had to be given superpowers in this movie, beyond of course, the fact that it just sounds cool.

Fans of the Fast and Furious franchise will clearly find plenty to get excited about in Hobbs & Shaw. Will this be the first of many spinoffs, or a new Fast & Furious franchise all its own? The box office will likely determine that. We'll find out when Hobbs & Shaw hits theaters August 2.

Rotten Tomatoes Rolls Out New Policy For Audience Score To Fight Trolling

Rotten Tomatoes Rolls Out New Policy For Audience Score To Fight Trolling

2019 saw a significant portion of Rotten Tomatoes, as well as the internet community in general, trying to troll the system by review bombing release like Marvel’s Captain Marvel, thanks to the previous system that allowed users to post ratings and reviews before and after a film had been released. In order to combat such abuses of the system, Rotten Tomatoes removed the pre-release audience rating, allowing audiences to only rate films past their opening date.

Now the company is taking another, more aggressive step in determining which reviews are legitimate and which ones are fake. And it starts with a new feature known as the Verified Audience section.

Effective as of today, when you purchase tickets to any film through Fandango, you can choose to have your account linked to Rotten Tomatoes. Through that link, you’ll be able to post “verified” reviews and ratings on RT, as your ticket purchase will be your verification that you’ve seen the film.

However, if you haven’t seen the film, or even if you don’t buy tickets through Fandango, you’ll be able to still post a review after films like Disney’s Aladdin have opened. But those reviews will go to the “All Audience” section of Rotten Tomatoes’ audience feedback, meaning it has not been confirmed that you’ve actually seen the film.

This sort of activity is bound to be reduced by the end of the year though. The Hollywood Reporter specified that cinema chains AMC Theaters, Regal Theaters and Cinemark Theaters will have their ticketing apps included in the Verified field as the year goes on.

This new policy feels like a happy medium for fans who like to use their Rotten Tomatoes accounts to log personal reviews. Those who really want to be verified can do so with a simple purchase through Fandango, whereas those who aren’t too concerned with such things can still put their feelings down in digital ink. However, that difference in verification will definitely tinge how people read the reviews in the Verified and All Audience fields.

Rotten Tomatoes has been making quite a few alterations to the way it records reactions from both fans and critics alike, as even its RT Verified guidelines for critics have shifted in recent times. It’s clear to see that the review aggregator is looking to shape up its image, as well as draw more attention to itself through events like official freshness score unveilings.

How exactly this will shake out for the company’s fortunes is yet to be seen, and really it can’t be properly be judged until at least the big three movie theater chains sign up to be a part of Rotten Tomatoes’ Verified review program. For now, it’ll be interesting to see how the public reacts to these early days, as well as how the quality and quantity of reviews on both sides shows this program’s efficiency.

If you’re interested in testing out your status as a Verified reviewer, then check out the 2019 release schedule to see which new films you’d be interested in seeing for yourself. Also, don’t forget that only tickets purchase through Fandango will allow you to achieve such status.

Daniel Radcliffe Talks Avoiding Blockbusters After Harry Potter

Daniel Radcliffe Talks Avoiding Blockbusters After Harry Potter

When actors who are involved with major franchises –think the likes of Twilight films or Harry Potter or even The Hunger Games franchise – there is usually a period after the series ends where they are a hot commodity, able to sign on for whatever types of projects they wish. Some of these actors end up trying to do bigger budget movies whereas others tend to head to TV or appear in smaller, often more under-the-radar films.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter for eight movies after the turn of the century, ended up taking the latter path. Instead of trying to take bigger and bigger movies as he grew up and grew away from playing the kid with glasses and a lightning bolt scar, he instead gravitated toward projects that were odder and tested the limits of his acting. However, if you ask Radcliffe, it wasn’t a conscious decision to avoid the blockbuster circuit. He said in a recent interview:

It’s not a deliberate decision (to stay away from blockbuster films). I go where the scripts are. It’s hard to get anyone to spend money on (scripts that are) too big of a risk. A lot of the big studios, I find the scripts are not as challenging or weird or interesting as the stuff they make in the indie world or even in the TV world. So the things that I gravitate to, so far they just happen to be in the indie world.

Ahead of the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Daniel Radcliffe was already testing the limits with weird projects. He made headlines when he appeared in the long-running play Equus and was tasked with getting nude for the role.

As the Harry Potter movies were wrapping, Daniel Radcliffe took different types of indie roles. He played Allen Ginsburg in Kill Your Darlings. He played a corpse in Swiss Army Man. He played a pilot delivering illegal cargo in Beast of Burden.

The closest thing Daniel Radcliffe came to a blockbuster was taking a part in Now You See Me 2, and that movie wasn't exactly a critical success. (He also has a small role in Amy Schumer's more successful vehicle Trainwreck.)

In the interview with StarLifestyle, Daniel Radcliffe did reveal that he would be happy to be involved in another large movie one day, but for him, it’s really about finding the right role and going for it.

But if there’s something happening in the studios and I love the script, I would love to be a part of some crazy big movie. It’s just about waiting for the right script.

Sometimes it’s difficult to believe it has been eight years since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 graced the big screen. But in that time, the young cast especially has had to forge new paths. Daniel Radcliffe’s doing the indie thing, with roles on both TV and in movies. Rupert Grint has taken on a lot of TV, although he has occasional movie gigs. Evanna Lynch even just did Dancing with the Stars. Emma Watson probably has the biggest acting career of the kids in the cast, and she often chooses to forego acting for other humanitarian work; she is set for the Little Women remake.

These days, Daniel Radcliffe is a grown adult and kids have stopped recognizing him as Harry Potter. However, until he takes on another gigantic role as an adult, his time playing the young wizard will likely stick out as his most notable role for many. For now, you can catch the actor in the TV series Miracle Workers on TBS, also starring Steve Buscemi.

Jordan Peele’s Terrifying Us Kicks Off SXSW With A Bold And Bloody Thrill Ride

Jordan Peele’s Terrifying Us Kicks Off SXSW With A Bold And Bloody Thrill Ride

Jordan Peele is about to embark on a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. He’s going to relaunch The Twilight Zone as a network television series, opening up new worlds of mystery and suspense. Well, his latest movie Us proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he’s the ideal storyteller to carry that baton for a new generation, spinning yarns that stimulate and devastate, while also making you think and talk about difficult subjects after the fact.

The eyes of the film community were on Austin, Texas last night as Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated follow up to Get Out opened the 2019 South By Southwest Film Festival. And it’s ironic that Us debuts at a festival named after a seminal Alfred Hitchcock work, because Peele is slowly making a claim as this generation’s Hitchcock. His command of the genre and his material is that strong, after only two films.

There’s a lot about Us I can’t reveal, for fear of deflating some of the movie’s best reveals. But if you watched the trailers and the commercials, you likely know this much. A family on vacation encounters shadow versions of themselves in the dead of night. But even that surface logline strips away a lot of the nuance of why this innocent family is being targeted. And how they put themselves in that situation in the first place.

The answers to those queries are the meat of Jordan Peele’s mystery, and that won’t be explored here. What we can discuss is the tone and approach to Us, which is far deeper into the straight-up horror genre than Get Out was. Peele’s previous Oscar winner (for Screenplay) had more, social commentary than scares, while Us coats its relevant talking points (and there are plenty) with splatters of blood.

The cast assembled by Peele revel in playing mirror images of themselves, with the normal Wilson family haunted by demented versions of themselves. And while every cast member finds ways to differentiate between the seemingly normal Wilson member and their deranged counterpart, it’s Lupita Nyong’o who steals the spotlight for her fascinating performance on both sides of the reflections of her character, Adelaide Wilson.

Though the South By Southwest Film Festival is just now getting off to its first starts, I can tell you that Us has been a movie virtually everyone has been talking about, questioning things that they saw on screen – what IS the deal with those rabbits?! – and figuring out answers that aren’t readily available until a repeat screening. I can tell you, with 100% certainty, that Us will be a different movie the second time that you watch it. And you will watch it, again and again.

Us opens in theaters on March 22. Keep following CinemaBlend as our coverage of SXSW 2019 rolls along.

Why Avengers: Endgame Is Marvel's Best Captain America Movie

Why Avengers: Endgame Is Marvel's Best Captain America Movie

SPOILER WARNING : So you’re scouring the internet for Avengers: Endgame content…. Here’s a friendly reminder that reading spoilers without witnessing the movie in all its glory will just ruin it for yourself. Only read on if you have contributed to the record-breaking box office haul for the Infinity Saga conclusion.

While Avengers: Endgame pulled off a lot of unexpected moments throughout its three-hour epic runtime, if there is one aspect of the film most of us went into it anticipating, it was Chris Evans’ Captain America getting a sendoff. Wow, this film made that happen in a big way!

Thankfully, Cap was in the best hands possible. The Russo Brothers started their partnership with Marvel with 2014’s Captain America: Winter Soldier (a highly-regarded fan favorite), they kept it going with Civil War in 2016 before moving on to closing out the Infinity Saga with Infinity War and Endgame.

The Russos’ had a lot of ground to cover with Endgame besides the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan, but the movie still managed to conclude the character’s arc in an incredibly satisfying way. Chris Evans was given the space to offer up his best and most well-rounded performance as the hero to date that shows off his position as one of the most deliberate superhero stories ever told on screen.

While his standalone trilogy was certainly impressive, Endgame elevates Captain America higher and caps (no pun intended) off his narrative in a way we won’t soon forget. Here’s why:

His “Giddy“ Optimism Pays Off

The downfall of a character like Captain America (and his DC brethren, Superman) is his sky high idealism and belief in the greater good. It’s a characteristic of comic book publishers’ earliest iterations and for a reason: to bring hope and escapism to readers in hard times.

While we certainly like a good dose of escapism today, it’s more difficult for us to believe in a hero like Cap, and Tony Stark’s relationship with him throughout the franchise is the perfect example of this. He’s always questioning his decisions and words of confidence.

In Endgame, Tony hits Steve with this head on in the beginning of the film, cursing his optimism since they have now lost. But there ends up being something insightful in Cap’s good intentions to “keep on keepin’ on” that shine brightly in this movie most of all. He is the rock of the squad who believes in Ant-Man’s idea, then recruits Tony and the rest of the team, yes with Black Widow at his side, but without him everyone (even her) was starting to give up.

Cap even starts to give up a bit himself, but he never lets this stop him. Where some of the other Cap films have wavered on the “why,” Endgame shows that the character’s belief in it all turning out okay really can be a strength, making it the ultimate film for the hero.

He’s Got America’s Ass

Okay so if you were looking for analysis of Cap’s booty, this isn’t it, but it is regarding the whole-ass scene that starts with this now iconic line. There’s nothing we love more seeing some clever character development, and Endgame juggles this with many of the core Avengers.

For Cap though, the parallel between who he was and who he has become between 2012’s Avengers and his last hurrah is shown much more literally. When he travels back to the New York battle to retrieve the Tesseract, he runs into himself and straight up takes him down in the best way possible. When younger Cap says “I can do this all day,” the older Cap scoffs at the line hilariously.

Not to mention that the moment in the elevator with some of those Hydra double agents serves as a fun callback to the iconic elevator fight scene in Winter Soldier. When the hero mutters “Hail, Hydra” to deceive them instead of using his energy to battle them all, it shows Cap is capable of being quippy and a really fun character at the end of the day.

While Chris Evans has a lot of seriousness to pull during the franchise, Endgame really brings together the hero’s charm. The fact that all these references pack a huge punch in just a few short minutes shows the character was never the butt of the MCU, but is a real MVP.

He Assembles The Full Team… And The Mjolnir

Then comes the moment when Captain America must face Thanos again, as the past version of the Mad Titan has found out the location of the gauntlet and seeks to become “inevitable.” It was already an exciting showdown between Thanos, Cap, Iron Man and Thor, but then Cap says these words: “Avengers Assemble.”

It’s a scene that looks to be the end of Cap as he stands alone in front of Thanos, but Rogers isn’t a “I can do this alone” kind of guy. He knows a battle is best won together, and when all the unsnapped Avengers enter the battle it’s a glorious moment unlike any other.

In a geekfest full of incredible moments such as that “girl power” shot, one of Cap's certainly steals the show as well. Right before all the unsnapped heroes show up, he gets Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. The whole theater absolutely skips a heartbeat when this happens, and when he wields it and switches off the weapon with Thor, its big screen GOLD.

There was a bit of foreshadowing of this in Age of Ultron when he moves Mjolnir a bit, but Endgame hails Captain America as just about the most powerful original Avenger as he becomes worthy of the weapon of a god. The scene is payoff for the character in the best way because he’s always been trying to do the right thing and be a “worthy” hero… now he absolutely is.

He Makes That Date

Captain America’s story starts on an emotional high note when he must force down a plane in the ‘40s and leave behind Peggy Carter before their budding romance can really start to blossom. It’s the ultimate sacrifice for the hero that he grapples with throughout his MCU journey. He is constantly going back to the life he left behind and he has dealt with it in all of his films.

While we speculated Peggy may play a role in Endgame, her involvement in the MCU ends up giving audiences a happy ending that gives all of those emotional moments meaning and depth. After saving the world and helping bring together the Avengers, Cap goes back in time and lives the life he’s always dreamed of.

Then he remembers another one, the exact moment when Hulk, Bucky and Falcon beamed him back in time to tell them that it worked. He returned the Infinity Stones to their rightful place and took a permanent trip down memory lane to retire.

Cap then has one last thing to do: pass off the legacy of his shield to someone: either Bucky or Sam Wilson. While his love for Bucky throughout the franchise could have swayed him that way, Falcon is the clear successor and is the perfect way to end his story, even if Anthony Mackie never actually suits up as Captain America (we'll have to wait and see).

Without Avengers: Endgame, Captain America’s story just wouldn’t just be as impactful emotionally and cinematically as this movie made it. Not only is it the perfect send off for the character but his best movie to date.