Sophie Turner Calls Working With Bryan Singer On X-Men: Apocalypse ‘Unpleasant’

Sophie Turner Calls Working With Bryan Singer On X-Men: Apocalypse ‘Unpleasant’

It's no secret that superhero movies are everywhere. The comic book genre is massively popular, so tons of studios are trying to get in on the game. But before comic book movies became commonplace, the X-Men franchise was there. Starting back in 2000, the mutant-centric property has routinely released new blockbusters, with Dark Phoenix set to arrive this summer.

Sophie Turner is taking center stage on Dark Phoenix, after being introduced as a young mutant in X-Men: Apocalypse. That movie was directed by franchise creator Bryan Singer, and brought in some new characters alongside the First Class ensemble and Oscar Isaac. But according to Turner, she didn't have a good time working with the controversial director. She recently spoke to this, citing Rami Malek's recent comments about Singer. As she put it:

Our time together was, like Rami said, unpleasant.

While becoming a superhero was a great did for Sophie Turner, it doesn't look like she enjoyed her time working alongside Bryan Singer in X-Men: Apocalypse. Ultimately she seems to have persevered, as she'll be the titular character of Dark Phoenix.

Sophie Turner's comments come from her recent profile from Rolling Stone. Bryan Singer has had a long career as a filmmaker, but he's currently got his share of controversies. Singer was recently accused of sexual misconduct, and was seemingly removed from a variety projects in response. He was famously removed from Bohemian Rhapsody before it was completed, which put the project in jeopardy during filming. And recently, Singer was removed from his Red Sonja reboot.

In her conversation with Rolling Stone, Sophie Turner directly mentioned Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek. About two months ago, Malek finally broke his silence about Bryan Singer, in the wake of his sexual misconduct allegations. When describing his working relationship with the director, he said:

I've sat here and talked about how everyone deserves a voice and anyone who wants to talk about what happened with Bryan deserves to have their voice heard. In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that's about what I can say about it at this point. ... For anyone who is seeking any solace in all of this, Bryan Singer was fired. Bryan Singer was fired, I don't think that was something anyone saw coming but I think that had to happen and it did.

Rami Malek's quote was meant to give solace to some of Bohemian Rhapsody's critics, as the movie was celebrated, and therefore so was Bryan Singer's work as director.

It's fascinating to see how both Sophie Turner and Rami Malek had such a hard time working with Bryan Singer, considering his long tenure in the business. It's a wonder that someone could be so successful, while also being so difficult to work with. But in the modern age, this seems like a trend that is falling out.

You can see Sophie Turner return as Jean Grey when Dark Phoenix arrives in theaters on June 7th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

To Celebrate Endgame, Google Introduced A Thanos Easter Egg

To Celebrate Endgame, Google Introduced A Thanos Easter Egg

Today, fans everywhere are feeling the impact of the past eleven years of the MCU with the release of Avengers: Endgame, whether it be through witnessing the movie amidst packed theaters full of fans or actively avoiding spoilers at all costs until they can score a ticket. Joining in on the fun, Google has commemorated the release of the new Marvel film with a fun feature. (Don’t worry, there aren't any spoilers!)

First, type in “Thanos” in the search engine on either your desktop or mobile device, and then look on the right side of the window for the Infinity Gauntlet. Click on it and watch what happens!

Did you try it out? The Gauntlet graphic snaps just as the villain does in 2018’s Infinity War and turns much of the search results to dust, before wiping out half the search results from 101 million to 50.5 million in under a minute. Then if you click on the Gauntlet again, the Time Stone activates and the page is restored to its original glory. It’s a clever trick Google has pulled and a fun little way to feel a bit of the satisfaction Thanos feels when he snaps half of life out of existence, and the victory we are crossing our fingers the Avengers will hopefully score by the conclusion of Endgame.

This time last year, Avengers: Infinity War shocked Marvel fans when our favorite heroes did not win the race against Thanos’ mission to collect all six Infinity Stones and bring stability to the universe by killing half of life across the board. Heroes such as Black Panther, Spider-Man, Peter Quill and Doctor Strange were among the many casualties in the snap.

Endgame follows the remainder of the Avengers, including the Original Six, Ant-Man, War Machine, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula and even Captain Marvel. The team will presumably aim to reverse the events of the tragedy by retrieving the Gauntlet and use the Infinity Stones to reverse the events of Infinity War (as the Google search shows). The movie is three hours long though, so this quick 45 second fix is by no means a play-by-play of Endgame.

The blockbuster premiered on the big screen last night and reportedly made a record-breaking $60 million opening night, which is usually a really solid opening weekend for a movie. Word on the street is the film could hit $800 million worldwide this weekend alone and break some additional box office records.

Avengers: Endgame is the 22nd MCU film and will mark the end of an era for the franchise as some of the central characters’ story arcs are wrapped up and some questions about what Marvel may have in store for Phase 4 may be answered. Endgame also marks the last Marvel outing for the Russo Brothers.

You can catch Endgame in theaters now! If you’ve seen it already and are looking for a place to geek out, check out out 10 biggest questions we have after seeing the highly-anticipated film.

The Time Star Wars Security Had To Bribe Tourists To Delete Spoiler Photos

The Time Star Wars Security Had To Bribe Tourists To Delete Spoiler Photos

Creating creatures for Star Wars films is no easy feat. In the case of the sea creatures made famous in Star Wars: The Last Jedi thanks to their green milk, a puppeteer spent hours inside with only Coca Cola and diapers to appease him or her. However, stuffing a live human inside a puppet for hours wasn’t the only bizarre thing the crew on Episode VIII had to deal with. The crew also had to deal with American tourists attempting to take spoiler photos of the creatures.

Special effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan told a zany story at Star Wars Celebration, noting that when the crew was shooting sea cow scenes in Ireland, an American couple starting snapping images of the brand new Star Wars creature from a distance. He said:

There was a time when an American couple had taken a boat ride. They had no idea from the distance they were that [the sea cow] was being operated by puppeteers. So, they took all these photographs. And this huge thing went out with security. Security was like, ‘You’ve got to apprehend these people before they get to the shore.' The story goes that I think security did ‘a deal’ for several free meals if they were allowed to delete photographs off of the cameras.

As you could imagine, security was obviously displeased and rushing around to rectify the situation. We know from past history that the sea cows were carefully created in Pinewood studios from foam latex and then flown by helicopter to Ireland, where the main sea cow and two smaller background sea cows were constructed. It was an ordeal and hassle to get them to the filming location and then to have to deal with factors outside their control I'd guess had to feel a little bit ridiculous.

From what Neal Scanlan revealed, the American tourists may not have really understood what they were filming, but had the images gotten out, they would have been spoilers nonetheless.

This isn’t the first time a major movie or TV show has been spoiled by a seemingly random turn of events. We just heard a story like a week ago about how Game of Thrones did a bazillion things to make sure security was tight in Belfast and then a festival came to town that included a giant ferris wheel basically setting up “a viewing platform” for the set. Rough.

So, while it seems zany that American tourists could get close enough to film the sea cows on the set of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, weird stuff like this happens every single day.

Ultimately, all was well that ends well. I can remember seeing the creatures for the first time and being both wowed and disturbed by the  sequence, particularly when Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker milked the darn creature and then drank its green bounty. The perfectly shocked look that Daisy Ridley quickly makes and then tries to disguise on her face is still etched in my mind. It’s been over a year since the movie came out and it's still memorable.

(Reportedly, in real life, the green milk was not as disgusting as it looked.)

So, the shock value was certainly there with this particular creature, which Neal Scanlan also mentioned at Star Wars Celebration was a creation that came from Rian Johnson’s mind.

We’ll have to wait and see what’s in store for the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but if the first look at the new creatures is any indication, we should be in for treat. The Rise of Skywalker will hit theaters on December 20, 2019. The first trailer for the new movie is out now.

Shazam! Made A Major Change To Billy's Parents And It Really Worked

Shazam! Made A Major Change To Billy's Parents And It Really Worked

Warning: SPOILERS for Shazam! are ahead!

Lost parents are a common trope when it comes to superhero storytelling, particularly in the DC universe. Occasionally ‘lost’ is literal, but more often than not it’s figurative, with the mother and/or father being deceased. Billy Batson is among the many DC superheroes who has lost his parents, although depending on the continuity, they’re either killed (usually the case) or are indeed missing. Shazam! took the latter approach, although it applied a unique twist that did a wonderful job reinforcing the ‘family isn’t blood’ theme.

After kicking off with showing us the adolescent Thaddeus Sivana being brought to Rock of Eternity in 1974 and failing to be selected as the wizard Shazam’s new champion, Shazam! flashed forward to show us Billy Batson as a small child attending a carnival with his mother, Rachel. Billy’s mother was trying to win Billy a stuffed tiger at a balloon-popping game, and while she didn’t succeed in doing so, she did win him a compass, which she told him he could use to find his way home.

Unfortunately (and ironically) for Billy, he was soon after separated from Rachel at the carnival. In the years following he bounced throughout the foster care system, never staying too long at a home, no matter how loving the family was, because he was determined to find his mother. Billy failed to accomplish this one his own, but luckily for him, one of the members of his latest foster family, Eugene, is a computer whiz kid, and he not only tracked down where Billy’s mother was currently living, but also discovered that her real name is Marilyn, just like in the comics.

You’d think that a reunion between mother and son would be a happy occasion, but as Billy learned upon arriving at his mother’s apartment, she didn’t reciprocate his excitement. It turned out that Marilyn did track down Billy at the fair after briefly losing him, but when she saw him being cared after by police officers, she decided he was better off being looked after by another family. Apparently our previous look at Billy and Marilyn together had been filtered through Billy’s romanticized memory, and Marilyn was actually having a difficult time caring for her son as a single parent. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Billy’s dad, C.C., is in prison.

Learning that your mother abandoned you is bad enough, but sinking the knife in further, Marilyn also told Billy that now wasn’t a good time for her to begin forming a new relationship with him, and assumed that he was doing just fine with whatever family he was living with. Understandably shocked and disappointed with how this reunion turned out, Billy handed his mother the compass she’d given him years back and returned home, at which point he returned home, gave his adoptive siblings superpowers, defeated a glowing-eyed maniac and realized he finally had found his true family. Yay, there was a happy ending for the kid after all!

When you’re making a comic book adaptation, it’s obviously necessary to take creative liberties in order for the story to flow smoothly within a cinematic framework. Every now and then, one of these changes ends up being better than what was originally depicted on the printed page, and with the kind of story Shazam! was telling, it was a better call to simply not have Billy’s parents in his life as opposed to them being dead or their whereabouts being a big mystery needing to be solved.

For those unfamiliar with the Shazam mythos, in the various pre-Flashpoint continuity stories, C.C. and Marilyn Batson usually due while traveling, with Billy being forced to live with his cruel uncle Ebenezer until being tossed onto the street. In the graphic novel The Power of Shazam!, Billy’s parents were archaeologists killed by Theo Adam, descendant of Black Adam, while on a dig in Egypt. In the New 52 universe, it’s never specified what happened to C.C. and Marilyn, although in the current Shazam comic book, Billy’s father has returned to reunite with his son. Whether this is the real C.C. or an impostor has not yet been revealed.

Regardless, had Shazam! gone the route of having Billy’s parents be dead/gone tied to some kind of conspiracy, similar to what was done was done with Peter Parker’s parents in the Amazing Spider-Man movies, would have been a mistake. Shazam! was about how people don’t need to be biologically related in order to be a family. Billy spent so much time looking for his mother that he didn’t open himself to the possibility that he could find love elsewhere in his life. With the Vasquez’s, he’s finally found that home and sense of belonging that he wanted.

There are more than enough Shazam stories from nearly 80 years to provide material for more Shazam! movies; a big mystery surrounding Billy’s parents didn’t need to be one of them. And while it may seem ridiculous commenting on realism in a movie about a boy who turns into an adult superhero by saying a magic word, it was a novel and logical idea to have Billy’s mom not caring for him because she didn’t want to. As heartbreaking as it is, there are people who have just been abandoned by their parents for selfish reasons, and by taking this approach, Asher Angel’s Billy becomes a more relatable character.

It’s also worth mentioning that this ‘family isn’t blood’ idea extends particularly well to one of Billy Batson’s siblings, Mary Bromfield. Before The New 52, Mary was Billy’s biological sister, reuniting with her brother years after their parents died. However, like in the New 52, Shazam!’s versions of Billy and Mary are not related by blood, but by the end of the movie they finally form that brother/sister bond and still get to be superheroes with their other siblings. It’s a win-win.

It’s possible Billy Batson’s biological parents could factor into future Shazam! movies. Maybe Marilyn will change her mind and decide she does want to build a relationship with Billy, and/or maybe his father will be freed from prison and decides to seek out Billy. But even if this does happen, Billy already has a family who loves and cares about him. These people care about him and have his back, and vice versa. And especially with his siblings, there won’t be any lack of excitement in their lives going forward.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Shazam! and stay tuned for updates on how Shazam! 2 is coming along. You can also look through our DC movies guide to learn what else is in development for the DCEU.

Captain Marvel Fan Watches Film 116 Times To Break World Record

Captain Marvel Fan Watches Film 116 Times To Break World Record

A Wisconsin chiropractor has been workin' like a Flerken to watch Captain Marvel over and over in local theaters to break the Guinness World Record.

Steve Ruppel "only" had to watch the MCU movie 104 times to break the current record for most times seeing the same movie in the theater, but he went for 116 times to try and make sure he'll keep the record for a while.

To be official, I have to have certain pictures taken, like in front of a movie poster, and I need to have two written witness statements saying that I was actually there. So I'm trying to think, if anyone wanted to break this, I really don't want to re-break it. Cause this has been pretty tough. It's been a finite amount of time, but I don't think I'm going to try this one again.

Can you imagine? The person with the previous record must be seething with Seinfeld/Newman resentment that this guy swooped in and stole his superheroic title.

Steve Ruppel told his local WSAW news the most he's ever seen is seven showings in one day. So far, his 116 viewings total 14,268 minutes of Captain Marvel footage:

The amount of time that it takes, I've had to take time off work, I would take long lunch breaks to accommodate watching an entire movie in that particular time frame. And then just time on the weekends where I'm not doing other things.

So the big question: Why? For the love of Goose, why do this?

I thought it was the most insane thing ever, I thought it was impossible. I wasn't even sure why it was even a record, but I thought after a while 'I should probably do that.'

This is not Steve Ruppel's first Guinness World Record. Apparently he has made it a hobby to break records, and this is his fifth -- the Wisconsin news reports one of his previous four included running a half marathon wearing the most amount of t-shirts.

So it's not like he's just such a massive Captain Marvel superfan he HAD to see Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) on screen 116 times. However, he did add that he picked this movie because he loves superhero films and figured it would be a good fit to break this particular record, since he knew Captain Marvel would be playing in theaters for a while. If you're wondering why he didn't pick a movie under two hours, well...

Looking back on it now, I might almost consider a Disney movie, because they're usually shorter and probably around for a while, but that singing would drive me crazy. It really would.

Watching the same movie 116 times in a theater would drive me crazy. I'm still amazed that he had the time and money to do that. Good for him, I guess? Marvel Studios should send him a thank you card for contributing to all of the money Captain Marvel has made at this point, over $1 billion and counting.

He probably didn't wait to try to break the record with Avengers: Endgame viewings because that movie is over three hours long and many other MCU fans will surely watch that hundreds of times.

Clearly, Steve Ruppel is prepared for Carol Danvers' role in what's to come, since he must have everything she said and did memorized by now. How about you? Are you ready for Endgame? It opens in theaters this Friday, April 26. Be careful of spoilers, since even more may come out in the days leading up to the opening. Here's what else is headed to theaters in 2019.

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.