While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine these days, in the beginning, that was far from the case. It’s no secret that Iron Man was a very loose production. Although a script had been written, most of it had been thrown out during production resulting in improve from the cast and crew. For Jeff Bridges, who starred in the film as the villain Obadiah Stane, the process was frustrating, and yet enjoyable.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Bridges discussed what it was like making the first IronMan movie. “It was Marvel’s first adventure into making movies,” the actor explained. “It was so lucky to have Jon on there and [Robert] Downey, because both of them are terrific improvisers, and we spent a couple of weeks working on the script and rehearsing together, because we didn’t like the original script and we thought, ‘Oh yeah, we fixed this, fixed that.’”
For Bridges, throwing out the script was frustrating because the actors had spent time going over their lines, only to find themselves confused with what they were doing. “There was a lot of confusion about what our script was, what we were gonna say. We’d spend hours in one of our trailers going over lines and exploring how we were going to do it,” Bridges said. ““It drove me absolutely crazy until I made a slight adjustment in my brain that was, ‘Jeff, just relax. You’re making a $200 million student film. Just relax and have fun.”’
Production might not have been smooth, but there’s no denying the legacy Iron Man leaves behind. Iron Man, which was directed by Jon Favreau, earned an astounding $585 million at the worldwide box office upon its release in 2008, including $318.6 million from the domestic box office. The film went on to not only reignite Robert Downey Jr.’s career, but also launch a billion-dollar franchise that continues to dominate at the box office twenty-something films in.
As the next installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all eyes are on the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel. Iman Vellani stars as Kamala Khan, whose admiration of Captain Marvel leads her to don the Ms. Marvel mantle after she discovers she has mysterious abilities. Khan is primed to be a major heroic force for the future of the MCU, so it will be interesting to watch the growth of a superhero who came of age admiring them herself.
Vellani herself is a well-known MCU superfan, and apparently, Iron Man is her go-to comfort film. Considering the 2008 film began the MCU, her love of it is fitting for both her and Kamala Khan. The actress explained:
The first thing I did when I got cast was watch Iron Man again. It’s like my comfort movie. Any big milestone we would hit in the show, whether it was filming the scene where Kamala gets her costume or her powers, I would watch Iron Man. “It was my reminder that this character exists in the same universe as Tony Stark, which was just the coolest thing in the world for me.
Iman Vellani
It turns out that that love made its way into Ms. Marvel in the form of references to the late Tony Stark and Iron Man easter eggs. In a world full of Stark fans and those grateful for his sacrifice to defeat Thanos, it makes perfect sense. Apparently, though, there got to be too many references for Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige to agree to. According to the actress, Feige stepped in to limit the number of references to Iron Man eventually:
I’m a huge, huge Iron Man fan. I know Kamala is more Captain Marvel, but I was very much asking for more Iron Man references in there. Like, ‘I think she needs an Iron Man action figure, more Iron Man.’ There was a point where we got to too much Iron Man, that was the note from Kevin!
Iman Vellani
Even though Tony Stark is dead and gone, fans still can’t get enough of him. But Feige had plenty of reasons to limit the easter eggs, including to possibly avoid the possibility that some viewers would accuse Marvel Studios of making a younger hero an Iron Man mini-me, like the “Iron Boy Jr.” nickname for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
Ms. Marvel first premieres on Disney+ on June 8, 2022.
Beginning with their time together in 2012’s The Avengers, Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner put together some memorable scenes as the MCU’s Science Bros. Whether they were analyzing Loki’s scepter, creating artificial intelligence or creating the gauntlet to save the world, Stark and Banner’s working relationship was one of the MCU’s best.
With Stark gone and Reed Richards yet to arrive, Professor Hulk is the MCU’s resident genius and, from the looks of the new She-Hulk: Attorney at Law trailer, he’s got a pretty nice set up somewhere warm. And while his science bro might be gone, the new trailer shows us that he’s not forgotten.
In an extended look at Bruce’s tests on his cousin, Jennifer Walters, we see that he’s not scared to run her through the mill in order to get her inner-Hulk to appear, including putting her in room where the walls that close in on her are outfitted with dozens of gnarly looking spinning blades. And, if you look closely, those blades are Stark Tech!
It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that most of Banner’s lab is comprised of Stark Tech that he’s taken on since Tony’s sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame. We know Happy was able to relocate the fabricator, seen in Spider-Man: Now Way Home, so maybe the rest of Banner’s lab will be filled with Stark Tech Easter eggs for fans to pick out over the course of his limited time in the series.
The case has been made. Marvel Studios long-standing tradition of post-credit scenes has become a distraction and should come to an end. By taking on a life of their own, they’ve become parasitic in nature, taking the focus off of the film and dominating online discussion. Here’s a look at 7 post-credit scenes that help support the claim that it’s time for them to take a dirt nap.
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 3 (2013)
While humorous, the post-credit scene to Iron Man 3 essentially only served to make sure audiences didn’t forget about the Science Bros. from The Avengers.
Thor: The Dark World
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
It’s not surprising that one of Marvel Studios’ worst cinematic efforts has one of its worst post-credit scenes. Following the film’s conclusion, fans are treated to getting to see one more shared kiss between Thor and Jane Foster. It’s great because Jane then disappeared for nearly a decade’s worth of content, only being mentioned as a joke in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The little joke about the Frost Beast left behind on Midgard is actually more impactful.
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The film introduced the MCU version of Peter Parker to much fanfare. We’re now a whole trilogy away from his intro, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has proven wildly popular and his most recent film is one of Marvel Studios’ best yet. However, the post-credit scene following his introduction lacked any kind of punch at all. It showcased his flashy Spidey symbol, something that hasn’t been revisited since. If the only purpose it served was to let fans know we’d see more Spidey, I’d rather have had the “Spider-Man will return” text.
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange (2016)
In fairness, the Strange franchise was overhauled when the entire creative team from the first film left Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and was replaced by Michael Waldron and Sam Raimi. That might, however, be indicative of one of the big problems with these post-credit scenes in the first place: short of maybe Kevin Feige, there is no guarantee that anyone’s ideas will carry on beyond the scenes. Scott Derrickson was moving the franchise in one particular direction; once he left, the idea of Mordo hunting sorcerers probably left with him. 616 Mordo didn’t even appear in the film but, as Waldron pointed out, that just means he could still be out there doing his thing. It’s too bad fans will probably never see it. This is why the return of One-Shots would be a considerable upgrade.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
One of the most chilling post-credit scenes of all…now rendered totally useless by the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s not to say we’ll never see Michael Mando’s Mac Gargan suit up as Scorpion and hunt down Spidey, but any chance of him getting the info out of Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes disappeared with Strange’s spell. Of course, Keaton hasn’t been back in the MCU since then anyway, but that’s a different story.
Eternals
Eternals (2021)
This scene has the potential to be redeemed, but depends an awful lot on whether or not Marvel Studios ever does anything with the Eternals again. While the film sets up the promise of more adventures, the reality is that nobody (both in the MCU and in real life) knew about them before the film, so nobody is going to miss them after. This scene really only works for hardcore Cosmic comic fans, and even then it’s a stretch. Harry Styles is gorgeous as Starfox and Patton Oswalt was a great fit for Pip; however, introducing Starfox AFTER Thanos is dead is a bit of bad timing and Pip is probably just going to end up as a walking practical joke. As it stands, it wasn’t time well spent.
In all honesty, the list had to be trimmed down to focus on these 6. The other Eternals’ scene, the recent Clea scene and more were all up for consideration, but these 6 helped provide a more well-rounded look at the issues Marvel Studios has faced. Given they’ll certainly not stop putting them together, we can revisit this down the road and see if these are still among the worst.
Many that have worked on the Marvel Studios’ projects have shared frequently how they’re like a family and have stayed in contact in-between productions. Sometimes we get photos of them hanging out during or outside of production, but Tom Holland‘s story during the latest episode of Hot Ones might be one of the more curious. It seems that his family ended up with Robert Downey Jr.’s original Iron Man helmet, which he believes is the “holy grail” souvenir. He shares the story in how he, or ratehr his little brother Patty, received it as a gift.
My favorite souvenir was actually given to me. Well it wasn’t given to me, it was given to my little brother Patty. When Black Panther was coming out, Robert Downy Jr. was making Dr. Doolittle in London, he was staying down the road from where I live. And he invited us to a screening of Black Panther at his house. When Patty comes running into the room, and he’s holidng the original Iron Man helmet, and Downey had given it to him as a gift.
Tom Holland
Poor Tom Holland, he really had to fight through this interview with those hot wings. Yet, you can still see how emotional he gets talking about how important that moment felt to him as a later addition to the franchise, especially with the close relationship he built with Robert Downey Jr. throughout his time with the franchise.
You can watch Tom Holland‘s full interview on the Hot Ones, as he suffers through spicy wings:
With over two dozen projects comprising the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s sometimes easy to lose track of the order through which audiences should experience them. It is, of course, something pretty fluid as personal preferences might have some skipping a couple of projects in favor of their favorite ones. All in all, there are two general viewing orders that contain the entirety of the MCU. A Release Order, which respects the order in which projects were made available through the years, and a Chronological Order, which takes into account when each project’s plot takes place.
Personally speaking, the Release Order should be followed when watching all MCU projects for the first time, with the Chronological Order being something to use on rewatches. This is mostly due to the fact that major plot points would be spoiled if not watching the entirety of the franchise as it was released, similar to the way audiences watching Star Wars for the first time would be spoiled The Empire Strikes Back‘s major plot twist by having previously watched the prequel trilogy.
CHARACTER VIEWING ORDERS
When it comes to following specific characters, we got together individual viewing orders with their appearances through the years. These can be as a central character to the plot or as blink-and-you-miss type cameos, many on mid or post-credit scenes. Keep in mind this is a work in progress, as new characters will keep being added.
What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark? takes advantage of its freedom and the flexibility of the series to focus almost exclusively on upgrading an existing supervillain. It pairs with the Doctor Strange episode in terms of establishing a singular powerful villain as the overarching goal. The episode returns to previous What If… ? form by heavily tracking sacred timeline stories, though with dramatic alterations here. It’s an obvious mash-up of Iron Man and Black Panther, with hints of Iron Man 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and even a touch of Avengers: Infinity War—as a result, Episode 6 truly emphasizes how interconnected the existing MCU is in ways not obvious from the films alone.
Michael B. Jordan continues his iconic and powerful role as Erik Stevens AKA Killmonger, and the episode gives the role proper respect and recognizes his overall merit as a character. He is eight steps ahead of virtually everyone he encounters and completely dominates the entire plotline with hardly any difficulty. He continues a trend in the series of eliminating major characters and superheroes from the main MCU—in this case, Killmonger swiftly takes out Tony Stark, T’Challa, and James Rhodes.
Overall, though, Episode 6 falls flat. While it definitely explores more of Killmonger, it comes across as a kind of standard remix to our known universe’s plot without much more depth or even a solid grasp on what Killmonger’s bigger picture might be. His motivations—which are one of the strongest aspects of the character and what, along with Jordan’s portrayal with them, makes him as interesting as he is—are noted more heavily towards the end of the episode, but they are glossed over compared to their treatment in Black Panther. While Killmonger is given his due as a powerful character, it a fairly surface-level take on him.
The episode hones in on the general premise that one small change in a hero’s story can dramatically change the course of everything we know to be true. As our friend the Watcher reminds us, heroes are made, not born. If they miss their opportunity to “make” themselves, they merely become pawns in someone else’s story. Killmonger rescuing Stark—as a Navy Seal involved in an undercover operation with the Ten Rings—is all the grease Killmonger needs to succeed where he failed in Black Panther. Apparently, he already had plans for a weaponized automated drone called the Liberator, and Stark’s technology and help seals the deal to create these machines in contrast to the Iron Man suit.
In terms of performances, the voice acting in this episode is solid across the board. Michael B. Jordan is unmistakably great. Don Cheadle is quality, and Jon Favreau is very true to Happy. Andy Serkis is absolutely phenomenal and honestly gives one of the best performances of the series to date. Chadwick Boseman’s talent goes without saying. Mick McGill is decent as Tony Stark—the writing and his performance definitely capture the character well, but it’s near impossible to not stand out as not being Robert Downey Jr. in that role.
Episode 6 also continues a growing trend in the series of ending on a very obvious cliffhanger and/or generally being an unfinished story. Earlier episodes always left the door cracked for future implications, but this episode and the immediately preceding zombie episode very much leave the door wide open for their respective stories to continue. It certainly implies that What If… ? is building to something bigger and something that likely involves interconnecting episodes.
Even so, the Watcher—who certainly acts as a connector—does not involve himself whatsoever, leaving the Doctor Strange episode as the sole exception to his general narrator-only role. He does, however, look noticeably unhappy and disturbed as a giant head in the sky at one point. While Killmonger certainly rules the day in this episode as he makes his way to become the Black Panther, the Watcher does cue that heroes—specifically our classic heroes—never die as they live on in those they inspire. Perhaps we will get to see later in this season or further down the line what Shuri and Pepper have to offer against Killmonger in this universe.
After screening the first three episodes of Marvel Studios What If…?, I had the chance to talk to the series writer, AC Bradley, and director, Bryan Andrews, to get some insight into the creative process behind the studio’s first animated series.
With only 10 episodes and a wealth of ideas from which to choose, I asked Bradley if there were any characters, ideas or places that didn’t make the cut but stood out to her.
“We had dozens of ideas that, hopefully, some of them will pop up in Season 2. But there’s been a few characters that we just couldn’t touch because we didn’t have room or time. I’m happy that we got Howard the Duck in there because that’s such a fan kind of favorite little character-I said, “Let’s give him a moment”-because I doubt he’s going to be joining the Avengers anytime soon. We did have some great story line for multiple characters, like there was an Iron Man story that I really wanted to do, exploring a relationship with his father, but we already had another great Iron Man story. We only have 10 spots, you kinda gotta spread around the love. I’m a sucker for a good kind of sins of the father on the son kinda story.”
Tony’s relationship with his father, Howard, was an integral part of the first 3 phases of the MCU and the idea of Howard’s sins coming back to haunt Tony were central to Iron Man 2 but who knows what other hidden sins of Howard’s could have been explored and how they might have impacted Tony in another universe? Like Bradley said, there’s hope that some of these lost ideas make their way into future seasons, so since she was so keen on this one, maybe it’ll make the list for Season 2.
Spider-Man is a very polarizing character with countless interpretations across multiple forms of media. So, as the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home grows closer, fans have started to become more vocal regarding multiple aspects of this film. With the rumors of the upcoming sequel potentially bringing in the previous iterations of the character, fans have started to point out the differences between the three live-action versions. The debate has begun on how one counterpart is better than the other. What stands out is that the harshest of criticisms definitely focusing in on the MCU’s interpretation of Spider-Man. Many believe that Tom Holland’s version of the character lacks many qualities about what would normally characterize the web-slinging hero. All of these critiques however can be neatly wrapped up into one singular question: Who is Spider-Man in the MCU really?
Identity Crisis
For the MCU Version of Spider-Man, you could argue that he is often opaqued by his connection to Tony Stark. In a way, making his character an extension of the MCU founder. The reasoning behind this train of thought is because when compared to the rest of the characters in the MCU, whose history always was part of an extended universe, Spider-Man had no connection. He was the only one to protect NYC in his past films. In most forms of media, he’s been perceived as this individual that understands what it’s like to be someone on opposite sides of the spectrum.
An individual who knows what it’s like to be powerless to do anything and someone who has superhuman powers, but also understands the responsibilities that must come along with them. In a way, it’s what makes Spider-Man relatable and appealing to many audiences. When it comes to the MCU version of the character, some vocal Spider-Man fans have argued that this iteration of Peter Parker has a sense of dependence and reliance on others, rather than assuming responsibility wholeheartedly.
The Solution
Ironically enough, in a film that is rumored to be so jampacked and filled with characters, references, and nostalgia, Spider-Man: No Way Home may very well be the perfect film to make up for that past perception. Given what we already know about the film, Peter Parker’s secret identity has been ousted to the world. As he stands trial for Mysterio’s murder, he’ll have to step up and defend himself. That is a lot of responsibility to carry for a kid of his age.
And with the worst kept secret being that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are set to reprise their respective roles in this film, then we are putting the MCU Peter Parker where he’ll learn what it means to hold that mantle from his true counterparts, or at least a Variant of himself. He’ll have the opportunity to learn what exactly inspired or motivated each Peter Parker to gain that sense of responsibility. It would give him the chance to re-evaluate his own perception of the responsibility he mentioned in Captain America: Civil War. As his character moves forward, we might get a clearer picture of what makes Tom Holland’s Spider-Man truly Spider-Man.
Loki‘s latest trailer offered a closer glimpse into the newly introduced Time Variance Authority. After the Avengers played around with time, they gave the God of Mischief a chance to escape his fate that would’ve been Thor: The Dark World. Of course, the TVA wouldn’t allow it and Made sure he can’t do more damage by roaming free. We learn that this alternative version is called a Variant and uncover that there are potentially more out there. With rumors going around that multiple Lokis might appear in the series, which aren’t all played by Tom Hiddleston, and the addition of other Spider-Men in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it seems we will see many different interpretations of our favorite heroes soon. As such, Marvel Studios could explore its own history and bring back some familiar faces that got replaced as the series expanded.
While Marvel Studios has been quite good with keeping its various characters consistent, there have been a few recasts throughout the years. The most notable one for the franchise was when Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. As production ramped up for Avengers, Norton‘s vision of the character didn’t mesh with Marvel Studios’ and they parted ways. It made many questions if that film was still considered canon until William Hurt‘s Thaddeus Ross returned in Captain America: Civil War. There are other cases of recastings in the franchise’s long history. Don Cheadle took over from Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2 whileZachary Levi replaced Josh Dallas‘s Fandral in Thor: The Dark World.
Now, with the introduction of Variants in Loki, it opens up a lot of new possibilities. Of course, there is the obvious option to also bring back the before-mentioned recasts, who could make an appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Strange may seek the help of the Hulk only to meet a completely different version of Banner, which gives us a brief cameo of Edward Norton returning as his interpretation of the character. They might even explore this aspect with the recent replacement of Cassie Lang, as Kathryn Newton took over the role from Emma Fuhrman in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Scott Lang can’t recognize the face of his daughter that becomes a catalyst for the events of the film, as he tries to get back the Cassie he knew and loved. Why stop there? How about they introduce Tom Cruise as an alternative version of Tony Stark to pay tribute to almost playing the character before it went to Robert Downey Jr. It opens up a new way to explore the ever-expanding universe as they face real-world limitations and give these actors one last shot at revisiting these old roles or what could’ve been.
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