Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

• 1. Introduction

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  Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two began with a financial dispute, not a creative vision. On the 18th of October 2010, Walt Disney Studios agreed to pay Paramount Pictures at least $115 million for worldwide distribution rights to Iron Man 3. That settlement resolved a standoff that had put the timing of the next chapter of superhero films in question. Six films followed, running from May 2013 through July 2015, and together they grossed over a billion dollars at the global box office.

  Kevin Feige produced every one of those six films. The shape of Phase Two was also quietly influenced by a single director working behind the scenes on projects he did not helm himself. Why did every film in the phase feature a scene in which a character loses a hand or arm, even though no one originally planned it that way? How did the cosmic villain briefly glimpsed in a 2012 post-credits scene get woven into film after film? And how did a team of obscure space misfits become one of the most celebrated stories in the run?

• 2. Building the Blueprint

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  Kevin Feige announced the full Phase Two slate at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2012. The five titles he named were Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Ant-Man was not part of that announcement. In January 2013, Feige described it as the first film of Phase Three.

  Feige reversed that position before long. Age of Ultron's story directly affected characters and plot elements in Ant-Man. Rather than launching the next phase, Ant-Man became the concluding film of Phase Two.

  In August 2012, Marvel signed Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers, to an exclusive contract through June 2015. Under the deal, Whedon would write and direct Avengers: Age of Ultron. For every other film in the phase, he would read scripts, watch cuts, and share his views with directors and writers. In March 2013, Whedon described the role in practical terms: he would give opinions and, where needed, write material. He drew on his background in television and script doctoring. Both, he said, were good preparation for fitting together pieces that do not naturally connect.

  The contract extended to television as well. Whedon took on the development of the first TV series set in the MCU. That show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., would receive its most consequential storyline as a direct result of events in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

  Design studio Imaginary Forces created a new Marvel Studios logo for Thor: The Dark World. Brian Tyler, who composed that film's score, also wrote the fanfare that accompanied the logo. Feige explained the change. The Dark World was the first Marvel Studios film to open without a distributor's logo. This followed Disney's acquisition of the studio.

  Feige acknowledged that one of Phase Two's most consistent quirks was unplanned. Every film features a character losing a hand or arm. The studio recognized the pattern midway through the phase and then carried it deliberately to the end. A different kind of pattern, involving six cosmic objects, was being built at the same time, and that one was entirely intentional.

• 3. The Infinity Stone Thread

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  James Gunn filmed the mid-credits scene for Thor: The Dark World at the end of a second unit shooting day during production on Guardians of the Galaxy. Working from a script that Marvel provided, Gunn shot the scene with Benicio del Toro as the Collector. The sequence establishes that both the Tesseract from Phase One and the Aether from The Dark World are Infinity Stones.

  Josh Brolin provided the voice and performance capture for Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy. The character had first been glimpsed in The Avengers' mid-credits scene. The orb at the center of Guardians' plot is eventually revealed to contain a third Infinity Stone. Within the film, the Collector delivers an account of the Stones' history and origin. Gunn confirmed at the time that Guardians would connect to Avengers: Infinity War, which arrived in 2018. The Collector's museum contains items from across the MCU. These include a Chitauri soldier from The Avengers and a Dark Elf from The Dark World.

  Avengers: Age of Ultron closed in on another Stone. Loki's scepter, carried over from The Avengers, is confirmed in that film to be the Mind Stone. Brolin reappears in Age of Ultron's mid-credits scene, now shown wielding an Infinity Gauntlet built to hold all six Stones.

  Andy Serkis appears in Age of Ultron as Ulysses Klaue, a character tied to the fictional nation of Wakanda and the metal vibranium. Those references came three years before the film Black Panther, in which Serkis reprised the role. The groundwork for Wakanda, laid inside an Avengers sequel, became the foundation for one of the MCU's most anticipated standalone films.

• 4. Making the Films

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  Anthony and Joe Russo were hired to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier in June 2012. The film premiered in Hollywood on the 13th of March 2014, before its U.S. wide release on April 4. Chris Evans, who plays Steve Rogers, appeared in four of the six Phase Two films. His appearances included both starring roles and cameos, more than any other cast member.

  Joss Whedon directed The Winter Soldier's post-credits scene. It introduced Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff, and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff. The film's central revelation is that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been secretly infiltrated by Hydra. That plot point became the main storyline of the final six episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season.

  Shane Black directed Iron Man 3, co-writing the screenplay with Drew Pearce. Black described Tony Stark's anxiety as a response to being 'humbled by sights he cannot possibly begin to understand.' A line in the film puts the shift plainly. A character says: 'ever since that big guy with the hammer fell out of the sky, the rules have changed.'

  Mark Ruffalo reprised his role as Bruce Banner in a brief post-credits scene for Iron Man 3. Ruffalo described how the appearance came together: production was nearly complete when he ran into Robert Downey Jr. at the 84th Academy Awards. They talked through the scene informally that night. Ruffalo came in later and they shot it in a couple of hours.

  Nicole Perlman began developing Guardians of the Galaxy as a screenplay in 2009, years before Marvel made any public announcement about the project. Chris Pratt was cast as Peter Quill in February 2013. Principal photography ran from July to October 2013 at Shepperton Studios and in London. Post-production was completed on the 7th of July 2014, and the film premiered on July 21 in Hollywood.

  Tom Hiddleston wore a Captain America costume for a scene in Thor: The Dark World in which Loki shapeshifts into Rogers. Hiddleston performed his impression before Evans arrived on set. Evans was then shown footage of Hiddleston's performance and came in to film the actual scene. As Hiddleston described the result: it was Evans doing an impression of Hiddleston doing an impression of Evans.

  Edgar Wright had been attached to direct Ant-Man before Phase Two was formally announced, having co-written the screenplay with Joe Cornish. Wright departed the project in May 2014 due to creative differences, and Peyton Reed took over as director. The Russo brothers filmed Ant-Man's post-credits scene using footage from Captain America: Civil War. Anthony Mackie, Chris Evans, and Sebastian Stan appeared in roles that would carry the story into 2016.

• 5. Box Office and Reception

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  Iron Man 3 premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris on the 14th of April 2013. It opened at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on April 24, then in the U.S. on May 3. Its worldwide gross came in at over $1.2 billion. Avengers: Age of Ultron, released in the U.S. on the 1st of May 2015, surpassed that total, earning over $1.4 billion worldwide.

  Ant-Man, produced on a budget of $130 million, earned roughly $519 million worldwide. Thor: The Dark World grossed approximately $644 million globally, the second-lowest total in the phase. The films were distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, whose acquisition of Marvel distribution rights had originally set the whole phase in motion.

  Multiple critics placed Captain America: The Winter Soldier above every other Phase Two entry. Liam Gaughan at Collider praised its political commentary and action sequences and named it the best film in the phase. Kevin DelSignore at Comic Book Resources called The Winter Soldier the best non-team-up film from the MCU at that point. Jeff Ames of ComingSoon.net ranked Phase Two second among all MCU phases. He wrote that the Russo brothers 'packed it full of muscle' with The Winter Soldier.

  Rich Knight at CinemaBlend ranked Phase Two last among all MCU phases. He cited the polarizing Mandarin twist in Iron Man 3 and described The Dark World as 'arguably the very worst Marvel movie.' Rachel Ulatowski at The Mary Sue also placed Phase Two last among all phases. She argued it was the least cohesive of any phase. Ulatowski found Age of Ultron a weaker conclusion than The Avengers had been. Alexandra Ramos, writing for CinemaBlend, took a more favorable view and called Age of Ultron underrated.

  Four Academy Award nominations went to Phase Two films in total, along with three BAFTA nominations. Forty Saturn Award nominations across the six films produced nine wins. Phase Two earned four Hugo Award nominations, winning one. The films also received twenty-two MTV Movie and TV Award nominations and fourteen Visual Effects Society nominations.

  Both Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron received 90 percent audience scores from PostTrak. That response supported a range of companion projects, culminating in a thirteen-disc collector's set that Marvel announced in July 2015.

• 6. Beyond the Films

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  Agent Carter and All Hail the King were produced under Marvel Studios' One-Shot program. Both were released as special features on Phase Two home media. Louis D'Esposito directed Agent Carter, which accompanied the Iron Man 3 home release. Drew Pearce wrote and directed All Hail the King, packaged with Thor: The Dark World. Kevin Feige produced both.

  Leslie Bibb reprised her role as Christine Everhart from the Iron Man films to host WHIH Newsfront. Marvel created the in-universe current affairs broadcast in partnership with Google for YouTube. Initial videos released in July 2015 dealt with the aftermath of Age of Ultron and led into the story of Ant-Man. Corey Stoll and Paul Rudd appeared in character as Darren Cross and Scott Lang.

  In July 2015, Marvel announced a thirteen-disc box set called 'Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection.' The set was scheduled for release on the 8th of December 2015, exclusive to Amazon. The set housed all six Phase Two films on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and digital formats. The packaging was a physical replica of the Orb from Guardians of the Galaxy. A bonus disc carried commentary for the One-Shot films, deleted scenes, and pre-production material for each film. It also included early footage from three upcoming releases: Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.