Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's The Avengers

"Marvel's The Avengers" (2012)

It felt like we had been waiting forever. We had been patient. We watched as each one was introduced, some in their full length feature, while others just made appearances in said features. Then, on May 2, 2012, four years and two days after the premiere of "Iron Man," the Avengers assembled.

The movie brought together Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlet Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson. Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/the Hulk. Cobie Smulders joined the cast as high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Maria Hill. Tom Hiddleston reprised his role as big bad, Loki and pretty much solidified his claim as the best Marvel villain of all time. Joss Whedon made his MCU debut, writing and directing the movie.

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Captain America - The First Avenger

"Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011)

This is it. The final piece of the Avengers puzzle was put in place on July 22, 2011. Here comes Captain America. Cap may be the most important Avenger. In the regular Marvel U, it always comes down to Tony and Steve and their differing ideologies. It's fitting for "Iron Man" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" to be the bookend films before the Avengers assemble.

Marvel cast Chris Evans to play Steve Rogers/Captain America. He seemed like an odd choice to play the Star Spangled Avenger, mainly because he'd already had his shot at bringing a super hero to the big screen. Evans portrayed the Human Torch, Johnny Storm in the middling "Fantastic Four" and again in the much worse "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci and Hugo Weaving round out the top notch cast. The film is directed by Joe Johnston who also directed "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," "Jumanji," and "The Rocketeer."

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor

"Thor" (2011)

If you stuck around for the after credits scene of "Iron Man 2," (and why wouldn't you) then you probably knew that Thor was going to be the next future Avenger being introduced into the MCU. This was going to be a trickier proposition than the other three films released up to this point. The other films were grounded in a more science fiction, somewhat realistic setting. "Thor" is full on fantasy. He is the Norse God of Thunder. He lives in a mythical realm called Asgard that has a rainbow bridge. Marvel had only been releasing films for 3 years and they were asking a lot of non-comic reading movie goers.

Relative unknown Chris Hemsworth was cast as the titular Thunder God. Marvel wasn't afraid to round out the cast with some big guns. Anthony Hopkins plays Thor's one-eyed father, Odin. Natalie Portman is astrophysicist and Thor's love interest, Jane Foster. There's also Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Rene Russo(?!) and of course, Tom Hiddleston as Loki's trickster half-brother, Loki. Kenneth Branagh, yes that Kenneth Branagh, was hired to direct and help bring some gravitas to the whole affair.

The film was unleashed on the general public on May 6, 2011.

Orphan Black Re-Watch: The Girl with My Faces

"Orphan Black," Episode 2: "Instinct"

In it's second episode, "Orphan Black" continues to do the things that a great serialized drama does. It answers questions, but replaces them with even more questions. You're already hooked and they want to keep it that way. In this episode, Sarah learns more about Beth's shooting and why there are so many women running around with her face.

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man 2

"Iron Man 2" (2010)

It was an exciting time leading up to the release of "Iron Man 2." Everyone was watching the film as it rounded out the cast and was curious to see how this whole shared movie thing was going to work. The film wasn't without it's share of drama. Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle due to reports of on set friction between himself and star, Robert Downey Jr. Scarlett Johansson was cast as Natalie Rushman, but really Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. Remember when Mickey Rourke was having that career resurgence after "Sin City" and "The Wrestler?" Marvel snapped him up to play villain Ivan Vanko/Whiplash. Sam Rockwell's sleazy Justin Hammer rounded out the cast.

With the majority of the team from the first film including director, Jon Favreau, returning, it seemed like Marvel was headed towards another critical hit/fan favorite. Not exactly.

Orphan Black Re-Watch: The Girl on the Train Platform

"Orphan Black" Episode One: Natural Selection

If you read this blog, I'm sure that you are an aficionado of many of the same things that I am. You love super heroes and comic books and sci-fi and fantasy. So, I can't imagine that there are many of you out there who aren't proud members of the "sestrahood." Maybe you haven't though. There is so much great TV out there, it's hard to catch everything. With season four of the BBC America drama getting ready to start this Thursday and all 3 seasons available to stream if you have an Amazon Prime membership, now is the perfect time to see what everyone is raving about. It's also a chance to see why lead actress Tatiana Maslany scored her first Emmy nom last year.

Each week, I'll be revisiting an episode of "Orphan Black" from the pilot until the fourth season finale. Watch along with me and read my recaps. We are starting today with the pilot, "Natural Selection."

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Incredible Hulk

"The Incredible Hulk" (2008)

It's still 2008. "Iron Man" is raking in the cash. Critics and audiences are going bananas. Why stop with just one Marvel super hero hitting the big screen? The next movie in the set that will become known as "Phase One" is "The Incredible Hulk." Now, you may be asking yourself, wasn't there another Hulk movie and do I need to watch that first to enjoy this? The answer to that question is a hard no. The first movie, "Hulk," was directed by Ang Lee and has no relation to this movie. You can see it, if you like dimly lit action scenes featuring dogs on steroids, a 2 ton green monster flying through the air with the greatest of ease and Nick Nolte giving it his scenery chewing all, then sure, knock yourself out. On second thought, maybe it is worth a re-watch.

Marvel brought in "Transporter" director, Louis Leterrier, to direct the film and serious actor Edward Norton took over the role of Bruce Banner from walking, talking card board cut out, Eric Bana. Now, let's experience "The Incredible Hulk" again for the first time.

Movie Review: Batman v. Superman - Dawn of Justice

Strong Performances from the Female Actors Can't Save the Long, Slow March Towards Death That is "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice"

It's Sunday, March 27th and by now, you've read all the reviews. You've seen the 31% score on Rotten Tomatoes. You know that director Zack Snyder's take on the first meeting of two of the most iconic super heroes of all time is not what they deserve. I'm not here to pile on. I'm not sure I can say anything that hasn't already been said. Let's face it. This movie is review proof and the box office tallies are confirming that. So rather than focus on the negatives, I'm going to do my best to focus on the few positives the film offers. I can't promise that some negativity won't slip in there. I'm only human.

Revisiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man

"Iron Man" (2008)

Can you believe that it has been almost 8 years since Marvel Studios began it's trek to total box office domination? 2008 was a different time. The George W. Bush presidency was winding down and we were just starting to believe we could, we still thought the recession was something that happened in the '80's and Michael Phelps was getting ready to dominate the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The box office was also a different place in 2008. Super hero movies weren't the guaranteed cash cow that they are now. Audiences were still feeling the sting of critical flops like "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "Spider-Man 3." Studios weren't willing to take the risk of banking their hard earned on money on lesser known heroes, especially since "Batman Begins" only made $48 million in it's opening weekend. If people weren't willing to show up in droves for a name hero like the Dark Knight, was there any chance they would show up for a hero that the majority of the non-comic book reading world had never heard of?

Thankfully, Marvel did and because of their belief and savvy casting choices they just released the trailer for their thirteenth film, "Captain America: Civil War," whose second trailer has racked up over 30 million views in two days. With the start of Phase Three looming on the horizon, I thought that now was the perfect time to re-watch and reflect on the films that came before starting with the original Marvel movie: "Iron Man."