Iron Man 3 Review: Nonspoilers.

Iron Man 3 picks up after Avengers, and focuses on the character of Tony Stark and how he needs to differentiate himself from Iron Man.

Iron Man 3′s strength lies in this arc of exploring who Tony is outside the suit. There are various situations where Tony has to accomplish his goals, including combat situations, without the suit or with part of it, or with it only partly working. We get scenes with his friend James Rhodes/War Machine also outside the suit, but he’s obviously trained for combat anyway. We get a moment where both he and Tony are fighting outside of their suits, and James advises Tony in combat. Unfortunately this doesn’t last long. But I thought this also should have happened in Iron Man 2, so at least it happened here a little.

Early in the movie, a terrorist calling himself the Mandarin launches terrorist attacks against the United States, (His videos add a lot to the film) setting the tone for a more serious movie. However the tone gradually shifts into out-right goofiness. There’s great leaps of internal logic and moments that seem too over the top, even for a film based of the Marvel Universe.

You could tell it was going bad early on as just after the attack, Tony and James are sitting at a crowded sports bar, and in this bar full of people James tells Tony classified information.

Also, one thing about the previous movies, through all the disasters it seems there are no real casualties. This movie does at least acknowledge that people died in the attacks. However, there is one actual character that really should have died. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is facing the same critique that mainstream superhero comics often get, which is that things always go back to the status quo. I’d mentioned this in my Iron Man 2 review as well.

There’s quick references to SHIELD, and the Avengers, but no real Marvel Easter Eggs revealing anything new. I wonder why Mandarin was used the way he was given the ten rings group was in the first Iron Man.  

Unfortunately I have to report that in fact this is a very bad movie. Another victim of the curse of the three, and the first entry in the MCU that is generally not good. It will probably still makes tons of money, but I wonder if there will be any fallout.

There is a post credit scene but it’s purely for laughs.

Here’s to hoping Thor 2 is good.

Marvel Cinematic Universes, Other Possibilities.

During almost every year of the last decade there was at least one, and often three, movies based on Marvel Comics characters. As I’ve detailed here, this was because Marvel licensed out their characters to multiple studios, hence multiple projects were developed at once. Then of course Marvel started making their own movies, starting with Iron Man in 2008, but this time it was different, as their other movies like Hulk, Thor, and Captain America were all set in the same world and led up to Avengers. What if, before 2000, other studios had the same idea with Marvel characters? What could they have done? Here are three possibilities, plus one that’s kind of already happening.

1. The Marvel Horror Movie-verse.

Potential Characters;

Blade, Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night, Dr. Strange, Hellstorm, Man-Thing, Moon Knight.

While most point to 2000’s X-men as the beginning of the Marvel Age of movies, Blade came out in 1998, and was actually the first Marvel character to have a successful film. If a studio could have had the rights to Blade, along with other horror based characters like Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange etc., the characters could have teamed up for a Midnight Sons movie ala Avengers. It would have been interesting to see a Marvel film-verse with hard R rated characters. If they went that route, imagine if the same studio also had the rights to other horror characters and threw them in the mix, such as Hellraiser, and slasher films like Friday the 13^th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A truly horrifying universe.

1. Fantastic Four plus cosmic/space based characters.

Potential Characters;

Fantastic Four, Namor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Inhumans, Guardians of the Galaxy, Adam Warlock, Nova, Silver Surfer.

Imagine an epic Fantastic Four movie with Dr. Doom as the big bad, whose plan involves an artifact from Atlantis and Vibranium from Wakanda. This introduces Namor and the Black Panther, who could spin off into their own movies. This would be the reverse method of Avengers, with the big movie first then spin-offs later. They could team up again for an Atlantis Attacks movie. Namor and Black Panther movies could explore Earth while the Fantastic Four could go off into space to meet the Inhumans, Captain Marvel, maybe even Guardians of the Galaxy. Eventually bring big g Galactus in, and we can finally get a Silver Surfer movie. Even crazier would be if Paramount Pictures was at the helm of this Marvel Cosmic movie-verse, and decided to cross Fantastic Four with Star Trek.

1. Spiderman and street level/New York based heroes.

Potential Characters,

Spiderman, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Punisher, Master of Kung Fu, Silver Sable, Venom, Black Cat.

It would be fun to see Spiderman team with some NY heroes to fight the Kingpin and the Sinister Six. Throw in Silver Sable for some international adventures and you’ve got some fun stuff here.

I mention this one last because it’s sort of happening already and that’s X-men. At the time of this writing, a Wolverine sequel as well as a First Class sequel is coming soon. Who knows what future installments will bring, but I’d often thought what if they planned to branch out from the beginning. The first trilogy could have set up Days of Future Past; the dark alternate future where sentinels rule the earth (Like Terminator, but this was first. Crossover anyone?). Whole films could have spun out of that starring Bishop, etc., while simultaneously starting the First Class prequels, the Wolverine series, etc.

Consequently I always thought setting the X-men films in the near future was a big mistake. It wasn’t necessary, and given that Magneto’s WWII ties were kept intact, that would mean that, depending on how far ahead you mean by the near future, Magneto could be 100 years old in those movies. Anyway, the First Class spinoff was great, and I hope it’s sequel as well as the new Wolverine is too. If this series wanted to it could even go into space with a Starjammers picture.

Interestingly enough, while Fox continues this franchise, it is also rebooting their Fantastic Four series so they don’t lose the rights to Marvel. At the time of this writing I have no idea if this is a standalone film, or if it will indeed be part of the X-men’s film world. I assume it will be its own thing, but the possibility is there. If Fox Studios would combine the two franchises (and they both have outer-space characters), they could indeed have their own Marvel Cinematic Universe to rival the one Marvel is making in house.  

It’s also interesting to consider the possibilities for tie in products; in continuity comics, video games (The Captain America video game is in canon with the MCU), TV shows, etc. Would it have been confusing for fans? I don’t know if it would have, there were several separate movie worlds as it was, most of them just had one or a small set of heroes. What would have made it work is what makes it work now; they’re similar but not exactly the same. One set could have been straight horror, the other hard science fiction, another more street level stories, and the last a mix of several things.

It would have been fun, but oh well. What do you think?

Captain America: Super Soldier. Late Video Game review.

Captain America: Super Soldier is the video game tie in to the film Captain America: The First Avenger. However this is not an adaptation of the film, like the previous Iron Man and Hulk and most other video game/film tie ins. This game is actually official canon in the movie and the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

The way the Captain America movie plays out it is evident that he had many WWII adventures that were not on film. The video game is one of those specific adventures. It takes place in 1944 in a Castle in the Bavarian mountains. HYDRA, the Nazi deep science division, is doing super soldier experiments at the castle. The game involves going through the entire caste grounds fighting Hydra soldiers and uncovering their plot. 

As a video game it is average. There’s good fighting with a variety of opponents, and Cap has various fighting skills that can be upgraded. Along the way there are a few mini tasks like using encryption to open doors and hot wiring machines. There’s also places for Cap to show off his acrobatics by jumping to ledges and swinging from poles etc. These were good to watch but not really challenging as there wasn’t really a way to mess it up. Any difficulty involved moments of not knowing where to go, going the wrong way, or missing something all together.

The selling point to me was the story. The castle actually belonged to famous Marvel villain Baron Zemo. He does not appear in the game.but throughout you collect his diaries and uncover background about his families history, his eventual conflict with HYDRA and the real reason they arrived.

Apparently Zemo’s ancestors discovered a gigantic robotic like humanoid asleep under this mountain. The Zemo family have spent generations attempting to unearth it. HYDRA and the Red Skull learned of the legend called the Sleeper and have come to finish the job. (In the comics the Sleepers were giant robots the Nazis made.)

Chris Evans,Neal McDonough, Sebastian Stan, JJ Field, and Hayley Atwell, provide voices to the characters they played on film; Captain America; Dum Dum, Bucky, Falsworth, and Peggy Carter respectively. The Red Skull and Dr. Zola appear, but they are voiced by different actors than who played them on film. Also of note is that Zola operates a series of robotic suits similar to that of his comic book counterpart.

New characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe are introduced in this game as well. Baron Strucker form HYDRA appears, as does Madam Hydra and Iron Cross. These three characters are also bosses in the game. Strucker seemed to be the hardest even though he appears before the other two.

Along with the Zemo diaries you also collect Zola’s film reels. Most are inconsequential but it mentions project Master Man which is the project to replicate the Super Soldier Serum that makes Captain America what he is. In the comics Master Man was a specific character.

Lastly you get to see the Sleeper at the end which is cool.

Video game adaptations of movies are often poorly received. Having a game that is actually   in continuity with the film makes it, as they say in the world of comics, “actually matter.” I know the Transformers video games actually tie into the movies, and it would be great if future games followed the same route, especially for the MCU.

My Rankings of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I was going to do before, but changed my mind for some reason, but then decided to just go ahead. This is my personal ranking of the films from Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let me say upfront that I did enjoy all of the movies; there aren’t any of them that I disliked. Here goes.

6 Iron Man 2.

The least critically acclaimed of the 6, but amusingly enough the second most successful behind Avengers. While some complained it was just an advertisement for the Avengers, I thought Black Widow fit in just fine, and the meeting about the Avengers Initiative was the last scene/happened after the main narrative anyway.

To me the weakness of this movie was its climax. Iron Man and War Machine spend a lot of film time fighting mindless drones, but the main villain Whiplash is defeated quickly (after almost beating them for a few seconds at least). Also I didn’t like Pepper Potts stepping down as the CEO of Stark Industries. Putting her there was a gutsy move and would have fit for the narrative of Avengers, but instead things went back to the status quo, which is itself a common criticism of the comic book world.

Still Mickey Rourke made a fantastic villain and it was still a fun movie overall.

5 Hulk

Not much to say about Hulk. Good chase scene movie. Gutsy move to not really focus on origin, although that could be partly because this was sort of a reboot. Nice cameo from Tony Stark to cement that this is a shared universe, along with the vague Captain America references. Can’t quite put my finger on why this doesn’t rank higher, it should.

4 Avengers

“OH MY GOD AVENGERS WAS THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER!!!!” Well…no. Avengers was an incredible achievement in filmmaking, and it did have a lot on its plate. All the other movies did a great job of explaining who everyone was and things seemed to make sense. During the first 20 minutes of this I actually thought “Uh oh this might not be a good movie,” but it was. Still I wondered at one point how Thor knew what he did. No one wondered why Loki didn’t run away while Iron Man fought Thor. The helicarrier scene had a lot going on and I felt at first they kind of forgot about the bad soldiers that were, you know, invading the helicarrier. Plus during that sequence it was really hard to believe that Iron Man didn’t die or at least pass out from what he did.

Still this movie was spot on with character beats. It definitely captured that sense of overwhelming odds in the third act, and the falling action/denouement is one of the best on film.

3 Captain America

Great period piece action and great introduction to Steve Rogers in the first act before he becomes the Super Solider. It also captures the tragedy of the man lost out of time. However I must confess I was one of those people that didn’t like the downplaying of the Nazis. I don’t object to the presence of Hydra, that was a nice touch actually. It was just too much for me to believe that Hitler would have allowed the Red Skull to do his own thing. Dictatorships don’t work like that. You either fall in with the party line or you’re dead. They tried in one scene to justify/explain this but I still didn’t buy it. Otherwise this was a great movie that I might have put at #2.

2 Thor

Although much more predictable than Captain America, it’s done well enough that you don’t mind. Out of all the movies, it is Thor that goes though the strongest transformation during the course of his arc. Plus Asgard and the Destroyer look amazing, it has good action and humor beats. (Thor in the pet store is classic) You can pretty much guess everything that’s going to happen but with all these elements it works.

1 Iron Man

Phase One peaks out at its first movie with a perfect introduction to the new film universe and the man that is Tony Stark. Second only to Thor in the strength of its character arc, (Though in Tony’s defense his arc continues through IM2 and Avengers) we get the rotten scoundrel that is Tony Stark transformed during a near fatal incident, and alone tries to right his past wrongs. The humor, action, and character beats are pitch perfect. That and “Just call us SHIELD made me giddy.

Not to mention it has the best Phase One post title sequence, admittedly partly because it had the luxury of being first/you didn’t know to expect it. Think back to early 2008. There were rumors/hopes that an Avengers movie would come someday, but nothing definite.

Then all of a sudden, if you happen to stay after the credits for some reason, there’s this extra scene. Tony comes home, and Samuel L. Jackson is in his house! Who the hell is he, Nick Fury! “I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative” is one of the most shocking moments in nerd history. It’s this generations “I am your Father.”

So there we have it. Now on to Phase Two!

Why the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be the biggest film franchise ever.

In 2008 Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk were released by Marvel Studios, and introduced the idea of a shared film universe, with Tony Stark from the Iron Man movie appearing at the end of Hulk. In the following years Captain America and Thor films were released, leading to 2012’s Avengers, which has become a box office hit.  It is not the first time characters from different films have met. Japan’s Godzilla films had monsters from other movies, and the Universal Monster movies of the 1930s/40s mark early examples of film crossovers. However, Marvel’s series of films is the first time this was planned from the ground up. Some have named this series of films the Avengers Franchise, which of course is not entirely wrong. However Marvel Comics themselves have another name for it, and a bigger idea, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has the potential to be the biggest film franchise ever.

What Marvel has that is the key to the MCU’s success and potential longevity is diversity. Iron Man was played like James Bond, the Hulk film was a man on the run, Thor was a fantasy epic, and Captain America was a WWII period piece. Various yet untapped characters in the Marvel vault cover all variety of genres, space operas, martial arts, horror, jungle adventure, etc. It is like a tree with thousands of branches. If a new hero is introduced and their film flops, it does not end the MCU, it simply means they won’t make another film of that character.

One issue they will face eventually is having to replace key actors, but this has already happened in Hulk and Iron Man. Plus a change in the lead actor did not stop James Bond, nor did it stop the Batman film series of the 90s.

There are some Marvel Characters whose film rights are still held by other studios.  Sony has the rights to Spiderman, and Fox has the X-men, Fantastic Four and Daredevil. Those are huge pieces of the Marvel Universe. Some fans believe that Marvel/Disney should pay up to Sony and Fox to immediately get these rights back so that Spidey and Wolverine can be in the Avengers and so forth. I think that as fans we need to show some patience about this. There’s no reason that Marvel should pay out and not let those series run their course.  We must remember that Marvel is only making 2 films a year, they hope to make 3 at some point, but still that’s only 3. Two to three films a year is plenty for the characters they have already.

In fact it’s probably a good thing Marvel didn’t have those characters. I think it helped creatively to start with the Avengers, it helped them focus. When you look at Cap, Hulk, and Iron Man, although they’re different kinds of heroes, they’re all military/government projects. That made it easier for their films to tie together.

Marvel will eventually get Spiderman, X-men, etc back. It will be a while, it might be 10 or 20 years from now, but in the meantime Marvel has plenty to work with. This film series could potentially go on forever. 50 years from now there could be new movies coming out that still tie back to the first Iron Man.

Not only could this go on forever, but I predict that within 6 years, by 2018 at the latest, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be the most successful film franchise ever.  (Currently Harry Potter is number 1, at 7.7 billion dollars) Not only that, but once it becomes number one, it may never get beaten.  No other film franchise moves this fast with one or two entries a year. Most film franchises have one entry every 3-4 years, sometimes even longer (Like Terminator for instance).

There is only one potential film franchise that has the depth, diversity, and capability of having enough entries to compete. I’ve been wondering for years why this potential franchise isn’t in the works. Never mind why it wasn’t made 10, 20, even 30 years ago.  That potential film franchise is the DC Cinematic Universe.

Avengers Review (Non-spoiler)

Well it’s been a long time coming and now it is finally here. 4 years ago there was no real news about an Avengers movie, only the occasional rumor and skepticism that it could even be done. Than Iron Man premiered, and in a post credit scene Samuel L. Jackson walks out of the shadows and says the words “Avengers Initiative.” Since then everything has been leading up to this.

In short this is the tale of several people that would never otherwise be together banding together for the greater good, basically the theme of the comic. The first act revolves around recruiting the various heroes, during which we get exposition as to who they are (in case you missed their solo movies). One interesting tidbit is that Banner is recruited for Banner is recruited for Banner/his scientific skills and not so much the Hulk. They are called together because Loki from the Thor film has the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube (From Cap’s movie) and wants to use it to rule Earth.

Like all previous films that lead to this, there are great character bits for everyone. It is a true achievement in screenwriting that every single Avenger gets quality screen time where we get to see what makes them tick. Everyone has a role to play, even non–powered heroes like Black Widow and Hawkeye.  (We get some nice background on them by the way)

Naturally they don’t get a long at first, some fight each other. The straight and narrow Cap clashes with the flashy Iron Man, who gets along well with Hulk, who naturally has some rivalry with Thor. It all feels very natural, none of it is forced.

One of the things I thought all previous movies did well was explaining everything to the non-fan audience. Avengers explains who all the heroes are in case you missed one of the movies, but Loki’s introduction was a bit forced. (If I recall he actually says “I am Loki from Asgard!” or something like that). Also the way they figured out Loki’s plot seemed a bit clunky. In one particular case Thor tells the group who Loki is working with and I completely missed how he knew that. After watching Thor I was wondering how he would get back to Earth in this movie. The way he gets back is literally Deus Ex Macina, but I guess that had to happen somehow.

There’s more action in this than all previous entries. It’s pretty much wall to wall action mixed with great character moments. There is a sequence in the second act where three different things are going on, which is fine, but somehow some tension was lost maybe via the editing or the pacing. In the beginning of this sequence for instance the bad guys show up and then you don’t see them for a bit because of the other two situations. That seemed a bit odd. Plus there’s a part where it’s really hard to believe Iron Man didn’t die or at least pass out.

The third act makes up for this however. We’ve all seen these kinds of movies that have the big fight with the bad guy at the end. Avengers does it’s third act better than most anybody. (One could bemoan the fact that the big battle takes place in NYC, we do get a reason why it’s there though) We all watch these movies knowing the outcome, but in the moment this one delivers that feeling of desperation, that the heroes really are up against impossible odds, and that no hero alone could save the day.

Along with a great climax the denouement is also excellent. Now there’s nothing wrong with darker themed superhero films where the characters are feared, but this film, unlike so many, shows the public truly embracing and loving it’s heroes. Maybe it was because so few films did this, but it was a great feeling to see the outpouring of love the general public showed. Again the falling action sequence in Avengers is one of the best.

While there’s subtle references to past films, aside from SHIELDS Maria Hill and Loki’s army, I don’t think anything new has been added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this entry. I didn’t catch any Easter eggs that the other films had. That is not a complaint, this movie had plenty on it’s plate to deliver.

When I really think about it, previous entrants like Thor and Iron Man were probably better than Avengers, but that is not to say Avengers was disappointing. It pretty much delivers the fanboy dream we all hoped for. It’s been a long journey, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!!!

P.S. There is a scene at the very end of the credits, but it’s purely for laughs. There is however, a mid credit scene that is a hint of things to come, and it’s a doozy.

Timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 2. Modern Day

(updated 5/14/13)

Modern Day

In Afghanistan, Tony Stark is kidnapped by the terrorist group the Ten Rings. He develops the Iron Man armor to escape. (Iron Man)

Three months later, Tony returns to the United States and orders his company to stop making weapons. (Iron Man)

Tony learns his associate, Obadiah Stane, secretly arms the Ten Rings, and in fact arranged Tony’s kidnapping, which actually was suppose to be an assassination. (The Ten Rings demanded ransom when they realized their target was Tony Stark) Stane develops his own Iron Monger suit and fights Iron Man in California. (Iron Man)

That night Stark meets S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and give him his alibi to cover for being Iron Man, which of course he doesn’t follow. The S.H.I.E.L.D. division that covers up superhuman events is called Damage Control. (Iron Man; Fast Friends, exclusive digital comic on Marvel.com)

The next day, Tony Stark holds a press conference. He does not follow script and reveals he is Iron Man. (Iron Man)

That night Nick Fury visits Tony at home and talks about the “Avengers Initiative.” (Post Credit Scene, Iron Man)

Anton Vanko watches Tony’s press conference on Russian TV and tells his son that (Iron Man) should have been you. He dies, but not before passing on his knowledge and documents to his son. (Iron Man 2)

Agent Coulson single-handedly stops a rouge airman at a Shield Base. (Iron Man 2 Agent Coulsen, exclusive Digiital comic on Marvel.com)

Agent Coulsen helps train a new S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, during which it’s revealed the Ten Rings group never attacked American soil. (Iron Man 2 Agent Coulsen, exclusive Digiital comic on Marvel.com)

S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attack a ship in Yemen that has been commandeered by the Ten Rings group. Iron Man arrives unexpected and helps the S.H.I.E.L.D agents. It is revealed that Tony keeps tabs on Fury, just as Fury keeps tabs on him. (Iron Man 2 Nick Fury, exclusive Digital comic on Marvel.com)

6 months after the Tony reveals he is Iron Man, Ivan Vanko (as Whiplash) and Justin Hammer conspire to kill Iron Man and destroy the Stark legacy. During which James Rhodes dons suit of armor to help his friend Tony, basically becoming War Machine.(Iron Man 2)

Around this time the events of Thor occur, where Thor is banished from Asgard as punishment for is arrogance and foolhardiness. He is separated from his hammer until he becomes worthy to hold it again. He then battles dark forces that threaten Asgard, and to some degree, Earth.  (Thor)

At some unknown time Nick Fury encounters Bruce Banner at a bar, and witnesses him transform into the Hulk. Hulk escapes. Fury determines Hulk is not the Super-solider they want, and orders S.H.I.E.L.D. not to pursue him any further. General Ross alone will pursue Banner. (Nick Fury: Director of Shield. Exclusive Digital Comic on Marvel.com)

The Hulk fights the military at Culver University in Virginia, including the soldier Emil Blonsky. (HULK)

(Note, the Hulk movie came out the same summer as the first Iron Man, two years before Iron Man 2. However,  it takes place just after Iron Man 2. News footage from the Hulks Rampage at Culver University is shown at the end of Iron Man 2)

Tony is offered an advisory position on the coming Avengers team. (Iron Man 2)

Bruce Banner encounters Samuel Sterns in New York city. Stern attempts to cure Hulk, but his lab is raided by the military. Banner is captured, only to be released to fight Emil, who has turned to Abomination. Stern’s himself also appears to get infected with Gamma blood and Hulk escapes. (Hulk)

After the Hulk fights Abomination, Ross drinks at an officer’s bar, distraught over losing Hulk again. Tony Stark arrives and tells him about a secret team being formed. (Hulk)

One year after the events of  Iron Man 2, Thor, and Hulk, Captain America is found in the arctic and revived. (Captain America: The First Avenger).

Just after Captain America is revived, he is recruited by SHIELD along with Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye to join the Avengers. Together they stop Loki from conquering Earth. After this adventure Thor takes Loki back to Asgard to face Asgardian justice, and Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man are allowed to go their separate ways.

During the Christmas season following the formation of the Avengers, a terrorist called the Mandarin launches terrorist attacks against the United States. The Mandarin is also involved with a scientific think thank called Advanced Idea Mechanics. They are soon defeated by Iron Man and War Machine/Iron Patriot. (Iron Man 3)

Note this Timeline uses information primarily from the Marvel films, with promotional materials and digital comics secondary. At this time I’m not including most video game tie-ins, as to the best of my knowledge are not reflective of film continuity. I’m also not including the film novelizations, as their information can be contradictory over time.

Also a promotional website says the new Stark expo is in 2010, most movies are assumed to take place the year they come out, however this can grow complicated with sequels. On Joinsheild.com for example, the viral website for Thor, the date of the hammer falling to earth is April of 2011, but it’s known to take place during Iron Man 2. Hence, until I hear otherwise I’m not assigning specific dates to the movies.

Timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 1, Beginning to Pre-Modern Day

(updated 5/14/13)

975 AD: The Frost Giants attempt to conquer earth, but are stopped by Odin and the Asgardians. After a long war between the two, during which Odin loses an eye in battle, a fragile peace is declared. (Thor)

1480 Harbin Zemo stood alone against an invading horde armed only with a sword. He was elevated to nobility as a reward. He built Castle Zemo far into the Bavarian mountains of Europe. He attempted to uncover something buried in the mountains, something he heard in half remembered local legends called the Sleeper. He began excavation even as castle was constructed. Later the Third Baron Heller Zemo, found the Sleeper. Little else is known about subsequent Zemo’s except they slowly uncovered secrets from the Sleeper, and the 8th Zemo, Hillard, desired to educate the peasantry. (Captain America: Super Soldier, Video Game)

1930 September A young orphan, Steve Rogers, is attacked by bullies in Hell’s Kitchen New York. However, Rogers resiliency despite his small stature inspires a young Bucky Barnes to come to his aid and fight the bullies. The two become friends.(Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #1)

1934 February: Physicist Johann Schmidt meets Hitler at a Wagnerian Opera  in Berlin., where he speculates magic may be “the oldest science ever known ” Hitler is intrigued by  Schmidt’s ideas, but aid Ernst Kaufman is less impressed. Kaufman is head of Sturmabteilung’s special weapons division, which Schmidt says could supplant the German army with it’s advanced arsenal. Schmidt offers to conduct research in Kaufman’s unit, but is violently rejected. Himmler, head of the S.S. overhears the conversation, and takes Schmidt under his wing. (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #3)

       June 30th: Hanselbauer Hotel Bad Weissee Bavaria, Schmidt kills Kaufman, and takes over the special weapons division. Schmidt says “You would be a “storm” trooper Kaufman. I will bring them thunder.”  (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic #3)

July 4th: Schmidt meets scientist Arim Zola, as a SA weapons testing grounds in Kummersdorf, 46 KM south of Berlin. Zola was working in Exo-skeleton technology, but Schmidt recruits him for his own projects. (Captain America First Vengeance, Digital Comic #4)

1935

       September 14th, At the German/Swiss border, Dr. Erskine is captured by Schmidt while trying to escape Germany, and is forced to continue his biology research under Schmidt. (Captain America: First Vengeance comic book)

1937  Unbeknownst to Dr. Erskine, his wife and children die of Typhus at a camp near Dachau.

1940

      February: In Los Angeles, after an attempted demonstration of the metal Vibranium, Howard Stark is recruited by Col. Phillips to help the allies in the upcoming war. (Captain America: First Vengeance comic book)

November: 2 days after Schmidt has an accident with Erskine’s formula, which disfigures his face but gives him super-human abilities, Agent 13/Peggy Carter rescues Dr. Erskine and reveals that his family is dead. Together they escape to America.

1941 Howard Stark presents inventions at the Worlds Fair (Stark Expo Website)

1942 March The Red Skull finds the Tesseract, a cube of strange power, said to be the jewel of Odin’s treasure room, in Tonsberg Norway. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1943 Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes attend the Worlds Fair, before Bucky goes off the the army. Steve, a 90 pound sickly man, enters the Super Soldier Project where he becomes a semi-superhuman physical specimen. Nazi spies destroy the lab before more soldiers can be made. He becomes a propaganda tool known as Captain America, appearing in comics and film. During the next few years, he leads a group of soldiers from the SSR, Strategic Scientific Reserve, to fight Hydra, the Nazi Deep Science Division. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1944 April Captain America invades a castle in Nazi in the occupied Danish Straits . The castle is controlled by Nazi special weapons unit Hydra. Here Cap fights a Nazi wearing an arc reactor powered battle suit, as well as an arc powered tank. He and the Howling Commandos survive an attempt by Schmidt to destroy them using a mystical Viking rune stone. (Captain America: First Vengeance, Digital Comic)

Also this year Captain America and his allies invade Castle Zemo in the Bavarian mountains. Here HYDRA attempts to unearth a Sleeper, a giant robotic like humanoid of unknown origin that is buried under the castle. Captain America defeats HYDRA and the castle is destroyed.

Near End of WWII Captain America hijacks a Hydra super plane that was going to attack the United States. On board was the Tesseract, which falls to the ocean. Captain America crashes the ship into the arctic, where he is frozen in suspended animation until the next century. While searching for Cap, Howard Stark finds the Tesseract under the sea, which presumably is the basis for Arc reactor technology. (Captain America: The First Avenger)

1954 Howard Stark makes first Stark Expo at Flushings New York (Stark Expo Website)

1963  Anton Vanko Defects from the Soviet Union (Iron Man 2)

Date Undertermined. Stark and Anton together develop arc reactor technology, but most of it is theoretical. However, they had an ideological disagreement. Anton wanted to use the researc to make money, and Howard wanted to help humanity with it. (Iron Man 2)

1967 Howard Stark took credit for all Arc Reactor research and Anton was deported back to the U.S.S.R. Because Anton couldn’t develop the technology on his own he’s sent to Siberia for 15 years. (Iron Man 2)

1969/1970 Tony Stark born. (It’s stated elsewhere Tony was 21 in 1991)

1973/74 Tony Stark builds his first circuit board at the age of four. (Iron Man)

1974 The last Stark Expo is held (Stark Expo website, Iron Man 2)

1975/76 Tony Stark at age 6 builds his first engine, apparently the first V-8.(Iron Man)

Tony’s engine is reported in a science magazine, which includes the headline “Will Arc Reactor Save All Our Energy Needs. Later it is stated the arc reactor was not cost effective, and no breakthrough is made for 30 years.

1986/87 Tony Stark graduates Summa Cum Laude from M.I.T at age 17. (Iron Man)

Early December 1991 Howard Stark and his wife are killed in a car accident. Tony Stark, at the age of 21, becomes CEO of Stark Industries. (Iron Man: A newspaper runs the story on 12/17)

1999 Tony Stark meets  Maya Henson, a scientist who was developing Extremis, which was a treatment for crippling injuries. Stark also meets and embarrasses Aldrich Killian, a crippled scientist who has a scientific think thank called Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM.

Date unknown: Harvard students Bruce Banner and Betty Ross volunteer for induced hallucination experiments. (Hulk)

About 5 years ago (Possible date March 7th). General Ross, Betty Ross, and Bruce Banner attempt to re-activate the WWII super soldier program. An accident occurs and Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk. He becomes a fugitive from the military and seeks a cure. Various sighting and incidents occur in 2004 and 2006 (Hulk)

Unofficial Handbook of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 2, Q-Z

updated 3/9/13

Reinstein, Dr.

First Appearance: In name only, Hulk (2008) on film, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Captain America Comics #1 (1941)

History: Dr. Reinstein’s was a German scientist who was working on increasing molecular density of cellular fibers through synthetic proteins that he made. While attempting to flee Germany, he his captured by Schmidt, who threatens to kill his family if he doesn’t continue his research for HYDRA. Unbenownst to him, his family dies in a camp near Dachau. In late 1940, he creates a super soldier serum which deforms Schmidt but gives him super human abilities. He is rescued by Agent 13 and escapes to America. There he perfected the Super Soldier Serum, which created Captain America, before being killed by a Nazi spy. His name appears on a cold storage unit for the Weapon Plus serum, which is like a super soldier serum.

Rhodes, Colonel James/War Machine

Played by: Terrance Howard (Iron Man) Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2)

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in comics: Iron Man 118 (1979)

History: Air Force Lia son to Stark Industries, James Rhodes is a long time friend to Tony Stark, and is often frustrated over Stark’s carefree reckless lifestyle. Tony Stark held a birthday party for himself where he got drunk while wearing the Iron Man suit. Concerned over everyone’s safety, Rhodes put on a different suit to try to subdue him. He kept the suit and upgraded it with heavy artillery. As War Machine, he aided Iron Man in battle against Whiplash and Hammer’s robot army.

Powers: The War Machine suit is similar to Iron Man’s but with heavy artillery included.

Rogers, Steve/Captain America

Played By: Chris Evans

First Appearance: Technically, the digital comic Captain America: First Vengeance, on 2/6/11. First film appearance, Captain America, The First Avenger. (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Captain America Comics #1, March 1941

History: Steve Rogers was a 90 pound sickly man whose father died in WWI. Due to strong moral convictions he desperately wanted to join the war effort against the Nazis, despite his physical weakness. These convictions got the attention of Dr. Erskine, who, through the Super Soldier project, turned Rogers into a muscular semi-superhuman. After at first being a propaganda tool, he eventually led a unit in battling Nazis. Late in the war he hijacked an experimental plane on route to attacking America. He crashed the plane into the arctic, where he was frozen until the next century. He is awakened and recruited to join the Avengers, who stop Loki from conquering Earth. After that adventure, he is allowed to go off on his own.

Romanoff, Natasha/Black Widow

Played by: Scarlet Johansson

First Appearance: Iron Man 2 (2010)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #52 (1964)

History: Natasha was born i Russia. At some point SHIELD agent Hawkeye was sent to kill her, but he instead recruited her for SHIELD. As  a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent she went undercover as Natalie Rushmen to keep tabs on Tony Stark. Her identity was later revealed to Tony and she fought Justin Hammer’s henchmen when Hammer’s robotic soldiers went haywire. She has also been involved in strikes against the Ten Rings terrorist group, and was secretly present while the Hulk fought the army at Culver University in Virginia. She then joined the Avengers initiative.

Ross, Elizabeth “Betty”

Played by: Liv Tyler

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)

History: Betty attended Harvard with Bruce Banner, where they both volunteered for induced hallucination experiments. Later they both worked at Culver University in Virginia. There they worked on a project for her father General “Thunderbolt” Ross. They thought the project was about radation resistance but it secretly was a rebirth of the WWII bio-tech force enhancement project, or super-soldier program. In an accident Banner became the Hulk and injured Betty. Betty did not see Bruce for 5 years, as he was a fugitive. She had a relationship with psychiatrist Dr. Leonard Samson. However, she united with Bruce and tried to help him find a cure. They were not successful, and Bruce fled again. Betty remains at Culver, and is still estranged from her father.

Ross, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt“

Played by: William Hurt

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)

History: General Ross revived the World War Two era bio-tech force enhancement (or super soldier) project. His daughter Dr. Betty Ross, and her boyfriend Bruce Banner worked on the project. However, General Ross told them it was really an experiment on radiation resistance. In an accident Banner became the Hulk, and General Ross and his daughter were injured. During the next 5 years Ross pursued Banner. One soldier under him, Emil Blonsky, encountered the Hulk and wanted to know more. Ross gave Blonsky a batch of super soldier serum, and they fought the Hulk again in Virginia, and captured him in New York. However, Blonsky, mixed Banner’s blood with the serum and became Abomination. Ross let Banner go so he could turn into the Hulk and defeat Abomination. Ross lost the Hulk again and is estranged from his daughter.

After the New York incident Tony Stark met General Ross at a bar. Tony told him of a team being put together.

Samson, Dr. Leonard

Played by” Ty Burrell

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Incredible Hulk #141 (1971)

History: Dr. Samson is a psychiatrist who dated Betty Ross. He learned of Banners return to Culver University and called the authorities. Upon meeting Betty’s father General Ross however, he came to regret that decision, as he could tell the General was lying to him.

Differences from the comics: In the Marvel universe he has green hair and super strength.

Selvig, Erik

Played by Stellan Skarsgard

First Appearance: Thor (2011) Note, this character is unique to film.

Erik Selvig is a sitting professor at Culver University, where he’s studied astrophysics for a decade. He was associated with Jane Fosters now deceased father, (name unknown) and helps Jane with the same research. While conducting that research in New Mexico they encountered Thor of Asgard. Selvig was skeptical of Thor’s claims but knew of Viking Mythology from his own upbringing in Norway. Erik knew Bruce Banner when Banner did Gamma research. All Erik knows of Banner’s current condition is that he disappeared. Selvig continues his research with help from SHIELD.

Schmidt, Johann/Red Skull

Played By: Hugo Weaving

First Appearance: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Captain America Comics #7, October 1941.

History: Schmidt was a German Physicist who believed the old Viking Mythology touched on an ancient science believed by many to be magic. He became the head of Hydra, the Nazi Deep Science division, and demanded Dr. Erskine continue his research into Super Soldier Serum. Schmidt used an early version of the serum on himself, which deformed his head, making it look like a Red Skull. Later he found the Tesseract, a cube of ancient power once used by Odin. He used this to make super-weapons and battled Captain America. He apparently was sucked into some void via the cube, his fate after that is unknown.

Differences from the Comics: It is a little known fact that technically the first Red Skull was an American business man named George Maxon, who appeared in Captain America Comics #1 in March of 1941.In the comics Scmhidt’s Red Skull is at first a mask. Later, he falls victim to his own biological weapon, called the Dust of Death, giving his head the same appearance.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Strange Tales #135 (1965)

Known members: Nick Fury (Director) Agent Coulsen, and Natasha Romanoff

History: S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. It is a secret organization that seems to be involved in tracking Super-humans. Howard Stark helped start the organization. They’ve had unknown dealings with super-humans in the past, and  developed the Avengers Initiative, which is to be a team of super-heroes. They’ve also been involved in combating the terrorist group known as the Ten Rings, and assist Jane Foster and Erik Selvig with astrophysics research in the hope of reaching the once though mythical realm of Asgard. SHIELD is run by a mysterious group called the World Security Council. The WSC has had conflicts of interest with SHIELD director Nick Fury. The WSC wanted most of SHIELD’s resources to study the Tesseract under Project Pegasus, but Fury wanted resources to recruit heroes like Hulk and Iron Man, along with the search for Captain America in the Arctic, to help fight off potential global threats.

Differences from the comics: In the Marvel Universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division. It also did not form the Avengers, they formed on their own.

Siff

Played By: Jamie Alexander

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #102 March 1964

History: Siff is an Asgardian who accompanies Thor on various adventures.

Sleeper

First Appearance: Captain America: Super Soldier Video Game (2011)

First Appearance in comics: Captain America #101 (1968)

History: The Sleeper is a giant robotic humanoid of unknown origins buried in the Bavarian mountains. It is made of unknown materials. The Zemo family discovered it and built Castle Zemo over it. For generations the Zemo family attempted to unearth it. The excavation was taken over by HYDRA during WWII. Hydra managed to briefly awaken the Sleeper, but it was defeated and presumably destroyed by Captain America and allied forces.

Differences from the comics: In the comics the Nazis created four giant robots called the Sleepers.

Stane, Obadiah (Iron Monger)

Played by: Jeff Bridges

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Iron Man #163 (1982)

History: Stane was a lifelong friend of Howard Stark, and helped Tony Stark run Stark Enterprises when Howard died. Tony did not know that Stane was secretly selling Stark weapons to the Ten Rings terrorist group. Stane in fact payed the group to kill Tony when he visited Afghanistan. Tony survived, an a series of related events led him to become Iron Man. Tony soon learned of Stane’s treachery, and fought Stane in California when Stane made his own Iron Man suit (Iron Monger). Stane was killed in the conflict, but the general public is not aware of his death or of his criminal activities.

Powers: The Iron Monger suit was physically larger that Iron Man, and had high caliber weaponry and the ability to fly.

Stark, Howard

Played by: Gerard Sanders (Iron Man) John Slattery (Iron Man 2) Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger)

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008) First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #39. March 1963

History: Howard Stark started Stark Enterprises, which made military weapons in World War Two. At the worlds fair in 1941 he made a presentation of technological advancements. Later he designed Captain America’s shield and costume. He unsuccessfully searched for Captain America who disappeared in the arctic, but on the way found the Tesseract, which is presumably the basis for Arc Reactor technology. In 1954 he began the Stark Expo, similar to the worlds fair. The last Stark Expo was in 1974, in Flushings New York. Stark married a woman named Marie and had a son named Tony, who showed genius at an early age. Around this time, he had a vision of working with scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain for the betterment of humanity. He and Soviet scientist Anton Vanko, made theoretical developments in arc reactor technology, which possibly could have solved the energy crisis. He and Vanko had ideological disagreements, and Vanko ended up going back the the U.S.S.R. Arc reactor research came to a dead end. Stark on paper discovered a new element, and made a diorama of the 1974 Stark Expo, that held a code in it’s design. Some 30 years later, Tony Stark discovered the code, and with current technology, made the new element. Howard and his wife died in a car crash in December of 1991.

Stark, Tony/Iron Man

Played By: Robert Downey Jr.

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in Comic Books: Tales of Suspense #39 (1963)

History: Tony Stark is the son of Howard Stark, whose company Stark Industries provided weapons to the U.S. military since WWII. Tony is a born genius, who built his first circuit board at age 4, and at six built his first engine. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from M.I.T. at 17. In December of 1991 his parents died in a car crash, and at age 21 he took control of the company, with the help of Obadiah Stane. Stane was a lifelong friend of Howard. From there Tony grew in celebrity status and gained a reputation as a playboy.

Around 20 years later Tony was kidnapped by terrorists when he went to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapon. His convoy was attacked and he was wounded, with shrapnel floating close to his heart. Another captive, Yinsen, planted a small magnet in his chest to keep him alive. The two were ordered to make a new weapon. Tony secretly developed a small arc reactor, which was an energy source his father had worked on. The reactor powered an armored suit he designed to escape the terrorists, which he did.

Upon returning to America he announced that his company would no longer make weapons, which led him to clash with Stane. Stark soon learned that Stane had arranged his kidnapping, which in fact was suppose to be an assasination. Stane built his own armor suit and was defeated by Iron Man at a Stark factory in California.

The battle was witnessed by the general public, so the espionage group S.H.I.E.L.D provided an alibi for Tony which he was to use at a press conference. On a whim Tony revealed that he was in fact Iron Man, which only furthered his celebrity.

That night S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury came to Stark’s home to tell him about the Avengers Initiative.

6 months later Ivan Vankov, who made his own power suit, tried to kill Tony in Monaco. It was revealed that Ivan’s father Anton worked with Howard Stark, whom he had a falling out with. Ivan blamed the Stark family for his families misfortune. Business rival Justin Hammer secretly recruited Ivan to help build more Iron Man suits. Iron Man, and his partner James Rhoads/War Machine defeated Justin Ivan.

After this Nick Fury met with Tony again, telling him Iron Man was to on the Avengers, but Tony himself would be an adviser. Tony then met with General “Thunderbolt” Ross, after he’d lost pursuit of the Hulk. Tony told General Ross that a special team was being built. Stark did join the Avengers and helped defeat Loki who attempted to conquer Earth.

Powers: The Iron Man suit makes the wearer a one man army. It’s capable of jet-speed flight through the use of repulsion rays that can also serve as weaponry. Also included are various weapon and targeting systems, communications, and scanning abilities. The suit is always being upgraded.

Differences from the Comics: The original comics had Tony’s origin in Vietnam, as the comic came out in the 1960s.

Stern, Samuel (The Leader)

Played by: Tim Blake Nelson

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in comics: Tales to Astonish #62 (1964)

History: Sterns was in the Department of Cell Biology at Grayburn College in New York city. He was also known as Mr. Blue, when he communicated via email to fugitive Bruce Banner about Banner’s blood condition. Banner comes to New York and they attempt a cure. Banner was not aware that Sterns was also using a blood sample he’d previously sent to do other experiments. Soon after meeting Banner General Ross and his soldiers came and took Banner away. Emil Blonksy, one of those soldiers, had a super soldier serum in his body. Upon seeing Stern’s experiments, Emil told Stern he wanted what Banner had. Stern experimented on Emil, who became, what Stern called an Abomination. Sterns lab was wrecked, and some of Banner’s blood plasma fell into an open wound, bringing a metamorphosis in Stern. He is currently in SHIELD custody.

Differences from the Comics: In the comics he was a janitor at a chemical plant in Boise Idaho. The plant had an accident and he was exposed to gamma radiation, which turned his body green and gave him super intelligence.

Strucker: Baron Von Wolfgang:

First Appearance: Captain America: Super Soldier Video Game (2011)

First Appearance in comics: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #5 (1964)

History: Strucker was the head of security when Hydra occupied a Bavarian Castle during WWII. He volunteered for Dr. Zola’s experiments and had a mechanical weapon grafted onto his hand. He was defeated by Captain America.

Ten Rings

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

History: This is a terrorist organization with operatives from all around Asia. Obadiah Stane secretly sold Stark weapons to them, and arranged for Stark to be killed when he visited Afghanistan. However, when they realized Tony Stark was their target they held him for ransom. These events led to Tony becoming Iron Man. The ten rings have since clashed with Iron Man in Afghanistan, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in Yemen and elsewhere. To date they have not struck on American soil.

Differences from the comics: There is not a Ten Rings terrorist group in the Marvel Universe, but the name is a reference to the Iron Man villain Mandarin, who has ten powerful rings.

Thanos:

First Appearance: Avengers (2012) mid credit scene.

First Appearance in comics: Iron Man #55 (February 1973)

History: At this point not much is known about Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe except that he oversaw the Chitauri as they helped Loki invade Earth. When seeing how formidable the heroes of Earth can be, Thanos concludes that more extreme measures need to be taken.

Thor

Played by Chris Hemsworth

First Appearance; Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #83, August 1962

History: Thor is the Norse god of thunder, and son of Odin. Due to his arrogance and foolishness he was banished to Earth by Odin. There he was separated from his hammer until he became worthy. While on earth he met astrophysicist Jane Foster. He later returned to Earth to join the Avengers and stop Loki from conquering Earth. He did not get a chance to reunite with Foster, as he returned to Asgard with Loki so Loki could face Asgardian justice.

Differences from the Comics: While on Earth Thor took the civilian identity of Dr. Donald Blake. In the movie Dr. Blake was a former boyfriend of Jane Foster.

Vanko, Anton

Played by: Yevgeni Lazarev

First Appearance: Iron Man 2 (2010)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #46 (1963)

History: Anton was a Soviet scientist who worked with Howard Stark over Arc reactor technology. However, the two had ideological differences, as Howard wanted the technology for humanitarian reasons, and Anton wanted to use it to get rich. As a result he was sent back to the Soviet Union. Unable to make the technology on his own, he was imprisoned in Siberia for 15 years. By the time Tony Stark announced to the world he was Iron Man, Anton was very ill and close to death. Before dying, he gave Ivan his scientific papers. Ivan then sought to avenge his family.

Differences from the comics: In the Marvel universe, he was the Soviet version of Iron Man, known as Crimson Dynamo.

Vanko, Ivan/Whiplash

Played by: Mickey Rourke

First Appearance: Iron Man 2 (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Iron Man #146 (1981)

History: Ivan is the son of scientist Anton Vanko. Himself a physicist, he was arrested trying to sell Soviet era weapons grade plutonium to Pakistan. For this he served 15 years in Kopeisk Prison. Before Anton’s death, around the same time Tony Stark told the world he was Iron Man, he revealed to Ivan he once worked with Stark on Arc reactor technology. He had a falling out over ideological differences. He passed his knowledge and scientific papers onto Ivan. Ivan spent the next six months developing his own power suit with electric whips that could cut through steel. He attempted to kill Tony Stark, and together with Tony’s business rival Justin Hammer, conspired to kill Stark and ruin his legacy. Ivan died fighting Iron Man and War Machine, but not before the Stark Expo pavilion was destroyed.

Powers: His original suit had electric whips that could slice through steel. The suit did not cover his whole body. Later he made a more powerful full bodied suit.

Differences from the Comics: Whiplash was first known as Backlash, and his civilian identity was Mark Scarlotti.

Volstagg

Played By: Ray Stevenson

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #119 August 1965

History: Volstagg is an Asgardian who accompanied Thor on many adventures.

Warlock’s Eye

First  Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Asgard #131 (1966)

History: The Warlock’s Eye briefly appeared in Odin’s treasure room. In the comics it was stolen by Thor and the Warriors 3 from Harokin.

Wilson, Jim

Played By: P. J. Kerr

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: The Incredible Hulk #131 (1970)

History: Jim Wilson is a Sophomore at Culver University and, along with Jim McGee, witnessed the Hulk fight the military on campus. When interviewed by local media, he described the monster as a “Hulk”.

Differences from the Comics: Jim Wilson in the comics was a long time friend of the Hulk and Bruce Banner.

Yinsen

Played by: Shaub Toub

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #39 (1963)

History: Yinsen once met Tony Stark at a conference in Bern Switzerland. He met him again when they were both captured by the Ten Rings terrorist group. Tony was wounded, with shrapnel closing in on his heart. Yinsen put a magnet in his chest to keep him alive. While the terrorists wanted the to build weapons, they instead worked on an armored suit so they could escape. Tony was encouraged by Yinsen to be a better  person, and make his life count for something. Yinsen died in the escape, but had not planned to survive anyway. His family in the fictional Afghan village of Gulmira was killed by the Ten Rings. Yin wanted to meet his family in death.

Differences from the comics: In the movie he’s from Afghanistan, and only known as Yinsen. Iron Man’s origin story has him in Vietnam, where he’s known as Ho Yinsen.

Zemo: Baron Heinrich

First Appearance: Captain America: Super Soldier Video Game (2011)

First Appearance in Comic books: Avengers #4 (1964)

History: Zemo does not actually appear in the video game but during the course of the game Zemo’s diaries are collected. Zemo’s ancestors discovered the Sleeper, a giant robotic like humanoid buried in the Bavarian mountains. Generations of the Zemo family attempted to unearth it. During WWII HYDRA, the Nazi deep science division, took over the castle and unearthed it. Baron Heinrich Zemo, the 14th Baron Zemo, first cooperated but
later grew weary of Hydra. One personal project he worked on was called Adhesive X. HYDRA scientist Arim Zola assisted him on this project, but there was a laboratory accident which disfigured Zemo. Zemo believed the accident was an attempt to kill him. He gathered some, but not all of his family treasures and hid them in various family safe houses around the world. Then he challenged the Red Skull to a fencing duel, which Zemo lost. Zemo then escaped the castle, his whereabouts afterwords are unknown. Zemo kept a diary of these events, the diaries whereabouts are unknown. His castle was destroyed when the Sleeper briefly awoke, but was defeated by Captain America and allied forces.

Zola, Arnim

Played By: Toby Jones

First Appearance: Captain America: The First Avenger

First Appearance in Comics: Captain America #208, April 1977.

History: Zola is a scientist who works for Hydra, the Nazi deep science division. He helps develop super science weapons before being captured by the Americans. He is also apparently the first to understand the human genome. Before he did this he was working on Exo-skeleton technology. At one point he created super soldiers for Hydra while they occupied a castle in the Bavarian mountains. HYDRA was at this location to attempt to unearth a Sleeper, a giant robotic like humanoid that was buried under the castle. After Captain America defeated HYDRA at the castle, Zola considered resuming his robotic experiments.

Differences from the comics: Later in the comics he gets a suit of armor.

Unofficial Handbook of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Part 1, A-P

(Updated 3/9/13) 

Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM)

First Appearance: Iron Man 3 (2013)

First Appearance in comics: Strange Tales #146, (July 1966)

AIM is a scientific think-tank developed by Aldrich Killian. They developed Extremis, which was developed to help people recover from injuries, but also gave them superhuman abilities. They were involved with the Mandarin in launching terrorist attacks against the United States which were stopped by Iron Man and War Machine.

Difference from the comics: In the comics AIM is a group of scientists originally formed to make weapons for the terrorist group Hydra.

Arc Reactor technology:

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

This is an experimental form of seemingly limitless energy. It was developed by Howard Stark and his Russian colleague Anton Vanko, presumably through the use of the Tesseract, which Stark recovered at the end of or after WWII. Most of the technology was theoretical. A large reactor using this technology was in a Stark factory in California, but it was destroyed in a fight between Iron Man and Iron Monger. Apparently it was not cost effective, and no breakthroughs were made for since the 1970s. Tony Stark managed to make a small arc reactor device while in captivity in Afghanistan, which powers his Iron Man suit.

Avengers Initiative:

First Mention: Iron Man, post credit scene. (2008)

The Avengers Initiative is overseen by Nick Fury, and is a plan for a team of super-heroes. Nick Fury revealed that he wants Iron Man on the team, but Tony Stark is to be an adviser. Stark talked to General “Thunderbolt” Ross about this special team as well. The team ends up being Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and possibly others.

Banner, Bruce (The Incredible Hulk)

Played by: Edward Norton

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in comics: Incredible Hulk #1 1962

History: Banner is a  Harvard graduate who worked on experiments at Culver University in Virginia. He worked with his girlfriend, Dr. Betty Ross, on what he thought were experiments on radiation resistance. Betty’s father, General “Thunderbolt” Ross, was in charge of the project, which secretly was bio tech force enhancement, or a revived super-soldier project from WWII. An accident occurred, after which, whenever Banner’s pulse quickened through anger or stress, he became a giant green monster called the Hulk. Betty was severely injured by the Hulk, and Banner became a fugitive for 5 years. Various incidents occurred while on the run. He is blamed for the deaths of 2 scientists, a military officer, an Idaho State Trooper, and 2 Canadian Hunters.

For 5 months Banner worked at a bottle plant in South America, while looking for a rare flower that might cure him. He also practiced breathing and relaxing techniques with a jujitsu master (One of the Gracies actually). In the meantime he communicated via computer with a “Mr Blue” about his condition. Ross found Banner and Bruce then fled to America. There he re-united with his girlfriend and found “Mr. Blue” who was New York professor Samuel Stern. Stern attempted to cure Banner when his lab was raided by Ross’s soldiers, one of them being Emil Blonsky. Banner was captured, but Blonsky used Stern’s lab to become a gamma beast himself (Abomination). Ross released Banner so he could become the Hulk and defeated Abomination, then fled. He is last known to be in Bella Coola, British Columbia, in Canada. He apparently now has some control over his Hulk form. He continued travelling the world and was recruited by the Black Widow in India to join the Avengers, which he did. However, after and adventure with the Avengers he again continued his nomadic lifestyle.

I also want to note that when in Harvard he and Betty volunteered for induced hallucination experiments.

Powers: When Banner is the Hulk he has an incredible amount of strength, endurance, and invulnerability. He can leap great distances, and has some limited speech. He is vulnerable to sonar attacks.

Blonsky, Emil (Abomination) 

Played by: Tim Roth

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in comics: Tales to Astonish #90, 1967

History: Born in Russia and raised in England, he joined General Ross’s army to hunt the fugitive Bruce Banner. Upon seeing Banner turn to the Hulk, he asked Ross to tell him what Banner was. Ross informed him of a WWII super soldier project he’d revived, and offered to give Blonsky the experimental serum. He took it, and gained great athletic ability, still after his next encounter with the Hulk he was crippled. Thanks to the serum he had a miraculous recovery. He captured Banner in New York, in the laboratory of Professor Stern. Stern was working on experiments with Bruce’s blood and tried to cure Banner. Emil had Stern mix Banners blood with the serum already in his body and became another monster, (Abomination). He challenged the Hulk but was defeated. He is currently is SHIELD custody.

Powers: Abomination is possibly stronger than the Hulk, Blonsky can completely control this form.

Difference from the comics: In the comics he was a Russian agent.

Carter, Peggy

Played By: Hayley Atwell

First Appearance: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

First Appearance in comics:

History: Peggy is apparently an English lia-son  for America’s SSR, Scientific Strategic Reserve. She helps Captain America and a team of soldiers fight Hydra, the Nazi deep science division, during WWII. She previously rescued Dr. Erskine from HYDRA, under the code-name Agent 13.

Differences from the Comics: In the comics she was a member of the French Resistance during WWII.

Chitauri: 

First Appearance: The Avengers (2012)

First Appearance in comics: Ultimates #8, November 2002

History: The Chitauri are an alien race that planned to conquer Earth with the Asgardian Loki. They were later revealed to also be in league with Thanos.

Differences from the comics. In Marvel Comics Ultimate line, which features the Marvel characters with more contemporary origins, the Chitauri were like the Skrulls, a shape shifting alien race. They do not appear to have these abilities in the Avengers film.

Coulson, Phil

Played By: Clark Gregg

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008) Note, this character is unique to film.

History: Agent Coulson is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who was assigned to Tony Stark when he became Iron Man. He also operated at a base in New Mexico investigating Thor’s hammer which fell there from Asgard and was immovable. He also had a hand in forming the Avengers, but died during their first adventure.

Eternal Flame 

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in comics.: Thor #349 (1984)

History: This item in briefly seen in Odin’s Treasure room. In the comics  Thor and Odin stole this from the Demon Surtur so Surtur could not light his sword on fire and destroy Asgard.

Eye of Agamotto

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Strange Tales #115 (1963)

History: The Eye of Agamotto appears briefly in Odin’s treasure room. It is a mystical item used by sorcerer Dr. Strange, named after a previous sorcerer.

Fandral

Played By: Joshua Dallas

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #119, August1965

History: Fandral is an Asgardian and friend of Thor who accompanied Thor on many adventures.

Frigga: 

Played By: Rene Russo

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #92, May1963

History: Frigga is Odin’s wife and mother to Thor.

Foster, Jane:

Played By: Natalie Portman

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #84, September 1962

History: Jane Foster studies Physics at Culver University, where her father previously worked. She did Post Doctorate work in Astrophysics, and applied for a grant to study particle phenomenon in New Mexico. She formerly dated a Dr. Donald Blake. In New Mexico she met Thor, who was banished from Asgard and separated from his hammer. After Thor returned to Asgard, Foster continued her research with cooperation from SHIELD, and attempts to find a way to get to Asgard.

Differences From the Comics: Jane Foster was a nurse who met Thor’s Earth-bound identity Dr. Donald Blake.

Fury, Nick:

Played By: Samuel L. Jackson

First appearance: Iron Man-post credit scene. (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (1963)

Ultimate Fury first appearance: Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #5. (2001)

History:  Not much is currently known about Nick Fury. He’s director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and spoke to Tony Stark personally about the Avenger Initiative. He wanted Iron Man on the Avengers but wanted Tony Stark  to be just an adviser. However, he soon formed the Avengers with Tony Stark as Iron Man, along with Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. He has an eye patch and scars over his left eye, due to an unknown injury.

Differences from comics: Ultimate Fury was designed to look like Samuel L. Jackson, who ultimately plays him on film. In the Ultimate Universe Fury lost his eye to Wolverine of the X-men. The movie version has his claw scars by his missing eye, but the film rights to Wolverine are owned by Fox. Hence no references to Wolverine will be made in the Marvel Movie Universe in the foreseeable future.

<strong>Gruler, Helmet (Iron Cross)

First Appearance: Captain America: Super Soldier Video Game (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Invaders #35 (1978)

History: During WWII in the Bavarian mountains Dr. Zola is experimenting on making super soldiers. While Captain America sabotages these plans he fights and defeats Iron Cross, a which is a soldier in a suit of armor like Iron Man.

Hammer, Justin

Played by: Sam Rockwell

First appearance: Iron Man 2 (2010)

First Appearance in comics: Iron Man #120 (1979)

History: Hammer is a younger much less hip version of Tony Stark. A rival business man Hammer tried to replicate the Iron Man technology for the government. He secretly had the assistance of Ivan Vanko (Whiplash) and build an army of robots that he debuted at the Stark expo. He was arrested after the robots attacked the expo causing massive destruction.

Difference from the comics: The comics have him older and British.

 

Hansen, Maya

First Appearance: Iron Man 3

First Appearance in Comics: Iron Man Vol 4#1. (January 2005)

History: Maya met and had a fling with Tony Stark at a New Years party in 1999. She developed a project called Extremis designed to help people recover from injuries. She further develops the plan with the aid of Aldrich Killian who later kills her after she has a change of heart.

Howling Commandos

First Appearance:Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 May 1963. (Different characters first appearances will be listed below.)

Members:

James”Bucky” Barnes (Captain America Comics #1, March 1941) Played by Stan Sebastian

Jacques Dernier (Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos #21 August 1965) Played by Bruno Ricci.

“Dum Dum” Dugan Played by Neal McDonough.

James Montgomery Falsworth (The Invaders #7 July 1976) Played by J. J. Field.

Gabe Jones, played by Derek Luke

Jim Morita (Sergent Fury and his Howling Commandos, #38 January 1967) Played by Kenneth Choi

History: After Captain America freed the above men from a secret Hydra base, he personally picked them as his team to fight Hydra. Note, they are not actually called Howling Commandos in the film, and in the tie in video game Captain America: Super Soldier, they’re mistakenly called The Invaders, which was a WWII superhero team with Captain America, Namor, the Original Human Torch, and others.

Differences from the comics: In the comics Nick Fury led the team. Additional members included  Robert “Rebel” Ralston, Dino Manelli, Isadore “Izzy” Cohen, Jonathan “Junior” Juniper, Percival “Pinky” Pinkerton, Eric Koenig, and many others.Not included were James Barnes, who instead was Captain America’s sidekick Bucky, and James Falsworth, who was the British costumed hero Union Jack.

Heimdall

Played By: Idris Elba

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

Journey Into Mystery #85 October 1962

History: Heimdall is an Asgardian who guards the gateway between Asgard and the other 9 realms.

Hill, Maria

Played by: Cobie Smulders

First Appearance: The Avengers (2012)

First Appearance in Comics: New Avengers #4 (March 2005)

History: Maria Hill ranks just under Nick Fury under the SHIELD organization

Hogan (Happy)

Played by: Jon Favreau (Who also directed Iron Man 1 and 2)

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #45 (1963)

History: Hogan is the chauffeur and bodyguard to Tony Stark.

Hogun

Played By: Tadanobu Asano

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #119 August 1965 History:

Hogun is a life long friend of Thor and accompanied him on many adventures.

Hydra

First Appearance: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

First Appearance in comics: Strange Tales #135 (1965)
Note: HYDRA was also mentioned in a story Menace #10 in 1954, but this was before the proper Marvel Universe came to be.

History: HYDRA was the Nazis deep scientist division, started by Johann Schmidt/The Red Skull. After acquiring the Tesseract, a Viking artifact with untold power, they made advanced weaponry. They also attempt to awaken a Sleeper, a giant mechanical humanoid of unknown origin that is buried in the Bavarian mountains. They are defeated by Captain America and allied forces.

Differences from the comics: In the comics Hydra originally began near the end of WWII, but later it was retconned to actually be an ancient organization.

Infinity Gauntlet

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Avengers Annual #7 (1977)

History: The Infinity Gauntlet briefly appears in Odin’s treasure room. The Infinity Gauntlet contains 6 infinity gems of incredible power. It should be noted that the book The Art of Thor shows a closer look at it, and it appears not all of the gems are present. The Power, Mind, and possibly time gems are included, but the reality, space, and soul gems are missing.

Jones, Rick

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First Appearance in comics: Incredible Hulk #1 May 1962

History: Rick Jones has not appeared on film but his name was visible on a document as a student at Culver University, where Banner worked and became the Hulk.

Differences from the Comics: He’s a bigger character in the comics, as he’s a friend of Banner and the Hulk.

Killian, Aldrich

First Appearance: Iron Man 3

First Appearance in Comics: Iron Man vol. 4 #1 (Janurary 2005) 

History: Killian was a disabled scientist who briefly met and was embarrassed by Tony Stark at a New Years Party in 1999. He created a scientific think thank called Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM. 13 years later he was involved with a plan with the Mandarin to launch terrorist attacks against the United States, and sought revenge against Tony Stark. Eventually he was killed while fighting Iron man/Tony Stark and War Machine.

Kruger, Heinz

Played By: Richard Armitage

First Appearance: Captain America: First Vengeance

First Appearance in Comics Captain America Comics #1, March 1941. (Named in Captain America 109, January 1969)

History: Kruger is a Nazi/Hydra spy who assassinates Dr. Erskine after Rogers became Captain America. Rogers pursues him but Kruger kills himself before he could be captured.

Laufey

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #112 (January 1965)

Played By: Colm Feore

History: Laufey is King of the Frost Giants who has an uneasy peace with Odin of Asgard.

Lewis, Darcy

Played By: Kat Dannings

First Appearance: Thor (2011) Note, original film character.

History: Darcy Lewis is a poli-sci major who interns with Jane Foster on her astrophysics research.

Loki

Played By: Tom Hiddleston

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Journey Into Mystery #85 October 1962

Note: Technically his first Marvel comic was the then Timely publication Venus #6, October of 1949. However, the Marvel Universe as we know it didn’t exist at this time.

History: Loki was of the race of Frost Giants, but, unbeknownst to him, was adopted by Odin of Asgard as a baby. Always jealous of older brother Thor, Loki manipulated a series of events to become King of Asgard. He was thwarted by Thor and banished to Earth. It was during the course of these events that he learned of his adoption. He then allied with the alien race known as the Chitauri an attempted to conquer earth using the Tesseract. He was thwarted by the Avengers and is currently in Asgard being tried according to Asgardian law.

Madame Hydra

First Appearance: Captain America: Super Soldier Video Game (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Captain America #110 1969

History: Madame Hydra was given her name by Arim Zola. She was in charge of the prisoners in a Castle in the Bavarian Mountains in WWII. She was defeated by Captain America.

Differences from the comics: In the comics she is a modern day terrorist working for Hydra.

Mandarin

First Appearance: Iron Man 3

First Appearance in comics: Tales of Suspense #50 (February 1964)

History: Mandarin, in reality, is British Actor Trevor Slattery. The Mandarin character is a creation of Aldrich Killian, the head of AIM, and part of Killian’s plan to attack the United States as well as get revenge on Tony Stark.. Slattery records videos that are message to America stating terrorist attacks are coming. Trevor is kept in a mansion by Killian and is actually unaware of the actual terrorist attacks, believing himself to simply be part of an acting job.

Differences from the comics: Mandarin is a legitimate super villain in the Marvel Universe. He is Chinese and has ten rings that he got from a crashed alien spacecraft.

Master Man Project

First Appearance: Captain America: Super Soldier Video Game (2011)

First Appearance in the comics (for the character Master Man) Giant Sized Invaders #1 (1975)

History: Hydra scientist Arim Zola headed the Master Man project, which was an attempt to re-create the Super Soldier Serum from the blood of the Red Skull. It was thwarted by Captain America.

Differences from the comics: In the comics Master Man was a specific character, an American who was a Nazi sympathizer. He was given a Nazi version of the Super Soldier serum and became a super soldier.

McGee, Jack

First Appearance: Hulk (2008)

First appearance else-where: The Incredible Hulk TV series pilot. (1977)

History: Mr. McGee is a Sophomore at Culver University in Virginia, and witnessed the Hulk fight the military on campus. He’s also a college journalist.

Media Note: This was a nod to the 1970s TV show, where his character debuted. McGee in the TV show was a reporter who tried to expose the Hulk. This sets up Bruce Banner’s famous line, “Mr McGee, don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

Odin

Played By: Anthony Hopkins

First Appearance: Thor (2011)

Journey Into Mystery #85 October 1962

History: Odin is the ruler of the mythical realm of Asgard. He and his army once saved Earth from the Frost Giants, whom they warred with. Odin slayed the Frost Giant King, and in battle lost an eye. After the war he adopted an abandoned Frost Giant baby he’d found. He raised the baby to be his son, Loki. He and wife Frigga also had a son named Thor. Thor grew to be headstrong and arrogant, and was banished to Earth by Odin to learn humility.

Phiilips, Chester, COL:

Played By: Tommy Lee Jones

First Appearance: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #63, March 1965

History:  Colonel Chester Phillips led the Strategic Scientific Reserve in WWII, set up to fight Hydra. He oversaw the Super Soldier Project which led to the creation of Captain America.

Differences from the comics: In the comics he was a General.

Potts, Virginia “Pepper”

Played by: Gwynth Paltrow

First Appearance: Iron Man (2008)

First Appearance in Comics: Tales of Suspense #45 (1963)

History: “Pepper” Potts is Stark’s most trusted aid. She helps run the affairs of Stark Industries. Tony appointed her CEO of Stark Industries, but she soon resigned after a disaster at the Stark Expo.