Established stand alone thread. I copied this post from an Avengers Endgame thread and continuing to update it as needed.
Please advise of any blatant errors or suggested improvements.
Updates
The Avengers Infinity Stones/Thanos Epic
You could watch these 12 movies: (without spoilers)*
*See below for this list with spoilers.
* RTA= Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating
The 7 Movie Strategy Spoilers Galore
...and without a desire to watch every Marvel movie made, the bare bones of the Thanos story arc, and his quest to obtain all 6 infinity stones, you could watch just 7 movies, Captain America: First Avenger (2011- Tesseract), Captain Marvel (2019- Tesseract)- but chronologically this happens before Avengers; then Avengers (2012) Thanos and his desire to retrieve the Tesseract on Earth with Loki acting as his agent during the invasion of Earth. Then Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), where Thanos figures prominently in the story, see Gamora’s relationship to him, and his effort to retrieve the mysterious orb Peter Quill finds (The Aether- Infinity Stone). Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) which introduces Vision (Mind Stone) then jump to Avengers: Infinity War to know both how he acquired his first stone (Thor explains, he got it from Xander) which was one the locations in Guardians, then onto Avengers: End Game (2019).
12 Infinity stone movies with spoilers: (Not every Marvel Movie with an Infinity Stone is listed)
* RTA= Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating
This clip from Thor (2011) features the war, but
makes no mention of the Tesseract.
Infinity Stone (Tesseract)- Thor (2011) post credit scene.
At the end of Thor (2011), Thor breaks the bifrost with his hammer to save jotunheim. At that time Loki dropped from the bridge and gets lost in space. After that he was seen in the post credit scene of the same movie, where at this point it is presumed, he met Thanos, made a deal of some kind and is controlling Dr Selvig to get at the Tesseract that’s in the possession of Nick Fury/SHIELD.
Avengers Post Credit Scene
Thanos Debut
Thor-Dark World End Credits Scene
Aether Infinity Stone Trivia: At the end movie credits we see the Asgardians, Sif and Volstagg delivering the Aether, now contained, to The Collector (Guardians of the Galaxy) for safe keeping. Volstagg says that the Tesseract is held in Asgard and it would be unwise to keep 2 infinity stones there. After they leave, The Collector says 1 down, 5 to go.
The Winter Soldier End Credit Scene
Hydra has the Scepter Loki used in The Avengers
Please advise of any blatant errors or suggested improvements.
Updates
- 19Apr23- Fixed CA Winter Soldier post credit scene link
- 4Jun22- Updated Winter Soldier End Credit Scene video link.
- 13 Apr- Updated Avengers: End Game notes.
- 11Apr- Added Infinity War Spoiler Note and Ant Man and the Wasp note.
- 9 Apr- Updated Black Panther notes.
- 3Apr21- Added Captain America: Civil War info. Reworked the 5 movie strategy into the 7 movie strategy.
- 14 Nov- Updated Dr. Strange description.
- 11May2020- Added Avengers Post Credit scene, the debut of Thanos.
- 9May2020- updated Infinity Stone name list.
- 11Apr2020- Added Soul Stone location.
- 3Mar- Updated Thor: Ragnarok description.
- 2Mar- Added Doctor Strange and the Time Stone.
- 29Feb- Moved Avengers: Age of Ultron after Guardians of the Galaxy. Added Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
- 28Feb20- Added clip from Thor (2011), to the spoiler section, showing the war between Frost Giants and Asgardians on Earth 965AD, in Scandinavia but no mention of the Tesseract (Space Stone). Based on Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and the Stone being found in a church in Norway, it’s a presumption without further mention as to why and when, the Stone is found on Earth.
- 28Feb- Corrected info about Captain Marvel and placed this movie in the correct sequence directly after Captain America: The First Avenger.
The Avengers Infinity Stones/Thanos Epic
You could watch these 12 movies: (without spoilers)*
*See below for this list with spoilers.
* RTA= Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)- RTA Rating: 74%. The Tesseract (Infinity Stone) is discovered in a church in Norway by WWII Nazis (Hydra).
- Captain Marvel (2019)- RTA Rating: 48%. Captan Marvell back story. Set in 1995, Mar-Vell experiments with the Tesseract on Earth In 1989. Shield exists, Nick Fury gets to meet some aliens and starts looking for other gifted heroes to create the Avengers. Nick Fury keeps the Tesseract At the end of the movie.
- Thor (2011) - RTA Rating: 76%. Introduces the Asgardians, Thor, Loki, tells Thor’s back story, great movie, included because these characters are central to Infinity Stone saga. A post credit scene reveals the Tesseract.
- Avengers (2012)- RTA Rating: 91%. Loki attacks Earth to conquer it and retrieve the Tesseract for The Other who serves Thanos.
- Thor: Dark World (2013)- RTA Rating: 76%. Introduces the Aether, a primordial object, a fluid Infinity Stone that the Dark Elves want to use to destroy the Universe and reforge it as the Dark Universe.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)- RTA Rating 92%. Cattain America and Black Widow work for SHIELD. Movie features Falcon. Trouble at SHIELD. Capt America runs into several old friends. Loki’s Sceptre seen in a Post Credit Scene.
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)- RTA Rating: 92%. Peter Quill finds the Power Stone (Link). Features: Peter Quill (Star Lord), Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot, Nebula, Yondu, The Collector, Ronin, Thanos. The origin of the Infinity Stones are explained.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)- RTA Rating: 83%. Mind Stone. Black Widow, Capt America, Hawkeye, The Hulk, Iron Man, Quick Silver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, and Vision. The best Hulk- Big Iron Man fight.
- Doctor Strange (2016)- RTA Rating: 86%. Brilliant, but arrogant Doctor Steven Strange loses the use of his hands for surgery, but gains insight and knowledge of the Mystic Arts, using the Time Stone fighting those in league with a bad character named Dormammu.
- Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)- One of my favorite Marvel, Infinity Stone related stories. Great story, laugh out loud humor, actually emotionally touching, great music, and incredible clean cut CGI visuals. The opening sequence, the choreography that mixes the fight against an inter-dimensional beast, the visuals, music, with little dancing Groot in the middle of it is an impressive sight... if you are into it. And Peter Quill meets his Dad! 🚀
- Thor: Ragnarök (2017)- Thor and Loki contend with Hella’s return to Asgard after a detour to the planet Sakaar, and the Grand Master.
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)- Dedicated thread link. Thanos collects Infinity Stones so he can make some changes in the Universe.
- Avengers: End Game (2019)- Dedicated thread link. If all the time travel paradoxes don’t bother #you, a pretty good ending, except for the extraneous final big battle, just because we want you to watch one more Avengers movie. 😝
- Space Stone- Held in the Tesseract, a crystalline Cube. Asgard, Earth, Asgard. Link.
- Reality Stone- Also called the Aether- The Collector. Link.
- Mind Stone- Loki’s scepter Link. Includes an AI, the basis of Ultron and Vision.
- Power Stone- Peter Quill found it. Held at Nova Corp. Link.
- Time Stone- Doctor Strange, Earth. Link.
- Soul Stone- Located on the planet Vormir guarded by Red Skull. Link.
The 7 Movie Strategy Spoilers Galore
...and without a desire to watch every Marvel movie made, the bare bones of the Thanos story arc, and his quest to obtain all 6 infinity stones, you could watch just 7 movies, Captain America: First Avenger (2011- Tesseract), Captain Marvel (2019- Tesseract)- but chronologically this happens before Avengers; then Avengers (2012) Thanos and his desire to retrieve the Tesseract on Earth with Loki acting as his agent during the invasion of Earth. Then Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), where Thanos figures prominently in the story, see Gamora’s relationship to him, and his effort to retrieve the mysterious orb Peter Quill finds (The Aether- Infinity Stone). Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) which introduces Vision (Mind Stone) then jump to Avengers: Infinity War to know both how he acquired his first stone (Thor explains, he got it from Xander) which was one the locations in Guardians, then onto Avengers: End Game (2019).
12 Infinity stone movies with spoilers: (Not every Marvel Movie with an Infinity Stone is listed)
* RTA= Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating
- Unconfirmed: The Tesseract was lost or was left on Earth during the war between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants that took place on Earth (965AD), and it was found or given to humans and hidden away in Norway.
makes no mention of the Tesseract.
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)- RTA Rating: 74%. Tesseract, one of the 6 Infinity stones. Of note, the Tesseract was once held on Asgard, home of Thor, sent to Earth. The Tesseract (blue, Space Stone) is discovered in a church in Norway by Nazis (Hydra) during WWII. Captain America fights Hydra, recovers the Tesseract, but it is lost in the ocean, later found by Howard Stark. Captain America ends up asleep, (in a coma?) for 70 years.
- Captain Marvel (2019)- RTA Rating: 48%. Movie is set in 1995. Mar-Vell experiments with the Tesseract on Earth In 1989. Shield is created. This may not make complete sense but see link. Howard Stark loaned out the Tesseract for research? Unverified. How did Mar-Vell get the Tesseract. Story of how Carol Danvers becomes Captain Marvell. A critique, Captain Marvel is so powerful, Ronin who last seen in Guardians of the Galaxy, travels to Earth to destroy it, but after watching her tear up his fleet decides to run away. Nick Fury ends up with the Tesseract after it is swallowed by his pet flerken.
Caroll Danvers thinks she‘s Kree, but she is Human. She thinks the Skrull (shape shifters) are bad, but they are victims. Mar-Vell, is a rebel Kree living on Earth as Dr Wendy Lawson, using the Tesseract (borrowed from Tony Stark?) to develop a light speed engine to help end the Skull-Kree war, and she is planning on giving the Skrull the technology so they can move away from the Kree. The Tesseract is found on Mar-Vell’s cloaked space station in orbit around Earth. Ronin, a Kree first seen in Guardians of the Galaxy makes an appearance.
- Thor (2011)- RTA Rating: 76%. First Thor movie, brief mention of Tesseract (not by name) in the post credit scene. This is the best Thor movie and stand alone story, and is included because these characters are central the Infinity Stone saga.
- Avengers (2012)- RTA Rating: 91%. Thanos wants the Tesseract from Earth and makes a deal to let Loki conquer Earth with the help of the Other’s Chitauri Army in exchange for it. Loki really breaks bad in this story. He has a special Sceptre given to him by The other. After the Avengers (Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Blackwidow) in coordination with SHIELD, defeat the alien army that pours in through the Tesseract Portal built atop Stark Tower in NYC, Thor takes Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard for safe keeping. The Scepter is unaccounted for.
Thanos Debut
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)- RTA Rating: 76%. Loki is locked up by Odin for his malfeasence on Earth. The convergence of the nine worlds where their boundaries merge and the dark elf Malekith wants to use the Aether (a fluid, Red Infinity Stone) to destroy the universe and create a dark uninverse. Jane, Thor’s love interest accidentally trips across the boundary of worlds and absorbs said ether, fighting and chaos ensue. Loki dies again, uh huh.
Aether Infinity Stone Trivia: At the end movie credits we see the Asgardians, Sif and Volstagg delivering the Aether, now contained, to The Collector (Guardians of the Galaxy) for safe keeping. Volstagg says that the Tesseract is held in Asgard and it would be unwise to keep 2 infinity stones there. After they leave, The Collector says 1 down, 5 to go.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)- RTA Rating: 92%. No infinity stone, but required viewing for the story sequence. Captain America and Black Widow work for SHIELD. Movie features Falcon. There’s a sinister plan for world domination a foot, think Hydra Pt.2. Capt America runs into an old friend.
Hydra has the Scepter Loki used in The Avengers
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) RTA rating: 92%. Peter Quill finds The Power Stone. (https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Power_Stone) After a brief stop in jail, Peter, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot fly to Knowhere to sell it to The Collector. It is taken by Ronan who wants to destroy Xander. The Power Stone ends up with the Xandarian peacekeeping force, the Nova Corps for safe keeping. The origin of the Infinity Stones are explained.
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) RTA rating: 83%. The Avengers attack a Hydra base to acquire Loki’s Sceptre, that was given to Hydra by “Bad“ Shield. Stark discovers it holds an advanced AI and uses it to create an AI for his Ultron Project, when attached to hardware is designed to protect Earth. However the newly created AI gains sentience, and goes rogue. Why? Unknown. It’s plans for a metallic organic humanoid body built for itself, then wiping the Earth of human life and replacing it with metallic organic life. This is his version of Peace On Earth. The Avengers get hold of his unfinished body, Stark seeking redemption talks Banner into loading Jarvis (Stark’s personal AI) into the body intended for Ultron, and out pops Vision a new ally. They go on to defeat Ultron. Thor, though a vision comes to understand that the gem in Loki’s Sceptre, which is now in Vision’s forehead is the Mind Stone (Link) helps create Vision and is ok with Vision keeping it. Vision finishes off the last copy of Ultron.
Plot Points: Black Widow and Steve Banner get close, but he flies away at the end of the movie and no-one knows where he went, to Black Widow's disappointment. First movie with Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver. Hawk Eye has a secret family.
Post credit scene: Thanos is seen picking up the Gauntlet which can hold all 6 infinity stones and saying “I’ll have to do it myself”. - Doctor Strange (2016)- RTA Rating: 86%. Brilliant, but arrogant Doctor Steven Strange loses the use of his hands for surgery, but gains insight and knowledge of the Mystic Arts, using the Time Stone fighting those who want to hand Earth over to Dormammu's Dark Dimension. Note this is different than Thor, the Dark Elves, Dark World. See this unofficial link which offers a good explanation.
- Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017- One of my favorite Marvel, Infinity Stone related stories. Great story, laugh out loud humor, actually emotionally touching, great music, and incredible clean cut CGI visuals. The opening sequence, the choreography that mixes the fight against an inter-dimensional beast, the visuals, music, with little dancing Groot in the middle of it is an impressive sight... if you are into it. And Peter Quill meets his Dad! 🚀 In the post credit scenes Aylesha, High Priestess of the Sovereign, contemplates getting even with the Guardians of the Galaxy using a new creation she calls Adam.
- Thor: Ragnarök (2017)- RTA Rating: 87%. Dire events allows Hella to take over Asgard, while Thor and Loki take a vacation on Sakaar and meet up with the Hulk, last seen flying solo into the sunset and in stealth mode at end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Touring Odin’s vault, among Oden’s treasures we see The Tesseract, and the Gauntlet, that she pushes off its pedestal and calls it fake. After escaping and returning to Asgard, they fight Hella and decide only the proficy of Ragnarok can defeat her. Loki in Odin’s vault, fulling the proficy of Ragnarok, walks by and notices the Tesseract. This would have been the opportunity to take it and Thanos to end up with it. The spaceship of Asgardians refugees, lead by Thor head for Earth. In a post credit sceen, they are intercepted by a large ship.
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) That large ship is Thanos, beats the **** out of the Adgardians (How many survive, if any?) and kills Loki. Is he really dead this time? Thanos acquires Stones. Thor explains how Thanos got the stone by destroying Xander. The Avengers come this >< close to defeating Thanos, but close only counts in horseshoes and nukes.
*Dr. Strange uses the Time Stone to see the one way Thanos can be defeated.
*There are two chances to defeat Thanos in Infinity War: On Titan they are about to remove the guantlet from Thanos’s hand while Mantis mentally subdues him, but Peter Quill upon learning of Gamora’s fate, starts hitting Thanos and accidentally hits Mantis who loses her hold on Thanos. And Thor buries his new Axe into Thanos’s chest after he has acquired all 6 stones, but Thanos tells him, you should have gone for the head then disappears and fulfills his goal of eliminating half of all humanoid life in the Universe with the snap of his fingers.
*How Thanos gets the Stones: 1)He destroys Xander to get the Power Stone. 2) Thor and the Asgardians are attacked on their way to Earth, so Thanos can retrieve the Space Stone Loki took from Asgard. 3) He destroys Nowhere to take the Reality Stone from the Collector. 4) He tortures Nebula to get Gamora to reveal where she found the Soul Stone. He takes Gamora to Vormir and gives up what he loves to acquire it. 5) During the fight on Titan Dr Strange offers the Time Stone to Thanos in exchange for him sparring Tony Stark’s life. 6) During the fight at Wakanda, the Scarlet Witch destroys the Mind Stone in Vision’s head, killing him, but is out maneuvered by Thanos who uses the Time Stone to roll back time so he can pluck the Mind Stone from Vision’s head. - Avengers: End Game (2019) I’m disappointed with the ending, time travel issues clogging my brain. See this post.
The easiest solution is to accept what the story tell you. However, if you think about it, The Avengers under the guidance of Banner send 3 teams back in time to retrieve 6 Infinity Stones. As soon as the time line was disrupted by these stones being intercepted, there are three possibilities. 1) They split off time into a new timeline and could not return to their original time line. 2) If the premise is altering a single time line, there never would have been an Infinity War, and there would have been no reason to build a quantum tunnel (time machine) to go back in time to fetch stones. Therefore the teams who went back in time, their future would have become their past, and they would have cut themselves off from returning to their former future, as the new future they created unfolds. 3) Now if the writers were clever enough, they might have concocted a story with a new future, where a quantum tunnel had been built giving the Avengers back in time, a route to return, but it would still not be the original future they left.
- Ant Man (2015)- Dr Pym, the Pym Particle, Dr Pym used to work for Stark Industries, but he did not want to unleash this dangerous technology on the world. An excellent story featuring in passing Howard Stark, Falcon, Shield, and Hydra.
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)- Avengers have to deal with governments who want to put them on a short chain, and by the title you can presume they are not all on the same page, a kick ass Avenger vs Avenger fight. Ant Man, Black Panther, Black Widow, Bucky (Winter Soldier), Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Raven, Rhoady, Spiderman, and Vision. Bucky continues to be manipulated as Captain America seeks to rehabilitate him with the help of Raven, Scarlett Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man. End credit scene:
- CA: Civil War Note1: IMO Civil War has a stupid premise, The Avengers are out of control, unaccountable, unaccountable for what? The US Secretary of State holds up examples New York (an invasion of an alien army), DC: Shield a branch of the US Govt is highjacked by Hydra, and Sokovia: where the Avengers stop Ultron from destroying the Earth. These were world altering, possibly world shattering events, and if not for the Avengers the world would be 1) a vassal state to Thanos, scenario 2: hundreds of millions a billion(?) killed to support a Facist World Order, or scenario 3: all of humanity destroyed, and the World’s nations want to quibble about collateral damage, that comes no-where close compared to what the alternatives might have been. Just dismiss this and Civil WR can be entertaining.
- CA: Civil War Significant events: The manipulation and rehabilitation of Bucky Barnes continues. In this movie he is set up. Wanda and Vision get close. Black Panther’s first Marvel entree, when his father the President of Wakanda is killed in a terrorist explosion, he goes after Bucky, thinking he is responsible. The big surprise:
There is not just one Winter Soldier, there is a group of them, that they were all made with Howard Stark‘s Super Soldier serum that created Captain America, and Bucky Barnes killed Stark’s https://www.bustle.com/articles/158...in-america-civil-war-all-goes-back-to-one-man parents on a mission to retrieve the serum for Hydra. Link
- Black Panther (2018)- CA:Civil War introduced Black Panther, and the advanced African Country of Wakanda who rehabilitates Bucky Barnes (The Winter Soldier). Black Panther is about a power struggle for the throne. In the first end credits scene, Wakanda comes out of hiding from the world. In the second end credits scene, Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier) is living in Wakanda recovering from his Winter Soldier days.
- Ant Man and the Wasp (2018)- Scott Lang (Ant Man) is under house arrest in San Francisco for his actions picking the rebel side of the Avengers in Avengers: Civil War. Hope Pim is the Wasp. Jeopardizing his parole, he is pulled into efforts to recover Hank Pim‘s wife, who disappeared 20 years ago in the quantum realm. Of note, since this movie hit the theaters after Infinity War, some reference to that should be made, yet it won’t be seen until the end credit scene and it explains why Ant Man was not present in Wakanda for the showdown with Thanos.
- Marvel’s Infinity Stone Saga planned from the start to lead to Infinity Wars/End Game... not quite:
Marvel didn't know the Infinity Stones plan when they were introduced in the MCU
You don't need to know it all to make it work.www.digitalspy.com
- Marvel’s Avengers Movies in Order
http://listafterlist.com/marvel-avengers-movies-in-order/ - Thanos
https://marvel-movies.fandom.com/wiki/Thanos - Thanos, The Biggest Marvel Villian Explained
- Tesseract
https://marvel-movies.fandom.com/wiki/Tesseract - Marvel's master plan: The complete novice's guide to Infinity Stones
https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8560555/marvel-infinity-stones-avengers-infinity-war-movie - 'Thor: Ragnarok' Reveals How Thanos Gets the Tesseract Infinity Stone
https://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/11/03/thor-ragnarok-tesseract-thanos-avengers-3/#1 - Infinity Stones: https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Infinity_Stones
- Soul Stone:
Soul Stone
The Soul Stone was one of the six Infinity Stones, the remnant of a singularity that predates the universe. For some time, it was kept on the planet Vormir under the watchful eye of the Red Skull, before Thanos came to the planet in search of it and had to tragically sacrifice his beloved...
marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com
- An Infinity Stones Refresher Course Before 'Avengers: Endgame'
- A Spoiler-Free Guide to Each Infinity Stone to Prepare You for Avengers: Endgame
- A Brief History of the Tesseract in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
- The Complete History of the Tesseract in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Why are all Krees not blue?
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