Phase Three

Captain America: Civil War

In Lagos, the new Avengers are pursuing a criminal when Wanda Maximoff accidentally causes a deadly explosion. In the wake of the disaster, the Sokovia accords — a set of laws that dictate when superheroes are allowed to save people — are announced. The old and new members of the Avengers are split over whether or not to support the Accords. Tony Stark (guilty from his involvement in creating Ultron) supports the Accords, but Steve Rogers (who believes the Accords could result in the Avengers not saving innocent lives) does not.

Meanwhile, Zemo, a Sokovian man hell-bent on destroying the Avengers, bombs a UN assembly while disguised as Bucky Barnes. The king of Wakanda (the African nation where vibranium is found) is killed in the explosion, so his son, T’Challa, vows to kill Barnes. Barnes is captured, and Zemo replaces the psychiatrist called in to examine him. Zemo says Russian trigger words that turn Barnes back into the Winter Soldier, Barnes goes on a rampage, and Wilson and Rogers stop him and take him into hiding.

At this point, Zemo escapes and heads off to the old HYDRA base where Barnes was once kept. At this facility are five more super-assassins just like Barnes, all able to be controlled in order to create chaos. Cap and his team, all fugitives from the law, gather to go and stop Zemo.

Iron Man assembles a team to arrest Cap: War Machine, T’Challa, Black Widow, Vision, and — surprise! — Spider-man. On Captain America’s side are Barnes, Sam, Wanda, Hawkeye, and Ant-Man. The two teams fight in a German airport, where Rhodey is injured and everyone on Cap’s side is arrested except for Cap and Barnes. The movie ends in a brutal, emotional fight between Iron Man, Cap, and Barnes after Zemo reveals that Barnes killed Iron Man’s parents during his Winter Soldier days. No one wins, and Cap leaves Stark his shield and busts his team out of prison.

Doctor Strange

At a non-specified point in time, world-renowned surgeon Stephen Strange is injured in a car accident that leaves his hands permanently injured. Unable to save lives as a doctor, Dr. Strange travels to Nepal, where a mysterious sorcerer known as the Ancient One trains him in the mystic arts. Over the course of months (maybe years), Strange becomes a skilled sorcerer, even learning how to use the Eye of Agamotto, an artifact that manipulates time.

When a group of the Ancient One’s former students begin to draw power from the dark dimension, Strange and fellow sorcerers Wong and Mordo fight to stop them from plunging Earth into the realm of Dormammu, an entity beyond time. Dormammu is a being of unspeakable power, and the zealots who worship him use his power to live forever. These zealots kill the Ancient One, who was also using the dark dimension’s power to live eternally. Strange convinces Dormammu to leave Earth by trapping him in a time loop using the Eye of Agamotto. The zealots are defeated, Mordo turns evil, and Strange becomes one of Earth’s best sorcerers.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

Around two months after the events of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the Guardians kill an interdimensional monster for an alien race called the Sovereign in exchange for Nebula, another adopted daughter of Thanos. Like Gamora, Nebula hates Thanos, but unlike Gamora, she has no intentions of being a hero. Rocket angers the Sovereign high priestess by stealing from her, so a Sovereign fleet causes the Guardians to crash on a remote planet.

Peter Quill’s long-lost father, Ego, arrives, claiming he has been looking for Peter for years. Ego is accompanied by his personal empath, Mantis. Quill, Drax, and Gamora go with him to his home planet while Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to be eventually kidnapped by Ravagers. With help from Yondu, the man who raised Quill, the two of them escape. Meanwhile, on Ego’s home planet, Ego reveals that he IS the planet and that he and Quill can create matter at will.

Ego, with his god-like abilities, decided long ago that he was a superior being and that it was his life purpose to wipe out all life in the universe. By using Quill as a human battery, he begins to do just that. Nebula, Gamora, Drax, Groot, Rocket, Quill, Yondu, and Mantis team up and kill him. As Ego (the planet) collapses, Yondu sacrifices himself for Quill. Quill loses his abilities, Nebula departs to go try and kill Thanos, and the Guardians hold a beautiful funeral for Yondu.

Spider-man: Homecoming

High school student Peter Parker, AKA Spider-man, was thrilled to help Iron Man during the events of “Civil War.” After returning home from Germany, Parker returns to school, fighting petty crime after hours and telling his aunt and his friends that he’s working at an internship with Tony Stark. After stopping a bank robbery, he discovers the Vulture, a man who began to build his own weapons from stolen alien technology after the Battle of New York.

With Iron Man refusing to take him seriously, Parker sets out to prove himself by defeating the Vulture. With help from his best friend, Ned, Parker ultimately discovers Vulture’s master plan: to rob a cargo plane departing from the old Avengers facility. Parker discovers that the Vulture is his girlfriend’s dad, but he chooses to stop him anyway. Vulture is arrested, and Iron Man offers Spider-man a place on the Avengers roster. Parker refuses, returns home, and is discovered in his Spider-man costume by his aunt.

Thor: Ragnarok

Over two years after departing Earth in “Age of Ultron,” Thor returns to Asgard to discover Loki is impersonating Odin. The two travel to Earth and Doctor Strange helps them find Odin, who dies minutes after they reach him. His death allows Hela, the Goddess of Death, to escape her prison, smash mjolnir to bits, and take over Asgard. Thor and Loki are left stranded on Sakaar, an insane planet ruled by a madman known as the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster runs a gladiator-style contest of champions, which Thor is forced to fight in.

While imprisoned, Thor meets Korg, an eccentric rock creature who wants to escape the Grandmaster’s control. In the arena, Thor’s opponent arrives to thunderous applause. It’s the Hulk, who was somehow abducted at the end of “Age of Ultron.” Thor and Hulk fight in a brutal no-holds-barred gladiator match. Following the fight, Hulk is able to turn back into Bruce Banner for the first time in two years.

Thor, Bruce, and an asgardian Valkyrie escape Sakaar and return to Asgard to fight Hela. Thor loses an eye, unleashes his lightning powers, and still has no chance of defeating her. Loki, Korg, and a small army of Sakaaran ex-prisoners arrive in a giant spaceship and rescue the Asgardians who are trying to escape. To win the day, Thor unleashes Surtur, a fiery monster who destroys Asgard — and Hela. Loki grabs the Tesseract from Odin’s vault. The film ends with all of our noble heroes headed for Earth on Korg’s ship. As Thor and Loki chat, a gargantuan spaceship that belittles their own looms in front of them.

Black Panther

Also, following the events of “Civil War,” T’Challa, who holds the title of Black Panther and fought Captain America’s team with his vibranium suit, returns home to Wakanda. Since his father has died, he goes through a Wakandan ceremony and officially becomes king.

Wakanda is a country like no other. Built on Earth’s only supply of vibranium, Wakanda has advanced technologically beyond any other civilization. Killmonger, the long-lost cousin of T’Challa, delivers the corpse of Ulysses Klaue (the arms dealer from “Age of Ultron”) to Wakanda and claims he has a right to the throne. Killmonger challenges T’Challa in combat, beats him, throws him off a cliff, and becomes king.

To stop Killmonger from waging a global war with Wakandan technology, T’Challa calls upon his mother, his sister, the general of Wakanda’s most elite fighting force, and a Wakandan tribe from the mountains. Together, they kill Killmonger and bring peace back to Wakanda.

Avengers: Infinity War

The Avengers are divided. Asgard is gone. SHIELD has fallen. The Sorcerer Supreme is dead. Thanos is ready to strike.

The infinity stones are the most powerful artifacts in existence. Five of them have been introduced: the tesseract (space), the Aether (reality), the Eye of Agamotto (time), Loki’s scepter (mind), and the orb (power). Only the soul gem remains. If Thanos unites them all, he will have unlimited power. Are the combined forces of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy enough to stop him?