‘Stan Lee’

Shockingly partisan documentary from Marvel Studios and director David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi, The Lazarus Effect) as the contributions of others beyond Stan Lee to the phenomenon that was Marvel Comics are somewhat diminished.

Falling into the writing of comics rather than planned, Brooklyn-raised Stanley Lieber quickly rose through the ranks of what was Timely Comics, partly due to wartime labour shortage. Changing his name to Stan Lee, he a knack for the writing of quick fire dialogue – the perfect fit with, in particular, illustrator Jack Kirby and later Steve Ditko – as Lee became creative director of the newly named Marvel. Characters such as Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, X-Men, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange all appeared in the 1960s and ’70s with the creative team working together. Although Stan Lee suggests otherwise, with little creedance given to the collaborative aspect – and no mention of the court cases against him.

At the end of the day, Stan Lee is a deeply disappointing hagiographic info-mercial rather than a documentary celebrating the (unquestionably) profound impact he and Marvel Comics in general had on popular culture that continues to this day 60 plus years later.

Rating: 20%

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ (Marvel #19)

A sardonic Paul Rudd continues to charm, even if he is the bad books of Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), having ‘borrowed’ the Ant-Man suit to head off to Germany to help the Avengers.

Continuing a plotline from the first installment of Ant-Man, the father-daughter team are now fugitives themselves. They need the help of Scott to travel in the quantum world to find Pym’s missing wife (Michelle Pfeiffer). But they need to get Rudd out of his house – and avoid Ava (Hannah John-Kamen), the somewhat physically unstable woman who needs Pym’s technology to stabilise.

Lots of shrinking and enlarging of people, vehicles and buildings (!) abound with that technology in high demand, mixed with Hope in a suit of her own, Scott avoiding being caught out of home and the wonderfully funny Luis (Michael Peña) returning to continue where he and his team left off in the first film.

Rating: 62%

Director: Peyton Reed (Ant-Man, Down With Love)

Writer: Chris McKenna (The Lego Batman Movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming), Erik Sommers (The Lego Batman Movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man, Role Models), Andrew Barrer (Haunt, No Exit), Gabriel Ferrari (No Exit, Die in a Gunfight)

Main cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit, Real Steel), Michael Douglas (Fatal Attraction, Behind the Candelabra)

‘The Guardians of the Galaxy’ (Marvel #10)

Arguably the most irreverant of the MCU adaptations as the galactic-set space adventure sees Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) inadvertently team up with other petty criminals in an attempt to prevent the destruction of the universe.

Earth-born but accosted on the death of his mother by Yondu (Michael Rooker), Quill is half-space lord living by his wits on the margins. And with a bounty on his head, he soon becomes the target of the likes of Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his sidekick, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). The larrikin heroes reluctantly team up with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista) to prevent Ronan (Lee Pace) and his plans to purge the universe.

Directed by relative newcomer James Gunn, The Guardians of the Galaxy is fast-paced, irreverent fun with a killer of a 1980s soundtrack.

Nominated for 2 Oscars in 2015 – visual effects & make-up/styling.

Rating: 63%

Director: James Gunn (Super, Slither)

Writer: James Gunn (Super, Dawn of the Dead), Nicole Perlman (Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Captain Marvel)

Main cast: Chris Pratt (Jurassic World, The Tomorrow War), Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Colombiana), Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born, American Hustle)

‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ (Marvel #9)

Captain America continues to struggle to adapt to the 21st century as S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised with the assassination of Operations Chief, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). But the Cap and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are not convinced that everything at HQ is as it should be as CEO Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) looks to launch the latest airborne weaponry.

Essentially an earthbound adventure yarn with the fractured Avengers still licking their post-New York wounds as the spectre of Hydra rears its ugly head. And it becomes something considerably more personal for Captain America (Chris Evans) when the identity of the fabled Winter Soldier is revealed.

Nominated for the 2015 best visual effects Oscar.

Rating: 59%

Director: Anthony Russo (You, Me and Dupree, Welcome to Collinwood), Joe Russo (You, Me and Dupree, Welcome to Collinwood)

Writer: Christopher Markus (Captain America: the First Avenger, Pain & Gain), Stephen McFeely (Captain America: the First Avenger, Pain & Gain)

Main cast: Chris Evans (The Avengers, The Red Sea Diving Resort), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow, Lost in Translation), Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Pulp Fiction)

‘Iron Man 3’ (Marvel #8)

Stark’s world is torn apart by the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a terrorist who, responding to the challenge of public arrogance of Stark, destroys the billionaire’s home and laboratory. But it’s not all that it seems as a rejected scientist from the past (Guy Pearce) reappears in his life.

Bombast and tedium reunite as a potentially interesting narrative is given the MCU OTT treatment. But at least it is the best of the three Iron Man (Robert Downey Jnr) movies – although that’s not saying a great deal.

Nominated for visual effects Oscar in 2014.

Rating: 46%

Director: Shane Black (The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)

Writer: Drew Pearce (Hotel Artemis, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Shane Black (The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)

Main cast: Robert Downey Jnr (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Sexy Beast), Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, The King’s Speech)

‘Thor: The Dark World’ (Marvel #7)

The second Thor follows on directly from the end of Avengers Assemble as the God of Thunder arrives home on Asgard with an imprisoned Loki and the Tesseract. Naturally, things do not evolve as planned.

Long ago, the Dark Elves were stopped from sending the universe into darkness by the Warriors of Asgard. Unable to destroy the Dark Elves’ weapon, the Aether, it was instead hidden. Centuries later, scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), finds herself in London investigating a strange phenomenon. As a result, she finds herself of interest to Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), Leader fo the Dark Elves. Cue Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to whisk his lover off to Asgard – with Malekith in pursuit.

The first hour Is enjoyable hokum set on earth but the still overly pompous Thor struts his machismo on Earth and intergalactically – the result being Greenwich instead of New York being the to-be-destroyed target and a rather boring elongated battle.

Rating: 43%

Director: Alan Taylor (Terminator Genisys, The Emperor’s New Clothes)

Writer: Christopher L. Yost (Max Steel, Thor: Ragnarok), Christopher Markus (Captain America: First Avenger, You Kill Me), Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Endgame, You Kill Me)

Main cast: Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers), Natalie Portman (Thor, The Black Swan), Christopher Eccleston (Legend, 28 Days Later)

‘The Avengers’ (Marvel #6)

Renamed Avengers Assemble, the new title essentially provides the plot line of director Joss Whedon’s 2012 Marvel Comic Universe feature.

Having set in motion Project Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) needs to convince the superheroes to come together and learn to fight as a team. If they fail, Thor’s brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) will have enslaved humanity with a little help from the alien Chitauri Army. But with egos the size of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr), that’s not going to be easy.

Character development and all round introductions come first – lots of banter and strutting, looked on by a bemused Black Widow (Scarlett Johanssen). But sadly, whilst wry humour abounds, The Avengers degenerates into a boring, overlong destruction of New York battle scene as the Chitauri invaders find a hole in the ozone.

Nominated for best visual effects Oscar in 2013.

Rating: 56%

Director: Joss Whedon (The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Much Ado About Nothing)

Writer: Joss Whedon (The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Much Ado About Nothing)

Main cast: Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Banker), Tom Hiddleston (High-Rise, War Horse), Robert Downey Jnr (Dolittle, The Soloist)

‘Iron Man 2’ (Marvel #4)

Having revealed his identity at the end of Iron Man, the narcissist billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr.) finds himself at the centre of the world’s attention – but not all is welcome.

Aggrieved by the treatment of his father by Stark Senior, brilliant but crazed Russian physicist Ivan Venko (Mickey Rourke) looks for revenge. But it’s all bad timing as Stark Jnr. is fending off the American military demanding access to his suits with annoying arms manufacturer Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) aggressively waiting in the wings. If that’s not enough, there’s a more pressing point of his own health and reaction to the very mechanism that is keeping him alive.

Iron Man 2 is all bombast and bluster (when is an MCU feature not?) as director Jon Favreau simply builds on the bombast and bluster of its prequel. But in it’s narrative, particularly through the introduction of Scarlett Johansson, we take a step closer to The Avengers.

Nominated for best visual affects Oscar in 2011.

Rating: 40%

Director: Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Chef)

Writer: Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder, Rock of Ages)

Main cast: Robert Downey Jnr. (Sherlock, The Judge), Micky Rourke (The Wrestler, Sin City), Sam Rockwell (Moon, Seven Psychopaths)

‘Iron Man’ (Marvel #3)

Released in 2008, Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau, is the first feature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A $600 million global hit, it paved the way for the series that has redefined the American (and worldwide) box-office.

Multi-billionaire engineer, arms manufacturer and playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) finds himself held hostage in an Afghan cave. A crude (but effective) magnetic contraption created by Ho Yinsen (Shaun Toub) keeps Stark alive. Ordered by his captives to build a weapon, Stark instead creates a suit of armour the facilitate his escape. On reaching New York, the scientist is determined to use a finessed suit to fight for world peace – putting him at odds with the CEO (Jeff Bridges) of Stark Industries and best mate Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (Terrence Howard).

Much-lauded at the time of release, Iron Man has surprisingly dated, highlighting subtle (and not so subtle) casual sexism and racism within its narrative. As the arrogant Stark, Downey is pitch-perfect in his irreverence. The rest of the ham that is Iron Man less so.

Nominated for 2 Oscars in 2009 (visual effects & sound editing).

Rating: 42%

Director: Jon Favreau (Chef, The Jungle Book)

Writer: Mark Fergus (Children of Men, Cowboys & Aliens), Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Cowboys & Aliens), Art Marcum (Uncharted, Transformers: The Last Knight), Matt Holloway (Uncharted, Transformers: The Last Knight)

Main cast: Robert Downey Jnr. (Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers), Shaun Toub (The Kite Runner, Crash), Jeff Bridges (Hell Or High Water, Crazy Heart)

‘Thor’ (Marvel #5)

An over-the-top, slightly tongue-in-cheek genesis film as the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) is banished from Asgard by his father the king (Anthony Hopkins) for his arrogance and hotheadedness.

Finding himself on Midgard (Earth), Thor falls in love with scientist Natalie Portmani where, without his powers, he learns humility. But only just in time – brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is up to his usual mischief and threatens the peace of the universe.

Director Kenneth Branagh instills a sense of irreverent fun among the seriousness of introducing Thor to the Marvel Comic Film Universe legion of fans. Plenty of battle scenes but also a respectful level of character development in what is largely popcorn entertainment.

Rating: 63%

Director: Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Cinderella)

Writer: Ashley Miller (X-Men: First Class, Agent Cody Banks), Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class, Agent Cody Banks), Don Payne (My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

Main cast: Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers, Bad Times at the El Royale), Anthony Hopkins (The Father, The Two Popes), Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Annihilation)