We’re coming up on a year of living in the COVID-19 pandemic here in the United States and let’s be honest, it’s been tough. Commonplace things we used to do are either impossible or unsafe. Movies aren’t completely in theaters anymore. Basketball courts are closed in gyms. Social gatherings are problematic and less fun with masks on. I’ll never forget the depressing realization that my seniors had last year when we all learned together that we wouldn’t be returning from spring break. Their senior year, much like a lot of our favorite heroes, was dusted and there was nothing we could do about it. Personally, when I’m down I turn to movies and TV to try and change the negative vibes in my life. It doesn’t always work completely, but a lot of the time it can make a difference. Books like Harry Potter always get me in the feels and sweeps me away into a warm nostalgic world. “The Constant” and these other episodes of TV never fail to brighten my day.

After watching all of Wandavision in one weekend, and falling into a pinterest black hole while I was administering an exam had some downtime, I found a great quote from a Marvel movie that I’ve always found underrated. This quote led to another, and instead of the morose world we’re living in weighing down on me, I started to feel inspired. I was moved to tears. After some of these I was ready to drop a shoulder and run through a wall. What better way to go into spring break is there, than by being super inspired by quotes from superheroes? We’re going to span the entire MCU in order of theatrical release, break it up by Phases, and it’s going to be awesome…even the parts where we’re in the Dark World. Spoilers will be coming as well.

“Don’t Waste It” Yinsen, Iron Man (2008)

I will never forget the feeling I had when I saw Iron Man in theaters for the first time. I was a senior in high school, and I was so stoked to see one of my favorite cartoon characters, and consummate member of my Marvel vs Capcom duo, on the big screen. I thoroughly enjoyed the early XMen movies and the first 2/3 of the Spiderman trilogy, but seeing Iron Man was a gamechanger. I saw a sarcastic, quick talking, genius who couldn’t grow a full beard on the big screen and I was enthralled. It was like looking in the mirror but instead of a reflection it was my ego looking back at me. This movie rules, and I’m so grateful it started the entirety of the MCU for us all.

The quote that is jumping out at me is from a minor character in this story. Yinsen was a scientist who saved Tony Stark’s life, despite Tony ignoring him during a previous meeting, while they were both prisoners of a terrorist organization. They then work together to create the first Iron Man suit and plan an escape. Something goes wrong, it is a movie after all, and in their final exchange we get this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAEXezSRbfs

A quick revelation about both his and his father’s legacy goes out the window and Tony becomes a changed man. This is a familiar movie trope, and really something that may have been taken directly from Saving Private Ryan, but what is so awe-inspiring to me is the full circle effect of this line. Iron Man is a hero by the end of this movie. He spends the rest of life trying to protect people, to the point where he makes the ultimate sacrifice at the end of Avengers: Endgame. From billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist, to champion who died to save life in the universe as we know it, Iron Man certainly didn’t “waste it,” and neither should we waste whatever amount of time we have in our lives.

“This is a whole new level of weird, and I don’t feel inclined to step away from it.” Emil Blonsky, The Incredible Hulk (2008)

So you know all that great nostalgia I talked about earlier? Don’t really have too much of it for this one. The Incredible Hulk was kind of weird because it wasn’t really a sequel to The Hulk, which was a terrible movie btw, and it always had the feeling of starting in the middle of a tiresome plot. Edward Norton and Tim Roth are excellent actors, but this movie just wasn’t memorable.

I’ll be completely honest with you all, I googled “the incredible hulk quotes” to come up with this one. At some point Tim Roth, as super mercenary Emil Blonsky, monologues about war and drops “This is a whole new level of weird, and I don’t feel inclined to step away from it” on us. Though I don’t remember the quote happening, I’m a teacher who’s great at improvising so here we go. Life throws you unexpected curveballs. A lot of them will make you uncomfortable, and that’s okay. It’s pushing through and attempting to overcome this uncomfortability that can lead to exciting experiences and growth in life. We all should get weird from time to time.

“Dead almost 20 years, and you’re still taking me to school” Tony Stark, Iron Man 2 (2010)

Iron Man 2 is towards the lower end of the MCU echelon. It’s an okay sequel, and it does a pretty okay job planting seeds for the Avengers to come together, but it is fairly mediocre by Marvel’s lofty standards. Upon rewatching this movie, Justin Hammer leaps off the scream as the most interesting and hilarious character involved in the military industrial complex. We get a glimpse of Cap’s shield, we meet Black Widow, and most importantly, we get to see Howard Stark. A touchstone for Tony Stark’s development is his shaky relationship with his father Howard. Tony tells Nick Fury about how cold and distant he was, and how he never showed praise or love. We learned in the previous Iron Man that Howard was well respected and even heroic in American history as a member of the Manhattan Project, and a key figure in other breakthroughs for the US Military, but in this movie we get to see him in a video he left for his son. Howard tells Tony about his achievements, his legacy, and gives Tony what he needs to invent a new element which eventually saves Tony’s life. We have this beautiful moment where Howard, who’s just as much of a braggart as his son, says “my greatest creation is you,” and Tony finally gets this glimmer of love and respect from his father. Eventually this leads to Tony realizing that the floor model for an expo Howard hosted was the layout for a new atomic element. Even though it was extremely convoluted, Tony marvels and drops the above quote in reaction to this life saving realization.

After almost choosing Whiplash’s “if you make a god bleed” quote because it so perfectly mirrors Thanos saying “all this for a drop of blood?” in Infinity War, but that’s not too inspirational. Tony’s “dead for 20 years” line is a great mix emotions, because we have Howard admitting how proud he was of Tony, Howard giving him the key he needs to create a new life saving element, Tony being uncharacteristically humbled, and an overarching lesson of learning from the past. I’m a history teacher, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I go with that angle. You’re never too old, or too much of a genius, to learn something new.

“Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one of the same.” Thor, Thor (2011)

Thor is so weird on a rewatch. It’s not the strongest MCU movie, and it’s really odd to watch Chris Hemsworth act before everyone realized how funny he is. There’s also 4 people involved with this movie that were Oscar nominated. Both Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins won, Kenneth Branagh (where my Lockhart stans at?) was nominated multiple times, and Isabel the coffee shop owner was played by Adriana Barraza who was nominated for her role in Babel. . If you add in Idris Elba (Stringer Bell baby), Cat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard, and Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo for life!), this is a wild range of talent for Thor. All this being said, I’ve watched this movie multiple times and still only remember: Thor can’t get his hammer up (lol), Jane hits Thor with her car, Loki tricks Thor, Odin falls asleep, and there might be a killer robot or two. That’s not what you want from the God of Thunder.

I know I’m repeating myself but I’m a history teacher, and as such, science blows my mind. The power of the human brain to make you feel hurt and betrayed by a video game character, or the fact that you can remove part of your liver to save someone else, and then your liver grows back is astonishing. Then there’s crazy stuff like “a teaspoonful of a neutron star weighs 6 billion tons” or “chalk is made from plankton fossils,” and don’t even know how to wrap my head around it. We live in a world with zombie ants. Science is magic. The world is a wondrous place.

“Because the strong man who has known power all his life, may lose respect for that power, but a weak man knows the value of strength, and knows… compassion.” Dr. Erskine, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

As opposed to the last 3 movies I’ve written about, Captain America rules. Out of nowhere we have a WW2 movie dropped into the middle of the MCU, and it’s a genre bending mix of romance, war, and superhero shenanigans. We have Steve Rogers, just a skinny kid from Brooklyn who wants to join the army and fight in WW2, because it’s the right thing to do. He replaced Cedric as our Hufflepuff king, as being a man who just wants to stop the worst people (Nazis) from taking over. Over the first half of the movie we get to see Steve (yes I’m on first name basis with him) drop the iconic “I can do this all day,” as he slowly win our hearts by diving on a grenade, and using his brain to get the flag that no one else could. All of this leads to his being chosen for the super soldier serum and Dr. Erskine gives us this:

Shortly after this, Steve goes into the vat a skinny kid from Brooklyn, and steps out a sweaty (forreal though, someone tell me why he’s so sweaty ) man-beast ready to fight Nazis. Now this was tough for me because this movie has more than a few iconic lines. The aforementioned “I can do this all day” is a staple of Cap’s phrases, “I’m not kissing him” is the best laugh of the movie, but it’s what Erskine tells Cap that becomes the beating heart of this movie and his character. It’s Steve’s compassion that allows him to become the true hero he’s always been. It’s the altruistic yearning to do do good that makes him the perfect candidate to become the Super Soldier, and it’s that idea that we should emulate. It’s what I’ve always found the most compelling about stories, the best heroes become heroes because they choose to do good, and in that sense anyone CAN be a hero.

“I’m always angry” Bruce Banner, The Avengers (2012)

I want to start off by saying it was unbelievably amazing to experience this movie in theaters. Earth’s mightiest heroes unite to stop Loki and his Chitauri invaders from taking over our planet. My favorite part of seeing this was a mix of the group’s banter and synergy when they came together, and the final fight scene was basically a comic book splash page turned into a movie. Older movies with star studded ensemble casts are typically about WW2, or murder mysteries, or political events, not a group of Superheroes using their super strength or super brains or super aim to fend off a Norse God and alien invasion. We live in an amazing world.

Seeing Bruce Banner say this and turn into The Hulk in theater is such an unforgettable moment. This was the first time during an MCU movie where the audience broke into an applause mid-movie, and it wasn’t just some golf clap, people got on their feet and cheered. A couple people high-fived. There were woo’s, and one handsome devil (who may or may not be typing) threw both fists in the air. This was such a great moment, but I’m sure you all are confused about how this is inspirational. In Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, there’s a section that’s all about turning your weaknesses into strengths ie, if you’re a small army be fast, if you’re weak give off the appearance of strength etc. Bruce Banner is constantly trying to keep his “green little problem” in check, and yet in this movie we learn the way he’s done this is through his mastery of emotions. Pushing yourself to the brink, and maintaining control of yourself is a great lesson for any walk of life. This is going to do it for now, things get spicier in phase two. As always leave whatever feedback you’d like.

Bonus MCU Phase One Rankings:

1. Iron Man
2. The Avengers
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Iron Man 2
5. Thor
6. The Incredible Hulk

As we carry on, I’ll update the official Nerdapalooza rankings of the MCU films.