Here we go round 2 of finding inspiration from Earth’s mightiest heroes. If you have not yet done so, or just want a refresher, check out the quotes and rankings from Phase One here. Since our last post, Spring Break has started and I’ve been enjoying a lovely blend of working out like crazy and doing a MCU rewatch binge. I know I know, I’m quite the wild man living it up during this week off, but there’s only so many squats and pullups one man can do without needing a break for nostalgic therapy.

Now Phase Two comes off the heels of The Avengers, which was an absolute achievement of titanic proportions, seriously it was behind only Avatar and Titanic when it came out according to box office earnings, and hopes were extremely high. I mean the movie game changed. Five separate movies became intertwined and led up to an absolute event. Phase Two was supposed to be more of the same, and for the most part it delivered. These movies are, for the most part, entertaining and enjoyable, and they continued to link together a greater story in the making. Let’s roll through these movies and feel something great together…and also there’s Thor: Dark World.

“Failure is the fog from which we all glimpse triumph” Aldrich Killian, Iron Man 3 (2013)

A few days ago I made the glorious rediscovery of how great this movie was upon rewatch. I hadn’t seen it since it was in the theater in 2013, and forgot all about how smartly done everything in Iron Man 3 was. Shane Black’s writing perfectly fit RDJ’s skills into this stylized action movie. Quips, Christmas in LA, and a great cast make this movie fun, but it’s the unexpected turns that make this movie truly great. We pick up with Tony dealing with PTSD from the NYC invasion. A new and mysterious terrorist leader, The Mandarin, is threatening the US. A new arms dealer from Tony’s past is pushing in on his corner of the military industrial complex. This is easily a top 10 MCU film, and it has some bangers as far as quotes go. A few that were in consideration: Tony gave us some gems “we create our own demons” about how our mistakes can haunt us, “she was always perfect” about his love Pepper Potts, and “dad’s leave sometimes, no need to be a pussy about it” to the 13 year old who’s been helping him out. The Mandarin also gave us “True story about fortune cookies: they look Chinese, they sound Chinese, but they’re actually an American invention. Which is why they’re hollow, full of lies and leave a bad taste in the mouth.” which is just…iconic being delivered by the guy who played Ghandi, but the winner is…

Alright so Killian is the bad guy. He was a scientist that came to Tony with a proposal, Tony shirked a rooftop meeting with him, and Killian vowed to get his revenge. It’s a pretty cookie-cutter villain origin, but this quote is truly great. Aldrich Killian gives us the best advice anyone can give. Failure happens. People make mistakes. It’s what we learn from those mistakes that matters. Life knocks you down, it’s unavoidable, but you determine how you get back up. This is such a great quote, truly an idea to live by, just don’t be like Killian and create a DNA changing technology that causes you to spontaneously combust and kill innocent people around you.

“If it were easy everyone would do it.” Loki, Thor: The Dark World (2013)

I remember very little about this movie other than being disappointed in theater while watching it. Now up until looking at this movie poster I truly believed Lady Sif and The Warriors Three were not in this movie. So here’s my recollection of the movie I haven’t seen since 2013: things are pretty good for Thor in Asgard but he misses Jane. Dark Elves are led by the underutilized Chris Eccleston and they kill Thor’s mom for reasons. Thor and Loki team up for revenge. Kat Dennings says something witty. Loki sacrifices himself to save Thor and Asgard (this is kind of cheating because I remember Ragnarok), but Loki isn’t actually dead and pretends to be Odin to takeover. Oh and there’s an infinity stone in there somewhere. I’m going to rewatch and see how much I got right before I publish this post.

Alright, I cheated guys. I don’t remember any quotes nor the context from the movie. So I picked one before rewatching. Someone made a great list, and I’m borrowing from it. Don’t worry, I’ve cited my source. Loki’s quote here, despite my having no recollection of the moment when he said it, is another great piece of advice. Life doesn’t hand things to you. If there is something you truly want you need to work hard for it. Whether it’s shooting your proverbial shot with the person you have a crush on, or working hard in the gym to more become the person you want to be on the outside, or going through a deep introspective to decide who you want to be and how you want to feel on the inside, it won’t be easy. It’s the struggle that makes things worth it in the end. The pain of being in our cocoons turns us into the butterflies we’re all meant to be. At least I think that’s what Loki meant. DISCLAIMER: I didn’t rewatch it before finishing this post and I feel great about that decision.

“I know, but you don’t have to.” Sergeant James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014)

So let me start off with a take that has a ghost pepper level of spice: Captain America: Winter Solider is the best Cap movie, yes over Civil War, it’s the best MCU sequel, yes over Guardians 2, and may is better than any Mission Impossible, Bourne, or James Bond movie ever made. Ok now that we got that out of the way, Winter Soldier rules. This movie starts with an absolutely heartbreaking moment where Cap realizing Peggy has alzheimer’s, it has a few twists, lots of great shoutouts, a great use of Black Widow, Nick Fury, and other tertiary MCU characters, and most importantly, this movie has what may be the deepest romantic arc of the MCU: Bucky and Cap…but that is a conversation for another post. Also, the cinephile part of my brain is fascinated by seeing both Oscar-winning and Sundance Film Festival-creating Robert Redford, and comedic genius Gary Shandling saying things like “Hail Hydra.” Movies are awesome.

In this movie we have a great flashback where we see a role reversal. We see classic 5’4 and still skinny Steve Rogers. He and his bff Bucky just left his mom’s funeral and Bucky as always is offering help. He offers a place for Steve to stay, we get the iconic and literal ride or die quote “with you to the end of the line” that ends up jogging the Winter Soldier’s memory, but before that we get a much more relatable piece of advice. Bucky offers help, Steve declines saying he can take care of himself, and Bucky replies with the above line. As stated with many of these sayings, life is hard, and if you are blessed enough to have a friend or family member in your life that offers you unconditional love and help, you should take it. We are a social species, and should rejoice knowing we’ve made a true connection like Bucky and Steve did all those years ago. It’s great to achieve things on your own, but there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.

“I don’t know that anyone is 100% a dick…” Rhomann Dey, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

The feelings I have for this movie could be a post unto itself. First of all, this was a great date night. I drove up to Jax, cooked up some steaks, and then the GF and I saw this together. She made fun of me for crying at “We are Groot,” I didn’t help her when she was “choking,” it was perfect. Now I will straight up admit, this is my favorite MCU movie. It’s number 15 overall in my official top 25 favorite movies list. I am a true hipster fan when it comes to Chris Pratt as I loved him when he was Che on The OC when I was in middle school well before he was Andy in Parks and Rec. I love James Gunn movies Slither, Belko Experiment, Dawn of the Dead, are all awesome. The opening scene where we see Peter’s mom dying of cancer and she passes on her love of music to her son is both guttingly beautiful and all too relatable. Upon rewatch I went from crying to laughing in just a few minutes as we get a masterful cut and see our Star Lord dancing to “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone. This movie is part space opera, part Indiana Jones, and just altogether perfect. This may have been my toughest pick on the list, as this is one of the most quotable movies of the MCU but very few of these quotes are inspirational. Here are a few favorites:

• “Nothing gets over my head…” – Drax and his misunderstanding of metaphors
• “I know who you are, Peter Quill, and I am not some starry-eyed waif here to succumb to your… your pelvic sorcery!” – Gamora: she’s stronger than the rest of us
• “I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies. I would be grateful to die surrounded by my friends.” – Gamora: great showcase of her character arc with this call back to her saying she was going to die surrounded by idiots
• “We are Groot” – Groot…gets me everytime

So here’s the full exchange, which adds a bit of levity before Ronan comes to destroy Xandar. The Guardians arrive to stop him and save the planet from eminent destruction (yup everything worked out for Xandar) with a dance off and some explosives. What’s great about this quote, and the mental gymnastics my imagination is doing to add meaning to it, is that it shows empathy and the ability to see things from a different perspective. You never know what people are going through at any given moment. Think of Androcles and the lion with the thorn in his paw. Or Snape haunted by his past pain despite doing nothing but good for the remainder of his life. Even though they may seem like an asshole or a dick, there’s a good chance that they’re not really as bad as they seem. Well hopefully not 100% of the time.

“You Get Hurt, Hurt ‘Em Back. You Get Killed… Walk It Off” Captain Steve Rogers, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron is an odd movie. It’s definitely in the bottom tier of MCU movies, but it services as a great set up for future movies. It has some convoluted action sequences, but it had quite possibly the best non-superpowered superhero moments in all of the MCU. In this movie we get some important new characters, a pretty entertaining villain, and some new exposure to Infinity Stones. This movie is important despite being almost entirely devoid of stakes. This movie was pretty great at making the fight scenes feel like the splash page of a comic book. My favorite part was seeing this movie come full circle as early on our heroes were drunkenly taking turns trying and failing to lift Mjolnir, only to see Vision lift it and galvanize the team to stick together against Ultron. Outside of the lesser Quicksilver dying, I remember nothing else of this movie.

Alright so the Avengers got together to stop Ultron from his evil plan to save Earth by destroying humanity, even though I’m pretty sure that plan checks out. Our Hufflepuff king Captain America unleashes this banger of a motivational speech for our heroes. As a coach and wannabe athlete myself I was ready to drop my shoulder and run through a wall in Sokovia for Cap. Sometimes you need to suck it up and push through the pain to get the job done. This line also gets bonus points for me, because the only “hero” who died has super speed…and yes I’m laughing as I type this sentence. “Didn’t see that coming…” but you should’ve.

“I believe everyone deserves a shot at redemption” Dr. Hank Pym, Ant-Man (2015)

Six years ago this became the first MCU movie I ever wrote about. I had a Tumblr and tried writing on there for awhile, but never really committed. Here’s what I wrote originally about this movie, it’s got some dated references and one sentence that just ends in the middle of a thought, but feel free to check it out, and if you’re interested there’s other movie reviews, GoT reviews, and a video of Richard Spencer being punched on a loop because fuck Nazis. Also I made this:

Anyway Ant-Man rules. It’s fun, it’s funny, and it proves the MCU could pretty much throw out a movie about anyone or anything and we’re ready to just give them all of our money. My struggle with this movie for this post, was the fact that it’s memorable quotes are much funnier than they are inspirational. Luckily, Dr. Hank Pym gave us this piece of advice:

No matter how low you or someone else is in their life they deserve a shot at redemption. Again, we are imperfect people, but we deserve the shot to learn and grow and bounce back in life. If our heroes know this and accept this fact, why shouldn’t us normies? If someone truly wants change for the better, who are we to get in there way? Dr. Pym was right, we all deserve a shot at redemption…except for Nazis and pedophiles, they can eat shit and die.

Bonus MCU Phase Two Rankings

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Captain America: Winter Soldier
3. Iron Man 3
4. Ant-Man
5. Avengers: Age of Ultron
6. Thor: Dark World

Double Bonus MCU Big Board Rankings

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Iron Man
3. Captain America: Winter Soldier
4. Iron Man 3
5. The Avengers
6. Captain America: The First Avenger
7. Ant-Man
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron
9. Iron Man 2
10. Thor
11. The Incredible Hulk
12. Thor: Dark World