Countdown to Endgame #12: I Got Something in My Eye During Guardians, Vol. 2

Emotional realness in a super weird can. Only these films.

Countdown to Endgame #11: The Guardians Crank it Up

As The Avengers hunt down Hydra on earth, elsewhere in the universe, a very different kind of team is about to meet up.

Countdown to Endgame #10: Time for a Winter Soldier Lovefest

Though it sold itself as a political spy thriller – and it does excel at that, in its heart, The Winter Soldier is also an exploration of the lasting trauma of violence, the transformative power of friendship, and the inherent risk in choosing to trust.

Countdown to Endgame #9: The Dark World is Serious, You Guys

Asgardian history so ancient it has been lost to the fog of time for all but the eldest of its residents, who remember it not as myth but history. In earth terms, that’s the kind of old you get into arguments on holidays with your parents about.

Countdown to Endgame #8: Iron Man 3 is a Real Mess

Aldrich Killian is the Guy Pearce of superhero villains – he’s rich, successful, white, and handsome. No one’s really sure why he keeps doing what he’s doing, but I guess we can’t stop him?

Countdown to Endgame #7: You are Required to Watch The Avengers

In The Avengers, all the momentum of the character-and world-building origin stories comes together – we’ve got all our heroes, S.H.I.E.L.D., P.E.G.A.S.U.S., the Tesseract, even Loki – and in the steady, loving hands of Joss Whedon, everything is fireworks.

Countdown to Endgame #6: Thor Really Goes There

Both a high-fantasy royal dynasty drama, Shakespearean in its scope, structure, and stakes, and a small town fish-out-of-water comedy… Miraculously, Thor excels at both.