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While the MCU's second phase of films is fairly impressive as a whole, there are still some moments and elements that haven't aged so well. Characters were underutilized, relationships went nowhere, and some villains were completely forgettable. To that end, it's interesting to look back over just over a decade since Marvel's Phase 2 first began.
The MCU's Phase 2 consists of six Marvel Studios films released between 2013-2015. This includes Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man. To that end, here are 10 scenes from Marvel's Phase 2 that have aged rather poorly in the years that have followed.
Related How To Watch the Marvel Movies In Order (By Release Date & In Order Of MCU Timeline Events) Want to catch up before the next release, or just revisit the universe for a refresher? Here"s the order to watch the entire MCU timeline.
10 Iron Man 3's Mandarin Twist Shang-Chi Only Helped A Little Close First seen in the trailers for Iron Man 3, Sir Ben Kingsley's casting as the apparent MCU Mandarin was very well received with plenty of excitement. However, said excitement turned into shock and disappointment with the major twist in the movie that Kingsley's character was not the true Mandarin, leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization. Instead, the "Mandarin" was revealed to be nothing more than an actor named Trevor Slattery who was hired by Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian in his bid to control both sides of the war on terror.
While the Iron Man 3 twist was a bold decision and an objectively creative way to subvert expectations, it did so at the expense of one of Iron Man's greatest foes from the original comics. The real Mandarin's debut in 2021's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings did help take some of the sting, especially considering how the movie addressed Iron Man 3 with an appearance from Kingsley's Trevor. However, it's still unfortunate that Iron Man never got the chance to face the true villain in the MCU.
9 Tony Stark's Retirement Makes Zero Sense He Didn't Actually Retire Close At the very end of Iron Man 3, Tony Stark acts like he's done as Iron Man. This is shown though very clear narration from Tony, blowing up all his suits, and even undergoing surgery so that he no longer needs the arc reactor in his chest to keep him alive. However, Tony is right back to being Iron Man in 2015's Age of Ultron, as well as in multiple movies afterward, until he dies in Avengers: Endgame.
2016's Captain America: Civil War briefly addresses that Iron Man's retirement didn't take because he doesn't want to stop being Iron Man. However, there was never any weight behind it or any gaps in the MCU to show Stark legitimately trying to leave his armor behind. To that end, the bulk of Iron Man 3's ending doesn't make much sense considering the aftermath and how quickly Tony Stark ended up right back in a suit of armor (including the entire Iron Legion he made to assist the Avengers).
8 Jane Foster's Dark World Role A Constant Damsel In Distress Close Rather than one scene on its own, it can be argued that Jane Foster's entire role in Thor: The Dark World has aged quite poorly, (and won't ever get better). The entire Thor sequel sees Jane as a constant damsel in distress, while also being a walking plot device once she inadvertently absorbs the Aether aka Reality Stone. As such, it's no wonder that actress Natalie Portman didn't return for Thor: Ragnarok. That said, her role in Dark World was made somewhat better given her improved role as The Mighty Thor in Love and Thunder (though not by much considering its own problems).
7 Thor: The Dark World's Villains Are Incredibly Forgettable Malekith May Be One Of The Most Boring MCU Foes Close The only thing worse than Jane Foster's frustrating role in Dark World was the movie's primary villains. To this day, the Dark Elves are some of the most forgettable foes in the entire MCU. Unlike other MCU villains, there was next to no dimension behind their goals, nor anything compelling about their leader, Malekith. All they wanted was to claim the Aether to bathe the universe in ambiguous darkness. Aside from the smallest of Easter eggs, they've never been revisited since (and for good reason).
6 Thanos In GOTG Came At The Expense of Ronan The Kree Could Have Been Far More Interesting Close The Kree's Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) could have been a fearsome villain on his own in Guardians of the Galaxy. However, his intimidation factor and agency were massively limited with the inclusion of Thanos, the Mad Titan's first major appearance in the MCU with voice lines apart following his debut cameo at the end of 2012's Avengers. As such, Thanos took much of the spotlight away from Ronan, despite the brutal Kree fanatic's defiance of his people's recent truce with Xandar, seeking vengeance based on their ancient rivalry he refused to abandon.
5 Hydra's Defeat So Soon After The Winter Soldier They Should Have Posed A More Significant Threat Close The reveal in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Hydra had long been embedded within every level of SHIELD was a huge shock in the MCU. However, Hydra was seemingly defeated with the Avengers taking down their last major holdout at the beginning of 2015's Age of Ultron. As a result, this did take quite a bit of punch out of the Hydra reveal, especially when they organization could have remained an ongoing threat.
It can be argued that this problem was circumvented thanks to ABC's Agents of SHIELD which saw Phil Coulson and his team continuing to fight Hydra cells for years after Age of Ultron. However, the popular MCU show is no longer considered part of the canon, meaning that the issue technically still stands as far as Earth-616 and the Sacred Timeline is concerned. It also hasn't stopped SHIELD fans from holding its canon status in their hearts either.
4 Ultron Was Wasted In The MCU He Deserves More Than A Single Appearance Close Ultron is one of the Avengers' most dangerous and powerful villains in the comics. To that end, his apparent demise at the end of his debut appearance was seen as a travesty, especially seeing as how he's yet to return at any point in the MCU canon. Voiced by James Spader and seeking to upgrade both himself and humanity, Ultron was one of the most compelling and charismatic villains the MCU has to offer. With any luck, Ultron will indeed return as has been rumored for the upcoming Vision Quest series.
3 Thanos' Age of Ultron Post-Credits Is Super Weird "I'll Do It Myself" Close Age of Ultron's mid-credits scene is quite odd. Not only does Thanos still have old visual design more his improved look in Infinity War, but his comments while picking up the Infinity Gauntlet about "doing it himself" make it seem like he had a hand in Ultron's actions with the Mind Stone. In reality, he's referring to Loki and Ronan who failed to bring him the Space and Power stones. It's pretty bizarre, though somewhat understandable as Marvel likely wanted to continue its Thanos build-up with a post-credits scene as they had with the first Avengers.
2 Hulk and Black Widow's Romance It Never Went Anywhere Meaningful Close Hulk and Black Widow's romance was as strange as it was underutilized beyond its beginnings in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Having had no real basis in the comics, the decision to make Bruce and Natasha romantically involved came across as very strange, especially during an Avengers film that didn't give enough time for their relationships to truly be fleshed out beyond the focus on their respective struggles as to why they couldn't or shouldn't be together. Likewise, the romance never went anywhere meaningful in the MCU going forward.
1 Ant-Man's Final Post-Credits Scene Just Future Civil War Footage Close The last film in Marvel's Phase 2, Ant-Man's post-credits scene was exciting upon its release. Featuring Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson with Bucky Barnes' Winter Soldier, Captain America and Falcon are talking about their next moves, while also teasing Ant-Man's future involvement in Captain America: Civil War. However, the same scene is featured in the third Captain America movie itself. As such, Ant-Man's post-credits scene is far less interesting going back, seeing as how it wasn't actually unique footage setting up the future crossover movie.
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Release Date May 7, 2027