Of the three existing phases in the MCU, fans fairly unanimously rank the second phase as their least favorite. While it has a couple of the best movies in the franchise, it is also heavily weighed down by some of the less well-liked films in the entire universe. Phase Two kicked off with Iron Man 3, which is liked by some, but not many others.
This was followed by Thor: The Dark World, one of the worst movies in the franchise. However, after that came Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. While Avengers: Age of Ultron was a weak follow-up, Ant-Man was a fun movie to end the phase on. Overall, unfortunately, there are just some details within Phase 2 that don’t make any sense.
10 The Mandarin Wasn’t The Mandarin
The very first movie in the MCU was Iron Man 3, and so fans expected the movie to kick things off with a bang. The announcement that the Mandarin was going to be the primary antagonist of the movie was exciting. Fans of the comics especially knew the Mandarin already and were looking forward to seeing him interpreted in the MCU.
However, the Mandarin was not even really the Mandarin. Instead, he was an actor hired by the movie’s real villain, Aldrich Killian, as a decoy. Because the Mandarin is an existing character already, it doesn’t make sense that he’s a fake persona in this movie.
9 Tony Stark Had His Arc Reactor Removed
When Tony Stark was first injured in Iron Man so badly that he needed the arc reactor placed in his chest in the first place, he knew there was nothing he could do to remove the object. If he did, he would die from the shrapnel piercing his heart.
Even when the arc reactor is poisoning him, he needs to figure out a way to get a new arc reactor; he doesn’t even get surgery then. However, in Iron Man 3, the surgery is inexplicably just fine all of a sudden, and Tony Stark no longer needs his arc reactor.
8 The Reality Stone Doesn’t Instantly Destroy Jane Foster
The Infinity Stones are supposed to be immensely powerful objects. When the Guardians of the Galaxy hold the Power Stone together, they almost disintegrate. When Thanos and Tony Stark and the Hulk all use the Stones in their own Gauntlets, they’re all hurt incredibly badly.
However, Jane Foster, a human woman, is able to survive the Aether — which is really the Reality Stone — possessing her body for an extended length of time. The fact that the Stone doesn’t instantly disintegrate her mind and her insides doesn’t exactly track.
7 Loki Survived Somehow And Took Over As Odin
There are a lot of issues with Thor: The Dark World, but one of the most glaring is the way it clumsily handles the character of Loki. While Loki is a fan favorite, Thor: The Dark World wasn’t quite sure what to do with him.
He has an entire dramatic death at one point and comes back for no apparent reason to take over as Odin and oppose his brother. All of this seems to come out of nowhere and walks back all of his development to this point. Luckily, Thor: Ragnarok saved the Thor trilogy and the character of Loki in equal measure.
6 Steve And Bucky Don’t End Up Together
One of the best movies in the MCU is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in which Bucky returns from the dead (apparently) as a brainwashed HYDRA assassin. In this film, Steve is willing to risk anything and everything to help and protect Bucky. He even sacrifices his own life to him.
In addition, the appearance of Steve is enough for Bucky to break through his HYDRA brainwashing and need to be reset all over again. The fact that this movie is all about Steve saving Bucky — and Bucky saving Steve in return, in his own way — makes it weird that the two of them don’t end up together.
5 “We Are Groot” Is Touching, But Groot Can’t Actually Say It
Towards the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, it becomes clear that the titular Guardians are in danger of dying in a ship crash. However, Groot is able to use his ability to branch out to protect them. In their protective little cocoon, Rocket Raccoon demands that Groot not do this, that he’ll die if he does.
In response, Groot tells him, “We are Groot.” While this is a touching sentiment, Groot isn’t actually ever saying, “I am Groot.” He’s speaking; people who don’t understand his language just hear “I am Groot.” As such, he wouldn’t actually be able to say this.
4 Tony Stark Is Off The Wall
Tony Stark is already acting kind of funky in Iron Man 3, but, by the end of that movie, he decides he’s not going to be Iron Man anymore. He destroys all of his suits for Pepper and tosses his arc reactor into the sea. By Avengers: Age of Ultron, though, this is all apparently a thing of the past.
He’s back hanging out with the Avengers and has no problem being Iron Man. More than that, deciding to create and unleash Ultron seems like a completely unhinged decision. Even characters within the MCU struggle to understand Tony’s thinking on this choice.
3 Quicksilver’s Instant Death
As the MCU was growing larger and larger, and the Avengers team was expanding further and further, fans were excited to see characters they loved from the comics arriving on the silver screen. A few surprising introductions were Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
Even more shocking, perhaps, is how quickly Quicksilver passed away. He was introduced alongside his twin sister, and so fans expected them to stick around for a while, but Quicksilver died in Avengers: Age of Ultron unexpectedly.
2 Hank Pym Didn’t Just Destroy His Research
The entire catalyst for the film Ant-Man is the fact that Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, is trying to hide his super-shrinking tech from organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. and other bad guys. He sees a lot of danger in people trying to replicate that shrinking tech, and so he decides to resign from S.H.I.E.L.D. and forever hide his technology.
However, he continues developing this technology and never actually destroys it, despite the apparent threat it poses. If it was truly as dangerous as Hank Pym believes, he should have completely destroyed it long ago.
1 They Skipped Right To Scott Lang Over Hank Pym
Many superheroes are legacy characters, in that one character originates a superhero title, then passes the role on to somebody else when their time has finished. Ant-Man is one of those legacy heroes in Marvel Comics and in the MCU. However, Hank Pym got barely any time as Ant-Man in the MCU, and he doesn’t get to fight on the Avengers alongside his friends.
Instead, the franchise skipped right over Hank Pym and went right to Scott Lang. While both characters are interesting, it is strange and doesn’t really make sense that Hank Pym has already been Ant-Man and moved on.