With hilarious movies like Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is when the franchise became focused on humor. But the MCU still found plenty of time for poignant character drama in Phase Two’s movies. Tony Stark has a ton of his classic one-liners in Iron Man 3, but the threequel is primarily focused on the PTSD he suffers from after the Battle of New York.
From Steve Rogers telling his childhood friend he’ll be with him “to the end of the line” to Groot shaking up his familiar speech pattern to say, “We are Groot,” during his final sacrifice, the MCU’s Phase Two is full of heartbreaking lines.
Iron Man 3 – “Nothing’s Been The Same Since New York.”
Although its twist revealing the Mandarin to be a soccer-loving actor was wildly polarizing, Iron Man 3 was universally praised for its portrayal of Tony Stark’s PTSD. After going through a wormhole and nearly dying in space at the end of the first Avengers movie, Tony is suffering from anxiety and panic attacks.
Tony sums up his post-Battle of New York trauma in one line: “Nothing’s been the same since New York.” Writer-director Shane Black is known for his sly, self-aware humor, but he also leaves plenty of room for character development and poignant dramatic moments.
Thor: The Dark World – “Always So Perceptive About Everyone But Yourself.”
Following his crimes in the first Avengers movie, Loki is in an Asgardian prison cell for most of Thor: The Dark World. His brother lets him out to help fight the Dark Elves that have invaded Asgard, but before that, the God of Mischief is confined to a jail cell.
Frigga, Loki’s adoptive mother, is one of the only people who ever loved him, and one of the only people to see more than pure evil in his soul. She brings the trickster god some reading material to enjoy in his eternal confinement. When Loki underestimates himself, Frigga tells him that he’s “always so perceptive about everyone but yourself.”
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – “I’m With You To The End Of The Line.”
By the time Phase Two rolled around, the MCU was receiving criticism for its “villain problem.” While Marvel’s heroes were being fleshed out with multi-movie arcs, the villains they faced tended to be one-note and generic. But that criticism certainly doesn’t apply to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In his second solo outing, Steve Rogers has a tangible personal connection to his latest foe. The Winter Soldier is Steve’s childhood best friend, Bucky Barnes, who was presumed dead during World War II. Not only is Bucky alive in the present day; he’s been brainwashed by Hydra to kill Steve.
This time, Cap can’t defeat his enemy simply by beating him to a pulp. He wants to save Bucky and bring him back from his brainwashing. There’s a glimmer of familiarity when Bucky is mercilessly pummeling Steve and he repeats what Bucky said to him when they were kids and he lost his parents: “I’m with you to the end of the line.”
Guardians Of The Galaxy – “We Are Groot.”
James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy is remembered as the MCU’s first full-blown comedy. It certainly has more focus on humor than Marvel’s previous efforts, with gags like Peter Quill comparing his filthy spaceship to a Jackson Pollock painting, Rocket complaining about standing in a circle like “a bunch of jackasses,” and Drax taking every metaphor and figure of speech literally.
But there are plenty of emotionally charged moments in the first Guardians movie. The most heartbreaking scene is Groot’s sacrifice. The talking tree gives his life to protect his fellow Guardians as Ronan’s ship goes down over Xandar. Groot sums up the movie’s theme of found family in one devastating line: “We are Groot.”
Avengers: Age Of Ultron – “Then We’ll Do That Together, Too.”
After acquiring the Mind Stone during a Hydra raid in the opening scene of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony proposes putting a suit of armor around the world to protect Earth from alien invaders. When he reminds Steve that Thanos’ armies very nearly took over New York a few years earlier, Tony asks, “How were you guys planning on beating that?”
Steve says, “Together.” Tony snaps back, “We’ll lose,” and Steve says, “Then we’ll do that together, too.” This line is even more heartbreaking with the knowledge of the devastating failure to come in the next Avengers movie when they’re not together.
Ant-Man – “Now, She Looks At Me And It’s Just Disappointment.”
Throughout the first Ant-Man movie, Hope van Dyne resents her father Hank Pym, because his subatomic shrinking tech got her mother stranded in the Quantum Realm. She also resents Hank for recruiting Scott Lang to pull off the Yellowjacket heist and not her. But the two are linked. After Janet disappeared, Hank didn’t want to risk Hope disappearing, too.
When he lost Janet, in a way, he lost Hope, too. Hank explains to Scott: “Before Hope lost her mother, she used to look at me like I was the greatest man in the world. And now, she looks at me and it’s just disappointment.”
