Thanks for the memories

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2019)

For those who are not entirely familiar with the Marvel Universe as offered in The Avengers series, Phase 1 introduces some of the Avengers with their own separate movies, culminating in their first assignment together. Phase 2 continues the development, adds more members and moves on to their second assignment. Phase 3 starts with a twist seeing the members pitched against one another in two groups and, towards the end, brings up their most formidable opponent by far.
More specifically, Phase 1 comprises 6 movies starting with "Ironman" (2008), then introduces The Hulk (Edward Norton at the time), Thor and Captain America, culminating in "The Avengers" (2012) which shows these four teaming up with Black Widow and Hawkeye for the initial lineup.
Phase 2, commencing with "Iron Man 3" (2013), uses another 6 movies to trace the evolution of the Avengers. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015) detailing their second assignment adds to the team two major players, Scarlet Witch and Vision. Another entirely different team is also introduced in "Guardians of the Galaxy" although their path has not yet converged with that of the original Avengers in this Phase. "Ant-man" (2015), with his own stand-alone movie, brings up the rear of this Phase.
Phases 3, with a total of 11 movies, starts with "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), which has been given the nicknamed "Avengers 2.5". The Avengers are divided into two groups, under Iron Man and Captain America, supporting and opposing, respectively, government supervision. While the Hulk and Thor are nowhere to be seen, newcomers brought in are Spider-man and Black Panther, plus a few others who have already appeared before (Ant-man, Falcon, War Machine, Winter Soldier). Then, more blanks are filled in. A new character, Dr. Strange, is introduced via his own stand-alone. Also in their own stand-alone movies are Spider-man and Black Panther, introduced belatedly. The whereabouts of Thor and the Hulk is revealed via another sequel of the former's franchise, in which another new character Valkyrie is introduced.
Then comes the long awaited "Avengers: Infinity War", #8 in Phase 3 (and #20 in the entire "Infinite Saga"). The ultimate villain Thanos, menacingly lurking behind hitherto, comes to the forefront. Everybody mentioned above in the Avengers community join force, including the convergence with Guardians of the Galaxy whose key character Gamora is Thanos's alienated adopted daughter. Well, almost everybody. Ant-man and Hawkeye are not there.
The devastating conclusion of Infinity War sees Thanos, at a snap of his finger, literally, kills off half the world's population, completely at random. That of course includes members of The Avengers, also entirely at random. Following that are two blank-filling movies. "Ant-man and the Wasp" explains why it was absent and introduces yet another new superhero The Wasp. Completing the assembly comes "Captain Marvel", hitherto unheard of, until the post-credit of Infinity War when Nick Fury, just before disintegration, sends her an S.O.S. message, as the court of last appeal.
In the trailer of "Avengers: Endgame", when one of the Avengers, not addressing anybody in particular, says "Why would it be different from before?" Without missing a beat Captain Marvel replies "Before, you didn't have me." You will see this within the opening minutes of Endgame.
So, where is my user review? There is so much to say. To non-fans, that wouldn't mean a lot. To hard-core fans who have watched each and every one of the 21 preceding movies starting from over a decade ago, it is quite unnecessary. I'll just sum everything up with three little words: down memory lane.