6 Marvel Stories To Read If You Are A Fan Of The MCU
Bored at home and looking for things to read? Now would be a good time to get yourself a Marvel Unlimited subscription and catch up on some of the great Marvel stories out there. Since many people know the characters through the movie, I selected 6 stories that you should read if you are a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Captain America: Winter Soldier (2005)
This is one of the greatest Captain America stories. It involves Bucky Barnes not having actually died in the 1940s, but kidnapped by the Russians and brainwashed into becoming an assassin. Obviously, the second Captain America movie - Captain America: The Winter Soldier - is an adaptation of this story and is unarguably one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
Annihilation (2006)
This is, perhaps, Marvel's finest cosmic adventure story. Taking place in the far reaches of space, some of the greatest cosmic heroes gather to fight a threat to the universe. Why is this story an important one? If you are a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, this comic book event really put the team we all know and love on the map. This is the first time we saw the likes of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot and Rocket together as a team. We will probably see more heroes from this series rise up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So now would be a good time to familiarize yourself with them.
Planet Hulk (2006)
Planet Hulk finds Hulk being shot into outer space by a group of heroes after he causes a great deal of destruction. Hulk ends up on the planet Sakaar where he becomes a fierce gladiator. Thor: Ragnarok, while taking liberties with the storyline, borrows from Planet Hulk. Both Korg and Miek are characters from this story.
Iron Man: Extremis (2005)
In Extremis, we see Tony Stark infected with the Extremis virus which binds him mentally with his own armor. Iron Man 3 is basically a retelling of this story. Killian as the villain comes from Extremis as well. Also, Iron Man's origin in this first Iron Man film is also adapted from this source material.
Civil War (2006)
Captain America: Civil War is basically an adaptation of the comic book storyline, but does take quite a few liberties which, to me, makes more sense in the movie. In the comic version, the heroes become split over two ideologies. Iron Man supports the Superhuman Registration Act (SRA) which forces heroes to become public with their identities and work for the government. Captain America is anti-registration, believing heroes have the right to privacy. The movie changes the SRA to the Sokovia Accords and centers the story on protecting Bucky Barnes.
The Infinity Gauntlet (1991)
The mad Titan Thanos finds himself in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet which allows him to wield the power of the Infinity Gems - space, time, power, mind, soul and reality. In order to impress his love of Death, he uses the power to eradicate half the life in the universe. It's a race against time to stop him from using it on the other half. This is arguably one of the best Marvel stories of all time and serves as the basis for the Infinity Saga ending in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.