The first Marvel movie I ever watched was “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” We had a half day at school, and my two best friends and I went to the movie theater to enjoy our extra three hours of freedom in the day. I was 10 Marvel movies behind, but my friends had been avid Marvel fans since 2008 when “Iron Man” came out, and it didn’t matter to me that I had no idea what was going on because I just wanted to spend time with them. Every detail and callback from previous films soared over my head, but it didn’t matter because I was doing what I enjoy the most with the people I enjoy the most.
I did not do a real binge of the Marvel movies until a year later. By 2016, when “Captain America: Civil War” came out, I was an avid Marvel fan. In high school, my friends and I would try to see every Marvel film the first day it would come out. We had a system nailed down. One friend would buy the tickets, one would buy the popcorn and candy (we would sneak our own cups in to get free Icee’s because why should we pay $5 for something that costs 99 cents at a gas station?), and I would drive us to the theater. For the majority of my friendships, the foundation relies on going to the movies together.
Now, we are all at different colleges in different states, and we cannot go to the midnight premieres of the Marvel films together. It’s a weird feeling having to go through the emotional ups and downs of an “Avengers” film without my hometown friends with me to talk about it during the drive afterwards. And it is also weird not to have any Marvel movie come out since July of 2019. But Disney+ has provided me a way to stay connected with my friends and a cure for my Marvel withdrawals with their new shows like “Wandavision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” stars Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan as their Avenger characters Sam Wilson, Falcon, and Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The series focuses on Sam and Bucky and their futures after the events that took place during “Avengers: Endgame.” In a more real sense, it is a show about what happens when a friend group of three loses the one friend that connects the two other friends, and the other two friends never really talked to each other without the mutual friend being there, so the whole situation is a little awkward even though the two friends have been through a lot together. There’s action, humor and tear-tugging moments, the equation of all Marvel products. The episodes are short, 50 minutes to an hour, but it’s the perfect amount of Marvel magic to take on your own. And with the deficit we endured in 2020, any amount of Marvel will do.
Every Friday, a new episode drops, and every Friday I get a new text, TikTok or tweet from my friends with their reactions to the episode. Opening up TikTok feels like a warm embrace from a distant friend. It is a different, more virtual way of discussing our thoughts and opinions on what we just watched, but it is the equivalent to the post-movie discussions on our drive back from the theater.
So why do I hold the Marvel franchise so close to my heart? Is it because the movies and shows continue to blow my mind? Yes. Is it because of the level of attractiveness in the cast? Also, yes. But mainly, it is because I know that my friends are enjoying the same thing I am. And hopefully, they are thinking of the next time we get to enjoy a Marvel production together like I am.
So, thank you, Disney+. You have made the 600 miles between me and my friends seem a little bit closer.
