Disclaimers: All rights to Marvel. Characters, lines and context from Marvel Movies, TV Shows, Cartoons & Comics.

Warning: SPOILERS/Lines from Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

Author's Note: After watching Avengers: Age of Ultron, I left the theater very upset and disappointed. The plot felt somehow incomplete and disconnected, and the movie seemed like a sum of parts – too many of them, even for a die-hard Marvel fan like me. They also simply forgot some characters' development in the previous movies, not to mention the connections with the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with the adorable Phil Coulson. It was definitely a step back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and it didn't make sense to me.

Why would Marvel ignore their own amazing universe? Why?

Here is the most simple theory: maybe, this whole chaotic cartoonist episode took place in another reality, a parallel universe, created by some crazy person…

Yeah, let's put the blame on the Scarlet Witch.

So, this is my take on the whole story. The anguish and distress reflected in this piece are definitely a match for the feelings I experienced while watching the movie.

First, I'm stitching together some of the unmentioned stories and events, hoping to fill in some of the blanks. The sequence doesn't really matter too much, but I'm trying my best to make a connection between them all. That was what the movie was supposed to do, right? Anyway, I've been struggling with myself about whether to include this whole prologue or not. As I said before, too many missing information in one messy plot.

Feel free to tell me what's not clear and I'll try to answer it… if I can.

Thanks for reading, and please, talk to me.

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Prologue – Theta Protocol

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Located in a secluded valley in Eastern Europe, the small nation of Sokovia had always struggled with war and strife. Born in this conflicted environment, the twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff were orphaned at age ten, when a shell produced by Stark Industries collapsed their apartment building. Facing all kinds of difficulties, they grew up very protective of each other, and with a deep grudge against Tony Stark.

Meanwhile, Hydra continued to grow secretly as a parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D., with its plans to global domination. One of their leaders, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, had Loki's Scepter stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., and smuggled it into his Sokovian undisclosed base, among other Chitauri artifacts. His top scientist, Dr. List, managed to harness the alien's technology to create new weapons and advanced robotics. But Strucker wanted more. Several Sokovian citizens were recruited as volunteers to human experimentation, with the promise to get power to protect their country against the oppressive government. Sadly, all the tests subjects died, after long exhausting hours of testing, submitted to the Scepter's power.

Until the Maximoff twins. Besides being the only survivors, they also became enhanced with superhuman abilities – Pietro achieved super-speed and Wanda obtained mental powers like telekinesis, and mind manipulation. Calling them 'miracles', Strucker began to indoctrinate and train them as weapons. Young and inexperienced, the twins were led to believe that the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. represented the foreign forces that had been destroying their homeland.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, after the battle of New York, Earth's Mightiest Heroes had gone on separate ways.

Keeping his normal pattern of compartmentalization, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury activated the top secret Project T.A.H.I.T.I. that used alien origin drugs to bring Agent Phil Coulson back to life.

Thor took Loki back to Asgard as prisoner, before embarking on a journey to bring peace to the Nine Realms, which ended up with him defeating the Dark Elves. Declining his birthright of becoming the next king, he came back to Earth, where he reestablished a relationship with Jane Foster. Unbeknownst to Thor, Loki had used his shapeshifting powers to take Odin's place at the Asgardian throne.

In Malibu, Tony was suffering from PTSD, and was working nonstop to build the Iron Legion – an army of Iron Man suits that could be remotely controlled by JARVIS. In a very disturbed solo path, he faced terrorist attacks orchestrated by the Mandarin, who was a cover for the evil organization Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), led by Aldrich Killian. Tony was helped by of his longtime friend Colonel James Rhodes, and his girlfriend Pepper Potts, defeating Killian and saving U.S. President Matthew Ellis' life. After another near-death experience, Iron Man decided for a temporary retirement, destroying all his armors, before undergoing surgery to remove the arc reactor from his chest.

Clint Barton was also a victim of a severe trauma. While mind-controlled by Loki, he had attacked and killed some of his co-workers. Taking a leave of absence, he went back home, to his secret farm, and found solace with his wife Laura, and two children, Cooper and Lila.

Without her best friend and partner Hawkeye, Black Widow teamed up with Captain America, who joined S.H.I.E.L.D., becoming Fury's new elite team. No surprise, since the soldier and the spy had already been paired together from the start, fighting against the army of outer space. Over the following two years, Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers' working relationship evolved to a more of an intimate friendship. Their connection was severely tested, but strengthened, when they discovered that the agency had been infiltrated by Hydra. To make things worse, they were labeled traitors, and hunted down by the Winter Soldier. In a coordinated mission with Fury, Maria Hill and Sam Wilson, the Avengers duo exposed Hydra's secrets to the world, and destroyed Project Insight – three heavily armed, satellite-linked Helicarriers, which were set to kill millions of people at once.

Since S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets had been exposed as well, Black Widow's past became public. Feeling compromised, Natasha took a time off to rethink her life.

Followed by his new loyal partner Sam, Steve went searching for the Winter Soldier, hoping to save his best friend Bucky. The most cruel reality was that, back in the 40s, James Barnes had somehow been recovered and revived by Hydra, who had turned him into the brainwashed cybernetic assassin.

However, labeled as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, S.H.I.E.L.D. was tore apart between loyal operatives and Hydra's. Underground, Fury appointed Coulson to be the director of the new agency, which he was in charge to rebuild.

Worldwide, the feelings of insecurity grew stronger, echoing Tony's internal demons. Immediately, the billionaire hired Hill, and started to privatize world security.

Leaving any personal projects behind, the Avengers were re-assembled at the restored tower, turned into their Headquarters, and started to train and work together.

The most reluctant hero of the group, Bruce Banner had a complex path. With one of the worse cases of split personalities, the shy doctor and the angry monster had always hated each other, living in a constant internal battle for supremacy over their common body. The scientist found his place working closely with Tony, in several high-tech projects. The big guy, however, that was a completely different story. Possessing just a little of Bruce's memory and a child-like personality, Hulk was growing progressively resentful of being limited. Bruce's past technique of remaining constantly angry wasn't working anymore, as Hulk became reluctant to transform back. The risks were too high for anyone near him.

As a master of psychological manipulation, Black Widow devised a strategy to tame the Hulk, in order to make him an effective and safe part of the team. Using verbal patterns and body language, she managed to communicate with him subconsciously, calming him down – the successful technique was dubbed Hulk-lullaby.

The Avengers were a symbol of hope, while vanquishing Hydra around the globe.

Working in the shadows, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. continued to pursue the threats that weren't big enough to demand the superheroes' attention, or the news, while Hill acted as a secret connect point between the two teams. After destroying an enemy base in the Arctic, Coulson discovered the location of Loki's Scepter, at the last Hydra cell. He sent the coordinates to Hill, informing that he also had the backup plan ready, in case they need it – the reformed first Helicarrier, also known as the Theta Protocol.

That would be the culmination of the job Captain America had given his life for, in 1945.

Coulson spoke proudly, "Time to bring in the Avengers."

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Note: Please, feel free to ask me anything and forgive any English mistake, my 1st language is Portuguese. Commentaries in Spanish are welcomed too.

xoxo Mari

References:

Movies: The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) & Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

TV show: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-2015), Season 1 & 2.

Comics: Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude – This Scepter'd Isle (2015).