Thor

It may seem hard to believe, but Marvel has now completed two phases of films, ending Phase Two with Ant-Man before entering Phase Three next summer with Captain America: Civil War. The new MCU kicked off back in 2008 with Iron Man and ended with the first Avengers in 2012 — which already seems so, so long ago. As we prepare for Avengers: Age of Ultron to hit Blu-ray and DVD, one fan has put together this 10-minute retrospective looking back on the films of Phase One.

In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

Tom Hiddleston is one of the most delightful stars of the MCU, delivering a Loki that is both charismatic and insidious in his mischief-making. The events at the end of Thor: The Dark World pointed to more Loki to come, but Hiddleston himself doesn’t seem so certain of his place in Marvel’s future.

For any other creator, Thor would've been enough. It's a four-year masterpiece, one that I've frequently called the single best run of superhero comics of all time thanks to its perfect blending of comic book action and the high fantasy of Norse mythology, and that's not a really difficult argument to defend. There are issues with bone-shattering larger-than-life battles, and there are issues that hit so hard emotionally that I still get a little choked up thinking about them, and there are issues that do both at the same time. Thirty years later, it still holds up as an unparalleled high point of the genre, and for any other creator, that would be enough. For Walt Simonson, born this day in 1946, it was just the tip of the iceberg.

I was skeptical about the mystery contents of this month's box when Secret Wars was announced as the inspiration. Basing a collectible delivery around an untested crossover event with little knowledge as to how the storyline would be received seemed risky. Additionally, where the films reach a massive audience globally, we all know comic books themselves top out in the hundreds of thousands in sales. Depending which sales source you believe, Secret Wars has been the most popular book for the past few months, but even still, that concept hasn't reached as wide a consumer base as Age of Ultron or Ant-Man. As the first box in Funko's Marvel Collector Corps to not be based on a film property, no one really had any idea what to expect from the Secret Wars box. To be fair, there have only been two boxes in the subscription service so far, with both having arrived at the same time as one of Marvel's cinematic escapades. There won't always be a movie to base one of these themed boxes around, but if the Secret Wars box is any indication, that won't be a problem for Funko.

You know how much we love cosplay at ComicsAlliance; we put a spotlight on it every week. Fans who create their own costumes and dress up as their favorite heroes are some of the most passionate and enthusiastic people in comics, and the level of talent and committment on display at conventions seems to get more impressive every year. If there isn't a Carol Corps cosplay meet-up or a whole dang Spider-Verse at a show, you'll probably go home disappointed. So it's great to see Marvel paying tribute to these fans with a selection of cosplay variant covers on several of its All-New All-Different launches this fall. The Marvel Cosplay variants place fans of Spider-Gwen, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Thor (both versions) and more on the covers of the books they love. Cosplay connoisseurs will see some familiar faces among the cosplayers, including Birds of Play's Amanda Lynne Shafer, cosplay legend Yaya Han, and Marvel's own in-house cosplay blogger Judy Stephens as Captain Marvel.

We already knew Lego Marvel's Avengers would have the biggest roster of any Lego game developed by TT Games to date, but we still don't know the exact character list. During Gamescom this week, TT revealed a few of these new cast members with in-game models for the first time, giving us a better idea of who and what to expect. While your standard Avengers have all but been confirmed (at least as far as the movie roster is concerned), there's a whole lot of Marvel heroes and villains that have yet to have their shot at Lego fame and glory. During San Diego Comic-Con, TT actually teased a few of these characters, including Kamala "Ms. Marvel" Khan and the Jane Foster Thor, but this is the first time we've seen Squirrel Girl and the Young Avengers' Speed. Most importantly, Ms. Marvel's Lego-fied version actually looks like Kamala Khan. After the America Chavez incident, it's good to see TT Games is actually on point with its representation of the character, and fans won't have to cry out in hopes of having Ms. Khan recolored.

Although cosplay has been present for decades within the comics, anime, and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms, social media has played an integral role in the thriving communities of costuming that exist, such as Cosplay.com and the Superhero Costuming Forum. Over the years, the cosplay community has evolved into a creative outlet for many fans to establish and showcase some impressive feats of homemade disguise, craftsmanship, and sartorial superheroics at conventions. In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent.

If you’re a huge MCU fan or you have one in your life, and you’re looking for holiday gift ideas, then Marvel’s got you covered. The studio is releasing a huge, special edition Blu-ray set containing every film from Phase Two, from Iron Man 3 to Ant-Man. Even better: the set comes with a special mystery Blu-ray disc. Hmm. What could it be?

We've covered the X-Men, and the Avengers teams. Now we're into potentially the biggest group, the Avengers solo titles, which includes some heroes getting their own ongoing books for the first time. In fact, this group is so sprawling, we've held a couple of characters who are technically Avengers for a later post. Everyone is an Avenger now. Jonathan Hickman made it unwieldy. So here are just eight of the infinite solo Avengers titles.