True superhero comic fans know that Marvel has spent years preparing us for Avengers: Infinity War that’s coming May 4.

We’ve waited for this moment for what feels like an eternity. The war that we’ve watched our favorite heroes unknowingly prepare for. Thanos is now ready to bring his fight to Earth so he can retrieve all of the Infinity Stones that could give him enough power to not only rule all but destroy all. Everyone’s very excited, but can we just have a recap of how we got here?

Phase One:
Iron Man (2008)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The Avengers (2012)

Phase Two:
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Phase Three:
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)

As of now, we’re in phase three. It started with the split of the Avengers. In Captain America: Civil War there is a strong feud between Iron Man & Captain America. Iron Man wants vengeance for the death of his mother and father & he holds the Winter Soldier responsible, also known as Bucky, Steve Rogers’ best friend. However, Bucky was brainwashed, so technically speaking it was not his fault. So, Steve Rogers is trying to save his best friend from the past, which is crucial since everything else he’s ever known has been lost in history.

We meet Doctor Strange. Get some sequels of Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy just to witness some more character development. Then Tom Holland got his own movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, also for more character development.
So throughout these three phases we’ve run into five of the six Infinity Stones. I won’t point out where because I don’t want to spoil anything, but we have seen the Mind Stone, Space Stone, Power Stone, Reality Stone, and Time Stone. The only stone we haven’t seen is the Soul Stone. These stones have different abilities which is why Thanos is desperate to attain them.

Thanos doesn’t have much of a back story. All we really know is that he’s the father of Gamora and Nebula, two characters in Guardians of the Galaxy. He appears to be a ruthless and powerful leader of armies in the Galaxy. He’s chosen assassin’s to lead battles on Earth but seems to keep failing. In his last appearance which was mid-credit scene of 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, he declares that if he wants to accomplish attaining the stones he must do it himself. As for now, that is how we got here. In Avengers: Infinity War our favorite superheroes find their way back together with a common goal of protecting planet Earth.