The Avengers
Film · 2012 · 143 minutes · Phase One
Loki steals the Tesseract and opens a portal for a Chitauri invasion of Earth. Nick Fury assembles Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye into the Avengers to stop him and defend New York City.
Follows on from
- Iron Man 2direct-sequel — Tony Stark continues directly from Iron Man 2, now recruited into the Avengers Initiative.
- The Incredible Hulkdirect-sequel — Bruce Banner is recruited into the team.
- Thordirect-sequel — Thor returns to Earth pursuing Loki and the Tesseract.
- Captain America: The First Avengerdirect-sequel — Steve Rogers, thawed out in the present day, is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Leads to
- Iron Man 3direct-sequel — Picks up Tony Stark's post-traumatic stress and altered worldview directly from the Battle of New York and his experience in the wormhole during the Chitauri invasion.
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 1direct-sequel — Coulson's death at Loki's hands and the Battle of New York set up the season's premise, and the mystery of how he was resurrected runs through it.
- Thor: The Dark Worlddirect-sequel — Set explicitly one year after the Battle of New York; Loki's imprisonment and Thor's changed standing with Asgard both follow directly from the events of The Avengers.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldierdirect-sequel — Picks up Steve Rogers' story two years after the Battle of New York, still adjusting to the modern world and working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Avengers: Age of Ultrondirect-sequel — Picks up with the Avengers as an active team recovering Loki's scepter, the object whose Mind Stone directly enables the creation of Ultron and Vision; ongoing team relationships and the group's status quo carry over directly.
- Spider-Man: Homecomingflashback · optional — The film's opening flashback shows Adrian Toomes' salvage crew working the Battle of New York cleanup, losing the contract to the newly formed Department of Damage Control, and keeping the recovered Chitauri technology that becomes the origin of the Vulture's weapons arsenal.
- Avengers: Endgamecrossover · optional — The time heist's central sequence has Cap, Tony, Hulk, and Ant-Man infiltrate Stark Tower during the Battle of New York to steal the Mind and Space Stones; Loki's escape with the Tesseract during this scene creates the alternate 2012 timeline.
- What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes? — S01E03timeline-branch · optional — Set during Nick Fury's real-timeline effort to recruit the Avengers Initiative (later depicted culminating in The Avengers) — here nearly every candidate is assassinated before the team can ever assemble, though the episode's story is self-contained without having seen that film.