Podcast Recap: "Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday" Episode 1 - A Look Back At The Avengers

Avengers: Doomsday is set to be the biggest event in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in many years. Fans are getting pumped up, and many are likely rewatching their favorite MCU movies to get ready. Even Marvel Studios is doing that with the new podcast, Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday.

Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday is a new podcast from Marvel Studios hosted by Frank Alvarez and Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani. The first episode gets a cold open with Vellani pitching some many different potential names for podcast, despite the fact the show clearly already has one. From there we get an official title card and introduction of our hosts.

They plug the release of Doomsday in December as well as the upcoming re-release of Avengers: Endgame Encore. Vellani indicates she actually hasn't seen Endgame since its theatrical run, and says she wasn't sure about doing the podcast because she hasn't revisited these films in a long time, and didn't want to taint her memories.

Alvarez says he was 15 when Iron Man came out in theaters, Vellani was all of six. She says she rewatched Iron Man many times over the years, including multiple times after being cast as Ms. Marvel as a way to connect her to the franchise.

The official topic of this episode is the original Avengers movie. Initially the hosts try to recap the movie like Luis from Ant-Man, a gimmick that doesn't last long. Probably a good thing since the recap is the bulk of the podcast itself.

The recap of Avengers opens with more than a little swooning over Tom Hiddleston's Loki, which, I mean, fair. From there they largely skip over a significant chunk of the film, only Tony's recruitment scene is mentioned. From there we go to Germany and there's an agreement among the hosts that Loki stabbing a guy in the eye is one of the grosser moments in MCU history.

There's a strong discussion about the relationship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. The pair don't really get along that well throughout The Avengers and the truth is they never really do. Threads of the conflict that we see here continue throughout the Infinity Saga. But as Vellani points out, that's part of what makes their unification in Avengers: Endgame feels so good.

From there we see the recently united Avengers fall apart as they end up fighting each other as much as they fight the attack on the Helicarrier. Iman Vellani compares Loki's plot to another that we see later in the MCU, that of Zemo in Captain America: Civil War.

When discussion of Coulson's death comes up, and his near mint collection of Captain America trading cards, Alvarez pulls out a set of Ms. Marvel trading cards, looking to get his own autographs.

Vellani calls Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Hiddleston the "strongest performances consistently throughout the MCU," making the verbal showdown between Stark and Loki a very special moment in Avengers. Vellani says that when she tried to emulate Loki's hair flipping in a couple scenes in The Marvels, the stunt coordinator had to ask her to stop.

While The Avengers is obviously a key MCU movie because of the way it brought all the Phase One characters together, the hosts point out that the ramifications of the film are also really important to the franchise, as the fact that the Battle of New York happened is a major point in several MCU movies and series.

After wrapping up the film, Iman Vallani calls Tony Stark the Most Valuable Avengers while Frank Alvarez gives that honor to Bruce Banner.

From there the pair talk about which elements from The Avengers they think will be key to Doomsday. Vellani brings up Loki's story arc, and the importance that he could play in the next film. Alvarez talks about the importance that teamwork played in the film, and that the current MCU heroes will need to go through a similar unification in order to unite to battle Doom.

The next episode of the podcast will be dedicated to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Which movies will be discussed in the other three episodes aren't mentioned, but I'd guess that we can expect Captain America: Civil War, followed by Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, as that will essentially give us the full Avengers storyline in five episodes.

Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday's first episode is something of a mixed bag. Alvarez and Vellani are fun hosts who work well together. If you're somebody who feels like they could use reminders of what happened in The Avengers, but who won't have time to rewatch it on Disney+ before Doomsday comes out, this is fairly fast and fun way to do it.

But there isn't much here for fans looking for analysis, new details, or fresh insight of the franchise. I hope future episodes do a bit more talking about the film rather than simply describing it.

Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday is available on YouTube, Disney+, as well as podcast platforms like Spotify.