Road to Infinity War - Phase 3 - Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Coming off the back of Phase 2, the one main Avenger that people were not probably crying out for a threequel for, it was Thor.
He had made a promising debut in the original film in 2011 but lost his way in The Dark World, becoming rather dour and dull.
He had more success as part of the ensemble in the Avengers films, provided some excellent moments by Whedon who knew how to use him effectively e.g. "He's of Asgard and my brother.", "He killed 90 people", "He's adopted".
What Thor Ragnarok does so well is reinvent the character of Thor and take him in new directions but also remain grounded in the history of the MCU. For example, the moment that Loki leaps up in delight when Hulk grabs Thor and tosses him around, harking back to The Avengers.
Hemsworth had proved his comedic chops with a scene-stealing turn in the Ghostbusters remake/reboot/reimagining/sequel/whatever it technically was, so it was great to see Waititi harness this superpower for the purposes of good and Hemsworth delivered.
Not only is the character different but the entire film feels worlds (or realms) away from where Thor started his journey. When the first film was announced, there was a danger it could have been a bit too Flash Gordon-y but Kenneth Branagh gave the story a Shakespearean feel by focusing on the family drama side of things.
Director Taika Waititi captures the Eighties, fun, funky space adventure vibe perfectly and delivers Marvel first out-and-out comedy. Avengers has many funny, quotable lines, Ant-Man is very funny but this is a comic adventure through and through.
As already discussed, Hemsworth delivers on his comic promise and he is backed up by Waititi's hilarious revolutionary rock Korg, Mark Ruffalo is a great straight man and comic foil to Thor and then there is the cinematic treasure that is Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster, uh, Jeff Goldblum going full Goldblum.
Similar to What We Do In The Shadows, there was a lot of improvisation on set but the final film flows beautifully and there is never a sense of there were lots of scenes left on the cutting room floor.
While the comedy is at the forefront, it would not be a Thor movie without a family squabble for the throne and after a brief reconciliation with their father Odin, Thor and Loki are faced with a psychotic sister they did not know they had played with camp, crazy relish by Cate Blanchett. *Sounds very similar to the plot of the finale of Sherlock season 4*
In terms of the continuing build to Infinity War, it cleverly retcons a moment from the earlier Thor films which featured the Infinity Gauntlet, now in Thanos's possession, by having Hela knock it over and call it a "fake". It is also hinted that Loki, picks up the Tesseract before escaping Asgard which is what leads Thanos to their ship in the post-credit sting.
One suspects that things might not work out so well for the remaining Asgardians and we may have to say goodbye to some well-loved characters but only time will tell.
Until then, we still have a Hulking great slice of Ragnarok and Roll to enjoy.

Infinity Stone counter = 5

Road to Infinity War - Phase 2 - Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor The Dark World. The darkest moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not in terms of plot or backstage drama (that would come with Ant-Man) but in terms of colour palette and reviews.
The sequel to Thor is widely regarded as the least popular film in the MCU.
Following on from the excitement of Shane Black's Iron Man 3 straying from the convention and of Phase 1 Marvel movies, this feels disappointingly formulaic.
Following Patty Jenkins' departure (she would get her own back by directing Wonder Woman four years later), Alan Taylor was hired. Best known for Game Of Thrones, he brings a workman-like quality to the production but never threatens to bring the same level of wit or inventiveness to proceedings like Joss Whedon or Shane Black
The problem lies in the villain Malekith and the Dark Elves. Underneath the make up and auto tuned voice, you wouldn't be able to tell that Malekith is played by Christopher Eccleston (something he wants to forget as well).
There is a Macguffin about planetary convergences, eternal darkness and dark matter but really this is all there to introduce the third Infinity Stone... even if it is not currently in the form of a stone.
The real story is Thor's relationships. With Jane (who is moving on with a date with Chris O'Dowd), his father Odin and incarcerated brother (adopted) Loki.
There is double and triple crossing as the battle against the Elves and for the throne reaches its climax in... Greenwich, London of all places. I think this was during the two year period where every US blockbuster was contractually obligated to destroy Central London (G.I. Joe - Retaliation, Fast & Furious 6, London Has Fallen, Independence Day Resurgence, etc, etc).
Now there are continuity errors and goofs in every film. It's part and parcel of film making that things will go wrong.
This leads us to the single moment in the MCU that will wind up every Londoner or person from the UK who is familiar with the London Underground where Thor gets on a tube train at Charing Cross and asks how far to Greenwich and a woman tells him two stops. TWO STOPS! More like "two stops to Waterloo then change for the Jubilee line and then take it six stops to North Greenwich and walk to the Naval College mate"!
Still, it was nice to see Kat Dennings back as Darcy just for the moment she can shout "Meow Meow" at Mjolnir as the hammer goes flying by.

Infinity Stone counter = 3 (Reality Stone [Aether], Space Stone, Mind Stone)

Road to Infinity War - Phase 1 - Thor (2011)

Again, it seems hard to believe but at the time, Thor presented a huge gamble for Marvel Studios. It introduced Asgard, Norse Gods, Space, Alien races and monsters. It could have gone so horribly wrong. Yet this was the studio that would go on to give us a film starring a talking raccoon and a tree monster!
Thankfully for Marvel, under the guidance of director Kenneth Branagh, Thor was the best movie since Iron Man.
It works because Branagh does not treat it as a Flash Gordon-esque adventure (that would have to wait till Ragnarok) but as a Shakespearean tragedy with the focus on a family feud between a King and two squabbling Princes both with an eye on the throne.
It succeeds thanks to having British heavyweights like Anthony Hopkins spitting out lines like "You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy" and "But you're NOT King. Not yet". Plus it introduced the majority of the world to Tom Hiddleston as Marvel's number one villain you love to hate, Loki.
Chris Hemsworth was also a relative unknown at this point. Really only appearing in the first ten minutes of the Star Trek reboot. But he perfectly captures the fish out of water element of his character as the selfish, boorish warrior who is stripped of his power and forced to learn a lesson on earth... and find love along the way.
Thor continues the development of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Coulson is firmly established as Fury's number two, running the whole show in New Mexico and even ordering around Clint Barton aka Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).
It remains one of the strongest entries in Phase 1 but contains the single biggest mistake in the history of the MCU. One that was thankfully rectified come The Avengers and that was the decision to dye Hemsworth's eyebrows blonde!

Infinity Stone Counter = 1 (Brief glimpse of the Tesseract aka the Space Stone in the post credit sting)