Obviously we loved Captain America: The Winter Soldier - because everybody in their right mind/with a penchant for eyeliner and longing looks adored The Winter Soldier - but one of the more difficult parts to get our heads around was all the fault of Marvel's genius world-building. Thanks to those interlocking bunch of franchises which culminated in all the superheroes teaming up for Avengers, we had to ask: where were the rest of those superheroes when Cap was being hunted by SHIELD/HYDRA? There was one offhanded remark about Tony Stark and Stephen Strange, and the appearance of Black Widow and Nick Fury helped place the film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but otherwise? Nada. It was a problem Thor: The Dark World had, too (well, that film had a lot of problems, but this isn't the time nor place). Iron Man 3 made allowances for the MCU with the Avengers PTSD and the cute post-credits scene with Tony and Bruce Banner - who isn't that kind of doctor - but we'd like to see the expanding Marvel universe given a little more deference than just a couple of lines and veiled references for fanboys to pick up on. Not necessarily a full-blown crossover, but something like you'd get in the comics: characters being consulted on their specialities, swinging by in the background etc. Especially considering by the time Iron Man 4 gets made (if it gets made) we'll have had the Netflix Defenders series, and it's possible Doctor Strange and Ant-Man will be out by then too.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
