Awesome Music / MCU Phase 1 and 2

aka: The Incredible Hulk 2008

Back in the early days, when Marvel didn't have the rights to Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four, Marvel had an uphill battle to prove. This doesn't mean their music are inferior to the later phases, as there are some jammin' metal tunes courtesy of AC/DC, the orchestral majesty of Alan Silvestri, and the iconic playlist of Guardians of the Galaxy, with some of these tunes becoming MCU staples.

• The Avengers
• Guardians of the Galaxy

Phase 1

• Iron Man:
  • AC/DC at the start of the movie, Black Sabbath at the end, and Ramin Djawadi (AKA, the guy who eventually composed Game of Thrones, and had done little of note up to this point) all the way in between. What's not to like?
  • It's impossible to listen to "Back In Black" without feeling like a badass. Or being reminded of how the Marvel Cinematic Universe began^note The song was the very first played in the first Iron Man movie. Or even how it gave one Robert Downey Jr. the most well-known Career Resurrection in recent memory. Riffs don't get more Epic than that. This theme was re-used in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

• Craig Armstrong's work in The Incredible Hulk movie is phenomenal. Highlights include the Main Theme, which combines an eeriness and sense of dread for the monster to come. The music for the final battle includes a reprise of the main Hulk theme.
• Iron Man 2:
  • The fantastically cheesy "Make Way For Tomorrow" theme from the Stark Expo gets cranked up to a gloriously epic eleven over the closing credits.
  • Ladies and gentlemen, John Debney's "Black Widow Kicks Ass", which has a Metal Gear Solid vibe, serves as the perfect introduction to Black Widow. And inexplicably not included in the film, "I Am Iron Man."
  • "Monaco Drive" is an all-too-brief blast of delicious Bondian swagger.
  • Highway To Hell, AC/DC's classic hard rock tune, plays during the credits.
• Patrick Doyle's Thor's ending sequence is breathtaking, combining beautiful cosmic imagery with epic music. Incidentally, this music was also used during his Theme Music Power-Up.
• Captain America: The First Avenger:
  • "Star-Spangled Man", a glorious pastiche of every WWII-era ultra-patriotic propaganda tune, courtesy of the man who wrote the soundtrack to your childhood.
  • Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain America March. It's an Alan spectacular (Menken with the song, and Silvestri with the score)! That this is the first theme for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to return in other movies is awesome in itself. It was even used to present the Stanley Cup.

Phase 2

• Iron Man 3: Brian Tyler's score replaces AC/DC's rock theme from 2.
  • The primary theme, simply titled "Iron Man 3" and subsequently rearranged into "Battle Finale" from the final battle.
  • The jovial "Can You Dig It" from the amazing Creative Closing Credits is upbeat and high tempo, it's got jazz and pizzazz, it sounds cocky and over-confident, it sounds like Robert Downey Jr.'s wild side, and most importantly, it sounds like Tony Stark's genius billionaire playboy philanthropist persona personified in song. Also, owing to it playing after Tony conquered his demons inside and outside, it's also very triumphant, especially with the brass section going all out.
  • Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", used during the company logos and flashback. Anyone who loved this song when it was first released in 1998 can easily feel the nostalgia.
  • The trailer music, "Something to Fight For" by Sencit music, is a bold and valiant theme filled with uncertainty, a symbol of Tony Stark's inner struggles.
• Thor: The Dark World:
  • Ladies and gentlemen, Marvel's Phase 2 logo, their first logo with fanfare.
  • "Into Eternity", such a rich, emotional and heartbreaking theme. plays during Frigga's funeral.
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier:
  • "Taking A Stand", Cap's new theme, sounds darker and more muted for the modern times, yet still appropriately heroic.
  • Winter Soldier's theme, a wail that makes one's hair stand on end and can quickly turn from ominous to sudden.
  • "End of the Line", an extremely sad and moving theme, plays during the film's climax where Bucky saves Steve from drowning.
• Avengers: Age of Ultron:
  • The heroic and graceful reprise of the main Avengers theme.
  • The epic and glorious track titled "Avengers Unite" that plays during the final battle.
• Ant-Man:
  • Christophe Beck's score, which — befitting a heist movie about a former criminal using old-school sci-fi tech — is much jazzier and 1960s-influenced than that of the average Marvel film, with lots of Latin brass, bongos and flute.
  • The main theme starts out really small, and then grows to be super huge and intimidating. Just like Ant-man himself.
  • The Mexicali surf rock remix, "Tales to Astonish", that plays over the credits, reminds people of Dick Dale and the Del-Tones' cover of "Miserlou" as featured in Pulp Fiction.
  • "First Mission", in which Scott not only fights, but defeats the Falcon single-handedly, is wonderfully tense, and even includes a cue from Henry Jackman's Winter Soldier theme upon Sam's arrival.
  • "I'm Ready" by the Commodores, a smooth bit of instrumental funk played over the montage of Scott and his associates mapping the heist on Pym's safe.