With the New Year fast approaching, it’s the ideal time to look back at 2019 and look at how the MCU panned out. Disney made three $1billion movies, with Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, all leaving audiences enchanted. They also announced Phase Four, including the many, many superheroes who will be getting their own TV shows. And they also gave fans a satisfying conclusion to the stories of both Captain America and Iron Man - as well as giving Black Widow a tragic ending.

So with that in mind, we’re now going to take a look at the 10 biggest decisions Marvel made this year.

Nick Fury’s Injury Explanation

One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Nick Fury was how he lost his eye. He had previously suggested that he’d been betrayed saying, “the last time I trusted somebody, I lost an eye.” And fans had spent years pondering the exciting way it could have played out.

However, in Captain Marvel, it’s revealed that Fury lost his eye because he left Carol Danvers’ favorite cat get too close to him, where it scratched him right in the pupil. Ouch. To downplay such a mystery was a risky decision, and one fans have been divided over ever since the blockbuster’s release.

Killing Thanos Early (And Then Bringing Him Back)

There were audible gasps when Thor, in a fit of rage, severed Thanos’ head during the first 20 minutes of Avengers: Endgame. Who was going to be the big bad now? And, with the Mad Titan dead, what possible chance did they have of tracking down and then destroying the six Infinity Stones?

Nobody was expecting it, but Marvel also shocked fans by then making a younger, more bloodthirsty Thanos the antagonist of the movie. This worked well for the plot and it was fascinating seeing the two versions of Josh Brolin’s character and how differently they go about their maniacal ways.

Captain America Wields Mjolnir

Avengers: Endgame was a movie with a ton of special and memorable moments - which is why it’s sitting miles ahead at the top of the box office for the calendar year. But the best of the best has to be when Captain America wields Mjolnir to stop Thanos killing Thor during an epic confrontation at the rubble of Avengers HQ.

Just about every movie theatre on the planet heard cheers from their audience when this happened, with it also being a nice throwback to Age of Ultron, where Cap had accepted the challenge of lifting it. To have Steve Rogers using Thor’s weapon could have taken something away from the God of Thunder, but the decision paid off, and the scene is regarded as one of the best within the film’s entire three-hour long runtime.

Captain America Goes With Peggy Carter

We thought we’d said enough goodbyes in Avengers: Endgame when Captain America prepared to return the Infinity Stones, with fans still reeling from the deaths of Black Widow and Iron Man. However, it turned out the bigwigs at Disney had one last final surprise in store.

We are, of course, referring to when Cap travels back in time to reunite with Peggy Carter and ‘choose to get some of that life Tony was talking about.’ To see Chris Evans in full old-age make-up was a huge shock, but we feel it was the right call for his character. Cap’s heart always belonged to Peggy, and it’s great to know he finally got to be with the love of his life after many, many years apart.

Captain America Gives Falcon The Shield

Captain America is featuring prominently on this list - and that’s because the Russo brothers gave the iconic character the perfect farewell movie. When he returns to the modern day, as an old man, he brings his shield along. Given his close relationship with Bucky Barnes, we expected him to be the receiver.

Yet he wasn’t, with the decision made that the mantle would pass down to Sam Smith, AKA Falcon, instead. We’re backing Anthony Mackie to do the role justice, too, having spent years picking up tips from the best.

Killing Mysterio

When you hire an actor as big as Jake Gyllenhaal, you have to make the role perfect. Fortunately, the actor loved his time as Mysterio during Far From Home, with his quirky performance bringing the character of Quinten Beck to life and making us, as the audience, pine for more.

It was, therefore, surprising that the movie ended with his death. We’d have thought Marvel wanted Gylenhall to stay around, while the enjoyment he had while doing the role suggests he’d have stayed for more. However, with Mysterio dead, that looks set to be the Beck’s only MCU outing - which is a crying shame.

Fat Thor

Thor was perhaps at the best he’s ever been during the chaotic events of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. He’d managed to replace Mjolnir with Stormbreaker, seemingly had the entire sky’s lightning at his disposal, and was also the only member of the team to get remotely close to stopping Thanos’ mission to eliminate half of the universe.

And when we meet Chris Hemsworth’s character for the sequel, he’s changed considerably. Suddenly he’s fat, having spent the five-year time gap drinking and eating anything he can come across. The decision to keep Thor like this through the blockbuster also split opinion, but we think it made Avengers: Endgame all that bit more special.

Smart Hulk

The last time we’d seen Bruce Banner, he was having quite a few issues with his alter ego, the Hulk. The green monster had flatly refused to reappear after getting his butt kicked by Thanos at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, leaving Banner to make do with wearing Iron Man’s old Hulkbuster suit for the huge final showdown on Wakanda.

But, for Endgame, Marvel made the bold decision to show audiences Smart Hulk on the big screen for the first time. While the CGI was brilliant to the point of disconcerting, Mark Ruffalo’s performance was good enough to make it work. And we’re also hoping we’ve not seen the last of this version of Banner.

Bringing Back J Jonah Jameson

There had been whispers about J. Jonah Jameson popping up in Far From Home, and they eventually proved to be true, with the character returning to the big screen. However, what was even more shocking was the decision to recast J.K Simmons, who had played the role during the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy.

It just seemed like a big dream, Simmons barking out the news just like he used to during the 2000s, making us feel as if nothing has changed. And he was also able to deliver another surprise…

Spider-Man’s Identity Leak

In all of the previous Spider-Man movies, the plot has largely been the same: Peter Parker having to fight some of the biggest villains in the world all while trying to keep his identity a secret. In both Sam Raimi’s trilogy and Marc Webb’s two Amazing Spider-Man creations, Peter’s secret was safe.

But Far From Home threw a giant curveball by having J. Jonah Jameson announce Spider-Man’s true persona to the world. It means that Phase Three of the MCU ends on a sensational note, and we’re excited to see how everybody’s friendly-neighborhood webhead copes with the publicity. We’re guessing it may take some getting used to.