My parents are awesome people. They’re loving and kind, generous and supportive. To say I owe everything to them is, well, to tell the truth.
Near as I can tell, their only deficiency—and it’s a Damn Small Thing against the priceless joys and insights they’ve given me over a lifetime—is that they know next to nothing of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). I honestly think they’d quite enjoy the combination of action and humor that the movies feature, and I’d love to share it with them. In particular, I want them to experience the absolute magnificence that is the culmination of Avengers: Endgame.
Trouble is, the MCU is huge. And while my parents could jump straight to Endgame—the film at least tries to catch people up—they’d miss out on the callbacks and the characterizations and … well, just look at the extraordinary films leading up to Endgame, listed here in the order in which they appear in the MCU timeline (correct me if I’m wrong):
- Captain America: The First Avenger (set in WW2)
- Captain Marvel (set in 1995)
- The Incredible Hulk (pre-Avengers)
- Iron Man (set in 2010)
- Iron Man 2 (post-Iron Man, pre-Avengers)
- Thor (post-Iron Man 2)
- The Avengers (set in 2012)
- Iron Man 3 (6 months after Avengers)
- Thor: Dark World (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)
- Captain America: Winter Soldier (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (set in 2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (post-Guardians)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (set in 2015)
- Ant-Man (set in 2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (post-Civil War, pre-Infinity War)
- Doctor Strange (set in 2016)
- Black Panther (set in 2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)
- Ant-Man and The Wasp (pre-Infinity War)
- Avengers: Infinity War (set in 2017)
- Avengers: Endgame (post-Infinity War)
Amazing, right? Trouble is, as awesome as my parents are, I can’t reasonably ask them to watch all of these films to get to the end. I mean, if they get into them and love them, then great! Go for it! Otherwise, it’s just too much.
So I thought I’d take a stab at cutting the necessities in half. That is, I want to create a list of the Marvel films that are necessary not just to get to Avengers: Endgame, but to truly get it when you get there.
Since there are 20 (!) films before the dual package of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, I needed to cut things down to 10.
Call it the Marvel Minimum.
Please understand: because the MCU has had such a remarkable run of quality filmmaking (a testament to Kevin Feige’s guidance, no doubt), making a shorter list of movies inevitably means leaving some really amazing ones out—including, as you’ll see, one of my personal favorites.
So, to be clear, what follows isn’t a list of the “best” MCU movies; it’s a list of the ones that need to be seen for the Endgame arc. For each movie, I either explain why I’m suggesting it’s necessary or provide the essentials of what’s missed by skipping it.
If you think even more of the MCU can be skipped and summarized, I’d be happy to hear how and why in the comments after the article. The shorter the list I can give my folks, the better!
So here goes:
Watch: Captain America: The First Avenger
So much is in here that’s vital. We have the superb character of Steve Rogers, his relationship with Peggy Carter, the introduction of Red Skull and Hydra, and the first glimpse of the Tesseract.
***
Skip: Captain Marvel
And so the first axe falls. My thinking is that Iron Man and Avengers do a great job of introducing Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and S.H.I.E.L.D. So what we really need to summarize out of this is that Captain Marvel exists.
SUMMARY: Carol Danvers is an Air Force pilot who absorbed part of the power of the Tesseract. As a result she’s become a kind of Superman in space. She’s a badass, but she has a lot of universe to help protect and thus can’t be around much on Earth. As a result she gives Nick Fury a pager-on-steroids to call her if needed.
***
Watch: Iron Man
Tony Stark drives so much of the MCU that it would be damn hard to skip his initial entry into the mix.
***
Skip: Iron Man 2
Another cut. The Avengers gives us all the explanation we need for Stark and Pepper Potts getting together, as well as a sense of what Black Widow can do. That leaves Rhodey.
SUMMARY: Stark almost burns out on his ego, but he’s saved in part by having his friend James Rhodes donning a prototype Iron Man suit, thus becoming an Avenger called War Machine.
***
Skip: The Incredible Hulk
And another cut thanks to Avengers, which gives us all the explanation we need for Bruce Banner/Hulk.
SUMMARY: Gamma rays make Hulk. Hulk smash.
***
Watch: Thor
I don’t think this is a particularly strong film, but I also can’t see Avengers being the first time we meet Thor and Loki. Still, if I needed to cut another film this might be it.
***
Watch: The Avengers
So very essential, as it brings the team together and shows how the big picture pay-offs work in the MCU.
***
Skip: Iron Man 3
Easy to skip this one, I think. I can’t even think that there’s a lot that needs to be explained.
SUMMARY: Marvel is good at making money.
***
Skip: Thor: Dark World
Another easy one to skip.
SUMMARY: Thor’s girlfriend accidentally awakens one of the Infinity Stones, resulting in a calamitous fight with Dark Elves. Thor’s mother is killed, and Loki appears to sacrifice himself to help save the day. In the end, the Infinity Stone is given to a being called the Collector.
***
Watch: Captain America: Winter Soldier
One of my favorites, but I nevertheless considered skipping it. In the end, though, I think we really need the full-film introductions to Falcon and Bucky, as well as the elevator scene that pays off so well later on.
***
Watch: Guardians of the Galaxy
There’s really no way to introduce this gang other than watching the movie. Plus, we get introduced to the Power Stone and the ominously looming Thanos.
***
Skip: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Fun film, but all we really need to do is explain who Mantis is, that Peter Quill and Gamora got together, and that Gamora and her sister got to be friends.
SUMMARY: Quill learns that his father is a god-like creature called a Celestial, who tempts him with great powers. Nevertheless, with the help of his Guardian friends and his father’s empathic servant named Mantis, Quill abandons these great powers in order to remain human.
***
Watch: Avengers: Age of Ultron
I initially figured this for a skip, but I don’t think we can short-hand Scarlet Witch, the creation of Vision, the scene with Thor’s hammer, Sokovia, and all the rest.
***
Skip: Ant-Man
Civil War gives us all the explanation we need for Ant-man.
SUMMARY: Scott Lang is a thief who ends up being hired by Hank Pym, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist who figured out how to use Pym Particles to change the size of people. Lang takes up Pym’s role as the size-shifting Ant-Man.
***
Watch: Captain America: Civil War
Great introductions to Ant-Man and Spider-Man, Black Panther, and everything else that follows from the Sokovia Accords.
***
Skip: Spider-Man: Homecoming
I adore this movie, and not just because I was once on the New Mexico State Champion Academic Decathlon team. That said, in terms of the main MCU arc, all we really need to know is that Stark is Peter’s mentor and hooks him up with some cool Spidey gadgetry.
SUMMARY: Tony Stark recruits high school student Peter Parker, the Spider-Man, to become an Avenger-in-training. He gives Peter advanced technology for his suit and mentors him, ultimately becoming the father figure Peter never had.
***
Watch: Doctor Strange
A lot of folks seem not to like this film, but I’m quite fond of it. Regardless, I think trying to pithily explain Strange, the Ancient One, and the Time Stone would be a nightmare.
***
Skip: Black Panther
If there’s one film I’m skipping that I desperately want to push back in, it’s this one. I love love love this movie. That said, I’m trying to get as short a list as I can. And Avengers: Infinity War does a pretty great job of explaining Wakanda and the magnificent T’Challa (RIP, Chadwick Boseman).
SUMMARY: T’Challa, the Black Panther, overcomes the sins of his family’s past and saves Wakanda: a futuristic African city and society, built on Vibranium, that has kept its existence secret from the rest of the world.
***
Watch: Thor: Ragnarok
This is my favorite MCU movie, but I still almost cut it. That said, it introduces Korg, Valkyrie, Miek, a new Thor/Loki dynamic, and Asgard’s erasure. That’s a tough lot to summarize.
***
Skip: Ant-Man and The Wasp
Really just need to explain the existence of the Wasp and then watch the post-credits scene.
SUMMARY: Scott Lang is joined in his efforts by Pym’s daughter, Hope. Her suit has similar powers to Lang’s, except adding the ability to fly. She is called the Wasp. At the end, Scott shrinks into the strange Quantum Realm using a machine that Pym has hidden in an old van; while he’s there, the rest of the team disappears, leaving Lang trapped.
***
Watch: Avengers: Infinity War
Getting to this point has been the point!
***
Watch: Avengers: Endgame
Because that’s America’s ass.
***
So that’s the plan I’ve got for my folks: The Marvel Minimum. Is there anything I missed? Something more or less that should be cut? Might we manage a more minimal Marvel Minimum while maximizing the movie-makers’ magnificence?
Let me know in the comments!
Michael Livingston is a professor of medieval culture at The Citadel and a two-time winner of the prestigious Distinguished Book Award from the international Society for Military History (in 2017 and 2020). He’s the author of the recent fantasy novel Seaborn (Audible 2020) and a forthcoming popular history of the Valhalla period, Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England (Osprey 2021).
I would skip Age of Ultron too, Civil War introduces Wanda far better than Ultron does. And all the Ultron stuff and Tony being an ass is covered in Civil War too. Ultron doesn’t add much to the mythos on its own, especially since it is more a case of it being a collection of Joss Whedon’s most irritating cinematic habits than a functional movie in and of itself. Even Hulk being offworld is explained better by the recap in Ragnarok. In fact, I’d say Hulk being missing without explanation in Civil War actually works better in making Ross less of an even bigger ass than Tony without Ultron.
One thing we might also consider: what pop cultural interest of our parents are we willing to share with them? Something current or some old black and white movie they enjoy? It’s a two-way street.
I’d suggest not cutting The Dark World. Although the film is balls by the standards of the rest of the MCU, the flashback to its timeframe in Endgame I think makes including it more important.
I think you can also cut Civil War and have Black Panther in its place, as the most important thing it does is introduce Black Panther/Wakanda, and Black Panther obviously does a much better job of that. Given the ending of both Infinity War and Endgame, establishing Wakanda and its huge army and technological might in more depth is more desirable.
The best thing Civil War does is introducing both Black Panther and Spider-Man in the same film though, which is an economical bit of storytelling, but the actual main plot itself is irrelevant to the later movies.
kayom and Werthead: I don’t think you can skip Age of Ultron or Civil War if your object is to hit the through-line high points. Too much of what happens in Infinity War and Endgame is informed by the events of those two movies. In particular, the fracturing of the Avengers at the top of Infinity War is because of what happens in Ultron and CW.
Having said that, I agree with Werthead about leaving in The Dark World because a) it’s important to Endgame and b) it’s the movie that introduces the concept of the infinity stones and establishes that the Tesseract and Loki’s sceptre are also two of them. That’s kind of important…..
Having said that, I really really hate the idea of any MCU watch-through that doesn’t include either Captain Marvel or Black Panther, though I understand the reasons for doing so…….
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I liked the Captain Marvel movie plenty on its own, but I’m still miffed they gave her a movie before Black Widow when, as you point out, her movie isn’t even really all that necessary for Endgame (I watched the two as a doubleheader, which really made it obvious).
Before Infinity War, I said Civil War, Guardians of the Galaxy 1, and Thor 3 were the three most important movies to watch before Infinity War, and I felt the same way after Infinity War. For Endgame, obviously you need to add Infinity War, but it was surprising how important other MCU movies were to Endgame.
I think it’s sad to skip Iron Man 3 because that’s the one that really sets up Tony’s PTSD and trauma that are the driving force behind his decisions going forward. It’s what splits the avengers up and what he has to overcome to really commit to joining the fight again on his own terms.
Civil War uses Wakanada and Tch’alla far better than BP does, it is far more essential. BP, while important in social terms as the first major African focused superhero, is a pretty dull movie on its own terms. If the goal is get parents to enjoy the MCU and get them up to speed for Endgame without having to go through the entire canon, then it is eminently skippable. It is one for completists and social historians, rather than just for casual viewers.
Ultron’s events are recapped better in other movies too. It might introduce concepts, but it doesn’t use them well enough to be good for casual recapping. Civil War picks them up, reintroduces, and uses them far better. Just because concepts are introduced in one movie doesn’t render that movie essential if others pick up the baton better. Ultron might be essential to Wandavision though.
I just went through this with my parents! They are mid 70’s and when Endgame came out my mom got a case of FOMO about it. She asked me for all my blu rays and I plopped all 20+ movies down on their kitchen table. Over the course of several months about a year ago, they tore through every single one of them in release order. They loved them and are now caught up with all of the rest of us for the new Disney+ series and movies that are coming…
Different approach- have them pick a single character that interests them and follow their arc through Endgame, and then double back for anyone else who catches their interest along the way.
So for Tony, probably the one you need the most films for, that would be Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Avengers, Iron Man 3, Age of Ultron, Civil War, Spider-man Homecoming (optional, depends how bad you want them to feel when the snap happens) Infinity War, and Endgame.
Thor and Cap could each stick to their own films plus the Avengers for seven movies apiece.
Black Panther would be Civil War, Black Panther, Infinity War, and Endgame.
If they want to follow the Hulk, tell them to pick again because his storyline tends to advance offscreen with relatively little explanation.
Ah yes, let’s by all means skip the only two films in the entire MCU with lead characters who aren’t white men.
Essentials: Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Thor, Avengers, Winter Soldier, Guardians, Ultron, Civil War, Black Panther, Infinity War, Endgame
Thankfully my mom is like me and a bit of a completist so when I offered to do a list like this for her she told me she wanted to watch ALL of them, lol. I did create a summary initially that at least summarized/defined important concepts and served as a kind of character sheet so she could follow along.
But from an MCU timeline/throughline perspective this is actually pretty similar to my list (I’d probably actually omit all the solo phase I movies except Iron Man and maybe add Black Panther instead). The funny thing is a lot of my favorite movies in the MCU are the ones that aren’t actually part of the throughline! (I don’t actually enjoy Winter Soldier or Civil War that much – they just feel like a really long slog). I find that I enjoy the movies that are the little side plots and play around a bit with genres other than ‘action sci fi’.
Ugh I disagree with a lot of your list (explanations below). But thank you for this post. It was very enjoyable (and something I consider myself – how to introduce people to the MCU when they haven’t seen any of it?)
Captain America: The First Avenger (set in WW2) – SKIP – Cap gets a nice summary intro during the Avengers while he’s punching the heavy bag, and the Tesseract is described plenty in that film as well.
Captain Marvel (set in 1995) – WATCH (but not first – watch this between Infinity War and Endgame, like how it was released) – If you don’t watch this, when she shows up in Endgame (rescuing Tony, popping off about being what they need to beat Thanos, etc.) you’ll get quizzical looks from people like “Who is this person?” Honestly I kinda wish they had left Captain Marvel out (the part she plays in Endgame could be removed pretty easily) but they didn’t, so I feel like this one needs to be viewed for Endgame to make sense.
The Incredible Hulk (pre-Avengers) – SKIP (And if you do watch, it should be after Iron Man – the events of this movie, Iron Man 2 and Thor all take place during the same week.)
Iron Man (set in 2010) – WATCH – This is where it all started and we need to get background on Tony that the Avengers doesn’t provide.
Iron Man 2 (post-Iron Man, pre-Avengers) – SKIP
Thor (post-Iron Man 2) – SKIP – Out of any of my SKIPs, this one is probably the trickiest. But this film doesn’t set up the MCU very much, only Loki and Thor, really. And they both get a pseudo-introduction in the Avengers.
The Avengers (set in 2012) – WATCH obvs.
Iron Man 3 (6 months after Avengers) – SKIP
Thor: Dark World (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron) – SKIP (though it does debut one of the Infinity Stones, the Endgame scene with the time-heist planning gives you enough info.
Captain America: Winter Soldier (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron) – Tough one. This is my favorite MCU movie, but does it introduce anyone we really NEED introductions for? Bucky and Falcon? Meh, they don’t play huge parts in either Infinity War or Endgame. Tentative SKIP and if I get to the end and have a slot open, it goes to this.
Guardians of the Galaxy (set in 2014) – WATCH – The Guardians play too big a role to skip their intro. Plus it introduces the Power Stone.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (post-Guardians) – SKIP
Avengers: Age of Ultron (set in 2015) – WATCH – shows that Loki’s scepter had the Mind Stone, introduces Wanda and Vision, provides a lot of character development for the original Avengers – without which, some of their behavior in IW and Endgame will seem weird.
Ant-Man (set in 2015) – SKIP
Captain America: Civil War (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War) – WATCH – Too much character building in this one too. Plus the introduction of Spider-man and Black Panther. Plus you can use this to get the characterization of Bucky and Falcon if you skip Winter Soldier.
Spider-Man: Homecoming (post-Civil War, pre-Infinity War) – SKIP
Doctor Strange (set in 2016) – WATCH – the big climactic finale in Endgame will make NO sense without this movie. “Who are all these people that are just teleporting here? How are there so many of those portal things showing up?”
Black Panther (set in 2017) – WATCH – I feel like you need this movie to set up the big Wakanda showdown in Infinity War (and to explain the “good guy faceless army” during the Endgame climax).
Thor: Ragnarok (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War) – Argh this is a tough one, but SKIP. While this sets up the beginning of Infinity War (why Thor and Hulk are on a spaceship being attacked by Thanos) I don’t feel like you HAVE to have it. That scene does a decent job of expositing what’s going on.
Ant-Man and The Wasp (pre-Infinity War) – SKIP (But watch the post-credit scene if you can break the rule a little bit there.)
Avengers: Infinity War (set in 2017) – WATCH
Avengers: Endgame (post-Infinity War) – WATCH
Your MCU timeline is a bit off. There’s a news broadcast right at the beginning of Black Panther that places King T’Chaka’s death as having happened a week before. It probably takes place mostly at the same time as Homecoming.
I am 70 and have been a Marvel fan since the 1960s, so I’d guess introducing your parents to the Marvel film franchise means your folks are like a lot of other people – not comic fans, not scifi geeks. In which case, I’d recommend starting with where you think your parents would find the most to relate to. I invited a friend to see The Avengers when it came out because even though she’s not a scifi fan or a comic nerd, Iknew she would be able to get the humour without a lot of backstory.
Don’t forget in the IM2 summary to mention that Don Cheadle replaced Terrance Howard… otherwise might will be *confused.* Otherwise I think I agree with which to watch/skip, but hard disagree on watching them in chronological order vs. order of release. Latter is better IMO.
Alternative suggestion: Don’t introduce the MCU to your parents. Let it die. There’s nothing worth saving there; what little goodwill Black Panther or Thor 3 might earn will be squandered the second they want to reset character growth for the sake of maintaining franchise continuity. The best thing we could do would be to end the MCU, and break Disney up.
Thinking about it from the perspective of getting the most payoff from Endgame, I think you should probably skip Iron Man and watch Iron Man 2 if you only have time for one of them.
A lot of what you get from Iron Man, you do get elsewhere, to a degree, but Iron Man 2 is where I think you get the best look at Tony’s relationship with his father.
I think if you’re going to just go with stories essential to the main story arc – which is the Infinity Stones & Thanos, then that trims the list quite a bit really. Some fantastic movies get left out in that equation – including Black Panther, Ragnarok & Winter Soldier. In my mind, you’d be left with the list below because you’d want to include the films where each Infinity Stone is introduced. I realize and agree that Dark World isn’t the best MCU movie but it has
Captain America: The First Avenger(set in WW2)
Iron Man(set in 2010)
Thor(post-Iron Man 2)(introduces Loki & Thor)
The Avengers(set in 2012)
Thor: Dark World(post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)(Aether, the second Infinity Stone)
Guardians of the Galaxy(set in 2014)(Power Infinity Stone)
Avengers: Age of Ultron(set in 2015)(Mind Infinity Stone)
Captain America: Civil War(post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)
Doctor Strange(set in 2016)(Time Infinity Stone)
Avengers: Infinity War(set in 2017)(Soul Infinity Stone)
Avengers: Endgame(post-Infinity War)
BUT, and it’s a big but, all the great ones not mentioned in my list – Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Ragnarok, Homecoming and Far From Home (which you neglected to mention) are all still watchable as they are pretty much complete stories in themselves.
If you wait a while, you might be able to use the Marvel Studios Legends series on D+ to get them some character arcs they need. The series has done a good job with Wanda and Vision, so far.
If you just say “Skip: Endgame” then you can show your parents only the best MCU movies and, as a bonus, automatically avoid showing them the worst.
Captain Marvel is not in the same timeline as any of the other Marvel movies. Using some of the same actors caused confusion in that, but the continuities are incompatible.
Also, it’s one of the best Marvel movies and shouldn’t be skipped.
You’re right to skip the post Avengers Thor movies. They’re all completely terrible. Thor 2 is the worst movie in human history.
Here’s what to watch: Iron Man, Captain America 1&2, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange (be careful to avoid the post-credits scene which is vile), and maybe Avengers. The others should be wiped off the face of the earth.
In other words, skip all origins/solo entries other than the Main Trio and the cosmic stuff, and then only watch the crossovers? This is what always turned me off superhero comics. No, I echo @14 Robyn’s suggestion: find them an entry point that aligns with stuff they already like. They’ll get a sense of the overall tone of the franchise and if they like it, they can expand from there.
Lots of people have managed to enjoy Infinity War/Endgame without understanding every detail and plot point. I’m not saying they should go in completely blind, I don’t think a thorough crash-course in the Infinity Stones plot is necessary.
Thanks for this! I theoretically enjoy superhero films and have seen a bunch of those more generally, but am so far behind on the MCU viewing that I’ve managed to see none of these yet. I’ve been trying to scour Wikipedia to figure out where to jump in and what it adds up to. This is fantastically helpful.
I pretty much entirely agree with this list as the optimal films to watch to gain the maximum comprehension of Endgame in the minimum time.
That said, I’m pretty sure after watching two or three the list becomes academic, people are either going to enjoy them enough to watch them all, or ditch them in their entirety.
Just show ’em the first Iron Man, see if they like it, and go from there.
Personally, I could only make it to about Age of Ughtron before bailing out on the series, but it doesn’t sound like I missed much in the end. If I wanted to watch people in fancy costumes fighting over jewelry, I would watch a bunch of old Dynasty episodes. At least that had Joan Collins.
I’m one of those oldies, got my son hooked on X-Men back in the 1990s but didn’t go much beyond reading the comics. He’s the film buff, the Marvel fan, and recommends movies that he thinks I’d like. I enjoyed several of the X-Men movies, loved Guardians and enjoyed Guardians 2, but the rest of the Marvel movies I’ve tried to watch confused me so much I got bored and quit. I hated Infinity War and had to be persuaded to watch Endgame.
From the perspective of the parents, I would suggest you introduce a movie that someone can enjoy without requiring prerequisites.
@@@@@10
Blame the writers for putting them in easily skippable, unimportant to the ongoing story, movies then? Yeah, there should be more female leads, and more non white leads, and LGBT leads, and more differently abled leads too. Blame the writers for it, not the person trying to streamline the main story into a handful of essential movies.
Since my mother is the one who gave me her old “Fantastic Four”, “Avengers”, and “X-men” comics in 1983 and was the one driving me to the comic shop to purchase “Thanos Quest” and the comics which followed upon their release, I think I am good.
However, it is a nice reminder of what key elements of character development and foreshadowing the first 19 films can be reduced to.
The problem with skipping Homecoming is that while Spidey is kind of not important in some ways, the relationship between him and Tony makes for some of the best emotional beats in both Infinity War and Endgame. But maybe I’m just saying that as those are the bits that made me cry.
You need to start with straight up skipping several of the “origin story” movies. No Captain America: The First Avenger. No Iron Man. No Captain Marvel. No Incredible Hulk. No Ant Man. No Thor. It’s tough, but you get to know these characters very well through callbacks in the later movies.
Only two of the origin stories are vital. Dr. Strange (we have been controlling/utilizing infinity stones for a long time) and Black Panther (Wakanda gives us half a chance of defeating a non-earthly menace.)
Quibble with the timeline, with the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and The Wasp, doesn’t that put it in-between Infinity War and Endgame? Great article, with lots of things to think about in terms of plot and character development.
For what it is worth, here’s my 10-ish, though I prefer to watch in release order too…:
Captain America: The First Avenger (SKIP)
Captain Marvel (WATCH)
The Incredible Hulk (SKIP)
Iron Man (SKIP)
Iron Man 2 (SKIP)
Thor (SKIP)
The Avengers (WATCH)
Iron Man 3 (SKIP)
Thor: Dark World (SKIP)
Captain America: Winter Soldier (SKIP)
Guardians of the Galaxy (WATCH)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (SKIP)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (WATCH- if you have to)
Ant-Man (SKIP)
Captain America: Civil War (WATCH)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (SKIP)
Doctor Strange (WATCH)
Black Panther (WATCH)
Thor: Ragnarok (WATCH)
Avengers: Infinity War (WATCH)
Ant-Man and The Wasp (WATCH)
Avengers: Endgame (WATCH)
I see good arguments for what to watch and what not to. We actually did this with my daughters and (other than skipping some scenes we thought too intense) only skipped IM3, and both Ant-Mans (although watched the end credit of Wasp AFTER Infinity War). I think. Anyway, my main point is that if you do watch Captain Marvel, you can’t watch it before Avengers. Otherwise, you will be wondering why Fury doesn’t call her for help in that movie. That’s my 2 cents anyway.
I don’t love skipping Captain Marvel and Black Panther. Pure story isn’t the only reason to watch a movie; cultural impact, emotion, and representation matter too.
Personally, watching a woman superhero with a beautiful journey and kick-ass powers meant more to me than any amount of evil societies and alien invasions.
I am in my 60s and I was a comics geek in the Silver Age. My son is in his 20s and is a movie, comics, and MCU geek.
I argue with him all the time about the MCU.
For me, the idea of alternate timelines and universes is anathema as is the idea of a film that brings together every franchise character.
To achieve the “final” battle, ghe MCU became too convoluted.
I’d recommend only seeing the films that are self contained like Guardians of the Galaxy or Iron Man.
I’d also recommend reading the original comic books.
Here is this crazy idea: Why not just watch the movies that are fun? those that you think that your parents might actually like.
Enjoy.
In my case, this is a list I’d be building not so much for my parents as for friends outside the SF/F genre sandbox – which colors my approach somewhat, as I might very well give slightly different lists to different people based on what I knew of their other literary or cinematic preferences. As a broad-spectrum list, though, my “do watch” picks run broadly this way:
**Captain America: The First Avenger (historical/period piece)
Iron Man
**Thor (Shakespearean, costume drama)
The Avengers
**Captain America: Winter Soldier (spy thriller)
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
**Ant-Man (caper/heist movie)
**Captain America: Civil War (political intrigue, relationship drama)
Doctor Strange
**Black Panther (political intrigue, family drama)
Now that’s eleven movies — but the way I’d get to ten is by dropping whichever of the titles I’ve asterisked above – and assigned a genre tag – is farthest outside a given candidate’s range of interests.That allows for a degree of flexibility that I think is important; also, there are situations where I might switch in Spider-Man: Homecoming for Ant-Man, or Captain Marvel for one of the Captain America group. One of my explicit intentions here involves showcasing just how broad the scope of the storytelling is in the larger MCU franchise – I don’t necessarily expect everyone to like all the movies equally, but I do anticipate that this way, I will end up showing most folks at least a couple of movies that they’ll enjoy on their individual merits.
@34 “For me, the idea of alternate timelines and universes is anathema as is the idea of a film that brings together every franchise character.”
Unless you stopped reading Marvel & DC comics somewhere in the mid-80s, you would have run into alternate timelines, universes, and massive crossover events.
Hmm. I highly disagree with skipping Black Panther, but to be honest, I probably disagree with this entire premise. I think it makes a lot more sense to start with the strong movies (that you don’t need to explain) and then seeing what characters the person you’re introducing likes. I mean, you can always explain some plot points or characters to someone, but if they lose interest trying to force themselves through Age of Ultron or Civil War, what’s the point? Because both of those are kind of vital to some of the scenes in Infinity War & Endgame, but are they really important overall? Just give a quick recap of who Vision and Scarlet Witch are, why Tony and Steve aren’t talking, etc.
So, to begin, the origin stories: Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. The Avengers (2012) is basically an origin story too, but for the team, so you can watch all of those in release order. Watching Civil War before Black Panther is a bonus but unnecessary, and for Captain Marvel, you basically just need to know Fury, so you can jump into those right after The Avengers (2012).
Anyone who mentions skipping Iron Man is just plain wrong. The first Thor and Captain America movies did not do well, but Iron Man kickstarted the MCU for a reason. It and Black Panther feel like the quintessential superhero origin movies that do their job the best, so I also think those chronological watch orders that start with Captain America: TFA and Captain Marvel are a mistake. Personally I think Captain America: TFA is the most skippable in terms of quality, but I get why it’s important and adds context to Steve’s character. But it’s so dull. And jumping ahead in time, I also think Ant-Man and Dr. Strange are skippable. You get the gist of Dr. Strange just from Infinity War.
I also think it’s funny that you dismiss Iron Man 3 as “Marvel likes to make money”, but this whole list hinges on watching and understanding Infinity War/Endgame. Nothing says making money like these huge ensemble films with mediocre character arcs that you “need” to watch 10+ movies to understand. Iron Man 3 is the only movie to tackle a superhero having PTSD and although it’s not important plot-wise, it ties into The Avengers movie nicely.
Hmm, I think you can skip Doctor Strange, he isn’t really that complicated, a little exposition would suffice for what he is in the Avengers movies I’d think.
I’d definitely swap in Black Panther, pretty critical to a lot of the actual Endgame stuff.
Also might say you could skip Thor, if you are trying to make the case that these are good movies.
I think Civil War actually does more for the Avengers than Thor … and a definite boo to anybody saying to skip any of the actual Avengers movies, bad call.
@37 – You are right. After the Silver Age of comics, which ended before the 80s, I gave up on comics and switched to books. These days I prefer movies that are fun, especially snarky fun (like Guardians of the Galaxy)
I’m in agreement with the suggestion that the best course is to start with Iron Man and see what happens. If someone bounces off it, they’re not likely to enjoy much of the rest of the MCU, given both how much Iron Man is the holotype for the house style and how central the character is to everything else that follows.
My list:
Iron Man
Avengers
Winter Soldier
Avengers 2
Guardians of the Galaxy
Black Panther
Doctor Strange
Ragnarok
Infinity War
Endgame
I would add Black Panther back in. I think it really helps to watch Infinity War if you have already seen Shuri and understand her tech genius, as well as the Dora Milaje and their role in the kingdom. I’d skip Civil War instead.
@39: Agreed. He’s a wizard with a necklace that somebody from space came to steal. Job done.
I think you can skip any of them and still understand enough. Well, Endgame without Infinity War would probably be a bit strange. But Infinity War gives the viewer at least as much context for what’s going on as Star Wars did when it first hit the screen. Viewers will have a different experience based on what else they have seen, and in what order; but there are lots of ways in and there aren’t any rules.
Moreover, why is the goal to watch Endgame as quickly as possible? OP’s parents are either going to enjoy the MCU or not. If they like one film, they’ll pick and choose which films to watch based on their own preferences. If they don’t, forcing themselves to watch ten films seems just as pointless as forcing themselves to watch twenty.
Personally, I don’t generally spend much energy trying to convince other people to watch the media that I enjoy (unless they are asking for recommendations). But, if I wanted to, I’d probably take an approach similar to @36’s: here are the kinds of stories that are in the MCU; which ones sound appealing? Start there.
#30 Your comment that Wakanda’s military & technological might gave Earth a chance caused me to wonder: Where is Wakanda’s Air Force?
I kind of think that the best starting point is probably the first Avengers movie. If they don’t like that there’s probably no point in trying to head to Endgame (although they might still like some of the relative stand-alones).
But if we’re picking 10 movies I’m thinking two broad categories:
1) Five “main story line” movies: Avengers, Age of Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame.
2) Five “relative stand-alones”: Ironman 3, Ragnorak, Guardians 2, Captain Marvel, Black Panther.
(The first three could be swapped out for earlier entries with the same hero/group).
Aside: IMO they released Captain Marvel at the wrong point. It was always going to pale sandwiched between the epics of Infinity War and Endgame. Instead it should’ve been released before Infinity War.
As it is, it feels like they pulled her out of their butt to resolve Infinity War – which had many people going “OMG, Marvel are going to have her swoop in and singehandedly beat Thanos and make all the other heroes look like jokes”. Which we now know was wrong, but it was an understandable and predictable reaction at the time.
Release her movie just before Infinity War and people will watch Infinity War wondering when we’ll get to see her (and probably lose track of that partway through). Then the surprise epilogue of Infinity War will be something we were looking forward to and not feel pulled out of nowhere – even though we’ll probably be surprised at where it shows up in the narrative.
Personally I’d skip the Thor movies and hold onto Black Panther & Ant-Man. Black Panther was such a big film for BIPOC’s that I think you have to hold onto it. And I just think Ant-Man is a pallet cleaner if done after Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron.
irrevenant: Hard to agree with the notion that Disney did anything wrong with the release of Captain Marvel given that the movie made over a billion dollars………………..
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Quoth C Oppenheimer: “#30 Your comment that Wakanda’s military & technological might gave Earth a chance caused me to wonder: Where is Wakanda’s Air Force?”
A point I raised on this very site on my rewatch of Infinity War (along with the inexplicable absence of the battle rhinos)……
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
I personally find it very easy to miss a lot of plot details when I’m not well-invested in a movie that someone wants to share with me. And it’s really, really difficult for insiders to have a realistic perspective on what will be easy or difficult to follow (or what plot threads they might not care about having no background on).
I would propose you start by watching Infinity War, then talk about the film together and see if there are backstories they would like to follow. Certainly mention that there’s an origin movie that takes place during World War II, as folks over a certain age may enjoy the fact that they know a whole lot more about the era than we do, having either lived during that time or the era directly after. Then, if you and your folks decide to watch several of the other films, watch them, and then watch an infinity war/endgame doubleheader.
They might then enjoy watching Wandavision as well, once they’ve seen endgame. And if they really enjoy Cap’s first film, maybe then introduce them to Agent Carter (even if it’s not your favorite).
That’s my two cents. Lots of ways to do this, but definitely let the novice watchers set the pace and direct the process.
Have fun!
@47 The Thor movies are important to the continuity and the big story, BP might be important to BIPOC but it is very skippable in terms of the ongoing story. Just because it is socially important does not mean it is narratively important.
As Simon McNeil more or less said, all of this is a fair summary of why I’ve dumped the MCU.
Too complicated, not worth the trouble.
I definitely agree. I wore myself out when Endgame was coming soon, trying to go back and watch and review all the MCU movies, in the order they came out, not chronological order. But so many were forgettable and eye-roll inducing. This list is not just the essentials but also includes most of the best ones. If you choose to watch these + Black Panther + Spiderman: Homecoming, you will get all the good ones. I hated Ant Man. I also disliked Doctor Strange though, I would not include it in this list. I feel like you can kind of get the gist of what you need to know about him from just Infinity Wars and Endgame.
@@@@@53
Or from his cameo in Thor: Ragnarok. From that you get that he is a wizard, that he can mess with space-time, that he is a high handed jerk, but also he is one of the goodies. The Doctor Strange catch up cameo seems to be designed to bring new viewers up to speed on him.
This is a list to condense as much as possible without missing too much for endgame. I believe Black panther is a great film and Captain marvel was good, but 95% of what we need to know for black panther is eluded to in the credits scene in Civil War and Captain Marvel is easier explained than the quantum realm and i have no issue skipping that for this senario.
My opinion is this Start with First avenger and Iron Man and the avengers. Based on their interest In specific characters you can add or go back (In this case Thor, then thor 2, Or Iron man 2 and 3) . I would then have guardians v1 and Winter soldier ( i think explaining shield goes away may be important). Ultron if your parents really enjoyed Avengers. Then If you get to civil war and your parents are interested i you could have as few as n the now plethora of characters then you can go back and fill in gaps or have Black panther or spiderman…etc. You may have a list of 6-8 but based on their interest turn it into 10-14.
It isn’t to say anything on movie quality, but on tailoring to their taste.
I have never watched a single MCU movie twice, so no expertise from me on which are the most important on a short list-
But that said, the miasma of MCU memories built up to the truly amazing experience of Endgame and I really wonder if I would have felt that movie magic (trite word but true for me) having skipped half of them. I saw each as it came out and was really just blown away by Endgame.
I think I lean towards other commenters who say let them try it out at some point in the timeline, and if they are enjoying it, why not let them watch them all? And if it is a chore to watch a couple from the earlier years, why speed run through them? It’s perfectly okay to not watch them (though I still get a kick out of people who come out of the wood work to say how turrible the movies are on every article here lol).
As someone who enjoys the movies but doesn’t live them, I’m good with my one view each and look forward in a popcorn eating movie experience kind of way to see what’s coming next, but I’ll pass on the blu-rays and let my vague memories of decade old (!!!) movies wash me forward into the future. But I do want the memories.
What fun! Given that I don’t know your age, I can only guess that we are similar in age to your lucky parents. In choosing the movies, a successful outcome may depend on considering which movies may be engaging for them, rather than planning a complete curriculum to ensure that they understand everything that happens in Endgame. When we watch at home, one of us is usually googling something for extra info and that is part of the fun. Maybe show them the synopses that you put together and suggest a few to choose from for a fun start, and be sure to save commentary for dessert after the movie.