Okay, so if you are one of those people who haven’t really seen any of the Marvel superhero movies like The Avengers or Iron Man, this is the perfect post for you. You are probably wondering what all of this hype is about. They are movies based on comic books; they can’t be that cool, can they? Allow me to show you why you don’t have to have memorized all of the stories in the comic books to appreciate the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
It started back in 2008. Iron Man, the first movie in the series, launched the second most successful movie franchise at the box office (and after Avengers 2 in May, they are on pace to surpass Harry Potter) of all-time. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a famous billionaire who realizes that his weapons company is funneling arms to terrorist organizations. He uses his wealth and intelligence to build an armored suit that is Iron Man. It was the first time that we were given a post-credits scene that has become synonymous with every Marvel movie. We got to see a man named Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) talk about establishing the “Avengers Initiative.” It sent Marvel fans into a tizzy and slowly everyday movie goers have started to hop on board as well.
While The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2 came out over the next two-year span, the next important move to come out was Thor in 2011. Aside from following the superhero based on the Norse God, we are introduced to two important things. The first is the Tesseract. Briefly introduced in the movie, the Tesseract, also known as the Cosmic Cube, played a huge role in the Avengers movie. It was also the first time we me the villain Loki, who would make an apperance as the main villain in The Avengers as well.
Later that summer, we were blessed with another big movie: Captain America. This was the last movie before The Avengers. We got to see how the “captain” of the Marvel superheroes entered our modern world when he lived back during World War II.
Again, you can pretty much ignore Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk but make sure to watch Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America before checking out The Avengers.
I won’t go into too much detail, but The Avengers is basically a super movie that brings together Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. The important part is the post-credit scene. The movie was pretty awesome, but this scene set the entire future of the MCU in action.
In the post-credit scene, we are introduced to Thanos (http://bit.ly/1GVubwd). He is the ultimate Marvel villain who is virtually indestructible. We get the idea that he is working behind the scenes to orchestrate something big that we will eventually see unfold.
That wraps up “Phase 1” of Marvel. There are a total of three phases; we are about to finish up the end of the second phase.
You can forget about the first Phase 2 movie: Iron Man 3. The movie is nice as a stand alone film but doesn’t really have much to do with the MCU on the long-term scale.
The only important part of Thor 2: The Dark World is the post-credit scene where we meet The Collector, who will play a big role in Phase 3 (more on that later). Again, it’s a great movie, but it doesn’t do much for Marvel as a whole.
The biggest movie of Phase 2 that isn’t Avengers 2 is Captain America: Winter Soldier. In this movie, we learn that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by the old Nazi group called Hydra. By the end of the movie, S.H.I.E.L.D. is presumably disbanded as we prepare for the onset of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Guardians of the Galaxy was a fun movie but, again, had little to do with Phase 2. It did, however, seem almost like a prequel for Phase 3. The movie has more references to The Collector and Thanos that will play pretty prominent roles in the third phase. It is not a must-see when preparing to see Age of Ultron however.
This May, Avengers 2: Age of Ultron will hit the theaters and finish Phase 2. It looks like it is going to be a little darker than some of the earlier Marvel movies. If you have some friends who are going, but you haven’t seen some of the earlier movies, I would try to avoid seeing it until you have finished the list.
As a reminder, here are all of the Marvel movies in the MCU and whether or not you should watch them:
Must See:
Iron Man (2008)
Thor (2011)
Captain America (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
Captain America 2: Winter Soldier (2014)
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (2015)
Good Movies, but Not Required:
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor 2: Dark World (2013)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show
Don’t Waste Your Time
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
and here is the schedule for Marvel’s Phase Three for those who are interested:
Ant Man (2015)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
Spider-Man (2017)
Thor: Ragnarock (2017)
Avengers: Infinity Wars Part 1 (2018)
Black Panther (2018)
Captain Marvel (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 (2019)
Inhumans (2019)
CinemaStickler 