Every year since 2008 Marvel Studios has amazed us with new movies in its Marvel Cinematic Universe. For 10 years the studio has been hard at work creating movies that appeal to the masses but also have heart and style (at least most of them). They may not be considered works of art such as Tarantino films are but they’re their own thing and people love them. Witch 18 movies released as well as 10 tv series made, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a powerhouse that won’t be stopping any time soon.

The biggest movie in the series to date is set to release on April 25th - Avengers: Infinity War. This movie (together with next year’s untitled Avengers 4 movie that will be the 2nd part of this 2 film saga) will be the culmination of the first 10 years of MCU movies. In addition to reshaping the entire series canon it will also boast a cast of 60 characters (60 important, named characters not 60 superheroes). Even if you only see the MCU as another Hollywood cash-grab and a soulless series made only to market toys, you can’t deny the massive achievements these movies have accomplished.

With the anticipation of Avengers: Infinity War people have taken to rewatching the entire 10 years worth of MCU movies to catch up with everything that’s happened within the superhero universe. But is every movie relevant for it? The MCU fan will say “yes you f*****g r****d” before I even get to finish my sentence. But what if you’re a busy person? What if you just wanna get the gist of it to be familiar with the characters and don’t necessarily want to know every little detail of what Captain America had for lunch leading up to Infinity War? Well with these questions in mind I will be taking it upon myself to list every MCU movie in this post and explain why you should definitely watch it or if you can do without watching it for Infinity War. I will be listing every MCU movie in release order with as short as possible explanations since this post is already long af so let’s get to it.

By the way just saying this right now: you can completely ignore all of the TV series, the Netflix shows in particular are amazing but if you only care about catching up with the movies, the shows don’t matter since the events of the shows don’t impact the events of the movies in any way.

#1 Iron Man (2008)

Iron Man is the movie that started it all, simply put this one’s essential to know who the most important character Tony Stark played by the talented Robert Downey Jr. is. Tonally, it’s different to all the modern MCU movies and that’s understandable since this movie was made in 2008, however it’s still an amazing and fun ride.

This one SHOULD NOT be skipped





#2 The Incredible Hulk (2008)

—–>SKIP THIS SKIP THIS SKIP THIS SKIP THIS SKIP THIS SKIP THIS<——

This movie is irrelevant to everything in the MCU, its events are never mentioned (apart from a small 3 second reference in The Avengers) and the actor for The Hulk was replaced. It’s also not really that good of a movie.

IT. IS. IRRELEVANT.

YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY SKIP THIS.





#3 Iron Man 2 (2010)

This movie is disliked by many because it had an underused villain. It is great at times and if you like Iron Man you have to watch this one HOWEVER the events of this one aren’t really as important in the long run, it’s a somewhat contained story with the exception of S.H.I.E.L.D. (the organization) having a presence in it as well as the debut of Black Widow in the MCU

This one CAN BE skipped if you don’t wanna bother.





#4 Thor (2011)

The first Thor movie, Thor is kind of a cool character but his first 2 movies are quite boring and disliked by a lot of fans of the MCU, this movie does introduce many important characters however such as Thor himself, Loki and S.H.I.E.L.D. has a presence again, HOWEVER these same characters are also properly introduced in 2012′s The Avengers albeit without a proper origin story so you kinda have to know who they are. Well Thor is the god of thunder……and Loki’s the god of mischief……that’s basically it.

This one CAN BE skipped





#5 Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

The first Captain America movie introduces the character nicely and honestly this one is underrated by many people. People seem to think it’s bad but it’s quite good, it also takes place during ww2. If you don’t watch this one you might be confused why everyone refers to Cap as an old man, well super short version, at the end of this movie he was frozen for like 60 years and finally unfrozen in modern day 2011 so he’s missed the past 60 years of human history. Cap is one of the main characters and one of the leaders of The Avengers as a group so he’s kinda important.

This one CAN BE skipped but SHOULDN’T BE skipped in my opinion





#6 Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)

The first Avengers movie has all the heroes from the previous movies teaming up to stop Loki. This is one of the MCU’s best movies and shows the team overcoming obstacles and learning to work together with each other. Also the first appearance of the current version of The Hulk in the MCU. This movie also introduces the first of the six infinity stones - The Tesseract or The Space Stone (the infinity stones are powerful gems created before the birth of the universe and are a major plot element in Infinity War, remember them as they are important)

This one SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Watching this one is mandatory.





#7 Iron Man 3 (2013)

The third and final Iron Man movie. This is another self contained Iron Man story. As with Iron Man 2 if you’re a fan of Tony you should watch it. The events don’t really have any major impact on the MCU. A lot of people think this is the weakest Iron Man film but honestly it’s alright.

This one CAN BE skipped





#8 Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Ok this movie right here is the weakest MCU movie to date. Its plot is irrelevant and boring. HOWEVER a lot of somewhat important things happen in this movie, it shows what happens to Loki after The Avengers and what he will do going forward, it shows us another infinity Stone - The Aether or The Reaity Stone.

It’s hard to say this but THIS ONE CAN BE SKIPPED BUT SHOULDN’T BE, at least read the plot synopsis on wikipedia or something as the events in this movie are directly tied to Thor: Ragnarok and the events of that movie are tied into Infinity War.





#9 Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

The second Captain America movie. It’s one of the best movies in the MCU and goes more like a spy thriller than a superhero movie. The events of this movie do have a large impact on the future events of the MCU as well as introducing The Winter Soldier as a character.

This one SHOULD NOT be skipped.





#10 Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

The craziest movie of the MCU at the time. The first Guardians movie takes place in outer space and is a self contained origin story of the group. It introduces the Guardians as a group of people, it also introduces the cosmic side of the MCU AND on top of that it introduces another Infinity Stone - The Orb or The Power Stone.

This one SHOULD NOT I REPEAT SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED.





#11 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

The second Avengers movie sees us reunited with the squad and also a few new additions to the cast of the Avengers notably Scarlet Witch. It also introduces us to the next Infinity Stone - The Mind Stone that is placed in the forehead of Vision. It is a relatively self contained story BUT the events of this movie are highly related to future movies therefore:

This one SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED.





#12 Ant-Man (2015)

The first Ant-Man movie introduces the new hero to us. It’s a decent movie with a really self contained story. the events aren’t as important as the introduction of the character. He will appear in future movies but he’s not a major character in them.

This one CAN BE skipped if you wanna rush through it all





#13 Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The third and final Captain America movie. Often considered as Avengers 2.5 because it features basically all the Avengers in it, this is one of the most important movies in the MCU as it breaks up the characters and leaves them somewhat unprepared for Thanos’ arrival in Infinity War.

This one SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED AND IS MANDATORY.





#14 Doctor Strange (2016)

The weirdest movie in the MCU so far. It literally bends realities. Introduces the new character who will be an important part of Infinity War as well as introducing us to the 5th Infinity Stone - The Eye of Agomoto or The Time Stone.

This one CAN BE skipped but SHOULDN’T BE skipped as it introduces us to the mystical, magical side of the MCU.





#15 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

The sequel to the first Guardians movie this one is just as epic and awesome as the first one AND it has the best soundtrack in the MCU to date. It is again a relatively self contained story HOWEVER this movie is the last time we see the Guardians before the events of Infinity War so:

This one SHOULDN’T BE SKIPPED.





#16 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

The new Spider-Man movie introduces us properly to Tom Holland’s new take on a teenage Spider-Man. The character was first portrayed in Civil War but this is an entirely self contained story. The movie does feature Tony Stark as a connection to the larger MCU. It also plays like a coming of age high school movie, good fun in general.

This one CAN BE skipped but SHOULDN’T be if you care about the character of Spider-Man who will play a prominent role in Infinity War.





#17 Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

The third Thor movie and arguably the best one in the Thor sub-series. Thor: Ragnarok is basically Guardians + Thor tonally. It’s funny as f**k, has great action and features a team up between Thor and Hulk as well as introduces several new characters. The events of this movie are kind of self contained however it leads directly into Infinity War with Thor and Hulk’s character as well as Loki.

This one SHOULD NOT be skipped





#18 Black Panther (2018)

The last stop before Infinity War is Black Panther. This movie expands on the Black Panther character who was introduced in Civil War and introduces us to the secret, technologically-advanced nation of Wakanda who will play a large role in Infinity War. This movie is definitely the most important one before Infinity War as Wakanda has appeared in every single trailer for Infinity War so:

This SHOULD NOT I repeat SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED.





That’s it for now, once you’ve watched these movies or at least some of them you’re basically ready for Infinity War. If you want to go to Infinity War without watching these well of course nobody is going to try and stop you (sadly) but I guarantee you won’t understand anything that’s going on, you won’t understand anything about the characters which generally means you won’t have a fun time in the cinema. If you’re going to this movie for pure, brainless entertainment to eat popcorn and laugh with friends - well in my opinion you shouldn’t be allowed in the cinema and should be reeducated forcefully –. You could still enjoy the movie since it will have great action complimented by Marvel’s amazing CGI.

That’s it for now folks, have fun and get your lazy asses to the sofa and watch these movies, see ya.