**** OFFICIAL Marvel's Avengers: Endgame **** SPOILERS ALLOWED! Enter at your own risk!!! (1 Viewer)

[Maurile Tremblay]

I've never seen any Avengers movie. I'm pretty familiar with the backstory of the Hulk (via the Bill Bixby-Lou Ferrigno version), but not with the other characters. Will that detract significantly from the experience of watching Endgame?

 

[Jaysus]

I've never seen any Avengers movie. I'm pretty familiar with the backstory of the Hulk (via the Bill Bixby-Lou Ferrigno version), but not with the other characters. Will that detract significantly from the experience of watching Endgame?

no... not watching infinity war first may though...

 

[Psychopav]

I've never seen any Avengers movie. I'm pretty familiar with the backstory of the Hulk (via the Bill Bixby-Lou Ferrigno version), but not with the other characters. Will that detract significantly from the experience of watching Endgame?

Yes.  I suggest watching all 4 in order if you're just going to watch Avengers flicks. Might even add Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War to the list. 

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I've never seen any Avengers movie. I'm pretty familiar with the backstory of the Hulk (via the Bill Bixby-Lou Ferrigno version), but not with the other characters. Will that detract significantly from the experience of watching Endgame?

You've never watched any Avengers movie or any of the Marvel movies?

Either way, why would you only read the last chapter of a book?

 

[toshiba]

I've never seen any Avengers movie. I'm pretty familiar with the backstory of the Hulk (via the Bill Bixby-Lou Ferrigno version), but not with the other characters. Will that detract significantly from the experience of watching Endgame?

Other than Iron Man I really didn’t watch any avengers movies until infinity war. I would say, as a non-comic book movie guy, infinity war is really the only one you need prior to endgame. But the two movies are really great together.

 

[heckmanm]

Agree with @Jaysus that Infinity War is a near must-watch before Endgame. Others aren't critical, but there are a lot of in-jokes and callbacks that you wouldn't catch if you haven't seen the other movies. 

IDK that it would necessarily "detract" from the experience, while watching at home. If you watched just those 2 in the theater you'd likely wonder why others were laughing/cheering at seemingly random points, though.

 

[Doug B]

Yes.  I suggest watching all 4 in order if you're just going to watch Avengers flicks. Might even add Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War to the list. 

Thinking about this some ... I think that a cold viewer can follow Infinity War and Endgame just fine without Ironman's, The Hulk's, and Thor's backstories.

Without the three Captain America films (remember, "Civil War" is fully-titled Captain America: Civil War) and the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, that cold viewer will be A LOT more lost. Black Panther helps, too, but is not essential ... at least he's introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

For better or worse, familiarity with Captain Marvel helps the viewer buy in to Endgame's plot. Otherwise, she comes straight out of nowhere and there can be a "Who the flip is this?" moment. Her movie is an origin story, but almost little of it is relevant to Endgame. 

 

[Andy Dufresne]

For better or worse, familiarity with Captain Marvel helps the viewer buy in to Endgame's plot. Otherwise, she comes straight out of nowhere and there can be a "Who the flip is this?" moment. Her movie is an origin story, but almost little of it is relevant to Endgame. 

Instead, it'll be a "What the flip is this" moment. I loathe deus ex machina plot resolutions. 

#reopeningoldwounds

 

[Doug B]

Instead, it'll be a "What the flip is this" moment. I loathe deus ex machina plot resolutions. 

#reopeningoldwounds

That's probably the one tiny crack in the armor of Kevin Feige's arc plotting -- not establishing Captain Marvel in-universe sooner.

But heck ... they had so many characters to shoe-horn in there. Someone had to be last in line.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Either way, why would you only read the last chapter of a book?

Okay, I'll answer, but it's going to make me sound like a nerd.

I've put together a list of movies I'm interested in, using a bunch of different criteria. Some criteria are obvious (e.g., ratings from critics and audiences via Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Amazon, and IMDB). Some are a bit idiosyncratic (e.g., I give penalties for documentaries, longer movies, older movies, foreign movies, and animated movies). And some are completely personal (e.g., whether I've already seen it).

My current list, in case you're curious, is in spoiler tags below.

Avengers: Endgame has gotten terrific reviews from critics and audience members alike. So has Avengers: Infinity War. They rank #15 and #21 on my list. Based on the feedback in this thread, I will not watch Endgame until after I've watched Infinity War. But I'm not going to watch either one if it means having to first watch multiple other movies that aren't on my list.

So I guess my revised question is: Should I penalize Infinity War and Endgame in my rankings if I'm going to see them without their precursors? If so, how much?

Spoiler

1. Whiplash (2014)
2. Parasite (2019)
3. Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse (2018)
4. Spotlight (2015)
5. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
6. The Dark Knight (2008)
7. 1917 (2019)
8. The Farewell (2019)
9. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
10. Room (2015)
11. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
12. Little Women (2019)
13. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
14. Knives Out (2019)
15. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
16. Marriage Story (2019)
17. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
19. Jump Shot (2019)
20. Apollo 11 (2019)
21. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
23. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
24. Logan (2017)
25. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
26. The Joker (2019)
27. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
28. Short Term 12 (2013)
29. Dunkirk (2017)
30. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
31. Get Out (2017)
32. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
33. Hell or High Water (2016)
34. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
35. Inception (2010)
36. A Star Is Born (2018)
37. One More Time with Feeling (2016)
38. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
39. Brooklyn (2015)
40. A Separation (2011)
41. Moonlight (2016)
42. Maiden (2018)
43. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
44. Baby Driver (2017)
45. Just Mercy (2019)
46. Free Solo (2018)
47. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
48. Togo (2019)
49. Green Book (2018)
50. Eighth Grade (2018)
51. Shoplifters (2018)
52. Dark Waters (2019)
53. Love, Simon (2018)
54. Pan's Labrynth (2006)
55. A Quiet Place (2018)
56. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
57. Juno (2008)
58. Lady Bird (2017)
59. The Departed (2007)
60. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
61. Dear Zachary (2008)
62. The Big Sick (2017)
63. The Martian (2015)
64. What We Do in the Shadows (2015)
65. Blindspotting (2018)
66. Honeyland (2019)
67. Faces, Places (2017)
68. The Rider (2017)
69. Selma (2014)
70. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
71. City of God (2003)
72. The Lives of Others (2006)
73. Klaus (2019)
74. The Godfather (1972)
75. Blackkklansman (2018)
76. Nightcrawler (2014)
77. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
78. Persepolis (2007)
79. Searching (2018)
80. Children of Men (2006)
81. The Hate U Give (2019)
82. Richard Jewell (2019)
83. Capernaum (2018)
84. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
85. The Invisible Man (2020)
86. Ex Machina (2015)
87. Bloody Sunday (2002)
88. Kedi (2016)
89. Lost in Translation (2003)
90. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
91. The Florida Project (2017)
92. Still Alice (2014)
93. Thunder Road (2018)
94. The Prestige (2006)
95. Moon (2009)
96. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
97. Boyhood (2014)
98. The Hunt (2013)
99. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
100. Paddleton (2019)
101. Roma (2018)
102. The Death of Stalin (2017)
103. Mudbound (2017)
104. Apocalypse Now (1979)
105. Queen & Slim (2019)
106. Interstellar (2014)
107. Prisoners (2013)
108. Leave No Trace (2018)
109. Corpus Christi (2020)
110. Searching for Bobby Fisher (1993)
111. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
112. The Help (2011)
113. Chinatown (1974)
114. The Shape of Water (2017)
115. Oldboy (2005)
116. Shazam! (2019)
117. John Wick (2014)
118. Rear Window (1954)
119. All The Way (2016)
120. Snatch (2001)
121. Downfall (2004)
122. Molly's Game (2018)
123. Manhattan (1979)
124. Official Secrets (2019)
125. Fighting with My Family (2019)
126. Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
127. Private Life (2018)
128. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
129. Shirkers (2018)
130. Annie Hall (1977)
131. Badlands (1973)
132. Les Misérables (2020)
133. The Way Back (2020)
134. The Beauty and the Beast (2017)
135. Big Time Adolescence (2020)
136. Love and Death (1975)
137. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
138. The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2004)

 

[toshiba]

Yes.  I suggest watching all 4 in order if you're just going to watch Avengers flicks. Might even add Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War to the list. 

Thinking about this some ... I think that a cold viewer can follow Infinity War and Endgame just fine without Ironman's, The Hulk's, and Thor's backstories.

Without the three Captain America films (remember, "Civil War" is fully-titled Captain America: Civil War) and the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, that cold viewer will be A LOT more lost. Black Panther helps, too, but is not essential ... at least he's introduced in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

For better or worse, familiarity with Captain Marvel helps the viewer buy in to Endgame's plot. Otherwise, she comes straight out of nowhere and there can be a "Who the flip is this?" moment. Her movie is an origin story, but almost little of it is relevant to Endgame. 

I never saw a Captain America movie and I wasn't even close to lost. 

 

[toshiba]

  3 hours ago, Doug B said:
For better or worse, familiarity with Captain Marvel helps the viewer buy in to Endgame's plot. Otherwise, she comes straight out of nowhere and there can be a "Who the flip is this?" moment. Her movie is an origin story, but almost little of it is relevant to Endgame. 

I think it was pretty clear who that was without any knowledge of anything.  She was some super hero woman that helped out.  It really wasn't that hard to understand.

 

[toshiba]

Okay, I'll answer, but it's going to make me sound like a nerd.

I've put together a list of movies I'm interested in, using a bunch of different criteria. Some criteria are obvious (e.g., ratings from critics and audiences via Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Amazon, and IMDB). Some are a bit idiosyncratic (e.g., I give penalties for documentaries, longer movies, older movies, foreign movies, and animated movies). And some are completely personal (e.g., whether I've already seen it).

My current list, in case you're curious, is in spoiler tags below.

Avengers: Endgame has gotten terrific reviews from critics and audience members alike. So has Avengers: Infinity War. They rank #15 and #21 on my list. Based on the feedback in this thread, I will not watch Endgame until after I've watched Infinity War. But I'm not going to watch either one if it means having to first watch multiple other movies that aren't on my list.

So I guess my revised question is: Should I penalize Infinity War and Endgame in my rankings if I'm going to see them without their precursors? If so, how much?

Spoiler

1. Whiplash (2014)

2. Parasite (2019)
3. Spider-Man: into the Spider-verse (2018)
4. Spotlight (2015)
5. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
6. The Dark Knight (2008)
7. 1917 (2019)
8. The Farewell (2019)
9. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
10. Room (2015)
11. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
12. Little Women (2019)
13. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
14. Knives Out (2019)
15. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
16. Marriage Story (2019)
17. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
19. Jump Shot (2019)
20. Apollo 11 (2019)
21. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
23. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
24. Logan (2017)
25. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
26. The Joker (2019)
27. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
28. Short Term 12 (2013)
29. Dunkirk (2017)
30. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
31. Get Out (2017)
32. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
33. Hell or High Water (2016)
34. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
35. Inception (2010)
36. A Star Is Born (2018)
37. One More Time with Feeling (2016)
38. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
39. Brooklyn (2015)
40. A Separation (2011)
41. Moonlight (2016)
42. Maiden (2018)
43. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
44. Baby Driver (2017)
45. Just Mercy (2019)
46. Free Solo (2018)
47. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
48. Togo (2019)
49. Green Book (2018)
50. Eighth Grade (2018)
51. Shoplifters (2018)
52. Dark Waters (2019)
53. Love, Simon (2018)
54. Pan's Labrynth (2006)
55. A Quiet Place (2018)
56. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
57. Juno (2008)
58. Lady Bird (2017)
59. The Departed (2007)
60. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
61. Dear Zachary (2008)
62. The Big Sick (2017)
63. The Martian (2015)
64. What We Do in the Shadows (2015)
65. Blindspotting (2018)
66. Honeyland (2019)
67. Faces, Places (2017)
68. The Rider (2017)
69. Selma (2014)
70. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
71. City of God (2003)
72. The Lives of Others (2006)
73. Klaus (2019)
74. The Godfather (1972)
75. Blackkklansman (2018)
76. Nightcrawler (2014)
77. Spider-man: Homecoming (2017)
78. Persepolis (2007)
79. Searching (2018)
80. Children of Men (2006)
81. The Hate U Give (2019)
82. Richard Jewell (2019)
83. Capernaum (2018)
84. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
85. The Invisible Man (2020)
86. Ex Machina (2015)
87. Bloody Sunday (2002)
88. Kedi (2016)
89. Lost in Translation (2003)
90. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
91. The Florida Project (2017)
92. Still Alice (2014)
93. Thunder Road (2018)
94. The Prestige (2006)
95. Moon (2009)
96. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
97. Boyhood (2014)
98. The Hunt (2013)
99. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
100. Paddleton (2019)
101. Roma (2018)
102. The Death of Stalin (2017)
103. Mudbound (2017)
104. Apocalypse Now (1979)
105. Queen & Slim (2019)
106. Interstellar (2014)
107. Prisoners (2013)
108. Leave No Trace (2018)
109. Corpus Christi (2020)
110. Searching for Bobby Fisher (1993)
111. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
112. The Help (2011)
113. Chinatown (1974)
114. The Shape of Water (2017)
115. Oldboy (2005)
116. Shazam! (2019)
117. John Wick (2014)
118. Rear Window (1954)
119. All The Way (2016)
120. Snatch (2001)
121. Downfall (2004)
122. Molly's Game (2018)
123. Manhattan (1979)
124. Official Secrets (2019)
125. Fighting with My Family (2019)
126. Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
127. Private Life (2018)
128. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
129. Shirkers (2018)
130. Annie Hall (1977)
131. Badlands (1973)
132. Les Misérables (2020)
133. The Way Back (2020)
134. The Beauty and the Beast (2017)
135. Big Time Adolescence (2020)
136. Love and Death (1975)
137. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
138. The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2004)

No.  Don't listen to the people who want you to invest into the back stories.  Infinity War and Endgame are Part 1 and 2 of the same story, nothing else is vital to them being ranked high or enjoyed very much.  Sure the comic book fans see so much value, but it's not even close to essential.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

By the way, I've already seen Black Panther. I didn't realize it was part of the same universe.

 

[heckmanm]

I never saw a Captain America movie and I wasn't even close to lost. 

I think "Civil War" helps in understanding some early parts of Infinity War.  But IMO it's closer to an "Avengers" movie than to the earlier Captain America flicks.

 

[toshiba]

I never saw a Captain America movie and I wasn't even close to lost. 

I think "Civil War" helps in understanding some early parts of Infinity War.  But IMO it's closer to an "Avengers" movie than to the earlier Captain America flicks.

Like what?  I am curious what I didn't understand.

 

[Doug B]

I never saw a Captain America movie and I wasn't even close to lost. 

It sounds like you and Maurile are approaching this on a different level altogether. I sense almost a philosophical objection to watching "too much" of the MCU somehow ... an idea that perhaps the film-makers stretched things out too much and kind of wasted everyone's time?

I guess it's just a thing where deep-diving into the MCU is either your bag or it isn't. For me, personally ... it would have been much harder to grok Infinity War/Endgame without at least some background. I guess others' mileage must vary.

 

[toshiba]

I never saw a Captain America movie and I wasn't even close to lost. 

It sounds like you and Maurile are approaching this on a different level altogether. I sense almost a philosophical objection to watching "too much" of the MCU somehow ... an idea that perhaps the film-makers stretched things out too much and kind of wasted everyone's time?

I guess it's just a thing where deep-diving into the MCU is either your bag or it isn't. For me, personally ... it would have been much harder to grok Infinity War/Endgame without at least some background. I guess others' mileage must vary.

No this wasn't philosophical at all.  I approaching this as is it or isn't it vital to understand the story?  Is it essential to enjoy and understand it?  Simple put, its not essential.  It might enhance it, but from someone not very well versed in the comic book movies, definitely not essential.  These could have been brand new characters without much back story and it would have been a great 2 part movie.

 

[heckmanm]

Like what?  I am curious what I didn't understand.

Why the various groups of Avengers were in those different groups.

Spoiler

For example, Capt. America and Black Widow in one place, Stark and others are elsewhere, and some tension between the groups

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Infinity War and Endgame wrap up the phase 1 Marvel Movies.  The Captain America through line is my favorite of the titles so I would argue you need to watch those. 

 

[Doug B]

No this wasn't philosophical at all.  I approaching this as is it or isn't it vital to understand the story?  Is it essential to enjoy and understand it?  Simple put, its not essential.

I guess it's a testament to Infinity War/Endgame that they work on multiple levels for many different types of viewers.

Essentially, some viewers apparently found the highlights of the book report based on the Cliffs Notes of the MCU plenty entertaining on their own. Those viewers got enough to be satisfied -- they have little interest in ever "reading" the entire "novel" word for word. At the same time, Infinity War/Endgame well accommodated deeply-invested viewers who sought more details and connections to the other works. It was an impressive balancing act by the film-makers and the editors.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

They should hold up fine on their own as long as you have a basic understanding of Cap, Thor, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Hulk. It's a bonus that you've at least seen Black Panther. 

 

[TLEF316]

Yeah, my dad really liked the Infinity War/ End game story and he really hadn't watched any of the previous movies. 

But I still think you miss out on a LOT of the impact by not watching most (I wouldn't say "all" as there are a few movies that are mostly useless). If you just want to watch cool fights and stuff for 5+ hours, go nuts. But the true appeal to me (and I'm not a comic book guy) is watching the entire saga develop over 20+ films (even if a few of them aren't that good).

There's a few clunkers and some other movies that don't add much of anything to the story (beyond "here are some new characters. They'll be involved later")  but they're nearly all worth watching for one reason or another.

 

[need2know]

Okay, I'll answer, but it's going to make me sound like a nerd.

I've put together a list of movies I'm interested in, using a bunch of different criteria. Some criteria are obvious (e.g., ratings from critics and audiences via Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Amazon, and IMDB). Some are a bit idiosyncratic (e.g., I give penalties for documentaries, longer movies, older movies, foreign movies, and animated movies). And some are completely personal (e.g., whether I've already seen it).

My current list, in case you're curious, is in spoiler tags below.

Avengers: Endgame has gotten terrific reviews from critics and audience members alike. So has Avengers: Infinity War. They rank #15 and #21 on my list. Based on the feedback in this thread, I will not watch Endgame until after I've watched Infinity War. But I'm not going to watch either one if it means having to first watch multiple other movies that aren't on my list.

So I guess my revised question is: Should I penalize Infinity War and Endgame in my rankings if I'm going to see them without their precursors? If so, how much?

Spoiler

1. Whiplash (2014)
2. Parasite (2019)
3. Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse (2018)
4. Spotlight (2015)
5. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
6. The Dark Knight (2008)
7. 1917 (2019)
8. The Farewell (2019)
9. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
10. Room (2015)
11. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
12. Little Women (2019)
13. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
14. Knives Out (2019)
15. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
16. Marriage Story (2019)
17. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
19. Jump Shot (2019)
20. Apollo 11 (2019)
21. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
23. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
24. Logan (2017)
25. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
26. The Joker (2019)
27. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
28. Short Term 12 (2013)
29. Dunkirk (2017)
30. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
31. Get Out (2017)
32. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
33. Hell or High Water (2016)
34. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
35. Inception (2010)
36. A Star Is Born (2018)
37. One More Time with Feeling (2016)
38. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
39. Brooklyn (2015)
40. A Separation (2011)
41. Moonlight (2016)
42. Maiden (2018)
43. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
44. Baby Driver (2017)
45. Just Mercy (2019)
46. Free Solo (2018)
47. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
48. Togo (2019)
49. Green Book (2018)
50. Eighth Grade (2018)
51. Shoplifters (2018)
52. Dark Waters (2019)
53. Love, Simon (2018)
54. Pan's Labrynth (2006)
55. A Quiet Place (2018)
56. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
57. Juno (2008)
58. Lady Bird (2017)
59. The Departed (2007)
60. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
61. Dear Zachary (2008)
62. The Big Sick (2017)
63. The Martian (2015)
64. What We Do in the Shadows (2015)
65. Blindspotting (2018)
66. Honeyland (2019)
67. Faces, Places (2017)
68. The Rider (2017)
69. Selma (2014)
70. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
71. City of God (2003)
72. The Lives of Others (2006)
73. Klaus (2019)
74. The Godfather (1972)
75. Blackkklansman (2018)
76. Nightcrawler (2014)
77. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
78. Persepolis (2007)
79. Searching (2018)
80. Children of Men (2006)
81. The Hate U Give (2019)
82. Richard Jewell (2019)
83. Capernaum (2018)
84. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
85. The Invisible Man (2020)
86. Ex Machina (2015)
87. Bloody Sunday (2002)
88. Kedi (2016)
89. Lost in Translation (2003)
90. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
91. The Florida Project (2017)
92. Still Alice (2014)
93. Thunder Road (2018)
94. The Prestige (2006)
95. Moon (2009)
96. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
97. Boyhood (2014)
98. The Hunt (2013)
99. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
100. Paddleton (2019)
101. Roma (2018)
102. The Death of Stalin (2017)
103. Mudbound (2017)
104. Apocalypse Now (1979)
105. Queen & Slim (2019)
106. Interstellar (2014)
107. Prisoners (2013)
108. Leave No Trace (2018)
109. Corpus Christi (2020)
110. Searching for Bobby Fisher (1993)
111. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
112. The Help (2011)
113. Chinatown (1974)
114. The Shape of Water (2017)
115. Oldboy (2005)
116. Shazam! (2019)
117. John Wick (2014)
118. Rear Window (1954)
119. All The Way (2016)
120. Snatch (2001)
121. Downfall (2004)
122. Molly's Game (2018)
123. Manhattan (1979)
124. Official Secrets (2019)
125. Fighting with My Family (2019)
126. Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
127. Private Life (2018)
128. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
129. Shirkers (2018)
130. Annie Hall (1977)
131. Badlands (1973)
132. Les Misérables (2020)
133. The Way Back (2020)
134. The Beauty and the Beast (2017)
135. Big Time Adolescence (2020)
136. Love and Death (1975)
137. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
138. The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2004)

i would recommend Thor Ragnarok before infinity war because it sets up infinity war well and its a great comic movie.  one of the best .  would also recommend the guardian of the galaxies.

 

[need2know]

Like what?  I am curious what I didn't understand.

captain america and iron man have a big falling out.  civil war is worth a watch

 

[TLEF316]

Gun to my head, if you told me I had to skip say 10 movies, I'd probably choose the following.....(using a combination of "not that good" and "not all that important to watch in terms of the whole saga")

Hulk (not very good and everyone is familiar with who Hulk is)

Ant Man (just kinda ok and reading a summary to figure out what Pym Particles and the quantum realm are gets you what you need)

Ant Man and the wasp (ditto)

Thor (mediocre movie and the character has changed so much. All you really need to know was "Thor started as an arrogant ####### and isn't anymore")

Thor Dark World (Not a great movie. Probably has more important story stuff than the original but nothing you can't catch up on via a synopsis)

Doctor Strange (I liked it, but reading a summary of who Dr. Strange is and what the Time Stone is gets you where you need to be)

Guardians 2: (fun enough movie, but nothing about it is integral to the big picture)

Captain Marvel:  (Mediocre movie about a terrible character. All you need to know for IW/EG is that she's super powerful and not always around)

Black Panther-  (The origin story isn't really all that necessary because of Civil War)

Iron Man 3: (didn't really enjoy it and if you just accept the fact that Tony isn't shellshocked anymore and is basically the supreme good guy now, there's not much value here)

So that would leave the 4 Avengers Movies, Iron Man 1 and 2, all 3 Capts, Ragnarok, Guardians 1 and Spiderman homecoming (which is really only necessary because it hammers home the Peter/Tony Bond which is incredibly crucial to Tony's late development)

 

[Doug B]

Gun to my head, if you told me I had to skip say 10 movies, I'd probably choose the following.....(using a combination of "not that good" and "not all that important to watch in terms of the whole saga")

Agrees almost all the way down the line, except for two:

Hulk (not very good and everyone is familiar with who Hulk is) - I like this movie more than most, but you're right.

Ant Man (just kinda ok and reading a summary to figure out what Pym Particles and the quantum realm are gets you what you need) - Big disagreement. Ant Man is awesome on it's own -- IMHO easily the most rewatchable of the MCU films. I do agree that you can read up on the in-universe tech advancements this film introduced and be caught up. In place of Ant Man, I'd put Ironman 2 on my list of "10 to skip".

Ant Man and the wasp (ditto) -- agreed, though this movie does have a small bit of set-up for IW/EG. But no fighting the hypothetical ... gotta pick ten cuts.

Thor (mediocre movie and the character has changed so much. All you really need to know was "Thor started as an arrogant ####### and isn't anymore") -- Yep

Thor Dark World (Not a great movie. Probably has more important story stuff than the original but nothing you can't catch up on via a synopsis) -- Pretty much. It advances the Infinity Stones concept, but in a small and forgettable way. Such an important conceptual thread ... I wish they had spotlighted it a little more.

Doctor Strange (I liked it, but reading a summary of who Dr. Strange is and what the Time Stone is gets you where you need to be) -- Yeah. A very cool standalone.

Guardians 2: (fun enough movie, but nothing about it is integral to the big picture) -- Also a very cool standalone, although getting Mantis established was subtly important.

Captain Marvel:  (Mediocre movie about a terrible character. All you need to know for IW/EG is that she's super powerful and not always around) - Another one I probably liked better than most. But I can't disagree with your take.

Black Panther-  (The origin story isn't really all that necessary because of Civil War) - vis a vis "essentialness" to IW/EG, you're probably right. But I would very reluctantly cut Thor: Ragnarok to make room for BP. It's a wondrous expansion to the MCU with phenomenal cinematography.

Iron Man 3: (didn't really enjoy it and if you just accept the fact that Tony isn't shellshocked anymore and is basically the supreme good guy now, there's not much value here) - I have a soft spot for this movie because it was a bonding moment with my son. It wasn't plotted as well as most of the rest of the MCU, though, and doesn't much tie into the finales. Those factors would make it one of the ten cuts.

 

[Doug B]

Does anyone ever think that Kevin Feige and friends over at Marvel ... do they just bow down and pray 'thanks' every day that they didn't try to fluff out the MCU even more and schedule Endgame for spring 2020?

 

[TLEF316]

Agrees almost all the way down the line, except for two:

Ant Man (just kinda ok and reading a summary to figure out what Pym Particles and the quantum realm are gets you what you need) - Big disagreement. Ant Man is awesome on it's own -- IMHO easily the most rewatchable of the MCU films. I do agree that you can read up on the in-universe tech advancements this film introduced and be caught up. In place of Ant Man, I'd put Ironman 2 on my list of "10 to skip".

Thor Dark World (Not a great movie. Probably has more important story stuff than the original but nothing you can't catch up on via a synopsis) -- Pretty much. It advances the Infinity Stones concept, but in a small and forgettable way. Such an important conceptual thread ... I wish they had spotlighted it a little more.

Black Panther-  (The origin story isn't really all that necessary because of Civil War) - vis a vis "essentialness" to IW/EG, you're probably right. But I would very reluctantly cut Thor: Ragnarok to make room for BP. It's a wondrous expansion to the MCU with phenomenal cinematography.

Ant Man was certainly a fun movie. I just don't see it as all that important. For me, Iron Man 2 is really important due to the stuff with Tony and his father. This scene is awesome and about as close to a tear jerker as it gets.

Dark world was a tough cut for me just because of the Reality Stone and the fact that scenes from it were part of the Time Heist. Because of that, it was probably my last cut.

BP was definitely unique and brought a decent amount to the table. (although I thought nominating it for best picture was beyond silly). Some good things technically but the CGI in the last battle (the Rhino and the train fight Kilmonger) was beyond awful. Pretty clear the digital A-Team was working on Infinity War at that time. 

 

[toshiba]

Like what?  I am curious what I didn't understand.

captain america and iron man have a big falling out.  civil war is worth a watch

I don't think the backstory was required to sense the tension and know they had an issue and then came together in the end, whatever the issue was.

 

[Buckna]

I never saw a Captain America movie and I wasn't even close to lost. 

You are missing out. Winter Soldier is pretty consistently ranked as not just one of the best MCU movies but just a great movie overall. Civil War is pretty darn fun too.

 

[CR69]

I must be a super nerd because my daughter and I are about to finish them in chronological order for the second time lol. Sure some are better than others but I love them all even though I hopped on the MCU train late. 

I do agree with others though that if you don't want to invest 60 hours, you can just watch the two final movies and enjoy them. Sure they won't have the same impact but they're still great movies and you'll be entertained which is kinda the point, right?

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

I would suggest at least also watching Winter Soldier and Guardians 1 because they’re still the best MCU movies overall

 

[toshiba]

You are missing out. Winter Soldier is pretty consistently ranked as not just one of the best MCU movies but just a great movie overall. Civil War is pretty darn fun too.

The question wasn’t if it was a good movie, the question was how necessary is it as a preview to watch infinity war and endgame. I don’t want to suggest that I don’t think the movies are worth watching, I have no idea I’ve never seen them, but I do know that I completely enjoyed infinity war and endgame without seeing very many Marvel movies at all.

Those two movies in fact have made me want to go see more than movies.

 

[-OZ-]

  Sure the comic book fans see so much value, but it's not even close to essential.

No this wasn't philosophical at all.  I approaching this as is it or isn't it vital to understand the story?  Is it essential to enjoy and understand it?  Simple put, its not essential.  It might enhance it, but from someone not very well versed in the comic book movies, definitely not essential.  These could have been brand new characters without much back story and it would have been a great 2 part movie.

No, you're right that they're not essential to enjoy a movie. These aren't so complicated that a reasonable person couldn't just enjoy the movies. 

But they do add to the value, understanding what's what.  

You will know that vision has an infinity stone, but not know why or how he got it. Or how he was created and that he's not a person. 

You will know that wakanda is pretty kick ###, but not the connection to the others.

You won't know why Tony hasn't talked to Steve in a long time. Or why hulk is hanging out with Thor.

Or the relationship between Hawkeye and black widow. 

Or Steve's desire to go back to Peggy. 

Or that Wanda got her power from a stone, Captain Marvel either. 

Or Tony's growth. Or good relationship with Peter.

Or why Scott is in a van (down by the river) getting rescued by a rat.

Etc.

Not all of these are essential, but for the fans who started out early, these two movies brought the past 20 together in a way rarely achieved. 

You'll enjoy the two movies, but miss out on the MCU experience. Maybe that's fine. 

 

[renesauz]

Gun to my head, if you told me I had to skip say 10 movies, I'd probably choose the following.....(using a combination of "not that good" and "not all that important to watch in terms of the whole saga")

Hulk (not very good and everyone is familiar with who Hulk is)

Ant Man (just kinda ok and reading a summary to figure out what Pym Particles and the quantum realm are gets you what you need)

Ant Man and the wasp (ditto)

Thor (mediocre movie and the character has changed so much. All you really need to know was "Thor started as an arrogant ####### and isn't anymore")

Thor Dark World (Not a great movie. Probably has more important story stuff than the original but nothing you can't catch up on via a synopsis)

Doctor Strange (I liked it, but reading a summary of who Dr. Strange is and what the Time Stone is gets you where you need to be)

Guardians 2: (fun enough movie, but nothing about it is integral to the big picture)

Captain Marvel:  (Mediocre movie about a terrible character. All you need to know for IW/EG is that she's super powerful and not always around)

Black Panther-  (The origin story isn't really all that necessary because of Civil War)

Iron Man 3: (didn't really enjoy it and if you just accept the fact that Tony isn't shellshocked anymore and is basically the supreme good guy now, there's not much value here)

So that would leave the 4 Avengers Movies, Iron Man 1 and 2, all 3 Capts, Ragnarok, Guardians 1 and Spiderman homecoming (which is really only necessary because it hammers home the Peter/Tony Bond which is incredibly crucial to Tony's late development)

Mostly agree, but I think you could safely pare off Avengers Age of Ultron , the first Iron man, and maybe the third Avengers too. 

 

[Psychopav]

Okay, I'll answer, but it's going to make me sound like a nerd.

I've put together a list of movies I'm interested in, using a bunch of different criteria. Some criteria are obvious (e.g., ratings from critics and audiences via Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Amazon, and IMDB). Some are a bit idiosyncratic (e.g., I give penalties for documentaries, longer movies, older movies, foreign movies, and animated movies). And some are completely personal (e.g., whether I've already seen it).

My current list, in case you're curious, is in spoiler tags below.

Avengers: Endgame has gotten terrific reviews from critics and audience members alike. So has Avengers: Infinity War. They rank #15 and #21 on my list. Based on the feedback in this thread, I will not watch Endgame until after I've watched Infinity War. But I'm not going to watch either one if it means having to first watch multiple other movies that aren't on my list.

So I guess my revised question is: Should I penalize Infinity War and Endgame in my rankings if I'm going to see them without their precursors? If so, how much?

Spoiler

1. Whiplash (2014)
2. Parasite (2019)
3. Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse (2018)
4. Spotlight (2015)
5. Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
6. The Dark Knight (2008)
7. 1917 (2019)
8. The Farewell (2019)
9. Ford v Ferrari (2019)
10. Room (2015)
11. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
12. Little Women (2019)
13. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
14. Knives Out (2019)
15. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
16. Marriage Story (2019)
17. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
19. Jump Shot (2019)
20. Apollo 11 (2019)
21. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
23. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
24. Logan (2017)
25. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
26. The Joker (2019)
27. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
28. Short Term 12 (2013)
29. Dunkirk (2017)
30. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
31. Get Out (2017)
32. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
33. Hell or High Water (2016)
34. It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
35. Inception (2010)
36. A Star Is Born (2018)
37. One More Time with Feeling (2016)
38. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
39. Brooklyn (2015)
40. A Separation (2011)
41. Moonlight (2016)
42. Maiden (2018)
43. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
44. Baby Driver (2017)
45. Just Mercy (2019)
46. Free Solo (2018)
47. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
48. Togo (2019)
49. Green Book (2018)
50. Eighth Grade (2018)
51. Shoplifters (2018)
52. Dark Waters (2019)
53. Love, Simon (2018)
54. Pan's Labrynth (2006)
55. A Quiet Place (2018)
56. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
57. Juno (2008)
58. Lady Bird (2017)
59. The Departed (2007)
60. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
61. Dear Zachary (2008)
62. The Big Sick (2017)
63. The Martian (2015)
64. What We Do in the Shadows (2015)
65. Blindspotting (2018)
66. Honeyland (2019)
67. Faces, Places (2017)
68. The Rider (2017)
69. Selma (2014)
70. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
71. City of God (2003)
72. The Lives of Others (2006)
73. Klaus (2019)
74. The Godfather (1972)
75. Blackkklansman (2018)
76. Nightcrawler (2014)
77. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
78. Persepolis (2007)
79. Searching (2018)
80. Children of Men (2006)
81. The Hate U Give (2019)
82. Richard Jewell (2019)
83. Capernaum (2018)
84. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
85. The Invisible Man (2020)
86. Ex Machina (2015)
87. Bloody Sunday (2002)
88. Kedi (2016)
89. Lost in Translation (2003)
90. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
91. The Florida Project (2017)
92. Still Alice (2014)
93. Thunder Road (2018)
94. The Prestige (2006)
95. Moon (2009)
96. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
97. Boyhood (2014)
98. The Hunt (2013)
99. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
100. Paddleton (2019)
101. Roma (2018)
102. The Death of Stalin (2017)
103. Mudbound (2017)
104. Apocalypse Now (1979)
105. Queen & Slim (2019)
106. Interstellar (2014)
107. Prisoners (2013)
108. Leave No Trace (2018)
109. Corpus Christi (2020)
110. Searching for Bobby Fisher (1993)
111. Manchester by the Sea (2016)
112. The Help (2011)
113. Chinatown (1974)
114. The Shape of Water (2017)
115. Oldboy (2005)
116. Shazam! (2019)
117. John Wick (2014)
118. Rear Window (1954)
119. All The Way (2016)
120. Snatch (2001)
121. Downfall (2004)
122. Molly's Game (2018)
123. Manhattan (1979)
124. Official Secrets (2019)
125. Fighting with My Family (2019)
126. Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
127. Private Life (2018)
128. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
129. Shirkers (2018)
130. Annie Hall (1977)
131. Badlands (1973)
132. Les Misérables (2020)
133. The Way Back (2020)
134. The Beauty and the Beast (2017)
135. Big Time Adolescence (2020)
136. Love and Death (1975)
137. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
138. The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2004)

Have you seen both Godfather movies already?

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Have you seen both Godfather movies already?

Yes, but a long time ago.

 

[Psychopav]

Yes, but a long time ago.

Ok. We do need to have our priorities straight

 

[Doug B]

Mostly agree, but I think you could safely pare off Avengers Age of Ultron , the first Iron man, and maybe the third Avengers too. 

The third Avengers was Infinity War  

 

[-OZ-]

Mostly agree, but I think you could safely pare off Avengers Age of Ultron , the first Iron man, and maybe the third Avengers too. 

if you're paring unnecessary movies off, just don't watch any of them including end game.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

You are missing out. Winter Soldier is pretty consistently ranked as not just one of the best MCU movies but just a great movie overall. Civil War is pretty darn fun too.

Agreed. Winter Soldier is probably the best "movie" in the entire MCU. It's tough to beat IW/Endgame just due to the enormity of the undertaking but Winter Soldier is more than just a "comic book" movie. Civil War was great as well.

 

[TLEF316]

"I can follow the last 2 movies without seeing any others" is such a weird flex.  Yeah....you CAN. But its not the ideal way to do it, so why would you deprive yourself of the maximum amount of enjoyment?  Would you brag about being able to understand Return of the Jedi without watching New Hope and Empire Strikes Back?

If there was ever a time in our history to watch as much material as possible, this is it.   Yes, IW/EG are kinda 2 parts to one big movie, but the whole "saga" is clearly meant to be watched in its entirety. Not sure why someone wouldn't take advantage of it. Yeah, its a huge time investment, (and some of the movies that might be important to understanding the big plot aren't amazing on their own)  but in the time of Corona, what else are ya doing?  Even if you only watch the "necessary" half that I outlined above, you could watch a movie every 2-3 days and be done in like a month.

 

[TLEF316]

Agreed. Winter Soldier is probably the best "movie" in the entire MCU. It's tough to beat IW/Endgame just due to the enormity of the undertaking but Winter Soldier is more than just a "comic book" movie. Civil War was great as well.

Agreed. Winter Soldier is an exceptional movie. Great story, good character development, awesome fight scenes.  Its just a great film. More serious, grounded tone than most of the others and the whole thing just works.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Winter Soldier is terrific. Part of the reason why is that the Russo brothers drew inspiration from pretty serious movies:

 

The Russo Brothers cited Klute (1971), The Parallax View (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975), All the President's Men (1976), The French Connection (1971), and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) as inspirations for making this film.

 

[renesauz]

The third Avengers was Infinity War  

ack...obviously should have said 2nd then

 

[Doug B]

ack...obviously should have said 2nd then

I thought you might have been counting Captain America: Civil War as an Avengers film. Might as well, be, really — I think they’re all in it except Dr Strange and Captain Marvel.

 

[-OZ-]

I thought you might have been counting Captain America: Civil War as an Avengers film. Might as well, be, really — I think they’re all in it except Dr Strange and Captain Marvel.

Thor and hulk? 

It makes sense for those 4 to be out, way too powerful. Wanda and vision are too strong too but they held back.

 

[Doug B]

Thor and hulk? 

Oh yeah ... forgot.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

I would suggest at least also watching Winter Soldier and Guardians 1 because they’re still the best MCU movies overall

I forgot about Ragnarok - I’d add that one too because its awesome