{"id":138574,"date":"2019-04-08T19:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T01:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=138574"},"modified":"2019-04-08T19:00:05","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T01:00:05","slug":"what-do-you-need-to-watch-before-avengers-endgame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/04\/08\/what-do-you-need-to-watch-before-avengers-endgame.html","title":{"rendered":"What do you need to watch before “Avengers: Endgame”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I met with some friends the other day over lunch to answer some questions about\u00a0Captain Marvel,\u00a0<\/em>from the perspective of someone who’s watched all the MCU movies\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>is a huge comic book geek.<\/p>\n

And I discovered that they had never watched an MCU movie<\/em> before watching\u00a0Captain Marvel.<\/em> Which provide an interesting perspective, to be sure, on how self-contained a story it was (and wasn’t).<\/p>\n

Thing is, they are now looking forward to\u00a0Avengers: Endgame,<\/em> and want to know what they actually have to watch before that happened. Which intrigues me, because while\u00a0Captain Marvel<\/em> was kind of a stand-alone film, Avengers: Endgame<\/em> is going to be a lot more difficult to understand without some sort of MCU knowledge. It’s literally like coming into the final chapter of a story and starting with “Um, who’s that guy dressed up as a flag?”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Avengers: Endgame poster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I cannot realistically suggest that they watch all the previous MCU movies, and I don’t even think it’s necessary (though, certainly, it would be fun to do). So if I trim down the list, how much do I trim it down?<\/p>\n

So here’s my answer, bounced off the Internet to see how people recoil. This is a list of all the MCU films, in chronological order. The letter grades are (definitely) not<\/span> about quality, but about essentiality<\/em> to the story, to figure out what’s what and who’s who in Avengers: Endgame<\/em>. I.e., if you have only a minimal amount of time and opportunity to watch these, go for (in chronological order) just the A films\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(4 films). If you have more time to devote, go for the B films<\/strong>, too (3 more) . Even more binge-watching? Do all the C films<\/em> as well (7 more). Etc.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • B Iron Man<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • F Incredible Hulk<\/li>\n
  • F Iron Man 2<\/li>\n
  • C Thor<\/em><\/li>\n
  • C Captain America: The First Avenger<\/em><\/li>\n
  • A Avengers<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n
  • F Iron Man 3<\/li>\n
  • F Thor: Dark World<\/li>\n
  • C Guardians of the Galaxy<\/em><\/li>\n
  • C Captain America: Winter Soldier<\/em><\/li>\n
  • D Avengers: Age of Ultron<\/li>\n
  • D Ant-Man<\/li>\n
  • A Captain America: Civil War<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n
  • C Doctor Strange<\/em><\/li>\n
  • F Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2<\/li>\n
  • C Spider-Man: Homecoming<\/em><\/li>\n
  • A Thor: Ragnarok<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n
  • B Black Panther<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • A Avengers: Infinity War<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n
  • C Ant-Man and the Wasp<\/em><\/li>\n
  • B Captain Marvel<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Thoughts?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What’s the minimum MCU watch list for a total noob?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,525],"tags":[1828,1234],"class_list":["post-138574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-comics","category-marvel-cinematic-universe","tag-avengersendgame","tag-mcu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/avengers-endgame-poster.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138108,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/08\/movie-review-captain-marvel-2019.html","url_meta":{"origin":138574,"position":0},"title":"Movie Review: “Captain Marvel” (2019)","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Mar-19 10:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Short NO-SPOILER version:\u00a0Captain Marvel,\u00a0for me,\u00a0is an entertaining and enjoyable MCU film, but not a great one, largely because it never quite engaged me with enough emotional or narrative stakes to keep me at the edge of my seat. Brie Larson (along with everyone else) is likeable and strong and interesting,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)"","block_context":{"text":"Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/marvel-cinematic-universe"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-movie-poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-movie-poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-movie-poster.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-movie-poster.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-movie-poster.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Captain-Marvel-movie-poster.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138667,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/04\/27\/my-initial-no-spoiler-review-of-avengers-endgame.html","url_meta":{"origin":138574,"position":1},"title":"My initial, no-spoiler review of “Avengers: Endgame”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 27-Apr-19 7:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The climactic movie of the MCU cycle to date","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/avengers-endgame-poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/avengers-endgame-poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/avengers-endgame-poster.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/avengers-endgame-poster.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/avengers-endgame-poster.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":160895,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2026\/01\/05\/impending-doomsday.html","url_meta":{"origin":138574,"position":2},"title":"Impending “Doomsday”","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 5-Jan-26 5:25pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been six years since the last Avengers flick. Can Marvel bring back that magic?","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"Avengers Doomsday logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Avengers-Doomsday-card.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Avengers-Doomsday-card.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Avengers-Doomsday-card.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Avengers-Doomsday-card.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Avengers-Doomsday-card.webp?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Avengers-Doomsday-card.webp?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46092,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/28\/the-marvel-cinematic-universe-strikes-back.html","url_meta":{"origin":138574,"position":3},"title":"The Marvel Cinematic Universe Strikes Back","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 28-Oct-14 2:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Following up on DC's recent fleshing out of their slate of films, Marvel has further detailed their coming entries, adding both some new heroes to the MCU as well as giving titles for some of the sequels.2015- Avengers: Age of Ultron- Ant-Man2016- Captain America: Civil War- Doctor Strange2017- Guardians of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":136909,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/05\/waiting-for-captain-marvel-2019.html","url_meta":{"origin":138574,"position":4},"title":"Waiting for “Captain Marvel” (2019)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 5-Sep-18 2:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"(And, just to be clear, I'm talking about the Marvel movie by that name, not the Shazam movie coming from DC, starring a character who used to be called \"Captain Marvel\" but now is called \"Shazam.\" Got it? Though I'm looking forward to that one, too.) The pix make it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/captain-marvel-brie-larson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":138113,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/08\/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":138574,"position":5},"title":"Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Mar-19 11:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"With the release of\u00a0Captain Marvel,\u00a0we now have 21 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One can look around on the Intertubes and find all sorts of force-ranking of worst-to-best of those films. I figure I should probably do something similar to that. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AsCCZbsj7Mg That said, I hate force-ranking, both because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)"","block_context":{"text":"Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/marvel-cinematic-universe"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marvel_cinematic_universe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marvel_cinematic_universe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marvel_cinematic_universe.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/marvel_cinematic_universe.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138576,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138574\/revisions\/138576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}