CAPTAIN MARVEL
If you don’t know who Captain Marvel is, or what her deal is, you might want to check this one out. But in terms of plot, nothing in it is really followed up in Endgame. All you really need to know is Captain Marvel exists. If you saw and liked Captain Marvel, though, you’ll have a good time at Endgame.
STATUS: Skippable
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
Seeing that I hadn’t even bothered with seeing this one until watching it a week before Endgame on Netflix, it turned out to be surprisingly critical. A major element of the movie’s plot is set up here, and no it’s not Ant-Man going up Thanos’ butt.
Corollary: For Ant-Man and the Wasp to make the most sense, you’ll need to have seen Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War, and Ant-Man.
STATUS: Essential
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Endgame is the second half of Infinity War. You can see it that way, or as the finale of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to this point. Either way, yeah, seeing this without having seen Infinity War is a waste of a very expensive movie ticket.
Corollary: I broke down what movies were needed to really get Infinity War last year.
STATUS: Essential
BLACK PANTHER I mean, it’s a good movie that you should see anyway, but if you haven’t seen it yet you aren’t going to be lost watching Endgame other than the Captain Marvel element of “these characters exist.”
STATUS: Skippable
THOR: RAGNAROK
Thor’s character arc gets a lot of attention in Endgame, and ultimately the events of Ragnarok are crucial to making the most of this film and Infinity War.
Corollary: Ragnarok depends on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: The Dark World, The Avengers, and Thor.
STATUS: Essential
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
Do you know who Spider-Man is? Did you see Infinity War or Civil War? If yes, then if you haven’t seen this one yet don’t worry about it. But it’s pretty good.
Corollary: You’ll probably want to have seen Captain America: Civil War before watching this one.
STATUS: Skippable
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2
Like Infinity War, Endgame leans heavily on elements first established in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, though really the only characters you need to pay attention to are Nebula and Gamora, which is rough because this movie is mostly all about Star-Lord. It would help to have seen this one to understand the sisters’ bond more, but if you haven’t gotten around to it yet, don’t sweat it.
Corollary: If you check this one out, you’ll really want to have seen the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
STATUS: Optional
DOCTOR STRANGE
Any movie that introduces an Infinity Stone is probably a good call to see before Endgame, and if you haven’t seen this movie yet you might be really confused when a certain character shows up. It’s not altogether the most necessary, but if you have the time you should squeeze it in.
STATUS: Optional
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
This movie was a major turning point in the arcs of several of the Avengers. It’s not directly tied to Endgame, but so much of this film is completing the arcs of the main Avengers characters and I think if you haven’t seen one a lot of moments in Endgame will fall flat.
Corollary: To get the most out of Civil War, you need to have seen Ant-Man, Age of Ultron, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man.
STATUS: Essential
ANT-MAN
You don’t need to have seen this movie to see Endgame, but it’s a necessary background to movies that are essential to Endgame, such as it’s sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, so if you haven’t seen it you should probably give it a go.
STATUS: Optional
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
I think having seen Age of Ultron makes some of the character beats in Endgame land a bit better, I think a lot of the character work being done here pays off a lot more now that we know where they were going. And Age of Ultron was also pretty crucial to Infinity War. But if you haven’t seen this one yet, you probably won’t be too too lost, other than a few moments here and there.
Corollary: Essential to understanding Age of Ultron are The Winter Soldier and The Avengers.
STATUS: Optional
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Several key concepts and characters to Infinity War and Endgame were introduced here, so it’s pretty critical to following who’s who and what’s what in the new movie. Also, if you’ve already seen this one it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a rewatch to refresh your memory.
STATUS: Essential
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Not much from this movie is directly related to Endgame, however it’s pretty crucial to later movies that are themselves more crucial to Endgame, and there are a few moments in the movie that may not really land if you haven’t seen it.
Corollary: If you’re seeing Winter Soldier for the first time, then The Avengers and The First Avenger are essential to understanding it.
STATUS: Optional
THOR: THE DARK WORLD
Again, this one introduces an Infinity Stone - and more specific elements end up being surprisingly crucial to Endgame’s plot. It’s not very highly regarded among fans - it’s not a bad movie so much as it’s a bit forgettable - but you’ll want to have seen it before going into Endgame.
Corollary: The Dark World’s plot depends on The Avengers and Thor.
STATUS: Essential
IRON MAN 3
It’s a relatively key part of Tony Stark’s character arc, serving as a bridge between the first two Avengers movies, and it also explains one minor cameo in Endgame, but if you missed it, you haven’t missed much.
STATUS: Optional
You don’t need to have seen this movie to see Endgame, but it’s a necessary background to movies that are essential to Endgame, such as it’s sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, so if you haven’t seen it you should probably give it a go.
STATUS: Optional
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
I think having seen Age of Ultron makes some of the character beats in Endgame land a bit better, I think a lot of the character work being done here pays off a lot more now that we know where they were going. And Age of Ultron was also pretty crucial to Infinity War. But if you haven’t seen this one yet, you probably won’t be too too lost, other than a few moments here and there.
Corollary: Essential to understanding Age of Ultron are The Winter Soldier and The Avengers.
STATUS: Optional
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Several key concepts and characters to Infinity War and Endgame were introduced here, so it’s pretty critical to following who’s who and what’s what in the new movie. Also, if you’ve already seen this one it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to give it a rewatch to refresh your memory.
STATUS: Essential
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Not much from this movie is directly related to Endgame, however it’s pretty crucial to later movies that are themselves more crucial to Endgame, and there are a few moments in the movie that may not really land if you haven’t seen it.
Corollary: If you’re seeing Winter Soldier for the first time, then The Avengers and The First Avenger are essential to understanding it.
STATUS: Optional
THOR: THE DARK WORLD
Again, this one introduces an Infinity Stone - and more specific elements end up being surprisingly crucial to Endgame’s plot. It’s not very highly regarded among fans - it’s not a bad movie so much as it’s a bit forgettable - but you’ll want to have seen it before going into Endgame.
Corollary: The Dark World’s plot depends on The Avengers and Thor.
STATUS: Essential
IRON MAN 3
It’s a relatively key part of Tony Stark’s character arc, serving as a bridge between the first two Avengers movies, and it also explains one minor cameo in Endgame, but if you missed it, you haven’t missed much.
STATUS: Optional
THE AVENGERS
If you haven’t seen the first Avengers movie, what are you even doing going to Endgame? This one’s pretty critical.
Corollary: If you haven’t seen The Avengers, somehow, you might want to see The First Avenger, Thor, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man before doing so.
STATUS: Essential
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
Endgame is a lot about paying off the character arcs of the major Avengers characters, and a lot of Steve’s storyline stems more from this movie than his later two “solo” films. Don’t sleep on this one.
STATUS: Essential
THOR
This one is an essential introduction to concepts elaborated on in later movies that are more Endgame crucial, but this film itself isn’t really all that important to Endgame.
STATUS: Skippable
IRON MAN 2
The story of this one? Not so much. The themes? Absolutely. Again, character arcs are really important to Endgame, and Iron Man 2 really does the heavy lifting on a major element of Tony’s character.
Corollary: You’ll probably want to see Iron Man before seeing Iron Man 2.
STATUS: Optional
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
This movie may as well have never happened in terms of any of its major narrative threads being picked up.
Corollary: The Incredible Hulk is a pseudo-sequel to the non-MCU movie Hulk.
STATUS: Skippable
IRON MAN
It’s debatable if anything from this movie is really crucial to Endgame, but the new movie really is focused on providing a satisfying finale for the entire canon of Marvel films up til now, and that gives it a very retrospective tone. What better way to prepare for that tone than going back to where it all began?
STATUS: Optional
