Since everyone’s been asking me, here’s a guide to what you should see before watching Avengers: Infinity War. The simple answer is “everything”, since this is the movie Marvel Studios’ has been building towards for 10 years and it all pays off here, but that’s a LOT of movies, so here’s a guide to what’s Essential, what’s Optional, and what’s Skippable. I’ll be working backwards through the movies, from newest to oldest.
BLACK PANTHER
This is a fantastic movie that you should really just see anyways, but it’s not really necessary for understanding Infinity War. The main things established in this movie that play into Infinity War are equally established in Captain America: Civil War, a movie that’s also much more vital in the overall saga. If you have seen Black Panther, you’ll see a lot of those characters and settings return and get a big role in Infinity War, but if you haven’t, you can get by so long as you’ve seen Civil War.
STATUS: Optional
THOR: RAGNAROK
Infinity War literally starts right where Ragnarok ends, and the third Thor film changes Thor’s status quo so significantly, that if you haven’t seen it you’ll be pretty lost when it comes to what’s going on with the God of Thunder in this one. It helps that Ragnarok is also a pretty rad movie on its own, so it should be a pleasure to catch up with it.
Corollary: To understand what’s going on in Thor: Ragnarok, you’ll need to have seen Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: The Dark World, The Avengers, and Thor, so those all become essential to Infinity War by extension.
STATUS: Essential
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
Spider-Man’s in Infinity War, but there’s nothing you really need to know about him in that flick that you don’t know either from cultural osmosis or by seeing how he was introduced in Civil War. If you have seen Homecoming, there’s some stuff from there that shows up in Infinity War and there’s one character from Homecoming who shows up in a minor supporting role, but if you haven’t seen it you’ll be all right, again so long as you’ve seen Civil War.
STATUS: Optional
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
The Guardians play a huge part in Infinity War. By the end of this sequel their status quo has been a bit shaken up, particularly with the introduction of a new member who’s quite prominent in Infinity War. The main plotline of the sequel, which centres on Star-Lord, isn’t relevant at all to Infinity War, but the subplot about sisters Gamora and Nebula is essential for understanding where those characters are at in the new movie.
Corollary: You should probably see the original Guardians of the Galaxy before seeing the second one, if you haven’t already.
STATUS: Essential
DOCTOR STRANGE
The Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts is a major player in Infinity War, as is his arcane talisman, the Eye of Agamotto. The Eye plays a big role in the plotline of the new movie, and this introductory Doctor Strange film is a good primer on what it is and what it can do.
STATUS: Essential
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
This movie was a major turning point in the arcs of several of the Avengers characters. While its plot doesn’t directly tie into Infinity War, it’s a crucial film for understanding where most of the characters in the film are at and what their emotional stakes are.
Corollary: To understand 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 Infinity War, but you do need to have seen it to see Civil War, and you need to see Civil War before seeing Infinity War. So it’s either totally skippable, or it’s essential, depending on your point of view.
STATUS: Skippable (but essential to other Essential viewing)
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Yes, you need to have seen the second Avengers movie to understand what’s up in the third one. Several prominent characters and concepts are introduced in it that are key to Infinity War’s plot.
Corollary: Essential to understanding Age of Ultron are The Winter Soldier and The Avengers.
STATUS: Essential
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Several key concepts and characters to Infinity War are introduced and explained in this movie. Additionally, it contains the most prior screen time for Infinity War’s villain.
STATUS: Essential
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Not much from this movie’s plot is directly related to Infinity War, however the plotlines, character arcs, and consequences from it do directly inform later movies that are essential to Infinity War.
Corollary: If you’re seeing Winter Soldier for the first time, then The Avengers and The First Avenger are essential to understanding it.
STATUS: Skippable (but essential to other Essential viewing)
THOR: THE DARK WORLD
This entry introduced a key concept to Infinity War, but everything you need to know about it is re-introduced in the new movie, so if you haven’t seen The Dark World it’s not a big deal, though it does form the connective tissue between other essential entries.
Corollary: The Dark World’s plot depends on The Avengers and Thor.
STATUS: Optional (but essential to other Essential viewing)
IRON MAN 3
While nothing from this movie directly connects to Infinity War, or even many other Marvel movies for that matter, it does delve into Tony Stark’s PTSD following the attack in The Avengers, and its this trauma that drives much of Stark’s interaction with Infinity War’s villain.
STATUS: Optional
THE AVENGERS
The main villain of Infinity War, Thanos, is introduced for the first time here, and the events of this movie are referenced multiple times. The movie introduces many other key concepts to Infinity War.
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
This movie was the first to really lay the seeds for the events we see in Infinity War. Many key characters and concepts from this movie are paid off in the latest one.
STATUS: Essential
THOR
While a fairly major Infinity War character is introduced in this movie, it’s not directly related to the new movie in terms of plot. That said, it’s pretty essential to other essential movies in Infinity War’s backstory.
STATUS: Skippable (but essential to other Essential viewing)
IRON MAN 2
Very little from this movie is relevant to Infinity War, but much of it is relevant to movies that are relevant to Infinity War.
Very little from this movie is relevant to Infinity War, but much of it is relevant to movies that are relevant to Infinity War.
Corollary: You’ll probably want to see Iron Man before seeing Iron Man 2.
STATUS: Skippable (but essential to other Essential viewing)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Do you know who the Hulk is? Great.
Corollary: The Incredible Hulk is kind of a sequel to the non-MCU movie Hulk.
Do you know who the Hulk is? Great.
Corollary: The Incredible Hulk is kind of a sequel to the non-MCU movie Hulk.
STATUS: Skippable (but essential to other Essential viewing)
IRON MAN
The foundation for all that follows. Not directly related to Infinity War at all, but everything else is ultimately is built atop this movie.
The foundation for all that follows. Not directly related to Infinity War at all, but everything else is ultimately is built atop this movie.
STATUS: Skippable (but essential to other Essential viewing)
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