Throughout the years, people have seen and become fans of various different franchises. There’s Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and many more. However, for the past five years or so, one fandom has stood out the most… and that would be the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, the MCU has been making movies since 2008, starting off with their highly-successful film, Iron Man. More than ten years later, the MCU is now one of the most popular and internationally-successful franchises, with 20 movies released and already many more in the making.
Just last year, the MCU released one of their most climatic films that all of their fans have been waiting for. That film was Avengers: Infinity War. After that, Antman and the Wasp was released and now, fans across the globe are anxiously waiting for Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spiderman: Far From Home.
That’s enough about the history of the MCU, however. Whether you are already a hardcore Marvel fan, or a human who has only just been introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this article is here to teach you the best ways that you can watch Marvel movies…
1.) Decide the order in which you are going to watch the films – This is probably the most important decision a person will have to make before beginning his or her journey through the MCU. Is it better to watch the films in the order that they were released? Or is it better to watch the films chronologically? To be honest, it does not really matter. The MCU films are generally already in chronological order if they are watched by release dates. However, in case you were wondering about the order that these films can be watched in:
Order by release dates:
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
In chronological order:
- 1943-1945: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- 2010: Iron Man (2008)
- 2011: Iron Man 2 (2010), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (2011)
- 2012: The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013)
- 2013: Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- 2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015)
- 2016: Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- 2016 through to 2017: Doctor Strange (2016)
- 2017: Black Panther (2018), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2.) Be open-minded – This is a suggestion especially for those who have just been introduced to the MCU. Yes, at first glance, the plotlines in each of the films may seem very cliche. Yes, there is a significant amount of CGI, but people have to keep in mind that these are superhero films circulating around fictional superheroes based off of comic books. They are known to be quite “colourful”, both in terms of setting and storyline. So if you ever feel the need to complain about the heavy amounts of CGI or predictable plot, please try to understand that, that is usually how superhero movies are. If that’s not for you, well, at least you tried it out! Word of advice: try not to complain about the MCU films around hardcore MCU fans. You’ll find yourself running away half a second later…
3.) Do your research, and know which superhero movies are actually from the MCU- If you already have friends who would die rather than miss a single MCU film, you might already know that the worst way you can annoy them is if you mistake another superhero film franchise, such as the X-men movies, the Fantastic Four movies, or the two other Spiderman film series, as part of the MCU. Yes, you heard me: the X-men and the Fantastic Four are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are still part of Marvel, however, they are not actually owned by the media franchise and studio; they’re actually owned by Fox or Sony. This means that these particular superheroes don’t exist in the same universe as the characters in the MCU. So, for your friends’ sakes, and also to keep yourself out of confusion, do some research before hunting down the MCU films you need to watch. Just saying though, it wouldn’t hurt to watch those other superhero films in your own time.
Hopefully, this article has helped out anyone who has just entered the world of the MCU, or eased the hearts and frustrations of many other dedicated MCU fans like me! Take care, Marvel fans, and keep an eye out for more upcoming Marvel news and films!
