In the run-up to Avengers: Endgame, many fans are re-familiarizing themselves with the last decade of MCU films. There are multiple mini-movie clubs working their way through the series, with CableTV going so far as to offer fans $1000 to watch twenty films back-to-back. There’s also going to be some painful sounding marathons in cinemas on the days before release, with AMC holding a 60 hour back-to-back screening of all 22 MCU efforts. Ouch.
If you haven’t got the time or the inclination to watch all these movies, though, the Russo Brothers have narrowed down the MCU films you need to catch before seeing Endgame to two. They’ve said that the two outings that will inform the plot of their upcoming sequel the most are Thor: The Dark World and The Incredible Hulk. Huh, that’s not what I was expecting. Better dig out these DVDs and pay close attention to these overlooked classics.
Nah, just kidding. The two movies they say you actually need to watch are Captain America: Civil War and (duh) Avengers: Infinity War.
“It’s a great question, and I will say we do work hard to make sure that the story works in a way that even people who haven’t seen any thing [can still enjoy the movie] because we feel like that’s very important,” said Anthony Russo. “I think you see this movie after movie, the audience keeps growing for these films. So what that tells us is that people are seeing these movies who haven’t seen the previous ones.”
“So it’s important that we are speaking to an audience that is perhaps seeing these stories for the first time. That being said, there’s certainly an interconnected story being told. I would say, certainly, Civil War and Infinity War are probably the two biggest lead-ins to this movie in the sense that Civil War created the situation where the Avengers were divided.”
If I had to pick five movies for a complete novice to watch before Avengers: Endgame, my choices would be The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok and, obviously, Infinity War. Those films won’t set up the full picture, but between them they should at least give you the vague history of Thanos’ involvement in the MCU, what the Infinity Stones are and who these funny characters in weird outfits are (because you’ve obviously been living under a rock if you don’t know).