Avengers: Endgame will be the final chapter for the MCU phase 3. This franchise has been growing for years and has featured many Marvel movies based on the Avengers and the members’ origin stories. There are a total of 21 Marvel movies leading up to Avengers: Endgame, but you don’t have to watch all of them, you only need to do 9 to ensure you’re caught up for Endgame.
Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or you’d like to catch up before Avengers: Endgame is released in April 2019, these 9 Marvel movies are a must-watch. You also need to make sure you watch them in the order we’re suggesting, to ensure you get the facts and the storyline right.
Related: Captain Marvel Continues To Dominate The SA Box Office Top 10
Iron Man
The Marvel movie that started it all back in 2008. Iron Man is one of the essential Marvel movies to watch before Endgame because it shows where the MCU all began. The movie was directed by Jon Favreau and introduced the world to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man. Iron Man has since appeared in a total of 10 Marvel movies, including The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and soon-to-be-released Avengers: Endgame.
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Captain America: The First Avenger
As the name suggests, this 2011 Marvel movie gives us a look at the first of the Avengers – Captain America, who is portrayed by Chris Evans. The movie is the character’s origin movie, but it also gives fans a look at how the Avengers was started and gives us a detailed look into S.H.I.E.L.D. and its founding member, Agent Peggy Carter. Nick Fury (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson), who is a key character in the MCU, also features in this movie.
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It’s also the first of the Marvel movies to feature an Infinity Stone. The so-called Tesseract is actually the Space Stone, making it one of the reasons it’s such an important movie to watch before Avengers: Endgame.
Marvel’s The Avengers
The first time the Avengers officially assembled on-screen was in the 2012 movie, Marvel’s The Avengers.
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Not only do we get more info on key members of the Avengers like Black Widow (portrayed by Scarlett Johanson), Thor (portrayed by Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (portrayed Mark Ruffalo), and Hawkeye (portrayed by Jeremy Renner), it also features other key characters in the MCU like Loki (portrayed by Tom Hiddleston) and Thanos himself. Thanos is featured for the first time in the end-credits scene that is always a feature in Marvel movies.
Guardians of the Galaxy
The first of the Marvel movies to travel beyond Earth. 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy introduces us to a band of intergalactic space superheroes that eventually play very important parts in the greater MCU story.
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For one, the movie introduces us to Thanos’s daughters, Gamora (portrayed by Zoey Saldana) and Nebula (portrayed by Karen Gillan), who is left alive on Titan with Tony Stark after Infinity War. Also, the movie’s main storyline centres around another one of the Infinity Stones – the Power Stone, which is called the Orb in the movie.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
This 2015 movie focuses on yet another Infinity Stone, the Mind Stone, which is in Loki’s sceptre. The Infinity Gauntlet is also briefly featured in a vision. We’re also introduced to Scarlet Witch (portrayed by Elizabeth Olson), who becomes an important character throughout the MCU.
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Spider-Man: Homecoming
Not only does this 2017 movie introduce us to the lovable Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but it also sets up a sweet relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker. It’s one of the Marvel movies that makes some of the scenes in Infinity War very emotional as it sets up a backstory of Peter Parker and his relationship as Spider-Man with the rest of the Avengers, especially Iron-Man.
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Avengers: Infinity War
Before the title of Endgame was announced, it was referred to as Infinity War Part II and this 2018 Avengers movie is one of the important Marvel movies to watch before Avengers: Endgame. In Infinity War, Thanos delivers the most devastating blow to the world and the Avengers yet, and the movie sets up the entire plot for Endgame.
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Ant-Man and the Wasp
We see Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang aka Ant-Man in the new Endgame trailer, so we’re assuming he is going to feature a lot in the new movie. His 2018 movie, which co-starred Evangeline Lily as Hope van Dyne aka the Wasp, focuses heavily on the Quantum Realm and could be an important theme in Endgame.
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Captain Marvel
As the first female Marvel standalone movie, Captain Marvel already has a special spot in the MCU.
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But this newly released movie starring Brie Larson as the title character is also important to watch before Endgame because we suspect that Captain Marvel will play an integral role in the upcoming movie. Her modified pager is featured heavily in the promotional material for Endgame and she, herself, makes an appearance.
Here is a list of all the Marvel movies in the MCU if you’ve got the time to watch all 21 of them before Avengers: Endgame releases.
- Iron Man (2008);
- The Incredible Hulk (2008);
- Iron Man 2 (2010);
- Thor (2011);
- Captain America: The First Avengers (2011);
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012);
- Iron Man 3 (2013);
- Thor: The Dark World (2013);
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014);
- Guardians of the Galaxy (201);
- 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); and
- Captain Marvel (2019).
Related: 5 Marvel Females That Should Get Their Own Superhero Movies Like Captain Marvel
Are you going to be catching up on some Marvel movies before Avengers: Endgame comes out? Let us know which ones in the comments section below.
