Where to start with the MCU.

I’m in my mid 30’s and I proudly own a Wolverine wallet. I also took one of my teacher summer goals, which I miss in a big way, to read every single X-Men comic ever. And this isn’t a new thing for me. I remember trading Marvel Comic Cards during lunch in elementary school. The 8-year-old me would be doing cartwheel’s and back flips if he saw all of the movies coming out recently. Most specifically he would be excited about the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

We need to do a quick history lesson. Back in 2009 Marvel Comics was purchased by Disney for $4 Billion. That’s Billion–with a B. There is a whole litany of things that can be broken down within that purchase, most notably the Marvel had already sold the rights to many film adaptations piece-meal to various other studios and therefore Disney didn’t buy ALL the movie rights (Spider-Man was/is owned by Sony, Mutants/X-Men/Fantastic Four is owned by Fox, etc). But suffice it to say this massive purchase was done to create a universe of connected films, not unlike the comic book world itself. Since 2009 and to date Disney/Marvel Studios has made 16 films with 8 more scheduled for release, and 7 television shows with another 5 slated to be released that are all connected to the universe. Each movie release adds another layer of depth and connectedness to the universe.

16 movies and 7 televisions series’ can become a pretty daunting viewing task for anyone trying to get into the universe. It also may have a weird adverse affect on people wanting to see, arbitrarily, the new Spider-Man for fear that they may have to see every other film before to be caught up. With each new release I get another friend asking me where to start for viewing. It’s generally followed by a just-the-facts-ma’am request to just give them the essentials to get them caught up prior to the new release.

So, without further adieu I would like to present that list here. I will try to keep it updated with new releases for people to check back. Here are few stipulations:

1. I am beginning with 2008 Iron Man – Technically it wasn’t part of the Disney purchase but for all intents and purposes, it’s relate. Anything that predates it, I do not include it.
2. I also do not include Non-Disney/MCU films (e.g. Logan, X-Men, Deadpool, Garfield/Maguire Spider-Man.
3. It is chronological order as God intended. But more specifically Disney/Marvel rolled out their films in what they called “Phases.” Each phase is culminated in a large scale film event. I will divide it as such as well.
4. Blue = Essential Viewing for the Universe
5. Red = Non-essential but helpful
6. Green = Non-essential and not recommended

Here is the list:

Phase 1

1. Iron Man (2008) – Absolutely essential. It starts everything off and it is your fairly typical Super-Hero origin story. Fundamental to almost everything but specifically the Avengers. 
2. Iron Man 2 (2010) – Probably my least favorite Iron Man movie. But it is essential. It introduces Black Widow, , Nick Fury, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Thor at the very end.
3. Thor (2011) – Essential. I feel like Marvel movies at this point begin attempting to be genre films with Super Heroes in them. This is Marvel’s Shakespearean style love story. It is directed (impeccably might I add) by Kenneth Branagh, the current President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and director of Hamlet and Henry V films. My wife loves this one for that reason. It is a great Shakespearean origin story.
4. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – An unbelievably successful origin/underdog story. Introduces the Avengers officially, Agent Carter, and Hydra/Winter Soldier. 
5. The Avengers (2012) – This is the major event of Phase 1 and is absolutely essential to the whole universe. At the time of its release it was the 2nd highest grossing film of all time (It’s now #5). It introduces the Infinity Stones which is becoming the backbone to the entire universe. 

In between Phase 1 and Phase 2

1. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 – This sets up the battle between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. Not necessary to the plot of phase 2 but it does give some interesting context and expands the story of Agent Coulson from the Avengers movie. It’s on ABC (owned by Disney) and I think on Netflix.

Phase 2

1. Iron Man 3 (2013) – Not overly true to the comics and many hardcore fans really struggled with the portrayal of the villain (the Mandarin specifically) but I enjoyed this one. As I said with Thor, this one is Marvel’s version of a PTSD war story and also many of the mental shifts for the universe leading to Age of Ultron and Civil War.
2. Thor: The Dark World (2013) – This is my absolute least favorite MCU film. I have only seen it twice and can’t find any reason to watch it except maybe a little information about the Infinity Stones. Truth be told I hate Christopher Eccleston and that may affect my feelings. Regardless I don’t see this one as essential. 
3. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – This is currently my second favorite Marvel film. It is Marvel’s version of the misfit Bad News Bears film. It works on so many levels. It is not necessarily essential to the Avengers story line…yet. But it is obviously essential to the GotG 2 film and will come into play with the Infinity Stones and the Infinity Wars in the very near future. Don’t miss this one. If nothing else to see Baby Groot dancing. 
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) – Hands down my favorite Marvel film. Even if you never watch another Marvel movie, I would suggest this one. This is Marvel’s political war thriller masked as a superhero film. I not only think this movie is essential to the MCU, it is essential to life. The Russo Brothers were masterful in this one. It also sets up the over all climate for Age of Ultron but more so for Civil War.
5. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 and 3 – This season introduces the Inhumans which will come into play later in some form. There is a weird legal battle between Fox and Disney where Disney is not allowed to use the word Mutants (X-Men property) so Disney is using Inhuman DNA as a work around. It also reintroduces Ghost Rider, who recently became a part of the Marvel Intellectual Property. Anyway, this season isn’t essential but it does again give some back drop on the universe. It’s a solid show.
6. Agent Carter Season 1 and 2 – In hindsight, I wouldn’t really recommend this show unless you are really into being angry at Disney. It was a flashback to Agent Carter from Captain America and the show was effectively tackling some great gender related issues. But it ultimately was cancelled and it really had very little tie in to the MCU. It’s a good show, but you will be disappointed since it never really has a resolution to the story. 
7. Daredevil Season 1 – Not essential to the storyline but it is possibly some of the best superhero storytelling on television (Netflix). It sets up the Defenders which will be released soon and they are rumored to have a bigger part in the MCU. It is bloody and a little more edgy. It is rated TV-MA. So, understand that going in if you choose to watch it. It has some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen and Vincent D’Onofrio is phenomenal as Kingpin. 
8. Ant-Man (2015) – This is a great funny story. It is Marvel’s version of a heist genre film. This is a tough one to call for me, but I am going to put it as essential in the same way that Guardians of the Galaxy is essentially. Ant-Man comes back in Civil War. It helps to know who he is. It also features Falcon from Winter Soldier and really establishes a potential new Avengers core unit. Paul Rudd is fantastic, by the way.
9. Jessica Jones Season 1 – Not really related to the main storyline, as it is more centered on the events in Hell’s Kitchen in New York. But this is some phenomenal metaphorical storytelling about abusive relationships in the lens of a superhero story. It is a bit more adult as it is TV-MA, but I would highly recommend it. It introduces Luke Cage and David Tennant is amazingly creepy as Purple Man. 
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – The major event of Phase 2. I didn’t like it as much as the first Avengers but it did bring up some questions that are addressed in Civil War. It introduces Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver as well as Vision. It also begins the deterioration of the relationship between Captain American and Iron Man.

Phase 3

1. Captain America: Civil War (2016) – Essential. This introduces the Sakovia Accords (regulations on Superheros), introduces Black Panther and reintroduces Spider-Man into the universe. It is fun and BIG. Substantively I wouldn’t put it as important as Winter Soldier, but it is a fantastic film. Don’t miss this one.
2. Doctor Strange (2016) – I don’t put this one as essential…yet. It is really good though. Stephen Strange is a mystic trained by Shaolin Monks. So this is kind of Marvel’s version of a combination between Martial Arts and Inception style mind bending story. Strange will eventually be a part of the Infinity Wars and Benedict Cumberbatch is great. I would suggest seeing it, but for right now, it is not essential viewing material.
3. Luke Cage Season 1 – This was a fun story. It is not essential except to the Netflix Defender group. As a stand alone film it is a Marvel 1970’s African-American Cultural film. It is based in Harlem and tackles a ton of questions in that culture and part of the world. I enjoyed most of it, but I have to say the ending was a bit messy. 
4. Daredevil Season 2 – This introduces the Punisher, who will have his own show, and also Elektra. It’s solid but not as good as Season 1 in my opinion. But not essential to the MCU story arch. 
5. Iron Fist Season 1 – This was Marvel’s attempt at a Martial Arts TV show and they kind of messed it up from the start. I wouldn’t recommend any of it. I think it should be discarded. I tried really hard to defend this show early on, but ended up hating it just as hard as I defended it. The story was a mess and all over the place and the characters were weak. Every studio is allowed a stinker and this one is it. DO NOT WATCH THIS SHOW!
6. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017) – This was another fun story. It ties itself more into the MCU as they are moving to an Infinity Wars collision so this one is definitely essential. They are becoming more enjoyable to me than the Avengers. James Gunn is doing great work with GotG. 
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming – This one was a really fun story. It ties into Iron Man and has an end credit scene that may lead into a future Venom film. It wasn’t my favorite of the Marvel films for various reasons which I will write about later, but by and large it’s the best Spider-Man film I have ever seen. It’s Marvel’s version of the teenage dance genre film. I would both recommend it and I will list it as essential viewing to the MCU. A big question for many that do not know is why is this Spider-Man included and the past ones are not. Sony previously had exclusive rights to the Spider-Man franchise. In 2015, however Disney and Sony arrived to an agreement allowing Sony to keep the rights but agreeing to utilize each other’s characters in their respective franchises. There area a ton of reasons this was mutually beneficial, but as part of the deal, Spider-Man was to be reboot as a teenager. So this is the only official Spider-Man iteration that is included in the MCU.

 

Alright, so there is my list. There are still more films/shows to be released this year and in the coming years, so I will add them in as necessary. Hope this helps your binge watching to get caught up.