If you were born in the early 2000s, it is very likely that you grew up watching superhero movies. Maybe you weren’t super into them at first, but you surely remember the days when the first Iron Man movie had just come out and it was all everyone would talk about.
As the years went by, more movies were released and we were introduced to more characters. Suddenly, we found ourselves growing attached to them and we just couldn’t wait until the next movie made it to the theaters.
Just last month, with record-breaking ticket sales, the 22nd movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made its debut. Expectations were high for Avengers: Endgame, but what happens now that the Infinity Saga has been concluded? We do not know for sure, but expectations are even higher.
If you are now even more interested in the vastness within this so-called multiverse and are looking for the right content to become the ultimate Marvel fan, this is just the post for you.
“What should I read to deeper my knowledge on the stories?”
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Ever since 1961 – the year of Marvel’s first comic ever, so many stories have been told. Here is a selection of the ones you need to read ASAP.
1. The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (1991), by Jim Starlin
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Seeking to impress the Mistress Death, who brought him back to life, Thanos has gained control over the Infinity Gauntlet – making him an all-powerful God! With Mephisto as his familiar, Thanos wipes out half of the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers! What will Earth do when half its heroes are killed?
2. Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle (1979), by David Michelinie and Bob Layton
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Iron Man faces his most untouchable foe in criminal industrialist Justin Hammer and his literal army of super villains! However, can the armored avenger overcome an even more implacable personal demon, invulnerable to technology or wealth? “Demon in a Bottle” is concerned with Tony’s alcoholism.
3. Secret Wars (2015), by Jim Shooter
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The most powerful heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe square off on Battleword with the victor promised their greatest dreams and desires! Writer Jim Shooter and artists Mike Zeck and Bob Layton introduce the Beyonder in a 12-issue event featuring the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Magneto, Doctor Doom and more!
4. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982), by Chris Claremont
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The Uncanny X-Men. Magneto, master of magnetism. The bitterest of enemies for years. Now they must join forces against a new adversary who threatens them all and the entire world besides in the name of God.
5. Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (1990), by Jim Starlin
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The quest that led to Infinity Gauntlet begins here! Back from the dead, Thanos is after the power to bring the rest of the universe with him on a return trip! Can the Silver Surfer, Drax the Destroyer and others stop the cosmic iconoclast before he uses reality as a token of his affection for Death? Special guest-appearance by the Impossible Man!
Now that you are aware of what are some must-read comics, it is time to get into the cinematic part of the fun!
“What movies should I watch and/or rewatch more carefully this time?”
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In the last eleven years, 22 MCU movies have been released – including the latest, Endgame, which puts an end to the Infinity Saga. The MCU (aka Marvel Cinematic Universe) is divided in 3 phases: 2008 – 2012; 2012 – 2015; 2016 – 2019.
Now, let us have a look on which movies out of the 3 phases are absolutely essential for any Marvel fan. Grab your popcorn and get ready for a marathon!
Phase One most essential movies:
1. Iron Man (2008)
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The very first movie of the Infinity Saga MUST be watched! Iron Man presents us to the Tony Stark character arc and is essential to the full understanding of everything that was yet to come in the MCU.
In the first film, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. present a character who’s made vulnerable by his own weapons of mass destruction and then dedicates his life to protect the world.
2. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
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The original Marvel superhero, chronologically, gets a Joe Johnston-directed origin story that pulls skinny Steve Rogers into World War II as Captain America thanks to a super-soldier serum administered to him by the U.S. Government (and Tony Stark’s father). Steve also meets and falls in love with Peggy Carter, one of the founding agents of SHIELD. The First Avenger also features the first and most prominent MCU Infinity Stone, the Space Stone – AKA The Tesseract.
3. Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
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Phase one of the MCU movies ends with the first time we get to see the Avengers teaming up. In the film, Nick Fury, director of the spy agency SHIELD, recruits Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor’s brother Loki – who’s in possession of the Tesseract – from subjugating the Earth.
Phase Two most essential movies:
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Image Source: Marvel
Cap’s second movie represents his transition from a SHIELD soldier to a vigilante combating HYDRA, while adjusting to contemporary society. He teams up with fellow Avenger and SHIELD agent, Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
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The MCU jumps off planet for the first time to introduce the Guardians of the Galaxy. We meet Gamora and Nebula, the daughters of Thanos, plus get to see the big purple-colored guy himself in a floaty chair. The main object of the film is the Orb, a container for the Power Stone. As a bonus, The Collector gives a history of the Infinity Stones and we get our first look at the set of six.
3. Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)
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In the Eastern European country of Sokovia, the Avengers—Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton—raid a Hydra facility commanded by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, who has been experimenting on humans using the scepter previously wielded by Loki. They encounter two of Strucker’s test subjects—twins Pietro Maximoff, who has superhuman speed, and Wanda Maximoff, who has telepathic and telekinetic abilities—and apprehend Strucker, while Stark retrieves Loki’s scepter. Steve Rogers starts to distrust Tony’s intentions.
Phase Three most essential movies:
1. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Image Source: Marvel
Captain America: Civil War is the explosion of every bit of the Avengers team’s inner strife. Both Tony and Steve’s previously established worries and concerns come to a head because of Bucky and people’s growing unease with a group of superheroes running around destroying cities because of problems they created in the first place.
We are introduced to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man for the first time in this film.
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
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Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City. Here we get to see the development of Tony Stark and Peter Parker’s friendship and how Stark will do whatever it takes to protect those he cares about – this extends to Peter just as much as Pepper.
3. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
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Although the other two Thor movies didn’t make it to this list, Ragnarok is a pretty important movie in the Infinity Saga’s third phase.
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk!
4. Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)
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Two years after Scott Lang was placed on house arrest due to his involvement with the Avengers in violation of the Sokovia Accords, Hank Pym and his daughter Hope van Dyne briefly manage to open a tunnel to the quantum realm. They believe Pym’s wife Janet van Dyne might be trapped there after shrinking to sub-atomic levels in 1987. When he had previously visited the quantum realm, Lang had unknowingly become quantumly entangled with Janet, and now he receives an apparent message from her. All the important characters from the first movie are back, but this time we get to learn more about the original Wasp and the Quantum Realm. Ant-Man and its sequel are both equally fun, but this is the essential one to understanding Endgame.
5. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
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All events from the past ten years of movies have been building to this. So, yep, pretty essential movie.
The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
Obviously, last but not least, you should go check out Endgame as it is still available to watch in the movie theaters!
If you feel like getting a bit more acquainted with everything regarding Marvel and you just can’t get enough of it, there’s also a Youtube channel I know you’d love!
Comics Explained: