Like everyone these days, I suddenly had a lot of spare time starting in late March when my university sent me home. Given all this time, as well as my free Disney+ subscription for a year, I decided I would make the most of the situation and watch all of the Marvel movies in order. I had only seen one or two before, and I was desperate to understand what all the hype was about. I can now say that I not only understand the hype, but I am a part of it. But this was not merely for my enjoyment, this was serious.
The first order of business was to draft my team. After all, who wants to watch 22 movies all alone? Luckily, everyone else around me had a lot of free time as well, so we created what we called the “Quarantine Crew.” The team was my mom, my sister, me, and my neighbor who has been like a third sister since I was four years old. All of us chose our spots on the couch and began the research.
The second order of business was to figure out what order we should watch the movies in. We decided not to watch in the order they came out, but rather to watch them according to the timeline in which they took place. And, thanks to the internet, we found our list. We watched as follows:
Captain America: The First Avenger +
Captain Marvel +
Iron Man +
Iron Man 2 +
The Incredible Hulk *
Thor +
The Avengers +
Iron Man 3 +
Thor: Dark World +
Captain America: Winter Soldier +
Guardians of the Galaxy +
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 +
Avengers: Age of Ultron +
Ant-Man +
Captain America: Civil War +
Spider-Man: Homecoming *
Doctor Strange +
Black Panther +
Thor: Ragnorak +
Avengers: Infinity War –
Ant-Man and The Wasp –
Avengers: Endgame +
Spider-Man: Far From Home *
+ can be found on Disney+, – can be found on Netflix, and * require another streaming service
Our journey began on April 3 and ended on April 22. That is 23 movies in 19 days. How did we do it? Well, it took some strategy. On April 3, the day we decided to start, we watched four movies in a row. When Iron Man 2 ended at 1 am, I think I can speak for all of us when I say our eyes felt like goo. But we were hooked. Yet, sitting down to watch 4 movies in a row was not a very sustainable strategy given that there was still online schoolwork to do.
After that, it ranged from about 0-2 movies a day depending on everyone’s schedules. And, of course, we needed a day to let our hearts repair after they were broken watching Avengers: Endgame before we could go-on to Spider-Man: Far From Home.
All in all, what am I taking away from this experience? Through laughter, tears, yelling at the tv, and the occasional scream, I learned that these movies are important. Since it is a long series of movies, you get to watch these characters grow and learn to love them. Not only this, but there is another reason these superhero movies have stood the test of time: they give people hope.
Hope is something we can always use, but I think it is particularly important now. In these movies, we watch people with flaws, quirks, and talents just like the rest of us go on to fight against the impossible. Even if their challenges are aliens attacking New York while ours is a global pandemic, it is an excellent reminder to never give up even if the situation is daunting.
So, do I recommend that you watch all of the Marvel movies? Of course! (That’s why I included where you can stream all of these movies). But maybe spread them out a bit more! I hope that you too are taken on a journey that makes you feel all of the feelings, and leaves you with a sense of hope in these crazy times. After all, we could all use a reminder that we, too, are super.