# Can I watch Thor:Ragnarok, Justice League, and Black Panter without knowing all the backstory?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 28, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275 "2018-04-28T17:46:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/1 "2018-04-28T17:46:20Z")
I really haven’t seen a lot of the comic book movies over the past couple of years, they keep coming out nonstop.
However, I’m happy to see that my upcoming flight to Europe has a decent amount of popcorn movies available on demand. I often travel in May and the on demand movie section is usually loaded with Oscar bait movies and I don’t want something too heavy or endless complex plot twists to watch on a plane, especially with the excitement of an upcoming trip.
So, am I going to be fine watching any of the above movies without having seen lots of the previous films? I did see the first Thor movie, but I don’t remember a thing about it. I’d never even heard of Black Panther before the movie came out. And, I assume Justice League is similar to the Avengers, a group of super heroes that join forces, am I correct?
I also plan to see the new Avengers film in the theatre either this weekend or next week.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/2 "2018-04-28T17:53:23Z")
If you haven’t seen _The Avengers_, _Thor: Ragnarok_ will be Hela confusing. 😉
_Black Panther_ can pretty much stand on its own.
Skip _Justice League_ and watch _Freddie Got Fingered_ or _Highlander 2_ instead. It’s a shitty movie, and if you didn’t see _The Worst Batman Ever vs The Worst Superman Ever_, you will be totally adrift.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/3 "2018-04-28T17:57:41Z")
I’ve seen the first Avengers movie that came out around 2012 or so. I have Batman vs Superman on my DVR and have gotten about halfway through it, it didn’t impress me much. I liked all the Dark Knight movies, although I haven’t returned to them in quite a while. Man of Steel was ok, but way too long, IMHO.
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### Author:  [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/4 "2018-04-28T18:03:01Z")
You should be fine with Ragnarok or Black Panther. Avoid Justice League. You’d be better off sleeping than watching it, or watching paint dry, or pretty much anything really.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/5 "2018-04-28T18:09:23Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> _Black Panther_ can pretty much stand on its own.
It has a few references to events in other MCU movies (particularly Civil War and Age of Ultron), but I agree that it largely stands on its own (and those references are probably explained well enough within _Black Panther_). There’s a scene in the credits that’ll make considerably more sense if you know what’s gone on in the Captain America movies, but it’s not a huge deal.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/6 "2018-04-28T21:20:10Z")
Yeah, all you’ll miss out on in _Black Panther_ is one off-hand joke and one character saying “hey, I know that guy”.
Thor: Ragnarok is a little more tied into the others, but all you need to know there is that Thor has teamed up with other heroes in the past, and a bit of backstory between him and his family that’s conveniently recapped within the movie itself. Oh, and apparently Earth has wizards now.
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### Author:  [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/7 "2018-04-28T21:30:27Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#):
>
> Avoid Justice League. You’d be better off sleeping than watching it, or watching paint dry, or pretty much anything really.
I don’t know if it was here on the SDMB, or some other site, but I’d heard tell that Marvel should bill its movies as ‘In COLOR … unlike DC’
I always found that way too true to the DC franchises ‘washed out palette’ to not be incredibly amusing.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/8 "2018-04-28T22:00:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Yeah, all you’ll miss out on in _Black Panther_ is one off-hand joke and one character saying “hey, I know that guy”.
>
> Thor: Ragnarok is a little more tied into the others, but all you need to know there is that Thor has teamed up with other heroes in the past, and a bit of backstory between him and his family that’s conveniently recapped within the movie itself. **Oh, and apparently Earth has wizards now.**
Please. **Sorcerer**. Sorcerer Supreme, to be exact. And Wong.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/9 "2018-04-28T23:50:06Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Please. **Sorcerer**. Sorcerer Supreme, to be exact. And Wong.
Tell that to Thor.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/10 "2018-04-28T23:55:26Z")
I was quoting Thor.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/11 "2018-04-29T02:37:44Z")
Gods are allowed mistakes in nomenclature. Mortals are not.
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2018, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-watch-thor-ragnarok-justice-league-and-black-panter-without-knowing-all-the-backstory/813275/12 "2018-04-29T02:48:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Can I watch Thor:Ragnarok, Justice League, and Black Panter without knowing all the backstory?
I did, and loved them both.
My wife hates “comic book movies”, but a friend recommended Black Panther. She really liked it!