Catching up on the MCU from the beginning?

So far I’ve avoided watching any MCU movies, combination of too busy and just didn’t seem that interesting at the time.

Have an urge to get onboard now. Which ones should I watch in what order and which ones should I skip or not worry about?

I didn’t get around to watching the first Thor movie until after I’d seen The Avengers, for what it’s worth.

In MCU Phase One, definitely check out Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America and The Avengers. I haven’t seen all of the MCU films so far, but The Avengers is a must-see. One of the best action/comedies I’ve ever seen.

The order in which they were released:

Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk (this is the Edward Norton one)
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America
The Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange

Honestly, if you have the time, I’d watch most of them. I tend to skip The Incredible Hulk in rewatches because it doesn’t really add that much to the overall chronology, and Thor: The Dark World has some fun moments but isn’t one of the universe’s strongest outings though it does introduce one of the universe mcguffins.

Best: Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Civil War and Cap: Winter Soldier, The Avengers.

Was going to say “where’s Deadpool?” then realised that Deadpool isn’t MCU despite being Marvel… What a mess, wish Fox and Disney could just work together and split profits on titles where Fox owns the movie rights.

Incredible Hulk is the only one you don’t need. All the others are essential viewing and have storyline implications for the overall universe.

I’d say watch everything up to and including the first Avengers movie, except that you can skip The Incredible Hulk. I happen to enjoy the Edward Norton Hulk movie but it doesn’t really add anything to overall continuity.

Then, from the first Avengers movie, the films I’d say that you “need” in terms of keeping up with continuity, would be Cap2, Avengers2, Cap3.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Dr. Strange all mostly serve to introduce new characters. Each of them may introduce some elements that will fit into the larger continuity but nothing that would leave you completely confused when Avengers3 comes along.

I like Thor 2 more than most people here at the SDMB.

I like Iron Man 3 less than most people here.

Yeah ok, except I’m a huge fan of Edward Norton so might have to watch this one as well.

Oh yeah, I thought it was fine, but it didn’t really set anything up. All of the other movies do things that are continued in other movies, even Ant Man(he appears in Captain America Civil War), and Guardians of the Galaxy(which is supposed to be important for Avengers 3, and is one of the best MCU movies in its own right).

Make sure you watch all the end-credit easter eggs, too.

I thought Age of Ultron and Dr. Strange were pretty weak. I’m starting to get bored with people blowing up the whole world every couple of months.

BTW, there’s also a plethora of TV shows that now tie into the MCU, the most prominent of which is Agents of Shield, whose first season tied into the events of Winter Soldier. But it is certainly not essential viewing, and I got pretty sick of it after the first season.

Then it got much, much better.

Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk (this is the Edward Norton one)
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America
The Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
The essential ones are bolded.

I don’t understand why everyone is recommending Iron Man 2. It’s one of the weakest MCU movies to me, and I don’t think it had anything important for the over-arching plot except introducing Black Widow and the War Machine suit (in action).

Other than that, I think silenus’s list is pretty good, though I’d un-bold IM2 and bold Thor 1 (since understanding Loki is important). Might be able to skip the first Captain America too if you have a general handle on the character, aside from maybe being confused who the Winter Soldier is.

IMO, you get the essentials of Loki in The Avengers, but really need the back-story on Bucky provided by CA:FA. Ditto Black Widow and War Machine - if you just drop into The Avengers you have absolutely zero idea who the chick in the catsuit is, or why she’s hanging with the heavy hitters.

I’ll confess that I wasn’t impressed with Thor, and since I knew the comics I knew the motivations.

Personally, I thought that Thor: The Dark World was the weakest of them (though I haven’t seen Hulk). But you might still want to see that one if you’re a Tom Hiddleson fan, because the chemistry between Thor and Loki is great.

My favorites were The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. And Captain America: Civil War is not, despite the name, a Captain America movie, but much more about the Avengers as a whole (and others).

GOTG is a fun movie, but no more necessary than Incredible Hulk. (no just having Thanos doesn’t make it so)

Guardians actually shows the direct effects (and thus the dangers) of an Infinity Stone, moreso than either of the two Avengers movies. An inattentive viewer could have attributed the chaos of the first Avengers movie as coming from Loki rather than the Mind Stone in the staff given to him by Thanos. Indeed, in the second Avengers movie they let the Vision keep it. (So it can’t have been all bad, right?)