# Prerequisites for Movies

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prerequisites-for-movies/826440>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 20, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prerequisites-for-movies/826440 "2018-12-20T19:41:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prerequisites-for-movies/826440/21 "2018-12-22T00:30:09Z")

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Regarding upcoming MCU films – there are only three currently-announced films (though they will undoubtedly announce more after _Avengers: Endgame_ comes out in April).

Of those three, _Captain Marvel_ is probably pretty likely to stand on its own. For one thing, it’s set in 1995. It’ll contain a few characters who are in other MCU films (most notably a younger, two-eyed Nick Fury), but I’d suspect that any references to other films will be pretty tenuous, if for no other reason than due to the timeline.

_Avengers: Endgame_ and _Spider-Man: Far From Home_ will both, undoubtedly, make extensive reference to earlier MCU films and characters.

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prerequisites-for-movies/826440/22 "2018-12-22T00:52:35Z")

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> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> If the reviews would always, clearly and up front, indicate that, then great—that’s exactly what I’m asking for.

This information is trivially easy to find, it’s not like anyone is hiding the Marvel Universe timeline.

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**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prerequisites-for-movies/826440/23 "2018-12-22T19:16:37Z")

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> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> I didn’t mean to talk only about Marvel movies; they’re just perhaps the most egregious example and the one that got me started thinking about this. A few other examples:
> 
> The _Lord of the Rings_ movies _have_ to be watched in order. Like the books that they were made from, they tell a single, long story, split up into three volumes for practical reasons. Probably Peter Jackson’s _Hobbit_ trilogy also needs to be watched in order, though I don’t think they’d lose quite as much from being watched out of order—maybe because there isn’t as much to lose. And they can certainly be appreciated (to whatever extent they can be appreciated at all) without having seen _LotR_ first.
> 
> This summer I watched the latest _Mission Impossible_ movie without having seen the previous movies in the series, and I was quite able to enjoy it. It’s possible that, if I had seen the other movies first, I would have appreciated this one more, but it was perfectly watchable without them.
> 
> I watched the first of the J.J. Abrams rebooted _Star Trek_ movies, and it left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I haven’t watched the others. I suspect that these movies might be enjoyed more if you’re _not_ familiar with the (Shatner/Nimoy-era) source material.

I disliked the first Abrams _Star Trek_ but I found that with the second _Star Trek_ Abrams really hit the nail on the head. I really enjoyed it.

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