Marvel’s Infinity War: How to watch all the Marvel movies in order

By TARREN LEWIS

The Mirror reporter

With the upcoming release of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, many fans, myself included, are gearing up for what seems to be the biggest superhero crossover in current Marvel history. Everything that has occurred in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has led up to this point, and Marvel has been dropping hints all along the way for Infinity War.

The biggest and most noticeable one appearing at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron with the appearance of Thanos stealing the Infinity Gauntlet, which had been housed in the relic storage room in Asgard. Thanos states, “Fine, I’ll do it myself,” which is the biggest Marvel movie Easter egg in MCU history to date.

Slightly more subtle hints have been dropped, however, such as the use of the Infinity Stones. The Infinity Stones are to be placed into the Infinity Gauntlet, and grant the user control over certain aspects of the universe and have appeared in almost every MCU movie to date suggesting from the start their use in a later movie.

With the release of Infinity War, many fans including myself will be re-watching all the movies. The one question is though, what is the right order to watch them in? Well, look no further; this reporter has the answer to that question. The following information was previously printed by Cnet.com, following a recommended order to watch the movies in without regard to the years the movies were released.

The list starts off with a classic, 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Captain America was the original Avenger, and due to the experiments of the Weapon X program, the “Capt.” gained his super-human abilities, enabling him to defeat Red Skull before being frozen in the ice in the Arctic.

Up next is 2008’s Iron Man, officially bringing Tony Stark into the MCU and starting a new era of superheroes without any superpowers, as well as paving the road for the formation of The Avengers.

Following Iron Man is another 2008 movie release, The Incredible Hulk. Scientist Bruce Banner absorbed a huge amount of gamma radiation in a lab accident, turning him into the Hulk. He is forced into hiding to protect himself and his loved ones while he searches for a cure to his ailment, at the same time being hunted by the military to recreate the accident and take his blood to make an army of super soldiers. Who wouldn’t want to see a big green, angry man beat up the military?

Next up, 2010’s Iron Man 2. Stark has revealed his secret of being Iron Man and pressure from the military has begun to set in as they try to force him to share his technology with them.

Storming into the room, 2011’s Thor gives a new perspective about what it truly means to be “worthy.” Worthy of what? Well, the power of the God of Thunder himself. Thor, after being banished to Earth for disrespecting his family name, must go on a journey of self-discovery and reclaim the power that was taken from him, all while battling new feelings for scientist Jean Foster.

Teamwork makes the dream work in 2012’s Avengers. The Avengers have assembled for a battle against the ultimate enemy, the God of Mischief; all while learning what it means to be a team and how to work together.

Powering up all systems, 2013’s Iron Man 3 continues Tony Stark’s story, taking place after The Avengers, Tony must make a choice as his entire world begins to fall apart: Stay as the Iron Man or become the man he once was?

2013’s Thor: Dark World is the next title on this list, following Thor’s fight to save not only Asgard but all of the Nine Realms from an ancient superweapon.

The Captain returns in 2011’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, follows Steve Rogers as he attempts to save the world from a threat beyond all reason, uncover a world of conspiracy and face an unexpected enemy: His old best friend, Bucky.

Up next is 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which follows Peter Quill (Starlord) and gives the first mention of the Infinity Stones while returning classic old school music to the stage.

It is undebatable that this year has been the best year for superhero movies and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 released in April of 2017  is the perfect example. The Guardians are contracted to protect a set of batteries by an alien race. (Rocket steals a couple of them, what a shock.) After the theft is discovered, the team is chased by the alien fleet which results in catastrophic damage to the ship, forcing the team to land on an unknown planet where Quill’s mysterious parentage is revealed.

2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron gave a new view of the state of the Avengers. Did the world really need them? Or were they the reason the Earth kept getting put in peril? Stark’s actions show no clear answer as the team rushes to fix the mess Tony made all whilst saving the world.

There isn’t anything small about the legacy of tech genius Hank Pym and his revolutionary Pym Particle in 2015’s Ant-Man. Scott Lang, who is a long-time con artist is drafted to break into the home of Pym. Unknowingly Lang steals a suit that can change the distance between the atoms of the wearer, beginning a new era of the Ant-Man, as Lang uses the suit to protect his daughter and turn his life around in a new direction.

2016’s Captain America: Civil War kicked off with a bang from the very beginning and featured a long-awaited battle between Captain America and Iron Man, splitting The Avengers team apart over a dispute over whether the team should be run with government oversight or not. The film also debuted the latest addition to the MCU; your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Marvel and Sony announced in February of 2015 that the rights to Spider-Man were to be shared amongst Disney, Marvel and Sony, officially entering Spider-Man into the MCU.

Entering the world of magic, 2016’s Doctor Strange shows the mystical side of the MCU. Dr. Stephen Strange loses the use of his hands in a car accident, robbing him of his career as a top neurosurgeon. Seeking other methods of healing, he stumbles upon a mysterious enclave at war with an ancient enemy. Strange must make a choice, return to his life of fortune and fame or become the most powerful sorcerer of all time.

And here he is, the web-slinger himself, Spider-Man! This year’s release of Spider-Man: Homecoming takes us back to the roots of Peter Parker, a nerdy kid with spectacular powers, all augmented by technology given to him by Tony Stark. Many critics gave the movie glowing reviews, despite original thoughts from the trailers. I originally thought the movie was going to be terrible seeing as once again, another version of the Spider-Man origin story was made. After seeing the movie that thought changed, and Tom Holland the actor who played Peter Parker has become my new favorite Spider-Man besting Tobey Maguire, the original Spider-Man.

2017 really must be the year for superhero movies as seen yet again by Thor: Ragnarök. Many people still have not seen the movie (including this reporter), so in hopes of preventing any spoilers, this reporter will not be giving a synopsis of this movie. Just know it has Thor, The Hulk, and a scary lady with a spiky crown and the power to destroy Mjolnir, the hammer of the Thor. That is some seriously bad luck to have lost the object of his power early on in the franchise, have his power restored, and now have it destroyed.

The next movie on this list has not hit theaters yet so it could be skipped but in the spirit of things, the next movie is 2018’s upcoming release of Black Panther. Not much is currently known about this movie so stay tuned for more.

Finally, yet most important is the most awaited movie of probably all time, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. The movie will be the end of the current era of Marvel heroes so the direction Marvel will take is one to be questioned.

There we go, folks, the MCU watch order from the absolute beginning of The Avengers and other Marvel Cinematic Universe titles to the very end. It is nice to watch everything in order and to try to spot anything you might have missed when you originally watched the films.

I believe the MCU has taken a perfect step towards the superhero/action genres but that is not everyone’s opinion. Some say they have ruined it; while others say Marvel has disregarded Stan Lee’s (the creator of Marvel itself) wishes for the movies and not allowed his creative expressions to shine. It is all up to opinion, however. What do you think?