Ahead of Infinity War, how to understand the Marvel Cinematic Universe in seven films or less

How many Marvel superhero films do you need to see to bring you up to speed for the upcoming Infinity War? From Iron Man to Thor Ragnarok, here are seven must-see films

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Chris Evans (front) leads his crew in a still from Avengers: Infinity War.

Published: 12:02pm, 30 Mar 2018Updated: 12:01pm, 30 Mar 2018

How many Marvel Cinematic Universe films does one need to watch to understand Avengers: Infinity War? Some are obviously not needed; no one has to watch The Incredible Hulk. Other films might be really good but aren’t essential to understanding characters or plot-lines.

With Black Panther out, we rank Marvel Cinematic Universe films from the worst to the best

I have reduced the number of necessary films from 18 to seven. Note that these films are not necessarily the best in the MCU; indeed, I have omitted some of my favourites.

Chris Hemsworth and the characters Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) in a still from Avengers: Infinity War. Photo: Film Frame

My criteria was whether a newbie, after watching these films, would be properly introduced to as many characters as possible and to key plot points to explain the current state of the MCU.

With those two factors in mind, you need to watch these films, in this order:

1. Iron Man (2008)

Jon Favreau’s film defines the MCU aesthetic in surprisingly short order. Iron Man is introduced, and the idea of the Avengers is properly teased out.

2. Thor (2011)

Kenneth Branagh’s film introduces us to Thor and his brother, Loki, and we get a cameo of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye to boot. This is probably the worst film on this list, but there’s no way to understand later films without getting some sense of the backstory between Thor and Loki.