- Warning: There are potential spoilers ahead for "Avengers: Endgame."
- If you don't have time to watch all 21 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before "Avengers: Endgame" is released, INSIDER rounds up which movies you should watch and what to know before heading to theaters.
- "Avengers,""Captain America: Civil War," and "Avengers: Infinity War" are three necessities. "Iron Man" and the first "Captain America" are two other great choices.
You don't need to binge the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe's catalog of 21 movies before "Avengers: Endgame" comes to theaters Friday, April 26.
If you are trying to catch up on some of the previous installments, but don't have time to binge watch nearly two dozen Marvel movies, we have you covered.
INSIDER has rounded up the essential Marvel movies to binge, from least important to most valuable. We've also noted four others you should revisit moments from if you have the time.
Revisit "Captain America: The First Avenger" if you want to complete Steve Rogers' character arc.
During the press conference for "Avengers: Endgame," Chris Evans said the movie will complete Captain America's story arc. What better way to celebrate Cap (and possibly send him off) than by going back to where it all started?
We also think this is an important film to revisit because the second "Endgame" trailer teases a few moments from "The First Avenger," including when Steve Rogers first enters the United States Armed Services Recruitment building.
The trailer also teases Rogers' love interest, Peggy Carter, in a voice-over saying a quote from "Winter Soldier."
"None of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over," says Carter as we see footage of Cap at her funeral.
Why are we hearing Peggy's voice? Don't be surprised if she plays some unexpected role in this movie, even if it's solely in flashbacks to help inspire Cap during the hard road to take down Thanos.
You can skip the majority of "Avengers: Age of Ultron," but you should tune in for two key scenes.
You don't need to watch the entirety of Ultron trying to dismantle humanity and extinguish the world of the Avengers. Rewatch it for two scenes.
First, head 33 minutes into the film. You may be caught off guard hearing Tony Stark reference the "Endgame" title all the way back in the 2015 movie.
"We’re the Avengers. We can bust arms dealer all the live long day. But that up there, THAT’S the Endgame," Tony says in reference to the Chitauri aliens who came through a wormhole to attack Manhattan in the first "Avengers" movie. "How were you guys planning on beating that?"
It's the following exchange between the two team leaders that gave me chills.
Captain America:"Together."
Iron Man:"We'll lose."
Cap:"Then we'll do that together, too."
Is that a hint of things to come in "Endgame"? Maybe.
The second scene you'll want to revisit revolves around the introduction to Hawkeye's family at his farmhouse. It's actually a scene director Joss Whedon fought to keep in the sequel when Marvel wanted it scrapped. Now, that scene should have a larger payoff when it's revealed whether or not Hawkeye's family survived the Thanos snap at the end of "Infinity War." (Given Hawkeye's new look, we don't feel like it's good news.)
If you're a fan of Jarvis' Vision (Paul Bettany), this film introduces the superhero to the MCU, too.
"Iron Man" is the movie that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In "Iron Man," Tony has to figure out how to escape a group of terrorists to make his way home. He builds his first Iron Man suit with the help of Dr. Yinsen who gave his life to help save Stark. In "Avengers: Endgame," Tony has to figure out how to get out of space and make his way home.
It seems like "Endgame" may channel Stark's escape from the Ten Rings at the start of the 2008 movie to come full circle. We plan on seeing Stark honor both Dr. Yinsen and Harley from "Iron Man 3" by doing what he does best, putting on his mechanic hat and building his way out of a seemingly impossible situation.
If you haven't watched "Iron Man" in the 11 years since its release, there's a lot of payoff there. The beginning of the film hinted at the entire "Civil War" storyline by showing a newspaper that said Stark's parents were killed in a car crash.
Knowing that this could possibly be Iron Man's final film, the movie that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe will make you appreciate how far Stark has grown as a person. When you see the Rolling Stone cover pop up on screen that says "Tony Stark Wants to Save the World," you may get a little misty-eyed knowing he's probably going to try his darnedest to do just that in "Endgame."
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