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Surely Black Panther would be essential seeing as a lot of Infinity War seems to take place in Wakanda and potentially with the rumoured Soul Stone being there?

Alternatively, don't watch any of them, and let us know how confused you were, and we'll fill you in afterwards.

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23 minutes ago, bob said:

Surely Black Panther would be essential seeing as a lot of Infinity War seems to take place in Wakanda and potentially with the rumoured Soul Stone being there?

It’s not legally available to be viewed anywhere at the moment, as far as I’m aware; it’s home release comes in a week or two, and it’s been phased out of most cinemas by now. 

And while I’m sure watching it gives some great context for what we’ll see of Wakanda in Infinity War, we don’t see the Soul Stone in the film, so even though I think it has some great worldbuilding in setting up Wakanda, I don’t think it would be as vital to see as any of the other films that have been floated around. 

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I still need to watch Spider-man Homecoming and Thor Ragnarok as well as Black Panther. The first two I can watch from home but I probably won't be able to watch Black Panther before Avengers. Having a kid puts a serious stop to going to the cinema!

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It’s not legally available to be viewed anywhere at the moment, as far as I’m aware; it’s home release comes in a week or two, and it’s been phased out of most cinemas by now. 
And while I’m sure watching it gives some great context for what we’ll see of Wakanda in Infinity War, we don’t see the Soul Stone in the film, so even though I think it has some great worldbuilding in setting up Wakanda, I don’t think it would be as vital to see as any of the other films that have been floated around. 
I'm not entirely sure@drahkon cares about legally viewing it...
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49 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

It’s not legally available to be viewed anywhere at the moment, as far as I’m aware; it’s home release comes in a week or two, and it’s been phased out of most cinemas by now. 

And while I’m sure watching it gives some great context for what we’ll see of Wakanda in Infinity War, we don’t see the Soul Stone in the film, so even though I think it has some great worldbuilding in setting up Wakanda, I don’t think it would be as vital to see as any of the other films that have been floated around. 

Black Panther is still showing at all the cinemas around me, I went to see it again on Thursday. I've even seen loads of ads on Facebook going on about cinemas showing Black Panther on Wednesday and then immediately following it with the Infinity War midnight screening.

Anyways, as I mentioned I saw Black Panther again last Thursday which completed my Marvel-a-thon. Decided to put all the films in order of how much I enjoyed them (this is purely based on how I felt right after each movie ended, I don't care about looking at them critically), so from most enjoyed to least...

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
Thor Ragnarok
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Civil War
The Avengers
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Iron Man
Black Panther
Ant-Man
Doctor Strange
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Incredible Hulk
Thor: The Dark World

Super hyped for Thursday :bouncy:

 

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Just now, Eddage said:

Black Panther is still showing at all the cinemas around me, I went to see it again on Thursday. I've even seen loads of ads on Facebook going on about cinemas showing Black Panther on Wednesday and then immediately following it with the Infinity War midnight screening.

Anyways, as I mentioned I saw Black Panther again last Thursday which completed my Marvel-a-thon. Decided to put all the films in order of how much I enjoyed them (this is purely based on how I felt right after each movie ended, I don't care about looking at them critically), so from most enjoyed to least...

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
Thor Ragnarok
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Civil War
The Avengers
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Iron Man
Black Panther
Ant-Man
Doctor Strange
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Incredible Hulk
Thor: The Dark World

Super hyped for Thursday :bouncy:

 

Yeah, I should have mentioned that a lot of cinemas (even if in the same chain) tend to have different run lengths a lot of the time, so it’s still probably worth having a nose around. I think my local cinemas took Black Panther out a week or two ago? They don’t have any plans to show it before Infinity War, either :/ 

I don’t really look at Marvel movies as critically as I do other films (Star Wars in particular I always zoom in on) because I do see them as a fun escape with a good range of characters that I can become emotionally invested in, but I have found that the films that I tend to prefer, up to this point, are the ones that I would say perform better under a critical viewing glass. ::shrug:

My list of favourites (from best/most enjoyed to worst/least enjoyed) is probably: 

1. Captain America: Civil War

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

3. Iron Man

4. The Avengers

5. Thor: Ragnarok

6. Guardians of the Galaxy

7. Spider-Man Homecoming

8. Ant-Man

9. Avengers: Age of Ultron

10. Doctor Strange

11. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

12. Black Panther

13. Captain America: The First Avenger

14. Thor: The Dark World

15. Iron Man 3

16. Thor

17. Iron Man 2

18. The Incredible Hulk

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Black Panther is still showing at all the cinemas around me, I went to see it again on Thursday. I've even seen loads of ads on Facebook going on about cinemas showing Black Panther on Wednesday and then immediately following it with the Infinity War midnight screening.
Anyways, as I mentioned I saw Black Panther again last Thursday which completed my Marvel-a-thon. Decided to put all the films in order of how much I enjoyed them (this is purely based on how I felt right after each movie ended, I don't care about looking at them critically), so from most enjoyed to least...
Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
Thor Ragnarok
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Civil War
The Avengers
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Iron Man
Black Panther
Ant-Man
Doctor Strange
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Incredible Hulk
Thor: The Dark World
Super hyped for Thursday :bouncy:
 
Pretty similar to what I'd say, although I'd put Ant Man higher and Spider-man a bit lower.

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A little over 14 hours! I can easily fill that with sleep!

8 hours ago, Happenstance said:

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"My eyes are up here Mr. Lee."

7 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

I’d certainly personally recommend watching all of those films to give context to where everything and everyone is at in Infinity War, but, if the big pull to the MCU right now for you is Infinity War, and you would only want to watch those movies as set-up for Infinity War...I think an argument could also be made to just go see Infinity War without the context of the other films (to avoid spoilers, to be in on the conversation and to experience an audience at fever pitch).

That wouldn't be my recommendation. I can't tell which ones would be "essential" to view before Infinity War, but the main draw of all the Avenger films and Civil War was to see all the super heroes you've come to love in their own films before it, come together and fight together. All the Marvel films build up to that moment, even if they stand alone and have nothing to do with any Infinity stones. I can't imagine watching Infinity War without having seen any of the other Marvel films. I missed Thor and Captain America in the cinema simply because they didn't interest me much initially, and I'm still not a fan of their first films, but I was glad I did see them eventually before I saw the Avengers. I may not like the films overall, but I loved Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth as Captain America and Thor, so they still funcion as the build-up for Avengers. It will be the same for Infinity War.

Edited by Sméagol
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2 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

That wouldn't be my recommendation. I can't tell which ones would be "essential" to view before Infinity War, but the main draw of all the Avenger films and Civil War was to see all the super heroes you've come to love in their own films before it, come together and fight together. All the Marvel films build up to that moment, even if they stand alone and have nothing to do with any Infinity stones. I can't imagine watching Infinity War without having seen any of the other Marvel films. I missed Thor and Captain America in the cinema simply because they didn't interest me much initially, and I'm still not a fan of their first films, but I was glad I did see them eventually before I saw the Avengers. I may not like the films overall, but I loved Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth as Captain America and Thor, so they still funcion as the build-up for Avengers. It will be the same for Infinity War.

Oh, for sure, I agree with you. It wasn’t my first or personal recommendation to @drahkon: I added to the list of films @Happenstance recommended checking out before seeing Infinity War, and I think the ten that I listed are probably the most cohesive way to experience everything one might want/need to know before going into Infinity War

Just floating the idea out there that, in the event that @drahkon doesn’t have the time to go through and watch any (see: all :D) films that we might think are essential, that seeing Infinity War first could be the best route to seeing the film without having it spoiled, and that a subsequent second viewing - after having seen the other films - would serve as a great way to then further contextualise the events of the film. 

But yeah, I think the films that we recommended for viewing (+Black Panther, if it’s still available to him as others have suggested might be the case) are probably the best way to have a bare minimum understanding and contextualisation of the film :) (personally, I think he should just commit to the 30+ hours needed to watch them all :p )

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I just think doing "movie marathons" is a guaranteed way to get burnout.  I always remember Richard & Judy hosted a competition on their TV show to win tickets to a Daniel Craig Bond film (I think it was Casino Royale).  The task was to watch more James Bond films in succession than the other contestants.  Not surprisingly, no one could be bothered to watch them all - in the end, I'm not sure even the winners cared!

 

Personally, I think if you fancy Infinity War, that's the one to watch.  A middle ground might be to go back and watch the ones that caught your interest (What happened to Cap?  Why is Thor like that?) between watching this and the next one.  I'd say the Star Wars prequels taught us that knowing all the previous details is not all it's cracked up to be - many of the MCU films are better than those actual prequels, of course, but it's a similar principle.

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While I myself prefer to see all the films, including the bad ones, I suspect this is more of a recommendation in line with what @drahkon wants:

Today go see: Captain America: Civil war
Tomorrow: Spider-man: homecoming
Thursday: Thor: Ragnarok
Friday: Black Panther (in Cinema if still playing near you)
Saturday: The Avengers: infinity war

In other words, a few of the more recent, and most enjoyable ones. It will show you most (new) characters, and a little bit of story exposition. I think that'll be enough. You can read up on the rest on Wikis. You will miss on the introduction of Dr. Strange and Ant-man (though they have some screentime in the films mentioned). It's not clear what Ant-man's involvement will be in Infinity Wars, but Dr. Strange will play a big role alongside the other Avengers, and his film also introduces an Infinity Stone. This also leaves out The Guardians of the galaxy. If you can handle more and decide you want more context: I'd also watch Captain America: the winter soldier (because it's good and introduces Bucky), Guardians of the Galaxy (because it introduces those characters and because it's fun), Avengers: age of Ultron (for the ongoing story and the introduction of Vision and Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye's fun oneliner), and Dr. Strange (for his introduction and the infinity stone, and one of the more original endings to a Marvel film). Like I said, I don't know what Ant-man's involvement will be (though I fully expect him to be in the film in some capacity), but I suspect you won't miss much if you skip his first film (though it does have a fun tie-in with Iron man). His second film will be out soon enough, you can delay that one until then.

Edited by Sméagol

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5 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

While I myself prefer to see all the films, including the bad ones, I suspect this is more of a recommendation in line with what @drahkon wants:

Today go see: Captain America: Civil war
Tomorrow: Spider-man: homecoming
Thursday: Thor: Ragnarok
Friday: Black Panther (in Cinema if still playing near you)
Saturday: The Avengers: infinity war

In other words, a few of the more recent, and most enjoyable ones. It will show you most (new) characters, and a little bit of story exposition. I think that'll be enough. You can read up on the rest on Wikis. You will miss on the introduction of Dr. Strange and Ant-man (though they have some screentime in the films mentioned). It's not clear what Ant-man's involvement will be in Infinity Wars, but Dr. Strange will play a big role alongside the other Avengers, and his film also introduces an Infinity Stone. This also leaves out The Guardians of the galaxy. If you can handle more and decide you want more context: I'd also watch Captain America: the winter soldier (because it's good and introduces Bucky), Guardians of the Galaxy (because it introduces those characters and because it's fun), Avengers: age of Ultron (for the ongoing story and the introduction of Vision and Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye's fun oneliner), and Dr. Strange (for his introduction and the infinity stone, and one of the more original endings to a Marvel film). Like I said, I don't know what Ant-man's involvement will be (though I fully expect him to be in the film in some capacity), but I suspect you won't miss much if you skip his first film (though it does have a fun tie-in with Iron man 2). His second film will be out soon enough, you can delay that one until then.

To be fair, I recommended a viewing order which is mostly in line with yours (though with some differences) on the last page (and so did @Happenstance:) 

11 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

All of the films @Happenstance listed + Captain America: The Winter Soldier (additional context for Civil War if you plan on watching it, which I’d recommend - both are great films) and Thor: Ragnarok (which very literally sets up where I imagine Infinity War will begin?). I’d also add in Iron Man 3, because of the context it adds to Tony’s arc in both Age of Ultron and Civil War, and probably Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 too so that you’re caught up with that side of things

So, my recommended potential trimmed viewing order (to give a bit more context/have you up-to-date on characters goings-on, in addition to what @Happenstance outlines as the most direct way to be caught up on the Infinity Stones) would be:

1. The Avengers 

2. Iron Man 3

3. Thor: The Dark World

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

5. Guardians of the Galaxy

6. Avengers: Age of Ultron

7. Captain America: Civil War

8. Doctor Strange

9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

10. Thor: Ragnarok

Better get started :p 

 

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4 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

To be fair, I recommended a viewing order which is mostly in line with yours (though with some differences) on the last page (and so did @Happenstance:) 

 

Except I condensed it even further to just the 4 films. I'm only mentioning the other ones in case Drahkon wants more, but I suspect those 4 will be enough for him (for the moment). He can see one film a day, and be ready for Infinity War in the weekend.

Edit: That list doesn't look anything like mine. :p

 

Edited by Sméagol

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18 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

Except I condensed it even further to just the 4 films. I'm only mentioning the other ones in case Drahkon wants more, but I suspect those 4 will be enough for him (for the moment). He can see one film a day, and be ready for Infinity War in the weekend.

Edit: That list doesn't look anything like mine. :p

 

Yeah, I scrolled through again after and found that I was referring mostly to the crossover between my list and the other films that you mentioned (whoops) :p 

I wasn’t really trying to condense it beyond taking the fluff out that I don’t think is necessary for enjoying Infinity War (I love Homecoming, but I don’t think Spider-Man’s arc in the film sets his role in Infinity War up any differently than if one didn’t watch that film). 

I think the only way that I could condense it further would be to start taking out some of the films which start some threads off, like Iron Man 3 (which further sets up Tony’s position in Age of Ultron) and The Winter Soldier (which sets up much of Steve’s arc in Civil War), and I’m not willing to suggest that at all :p 

I will mention that I think watching Doctor Strange is a must, though. From everything I’ve heard about the film (and him being the only Avenger in possession and control of an Infinity Stone), it would seem that he’s being set up to play a bigger part in Infinity War than many realise :) 

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6 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

I wasn’t really trying to condense it beyond taking the fluff out that I don’t think is necessary for enjoying Infinity War (I love Homecoming, but I don’t think Spider-Man’s arc in the film sets his role in Infinity War up any differently than if one didn’t watch that film). 

I mention Spider-man because it's recent, and it's fun. And fully introduces Spider-man. Again, I suspect, it being fun may be more important to Drahkon than having an infinity stone, and while I myself like Dr. Strange, I think Spider-man is more enjoyable. So is Thor: Ragnarok. He won't have time to see all of story-related ones, he won't have time to see every character introductions and developments, and he won't have time to see all the "fun" ones, if he wants to see Infinity war in a timely fashion. So I limited the list at one a day with the big pay-off on Saturday. Like I said, if he really wants to know, but doesn't want to / can't see the films, he can read up on wikis.

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18 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

I mention Spider-man because it's recent, and it's fun. And fully introduces Spider-man. 

I think Civil War does just as good a job with introducing Spidey, but I can’t argue with Homecoming being fun. I can’t really argue with any of the films being fun, actually :p they’re all great in that regard (apart from maybe The Incredible Hulk?)

To be fair, while I’m sure Infinity War will begin to bring a close to what we’ve had so far in the MCU, we’ve still got Avengers 4 next year, so @drahkon has a year before we probably get the real payoff :D 

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Good lord, people :D

I just woke up after a night drinking and dancing and had to read a million posts. Anyway, thanks guys :peace: I'm not sure how exactly I'll approach the movies, but I will try to do something. So probably nothing

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Just a heads up that the review embargo has lifted, so steer clear of...everything, I guess?

Apparently Forbes had a review up which spoiled much of the film — again — but it’s since been taken down. 

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3 hours ago, drahkon said:

So probably nothing

I am familiar with this approach.

Anyway!

I'm off.

Edited by Sméagol

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First impressions seem very positive anyway. Only complaints I've seen have been from people who didn't realise its basically a 2 parter with next years Avenger movie and from those people that don't like any Marvel movies but still find it necessary to go to the midnight launches of them :laughing:

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Disney Japan have put out what is, without question, the best Infinity War trailer... :D 

 

Edited by Julius Caesar

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Got back a few hours ago, and WOW. You’ll find no spoilers ahead, just a few things I think deserve your attention during your first/next viewing of the film. 

I do want to talk about a few things which are totally unrelated to the story, but will likely be completely brushed under the table by most popular reviewers/those with hot takes.

Firstly, the film isn’t just visually and audibly impressive: it’s absolutely gorgeous. Sure, that’s to be expected from it being the first film released shot entirely with IMAX cameras, but the CGI quality is just as good as anything seen in James Cameron’s Avatar, and that’s saying something when the primary antagonist, Thanos - who you obviously see a whole lot of throughout the film - could easily appear to be a wrinkly grape that grew some muscular arms and legs. The sound design paired with the visuals of this film gives a real heft to an enormous Titan like Thanos, as well as to the whole Black Order. The film is framed incredibly well - which shouldn’t be too surprising, considering just how good The Winter Soldier and Civil War were too in this regard - and it shows that they didn’t just throw money at it for the sake of making more money. 

Alan Silvestri returned to score Avengers: Infinity War after being on the sidelines since the first Avengers, and he does not disappoint. Many - myself included - complain about the subdued score and musical themes of the MCU, which, besides the main Avengers theme, hasn’t offered a whole lot, but Silvestri’s return gave us what is, in my opinion, the best score in the MCU to date. Emotions, physicality, and moments which I’m sure will be remembered for a long time to come are perfectly matched by his score.

I’ve been with the MCU since the start, but I’ve always found the narrative that “oh, it’s the next Star Wars” to be completely blown out of proportion. For me, these have always just been fun popcorn flicks with well known characters who are easy to invest in and not much more, as films, beyond that. And I really love, and have strong nostalgia for, these films.

But this film has changed that.

Not only is Infinity War a great popcorn flick, it’s a film of substance which is elegantly paced and beautifully composed, managing to successfully tell a story which is - surprisingly - undeniably relatable in every one of its wrinkles and folds.

Just like the very first Star Wars

Edited by Julius Caesar
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