5 Must See MCU Films Before Seeing Infinity War.

Infinity War is the culmination of 18 years of big and little moments that will surely have a huge payoff for fans that have been following each and every movie. However, there are many fans who, for many reasons, have not seen every movie and may be confused by going into Infinity War . With the movie having been released, a lot of fans have been asking me what movies they need to see before they participate in this movie event. Of course these fans would like to see all of them, but if they had to have the essential ones to see, I believe these are the ones to bring you up to speed. 1. Captain America: Civil War Following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron , The Avengers are still coping with the damage done to not only themselves, but to all the people who were affected by the events in Sokovia. On top of this, a mission in Nigeria after the events in Sokovia goes wrong and in which there were many casualties. The U.N. now wants accountability for the actions of these heroes and are requiring any enhanced individual to register with the Sokovia Accords. A document which gives the government control over where enhanced individuals can fight and how they do it. This divides the Avengers, and we see Captain America and Iron Man take separate stances on the Accords. Cap is anti, Tony is pro, and Avengers take sides. At the end, some Avengers are fugitives (Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Bucky Barnes, Ant-Man, and Hawkeye) and others remain under the government’s control. Only one line of communication lies between the split Avengers: Two burner phones which Tony and Cap can contact each other as a last resort. Infinity War relevance: Character relationships, new characters (Spider-Man and Black Panther) 2. Thor: Ragnarok After Avengers: Age of Ultron , Thor left Earth and has been searching for Infinity Stones for two years. He returns home due to hearing a prophecy about the destruction of Asgard. He goes to find his father, Odin, in order to sort out the story only to find Loki placed him under a spell and put him on Earth. Shortly after Odin is found, he reveals that he is going to die, and that Thor’s disgraced and outcast sister, Hela (goddess of death), will return to try to claim the throne. During a fight with Hela, Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, is destroyed and Thor is cast into space where he lands on a strange planet where he finds the Hulk. After a few days, Thor is able to rally the Hulk and few others to return to Asgard in order to defeat Hela, where Thor fully embraces is full godhood and becomes increasingly more powerful. After much bloodshed, Hela is defeated, but Asgard is destroyed which prompts the remaining Asgardians to seek refuge on Earth. During his journey to Earth, the Asgardian craft carrying many families is halted by a strange imposing ship which is where this film leaves off. Infinity War relevance: Thor character arc, return of the Hulk, Asgard backstory 3. Dr. Strange The mystic arts are a huge part of the Marvel universe, but this is the first time we are seeing its use and practice. Dr. Steven Strange, one of the worlds greatest surgeons, suffers severe injuries which leave his hands crippled and his ability to operate, over. Seeking any alternative methods to restore full use of his hands, Strange seeks out a fabled healer only to find that it is himself that will have to do the healing by learning the mystic arts. Due to his high intelligence, Strange masters the mystic arts and becomes the wielder of The Eye of Agamotto (one of the Infinity Stones), a stone capable of controlling time. With this, he defeats a dark mystic god named Dormammu. After these events, he dedicates his life to protecting the world from mystic threats and becomes the defender of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, one of the worlds mystic bases. Infinity War relevance: Introduction to mystic arts in MCU, location and explanation of an Infinity Stone 4. Guardians of the Galaxy After the MCU spent most of its years exploring the heroes of Earth, it now turns its attention to space where we are introduced to a rag-tag group of mercenaries who begrudgingly come together in order to stop Ronin, a disciple of Thanos, from obtaining an Infinity Stone for his master. The group consists of Groot, a tree-like being with tremendous strength, Rocket, a raccoon who was experimented on, and is much like a human. He is an extremely talented pilot, weapons expert, and a techy. The leader, Peter Quill, is a human from Earth who was kidnapped after his mother died and has lived his life with a group of disgraced space pirates. The last member of the group, Gamora, is the adopted daughter of Thanos, but has turned against her father in order to prevent him from killing more civilizations. During this MCU outing, we are also introduced to a major part of the Marvel Universe, the Nova Corps., an intergalactic army who seeks to defend the cosmos from evil beings such as Ronin and Thanos. Infinity War relevance: Introduction to the Marvel space characters, more backstory and history of Thanos, Infinity Stone location 5. Black Panther In 2018, we were introduced to the nation of Wakanda, a grandeous place unlike any other that hides on the plains of Africa. From there hails King T’Challa, or, the Black Panther. In this record-breaking film, we are told the story about a nation founded on a comet from the cosmos that imbued the grounds with its other-worldly effects. The substance the comet is made up of, Vibranium, had only been seen once before, and that was to make Captain America's shield. Now we see that this nation has an abundance of it, as it is the basis of their advanced life. The Vibranium has allowed the nation to make advances in every aspect of life that far outpaces anything else on Earth and is only used for good, and by the Wakandans. However, T’Challa now wants to use the power of Vibranium and the advances of the nation to help the world instead of hiding from it. Among other things, it is because of the technological advances Wakanda has made that makes it an extremely valuable place to the MCU and the characters in it such as the Winter Soldier, who was brought to Wakanda after nearly dying to heal. The nation and its highly advanced weaponry will surely prove to be an asset during Infinity War. Infinity War relevance: Intro to Wakanda, backstory and uses of Vibranium, Wakandan technology #CivilWar #Thanos #BuckyBarnes #BlackPanther #Thor #DrStrange #GuardiansoftheGalaxy #InfinityWar #InfinityWars