The 8 Marvel movies you should see before Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is the movie event of the year, but the barrier to entry is steep: it's not just a sequel to one film, but to 21 of them. So how many of those are really important?

The short answer is virtually all of them. Endgame functions like a finale to a 22-episode TV season and features callbacks to nearly everything that came before. But some movies certainly play a bigger role than others. Here are the most significant entries:

1. Avengers: Infinity War — Considering Endgame was literally called Infinity War — Part 2 early in its development, under no circumstances should one be watched without the other.

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2. Avengers: Age of Ultron — Equally important is Avengers: Age of Ultron, featuring crucial tie-ins from the very first scene.

3. The Avengers — Of course, the Avengers' original adventure does play a role, particularly in one key sequence, although its sequels are perhaps more crucial from a character standpoint.

4. Captain America: The First Avenger — Endgame shifts even more of the spotlight onto Steve Rogers than Infinity War did, and the Russo Brothers harken back to this original outing for some powerful scenes — though Winter Soldier and Civil War both come into play as well.

5. Ant-Man and the Wasp — In Endgame, numerous plot threats from this post-Infinity War film pay off in major ways.

6. Guardians of the Galaxy — This film, featuring both Thanos and Nebula, remains key as both characters and their relationship is further developed in Endgame.

7. Thor: The Dark World — Weirdly, the movie many consider to be Marvel's low point actually ends up being unexpectedly important to Endgame. Thor: Ragnarok factors in as well, but that was to be expected after Infinity War.

8. Iron Man — It'd be ideal to have seen the full Iron Man trilogy before Endgame, but as Marvel Studios' first film, Iron Man is most crucial as the series' first 11 years come to a close.