Are You Ready For Black Panther?

You’re new to this whole Marvel thing, huh? Just getting into it with the announcement of Black Panther? I’m not sure how you managed to miss the bandwagon for this long, but no judgment. Fandom life must start somewhere. I mean, there was a time when I hadn’t seen Doctor Who yet.

Now, I’m sure you’ve noticed you have a lot to get through. A massive chunk of media laid out for you to watch.

It can be quite dizzying, not having a clue where to begin.

But, you’ve read the article title, so you know I’m about to clear up that problem. There are currently 17 Marvel films in the Cinematic Universe (for the sake of brevity, I’m not dealing with the television shows, but I recommend Jessica Jones) and if you want to be ready for Black Panther, we have a few options.

For Black Panther, You Must Make A Choice

The best choice is for someone who’s got a lot of time on their hands. Watch the full salvo: all the films. I’d recommend doing that one of two ways: chronologically, or “Film Order.” Watching chronologically is messy, as film events overlap, but, the easiest way to break it down is this:

Chrono Order:

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

Alternatively, “Film Order” is simply watching them in the order they released. This is easy info to find online, but, to be convenient:

Film Order:

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

Now, yes, that’s a lot of films. Hours upon hours of awesome. But, I realize you might not be able to watch all the movies. So, while I may get flak for this, I present something controversial: a predictive list of only the necessities.

Let’s Hope for Black Panther, I Don’t Start A Nerd Civil War

Here’s how this will work: I haven’t seen Black Panther, so I don’t know what characters appear outside the titular one, but, going off the trailer, and my general knowledge of Marvel, this is a shorter list to specifically prepare you for Black Panther.

Remember: for Avengers: Infinity War you will need to watch all the movies beforehand.

Don’t forget that.

For the meantime, though, here you go:

Marvel Crash Course Order:

• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• Thor
• The Avengers
• Iron Man 3
• Captain America: Winter Soldier
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Captain America: Civil War

I know that’s still a lot, but, with these movies, you’ll have all the needed context—I think—to get what happens in Black Panther. It won’t complete the experience, but it will get you through. Just do go back around afterward. Trust me when I say the interlocking nature of them is half the fun.

And that’s the whole point of all of this: fun.

So, go have a nerdy blast!

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