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Captain Marvel has landed! The latest superhero adventure from Marvel Studios is out in theaters right now, kicking off 2019’s epic slate of game-changing Marvel movies. Just like with every other Marvel movie release, this out-of-this-world ’90s romp comes loaded with a whole lot of continuity. You can totally enjoy it for what it is (two hours of Brie Larson punching aliens in the face!) if you aren’t up to speed on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but knowing what came before and what comes after (timeline-wise–remember, CM takes place in 1995!) can make the experience even better.
With that in mind, here are the Marvel movies you absolutely have to stream before you see Captain Marvel–and then also one you might want to stream afterwards. SPOILER SETTING: We’re gonna keep the spoilers set to low, vague enough so that you can read this article without spoiling the experience. When the spoilers get turned to medium, you’ll know!
Ready? Get to streaming!
Avengers: Infinity War
The most important movie to stream before you see Captain Marvel is definitely 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, specifically the post-credits scene. In that brief clip, we reconnect with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) as the secret agents, totally oblivious to Thanos and his plan to erase half of the universe’s population, experience the aftermath of the Avengers’ defeat firsthand. People start disappearing, cars start crashing, mayhem breaks loose. That’s when Fury pulls out the weirdest thing: a beeper. Who does he page? Well, look at the top of this article. That reply message sure looks familiar, doesn’t it? Jackson reprises the role of Fury in this movie, playing a younger version of the character, so you just know that beeper’s gonna be explained. For more info, you can peep this article we wrote back when the first Captain Marvel trailer dropped.
[Stream Avengers: Infinity War on Netflix]
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain Marvel is unlike most of the Marvel movies in that it takes place partly in outer-space. The film actually has a lot of overlap with the very first cosmic Marvel movie, 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. That overlap comes in the form of the Kree Empire. Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and Korath (Djimon Hounsou) represented the Kree in GOTG and caused a whole lot of trouble for the Guardians. But flashing back in time to the ’90s when Captain Marvel is set, these baddies are now the good guys! As revealed in the trailers, Captain Marvel is part of the Kree Starforce, an elite commando squad that counts Korath among its number. Pace also appears in Captain Marvel as Ronan, so GOTG is a solid before-they-were-villains look at these two.
[Where to watch Guardians of the Galaxy]
Iron Man
This isn’t a must-watch, really, but seeing young Nick Fury and rookie Phil Coulson in Captain Marvel might leave you wanting to revisit their very first appearances in the very first MCU movie: Iron Man.
Okay, now we’re turning the SPOILER SETTING up to medium! You ready?
Captain America: The First Avenger
I’m not going to tell you why you need to watch Cap’s 2011 introduction film. And whether or not you want to watch it before or after your trip to the movie theater, that’s your call. But Captain Marvel has a connection to Captain America, and you’ll know it when you see it.
