Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 TL;DW

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens in U.S. theaters just over a week from today on Friday, May 5.  This will be the 15^th movie released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which also includes a number of tie-in comics as well as an entire line-up of television series (on ABC, Netflix, and (soon) Hulu and Freeform).  Considering how well received the first Guardians of the Galaxy was, it’s pretty likely that a lot of people are going to see the second one.  However, it’s entirely possible that people will be seeing this movie as their entry into the MCU.  So to help these people out, here is a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” summary of the MCU to date, focusing especially on what is relevant to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.  At the end I will offer my suggestions for movies that you should watch (or rewatch) before going to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and why.  We’ll start from the beginning, with Iron Man.

Note:  There will (obviously) be spoilers.  Also, these TL;DW articles are starting to get loooong!

Iron Fist TL;DW

I have written these “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” articles before for upcoming movies, but this is the first time I’ve felt the need to write one for a television series.  However, with the TV corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuing to expand, I feel like it’s only faith that I put together a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” article to anticipate the Netflix release of Iron Fist later this week.  The “TL;DW” articles for the movies have offered viewing suggestions, but I don’t think I can really do that here.  For one thing, it’s only 3 days until Iron Fist comes out; for another, there is so much TV to wade through, and it’s pretty much impossible to pick and choose which episode to watch, at least with the Netflix series.

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For the sake of brevity, this “TL;DW” will ignore everything happening in the movies (apart from acknowledging Doctor Strange), as well as Agent Carter, which takes place in 1946-47 and probably won’t be much of a factor on Iron Fist.  Of course, just because I said that, Peggy Carter will find a way to appear on Iron Fist, just to make me look stupid.  I will deal with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first, and then take the Netflix seasons in order of release.  At the end I will note the other upcoming TV series, though I doubt there will be much connection to Iron Fist.

Note:  Here is your (inevitable) SPOILER warning:  from here on out, this article contains major spoilers for everything having to do with Marvel TV!  You have been warned…

Captain America: Civil War TL;DW

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Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War opens in U.S. theaters just over a week from today on Friday, May 6.  This will be the 13^th movie released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which also includes a number of tie-in comics as well as four TV series (and counting).  It’s almost certain that just about everyone in the world will go to see this movie, but they will not all have seen everything that came before it in the MCU.  And there is the chance that at least some of these will be completely new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  So to help these people out, here is a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” summary of the MCU to date, focusing especially on what is relevant to Captain America: Civil War.  At the end I will offer my three suggestions for movies that you should watch (or rewatch) before going to see Captain America: Civil War, and why those three.  We’ll start from the beginning, with Iron Man.

Note:  There will (obviously) be spoilers.  Also, these TL;DW articles are starting to get loooong!

Ant-Man TL;DW

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Marvel’s Ant-Man opens in U.S. theaters next Friday, and a lot of people are going to go see it.  And there is the chance that at least some of these will be completely new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  So to help these people out, I decided to write a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” summary of the MCU to date, focusing especially on what is relevant to Ant-Man.  At the end I will offer my three suggestions for movies that you should watch (or rewatch) before going to see Ant-Man, and why those three.  We’ll start from the beginning, with Iron Man.

Note:  There will (obviously) be spoilers.

The MCU Pre-Age of Ultron: TL;DW

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Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in U.S. theaters next Friday, and just about everyone in the world is going to go see it.  There is the chance that at least some of these will be completely new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  So to help these people out, I decided to write a “Too Long; Didn’t Watch” summary of the MCU to date, focusing especially on what is relevant to Age of Ultron.  At the end I will offer my three suggestions for movies that you should watch (or rewatch) before going to see Age of Ultron, and why those three.  We’ll start from the beginning, with Iron Man.

Note:  There will (obviously) be spoilers.