Each of the “Avengers” team-up films — that is, the films with the word “Avengers” in the title — were all the climax events of their respective “phases,” so watching just the team-up films may leave a lot of the story missing for neophytes. The 2012 film was the climax of phase 1, the 2015 film was the climax of phase 2, and both the 2018 and 2019 films were a massive, two-part climax to phase 3. There was no “Avengers” team-up film at the end of phase 4. The release order was thus:
- Joss Whedon’s “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012)
- Joss Whedon’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
- Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)
- Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Avengers: Endgame” (2019)
A marathon of just those four films may provide a certain kind of distraction, but the primary gimmick of the MCU was its ongoing interconnectivity. No single film was a thrill unto itself without the added knowledge that the main characters would be featured in a future installment. As such, a lot will feel like it’s missing from just those four “Avengers” movies. It won’t be thrilling seeing a character like, say, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) getting involved in the action without having also seen the films wherein Black Panther had his own adventures.
At the very least, a gag about Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his hammer, set up in “Ultron,” is satisfyingly paid off during a fight scene in “Endgame.” None of the repeated Avengers’ catchphrases — “I can do this all day,” “I am Iron Man” — will feel quite the same without having already heard them repeated throughout 19 movies.