Captain America: Brave New World is here. And while the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) has been trying to push the whole “don’t worry, you don’t need to do homework to enjoy this” narrative… Uh, you’ve got a lot of homework to do for this one.
Not only this the fourth Captain America movie and the 35th movie in the MCU, but there are also other movies — going all the way back to 2008 — and Disney+ TV shows it’s tying into. So with that in mind, you’ve got your work cut out for you before you head to the theater… And that doesn’t even include movies and shows we don’t know about that might be referenced in the movie.
Good news! We’re going to break down every Marvel movie and TV show you have to stream before you go see Captain America: Brave New World. And because we’re nice, we’ll even explain why you need to watch them first… So maybe you can skip them if you’re low on time. Let’s get into it, because as soon as you’re done reading this article? You’ve got work to do.
The Incredible Hulk
Wildly, if you want to understand what’s going on in Captain America: Brave New World you’re going to have to go back all the way to 2008’s much-maligned Incredible Hulk. Not only did that movie introduce General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (played by the late William Hurt, with the role taken over by Harrison Ford in this new movie), but it also introduced Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), who has been MIA from the MCU since that movie.
Most importantly, though, Brave New World picks up on one of the longest dangling plotlines in the franchise… When we last left scientist Sam Sterns, played by Tim Blake Nelson, he had Hulk-blood dripping into a gash on his forehead. In this new movie, he’ll be transformed into the Gamma-powered villain known as The Leader.
Where To Watch The Incredible Hulk:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
If you want to start with Captain America: The First Avenger for extra credit, you certainly can. However, Winter Soldier is the movie where we first meet Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and his superhero alter-ego, The Falcon. If you want to follow Sam’s journey, here’s where you want to begin.
Where To Watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier:
Captain America: Civil War
Keeping on the adventures of Sam Wilson, while he does briefly appear in both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, for time you can probably skip those and go right to Civil War. There he’s part of a very fun trio with Cap (Chris Evans) and Bucky (Sebastian Stan), and a crucial part of the iconic airport fight. It also cements his bond with the duo, which is important later.
Where To Watch Captain America: Civil War:
Avengers: Endgame
Keeping on the “skip this unless you want to be completist” bent, you can probably skip past Avengers: Infinity War, which does feature Sam as part of Cap’s team, and go right to Avengers: Endgame. Granted, he’s blipped for most of the movie — but his “on your left” lets Cap know that the heroes have returned to save the day in the fight against Thanos.
More importantly, at the end of the movie, an older Cap returns to give his shield to Sam — not Bucky — setting off the events of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and passing the franchise Sam’s way.
Where To Watch Avengers: Endgame:
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
The six episode Disney+ series was one of the first out of the gate for the streaming platform… And the whole plot revolves around Sam trying to figure out if he’s worthy to be called Captain America. Spoiler: he is, and does accept his new identity. This is still probably the most crucial bit of the MCU to watch before the new movie. It’s not, uh, the best, per say. But if you want to get caught up and have limited time, this is the thing to check out.
Where To Watch The Falcon And The Winter Soldier
Eternals
To crib from Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson): bet you didn’t see that coming. The similarly maligned Eternals is a crucial piece of the plot of Brave New World… And picks up on another dangling plotline. Specifically, at the end of this movie Tiamut, a giant Celestial that has been gestating inside the Earth, hatched and then was frozen in the middle of the ocean. In Brave New World, it’s been discovered that Tiamut is made out of Adamantium — yes, the same metal that is inside Wolverine. And consequently the world’s governments are racing to possess the new, nearly indestructible substance.
Where To Watch Eternals
Bonus: Black Widow
This is very much an “only if you have time” movie as well, as I don’t actually know how heavily this ties into Brave New World. However, Shira Haas plays a character named Ruth, who was previously the Israeli superhero named Sabra. Through reshoots, it seems she’s been changed to be part of the Black Widow program, so if you’re curious what’s going on with that, you can check this one out.
Where To Watch Black Widow:
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