For comic fans of the Mark Millar‘s original Civil War comics, the release of Marvel’s latest superhero film has been a a long time coming. The release of Captain America: Civil War is closer than ever and there’s never been a better time to marathon Marvel’s best as an appetizer to the new film.
Iron Man
An easy starting place for any Marvel marathon has to be Jon Favreau‘s Iron Man. It’s the film that set the stage by kicking off Marvel’s cinematic universe and still holds up as a pretty decent action romp almost a decade later. It’s by no means a perfect film but it’s a fun one – and fascinating one to revisit given all that’s come after.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Chris Evans‘ first appearance as the star-spangled man with a plan is a fascinating anomaly within the Marvel’s filmography. A hybrid of traditional superhero movie, complex period piece and pulpy war epic, The First Avenger represents the journey that Steve Rogers is set to reach the end of in Civil War. If that wasn’t enough, it also introduces Hayley Atwell‘s Peggy Carter and Dominic Cooper‘s Howard Stark. You can always go back to Captain America: The First Avenger.
Iron Man 3
Though often-maligned as one of the weakest superhero blockbusters in Marvel’s stable, Iron Man 3 does have a bizarre charm to it. Aside from being a strange blend of superhero and Christmas movie, this Shane Black-directed film also fleshes out a bit of the post-Avengers funk that ultimately pushes Tony Stark to the stand he’s set to take in Captain America: Civil War.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron has its problems to be sure but as a warmup for the coming Civil War, it’s hard to beat. As the last major Marvel film (Sorry Ant-Man!), it sets the stage for where our heroes are at prior to Civil War. The banter between Tony and Steve throughout works well to foreshadow the impending conflict of egos and ideologies between between the two. Ultron also introduces us to Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) – who are certain to play an important role in Civil War.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This is the big one. The bar against which Captain America: Civil War is inevitably going to be measured. The Russo Brothers’ first outing with Captain America saw him tackle adjustment to the modern world and the the morally-grey politics of surveillance. The Winter Soldier did to political thrillers what the first Captain America did for war films. It’s tight, impressive, punchy and considered by many to be the pinnacle of Marvel’s entire roster.
Captain America: Civil War drops into cinemas on April 28th.
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