Okay I'm jumping right into this thread because I want to know whether I should bother with the MCU at all or just leave it. I've heard great things about this movie and I'm interested in watching it, but my experience with MCU movies has not been great. I've watched the following movies:
-Iron Man: I thought it was okay for a one time watch, but I have no desire to watch the sequels
-The First Avenger: Turned it off after 20 minutes
-Spider Man Homecoming: Also turned it off after about 20 minutes
-The Avengers: I thought this movie was decent and I'd be down to watch more
Now... I haven't watched Age of Ultron to this day for whatever reason, but all these great reviews of Infinity War make me want to watch it. Should I bother?
Also I'm interested in Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther, how do these hold up compared to the ones I've seen? I don't like it when I have to watch other movies to even understand what's going on which was a huge problem for Spider Man Homecoming for me, I had no friggin clue what happened and just turned it off. The Avengers was fine though. Surprisingly, I didn't expect it either.
This post is all kinds of fuckery. First, watching IW without the build up is fucking pointless. It's like starting a book three quarters of a way in. Sure, you might be able to pick up some stuff but you'll be utterly confused as to what is going on. The fact that you watched Avengers 1 having only seen Iron Man just boggles the mind. The movie only works because you've watched Thor, Iron-Man, and Cap 1. Fuck, the main villain of Avengers 1 is introduced in Thor 1 and his whole motivations for doing what he does comes from that movie. So, like I can't recommend you go see IW if you don't give a shit about watching the past movies.
Now, here's the other thing, I'm not trying to sit here and convince you that a majority of the MCU films are amazing. Personally, I'm pretty critical of them and find only a handful to rise above just mediocre or good. But, IW is also so special in just how fucking good it is which is only possible by having sat through a lot of the mediocre ones. Now, do you have to watch every MCU film? No. Here's what you can skip:
Skippable movies:
-Thor 2
-Iron-Man 2
-Dr. Strange (yes, you get introduced to Strange here but the movie is so utterly mediocre that it isn't necessary. IW actually makes you feel like its the first true Dr. Strange movie. Just take Iron-Man 1, put magic in it instead of technology, and that's what Dr. Strange is.)
-Ant-Man
-All the Hulk movies, not like Marvel even likes to acknowledge they exist.
-Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (I maintain it's a fine film, but it's not important to the overall plot and thus IW).
-Spider-Man Homecoming (I can feel you tapping out of this one if you're already content with Raimi Spider-Man. It's not important to the overall plot and I doubt you need to be introduced to fucking Spider-Man. It's just a solid comedy.)
Essential movies:
-Thor 1
-Cap 1
-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
-Captain America: Civil War
-Avengers 1
-Avengers 2
-Guardians of the Galaxy 1
-Thor: Ragnarok
-Black Panther
(Note: The last list was simply listing those essential without regards to quality, now I'll simply break down those which I feel are mediocre and thus a possible slog to watch eve if essential. And, those that are legit great, even if they aren't essential).
Mediocre Essential Films:
-Avengers 2.
-Thor: Ragnarok (fight me all you want, Ragnarok is inferior in every way to Thor 1. If you just want a fun comedy, Ragnarok is a fine movie. But, if you want emotion and drama and all that good stuff, Thor 1 is your friend. Plus, dude said he ducked out of Homecoming which means he's likely not into just a pure dumb comedy).
-Cap 1 (I actually like the film fine as a WWII buff, but general people might find it mediocre).
Amazing Films, even if not all Essential:
-Black Panther
-Iron-Man 3 (The BEST Iron-Man film, isn't exactly essential but is still just amazing).
-Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Consistently held up as many as the best Marvel film, just all around solid movie).
I hope that sufficiently answers all the questions you can have so you can appropriately judge whether you want to watch the prior MCU films and thus get invested in IW. I can break things further down if you really want depending on your taste in movies.