17 years, 34 movies, and 16 TV shows later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the single most sprawling on-screen cinematic universe. So it’s not really surprising that watching a Marvel movie now isn’t very different from getting a doctorate.
Just more fun… probably.
So, with the MCU back on the big screens after a(nother) year-long hiatus, here’s a quick brief to prepare you for Marvel’s 2025 opener, Captain America: Brave New World.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Now, the assumption here is, if you’re reading this list, you’re invested enough to have watched the complete Infinity Saga. That’ll be the first 3 Phases, beginning with Iron Man in 2008 and culminating with Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019.
That said, The Incredible Hulk remains an underappreciated introduction to one of the more layered characters of Marvel–in both comics and film–and is often neglected as a component of the greater MCU. Thankfully, Captain America: Brave New World’s odd over-reliance on this super soldier-adjacent film forces it back into relevance.
While William Hurt’s Thunderbolt Ross (now played by Harrison Ford) was already restored to hard canon with 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Brave New World also finally continues other plotlines introduced 17 years ago.
And, for those of us with a sense of humour and good taste, The Incredible Hulk also leads pretty awesomely to Disney+ sitcom She-Hulk. Less fortunately, She-Hulk also ties into Thor: Ragnarok.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Much like The Incredible Hulk, The Winter Soldier is another Infinity Saga entry that gets a special mention due to the number of characters and plot threads it initiates directly impacting both Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
The Winter Soldier introduces both Sam Wilson’s Falcon and the newly revealed Winter Soldier (previously known only as Captain America’s pal Bucky). Both these characters play significant roles in other Infinity Saga entries such as Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame–all key watches, too–and leading out of the MCU’s 11-year-long opening saga towards…
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
Disney+’s second entry for the MCU television pipeline further builds on Sam’s and Bucky’s relationship while also dealing with them coming-to-terms with their own pasts and the world’s new status quo post-Endgame.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier also introduces Sam’s protege Joaquin Torres–familiar to comic fans as the second Falcon–and new claimant to the shield John Walker, who plays a pivotal role in the upcoming Thunderbolts*–but that’s a list for another time.
Eternals (2021)
The number of entries from 2021 relevant to Brave New World serves only as an indicator of how long exactly the recent Captain America flick has been awaiting release.
While Eternals doesn’t directly link to Captain America: Brave New World, the outcome of the movie is a significant instigator of the events in Sam Wilson’s newest adventure. More interestingly, a new substance very familiar to fans of the comics and X-Men movies makes its way into the MCU by way of the consequences of the Eternals.
Also, it’s always a great experience to witness Chloe Zhao’s directing in one of the MCU’s best movies to date.
Captain America: Brave New World is out now and, itself, will be pretty key to the upcoming Thunderbolts* and future Avengers films, Doomsday (2026) and Secret Wars (2027).