We’re all gearing up for Marvel’s next bit movie with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and there have been genuine tweets about what to watch before the movie, since it ties into so much of Marvel’s vast onscreen universe multiverse. But then, everyone started to make fun of those tweets, instead. I’m talking about “What to Watch” lists that include pretty much any Marvel property out there. In reality, you should probably watch WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home (and all of Sam Raimi’s movies in the world of The Evil Dead) and that’s about it, but that’s not what this meme is about.
Gone are the days when you just had to watch a few movies before heading into a new Marvel movie. Instead, we’re deep into a story that spans over 20 movies and now has 6 television shows included in just the Disney+ era (not even talking about the ABC shows or the Netflix era of Marvel that is all relevant now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe). So … these lists are important but also hilarious given that this world is so vast that you probably should just know as much as possible. And that’s how memes like this are born: by everyone just thinking it’s hilarious that it’s even a question in the first place.
Because come on, it’s fun to poke fun at those lists when they’re essentially just “watch everything that leads up to this movie in the shared universe that it is a part of.” So I even decided to use it to list my requirements for things that any potential suitor has to watch (and my extension love) in order to date me.
So why not use it to make fans watch fun shows and movies that they hadn’t before? Like the Our Flag Means Death tweet or this one from user Ashpolt who just wanted to share their love for Community In the world.
It’s just honestly funny watching everyone coming up with wild things to make people watch in the lead up to Multiverse of Madness. We’re all clearly excited but we also all know that, at this point, you gotta watch a lot of things to understand these movies.
What to actually watch
As I said before, you really only need to know what happens in Spider-Man: No Way Home and WandaVision to get what’s happening, but it does probably help to be aware of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, Marvel’s What If…? is sort of important, but it’s not necessary.
You can also go into this movie not knowing anything because the entire point of it is to throw what we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe out the window. And yes, memes like this are funny because we know the drill at this point: You should watch all the connected universe before these movies. But sometimes it is a genuine question because some fans might want to revisit what’s most important to the plot before diving into the next big Marvel movie.
(image: Marvel Entertainment/Photoshop)
