This Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 Retrospective Has Us Weeping

Marvel fans have a history of making edits of their own as highly anticipated films approach their arrival. Some are better than others. Rarely, an editor really nails their objective and creates an epic recap capturing the emotion of the characters and narrative beats leading up to a sequel or ensemble movie. Now, a Marvel Cinematic Universe super cut featuring footage from the Phase 3 movies leading to Avengers: Endgame has done just that.

YouTube user Clark Zhu released a video he is calling, “Marvel Cinematic Universe – Phase 3 Retrospective.” The video recaps the many storylines and narrative threads which will come together and be tied up in a nice little bow with Avengers: Endgame. It features an emotional ending, plus a farewell to the many heroes and the late Stan Lee who helped create them. It’s an emotional undertaking to prepare for Avengers: Endgame but an impressively edited video featuring important story beats.

Some films will be more crucial to the narrative of Avengers: Endgame than others, leaving many fans guessing which they should re-watch or watch for the first time prior to seeing the upcoming movie. Directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo have revealed which movies will be the most integral for the ultimate viewing experience.

“[Captain America:] Civil War and [Avengers:] Infinity War without question because the events of Civil War directly affected Infinity War, and we would argue that the reason they lost to Thanos is because of Civil War,” Joe Russo said in the interview featured in the video above. “Clearly, that carries over to Endgame. If you’re going to add one more in there, I’d probably say [Captain America: The] Winter Soldier, only in that those are the four movies we directed, and they’re all thematically connected to one another.”

Still, fans should probably check out the first Avengers movie from 2012 and its 2015 sequel in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While many suspect the Ant-Man movies will be integral due to expectations of the Quantum Realm, it seems unnecessary given that Scott Lang is the only hero with knowledge of the subatomic world. This means he will have to provide an explanation of the Quantum Realm to the other heroes which will likely get the audience up to speed, similar to how Wong and Doctor Strange explained the Infinity Stones at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War.

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.