What to watch for a marathon?

I know the majority of comments on this post are going to be “whatever you feel like,” but I’d like to get some opinions!

I’ve seen almost everything Marvel Studios (like most people I’ve kinda fallen off these last couple of years) but for some reason my desire to jump back in hit me like a brick wall and I watched Eyes of Wakanda and realized I might as well binge the whole thing because it’s first on the timeline.

My main dilemma is, should I watch the “non-canon” shows? Agent Carter, Agents of Shield, Slingshot, Inhumans, Runaways, and Cloak and Dagger. Would you watch them? Why or why not?

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BackgroundEngineer112025-10-29 16:43

Right now I'm going through the mainline MCU films, in the order of release (shows are watched one season after the other). Currently stuck on Season 2 of *What If*.

As for the expanded content, the quality varies. I've only watched a few seasons of AoS back when they came out and didn't hate what I watched, but the Inhumans switch kinda sucked in my opinion. The Inhumans mini series is notoriously bad.

If you want to watch it chronological, you'd have to get a little crafty with *Agents of Shield* season 1 and 2 as a number of episodes are set around Phase 2 films. Everything diverges into Phase 3, so there's no Arrowverse style back and forth.
As for the other shows, *Agent Carter* would fit after *Captain America the first avenger* of course, but the other shows don't fit into any particular spot other than watching *Inhumans* before *Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness*.

For the Netflix shows, the only spot chronologically they fit is between *Avengers* and *Daredevil Born Again* and have their own watch order sandwiching *Defenders*.

DigificWriter2025-10-29 16:48

Are you asking whether or not you should intermingle Canon and Non-Canon stuff together?

If so, the answer is No, because that makes no sense.

If you're asking whether or not you should watch the Non-Canonical stuff at all, I don't see why not, especially since you've not seen any of it.

Ordinary-Chain-80472025-10-29 16:53

I’ll tell you the best of the ones I’ve seen Daredevil, Punisher and Loki are peak also I’d say just watch all the Netflix stuff

SP15702025-10-29 17:14

AoS has some of the best marvel content...and a LOT of Phil Coulson...therefore it's a MUST.

Agent Carter is also extremely good.

ZookeepergameCool7462025-10-29 17:14

Speaking of watch orders, maybe it's the same in the US, but as a Japanese fan, I often see the opinion circulating in Japanese communities that people should start with **'Captain America: The First Avenger'** followed by **'Captain Marvel'**. I've even seen this order used in some Disney+ listings here.

Every time I see this suggestion, I think: "Are you serious?"

These people completely fail to consider the experience of a first-time viewer. That person would watch the first movie, see a trailer for a mysterious, unknown movie called *The Avengers* in the post-credits... then watch a *completely different* movie that isn't about the Avengers... and *then* be forced to see the post-credits scene where Thanos has wiped out half the life in the universe!

This is the **worst possible spoiler**, and I consider it an absolutely idiotic suggestion that shows zero consideration for the feelings of a first-time viewer.

Vakobi2025-10-29 17:43

Same thing for Black Widow. First time watchers should definitely watch them in release order

Norwingaming2025-10-29 17:47

I only saw like half the movies of the mcu before and almost no series so i started watching them by release order with my gf. Sometimes i switched some things around like your case.

One reason was also that Captain Marvel would be almost the first movie you would watch and after around 100 movies and seasons she would appear again in endgame as a important char.

trustifarian2025-10-29 17:47

The only movie I heartily recommend outside of release order is Black Widow. Granted, it's more Yelena's story, but it builds Nat's character and makes her sacrifice more meaningful. Just anywhere before Infinity War.

I also say Antman & The Wasp right before Infinity War. The postcredit scene doesn't really spoil anything and you're just gut punch with "WTF just happened?" Get to the end of IW and you see Thanos snap, "Oh shit... that's what happened."

ZookeepergameCool7462025-10-29 22:48

I totally understand why the Black Widow movie is a point of contention regarding watch order, but imagine a first-time viewer seeing Black Widow die, and then watching her adoptive sister go looking for Hawkeye for revenge—all before they even watch Infinity War! What would that beginner think?

The same goes for Ant-Man. At the point of Infinity War, beginners should still be watching with the tension and uncertainty of whether Thanos will actually snap his fingers or not.

demonoddy2025-10-29 17:29

What haven’t you watched from marvel studios ?

I usually rewatch all of the movies every year or 2

Vakobi2025-10-29 17:43

I used to be the same way, but so much stuff came out in 2022 I got behind on one thing and made a habit out of it. I never finished Moon Knight, Ms Marvel, Secret Invasion, and then haven’t seen FNSM, X-Men ‘97, Agatha All Along, Brave New World, or Fantastic Four: First Steps. There’s also probably more in there that I just forgot about entirely.

demonoddy2025-10-29 17:47

I think all of those are worth watching minus secret invasion. Everything else is good to great

Norwingaming2025-10-29 17:44

I think all your non canon shows are canon.

jimmacq2025-10-29 18:17

Canon is a myth anyway. The minute they introduced multiple timelines, it automatically became irrelevant. Even before then, it was subject to change without notice. Forget about canon and watch what you like.

cee-ell-bee2025-10-29 18:17

You will enjoy Agents of Shield, and I consider it canon (even if there’s still debate). It’s an incredibly well written show and fun the Entire way through

Petrichor022025-10-29 21:54

Watch Agents of SHIELD. It's great (once you get to a certain point; it does start slow), it ties into the movies, and it makes the MCU feel that much deeper and more lived in. It's some of my favorite MCU content, so I have to recommend it.

That said, the show has two potential endings. You can treat the Season 5 finale or the Season 7 finale as the end of the show. Even though S6 is, IMO, the weakest season of the show, and S7 is really fun but in a you-need-to-turn-your-brain-off way, I still think the ending to S7 is a better, more fulfilling ending to the show and therefore recommend watching the full thing. But if you like how S5 ends, you can stop there. You'd be missing a handful of really great episodes, but it would still be an understandable stopping point.

For Slingshot, watch through Agents of SHIELD 4x08. If you spent those first 8 episodes of S4 wondering where a certain main character was, watch Slingshot to find out. It's short, it's pretty good, and it answers that question. If you don't care what she was up to, you can skip without missing anything.

For Agent Carter, it depends on three things: 1) Have you watched the Agent Carter One Shot and did you like it/find it to be a satisfying conclusion to Peggy Carter's story? 2) How much do you like Peggy Carter as a character? 3) Do you plan on watching S6 and S7 of Agents of SHIELD or do you plan on stopping with the S5 finale?

If you haven't watched the Agent Carter One Shot, you're a fan of Peggy Carter and want more of her, or you plan on watching the last seasons of AoS, I recommend watching the first season of Agent Carter. If you *really* like that season, watch S2 but know that it ends on a bit of an unresolved cliffhanger. If you just kind of like that season and don't feel you want more Peggy and Jarvis, skip S2. Treat it as a one season show.

If you have already watched the Agent Carter One Shot, things can get a little weird because its events don't line up perfectly with the show even though the people who wrote the One Shot also wrote the show, but you can try to ignore the seeming inconsistencies without too much trouble.

If you've already watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, I would skip Inhumans. It's just not a very high quality show, and it doesn't really contribute anything to the ongoing MCU. If you haven't watched Doctor Strange MoM yet, maybe consider watching the premiere or finale of Inhumans just so you're acquainted with the characters if you want to understand all of the cameos or references that might pop up in other movies.

Skip Helstrom unless you're really into demon possession shows. It's fairly standard stuff, not amazing, and ends on a cliffhanger.

Cloak & Dagger is okay, but not a must-watch, IMO. Runaways isn't that great either, IMO, and easily skippable but it does have a great arc near the end that also crosses over with Cloak & Dagger that's fun, but it's not worth watching the whole show just for that unless you really like the premise of Runaways, the characters, or just want to see more of Cloak and Dagger. I feel like as Cloak & Dagger continues, the characters get better and better but the plot gets less interesting. Runaways has the opposite problem where the characters get more annoying/less interesting as it continues, but the story gets more interesting. So do with that what you will. Cloak and Dagger also has some light crossover with Luke Cage if you're a big Luke Cage fan.