"Captain America: Civil War" Writers Admit That New Viewers May Be Lost...And That's OK

[CBR News]

On the 12th Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, brand new viewers will be justifiably lost in the shuffle.


Full article here.

[MoonDog]

If you're going to see a sequel but didn't see the previous movie, you should expect to be lost a bit. Even if you've seen every movie in a series you can be confused with the latest installment (The Force Awakens)

[robreedwrites]

Doesn't affect much, but the article is referring to Captain America: Civil War as the 12th installment. It's actually the 13th.

1. Iron Man
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. Iron Man 2
4. Thor
5. Captain America: The First Avenger
6. The Avengers
7. Iron Man 3
8. Thor: The Dark World
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
12. Ant-Man
13. Captain America Civil War

and (assuming everything stays in place)
14. Doctor Strange
15. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
16. Spider-Man: Homecoming
17. Thor: Ragnarok
18. Black Panther
19. Avengers: Infinity War Part I (title in flux)
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp
21. Captain Marvel
22. Avengers: Infinity War Part II (title in flux)

[MatchesMalone]

If you're going to see a sequel but didn't see the previous movie, you should expect to be lost a bit. Even if you've seen every movie in a series you can be confused with the latest installment (The Force Awakens)

Not necessarily true. Any good movie should stand on its own. The Dark Knight is a prime example.

The Force Awakens stands on it's own as well. Probably because it retreads the story of the first movie.

[SteelyDan]

If Chris Terrio or Zack Snyder said this exact same thing about BvS, people would jump all over them. There's a double standard when it comes to DC films.

[Blue Reloaded]

If Chris Terrio or Zack Snyder said this exact same thing about BvS, people would jump all over them. There's a double standard when it comes to DC films.

Except you're talking about a third movie in a trilogy and thirteenth in a shared universe, compared to a first movie for the main character in a new ecosystem.

Apples and potatoes.

[Holt]

If Chris Terrio or Zack Snyder said this exact same thing about BvS, people would jump all over them. There's a double standard when it comes to DC films.

Marvel earned that. They've built up to this event across over a dozen movies, so even if it is confusing, there's a wealth of material you can catch up on to know what is happening.

[dragonmp93]

If Chris Terrio or Zack Snyder said this exact same thing about BvS, people would jump all over them. There's a double standard when it comes to DC films.

Well, basically the only thing that you can get lost while watching Batman vs Superman is where Doomsday came from.

[k von doom]

Given the number of people who’ve seen Avengers 1 & 2, Ironman 3 and Winter Soldier - it’ll probably only apply to a small number of people. Having said that I can’t comment on whether it stands up on its own because I’ve seen most of the lead up movies. If this was the first Marvel movie one is seeing, the story would be the secondary concern as they’d be wondering how those characters got their powers. I’d probably be lost if I watched Return of the King without having seen Fellowship and Two Towers.

[origami]

Maybe in future MCU movies, if they want to, they can do a recap similar to the crawling text that opens each Star Wars movie.

[Jabare]

might be lost? New viewers will have no damn clue what's going on

[Star_Jammer]

Wasn't this always a potential "danger" of running a large, multi-picture shared universe?

[dragonmp93]

Wasn't this always a potential "danger" of running a large, multi-picture shared universe?

Or of a movie with too may sequels.

[Fifolet]

I don't think new viewers will be lost at all. They might not get the significance to a couple of lines, but overall i don't see how they won't understand the story or character motivations. Everything is pretty well touched and covered in the film. Of course the viewing experience will not be the same for someone who have seen the previous movies, same as with any movie franchise. It pays off if you've followed the MCU movies from the beginning.
If anyone is worried about not getting the full effect of the movie, my advice is to check Captain America: Winter Soldier (along with Captain America: The First Avenger optional) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (with Ant-Man optional) and you're 100% into it.

[Liven]

The "every movie should stand on it's own" doesn't really work in a shared universe, at least after a couple movies. It defeats the purpose of a shared universe. The whole point is shared characters and experiences building on each other to create new stories and conflicts. Not to mention coming to care about characters over time. These are the things that keep you coming back.