If you’re a true Marvel fan, you know the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) goes well beyond and is based, in part, on canon from the Marvel comic book realm. You can certainly be a fan of the MCU and not have read any of the Marvel canon, but what kind of a fan would you really be.
Whether you’ve seen all of the films or TV series in the MCU, I’m going to suggest a few comic books to get you up to speed on everything you need to know before going to see Avengers: Infinity War on April 27th. This post contains affiliate links.
5 Comics You Have to Read Before Watching Avengers Infinity War
Avengers Vol. 2
This is a good read if you want to know what the Infinity Stones (gems as they are called in the comcs).are truly capable of.
Iron Man. Thor. Captain America. They’ve been the Avengers’ heart, soul and fighting spirit since the team’s earliest days. Three of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, joined together to fight the foes no single hero could take on alone. Now, with the dawning of a new Heroic Age, this trio again finds cause to band together. And with the likes of Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Wolverine and Spider-Woman at their side, this truly could be the most powerful Avengers lineup of all! It’d better be: With Kang back from the future bearing ill tidings of a force so powerful even he can’t conquer it, Iron Man calls the Avengers to action! But the secrets that lay in store will reveal some very recognizable faces in some very adversarial forms! Collecting AVENGERS (2010) #1-6.
Infinity Gauntlet
If you only choose one comic book to read before you watch Avengers: Infinity War, make it this one. Based on the trailers, this seems the likeliest source material and has lots of backstory on Thanos and his reason for wanting to destroy half the universe (you can also read this Thanos and Infinity Stone Primer).
It’s the Avengers, the New Warriors, the X-Men and more against the omnipotent Eternal, Thanos! The Mad Titan has become the most powerful being in the universe, and enslavement or destruction may be the only choices he gives it! The successive Starlin sagas that shook space and time start here!
MARVEL’S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PRELUDE (2018) #1 (OF 2)
This is a great read to get an idea of what’s happened since the team (read the Avengers) was last together at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
When a terrorist puts the Avengers at odds, CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE WINTER SOLDIER go rogue to find him – but IRON MAN isn’t far behind. Will the Avengers survive the fallout? Then, find out where Captain America, the Falcon and the Black Widow are headed next – because the world needs heroes, whether it wants them or not. And get a sneak peek at Tony Stark’s brand-new armor! Get ready for MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR in part 1 of this special prelude! $3.99.
MARVEL’S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PRELUDE (2018) #2 (OF 2)
THE THREAT FROM ABOVE! As a Master of the Mystic Arts, DOCTOR STEPHEN STRANGE has witnessed many unusual things…but none so powerful and potentially Universe-threatening as the existence of the INFINITY STONES! Don’t miss a detail of the galaxy-spanning story featuring IRON MAN, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, VISION, SCARLET WITCH and more, and make yourself an Infinity Stone expert before this summer’s blockbuster film!. $3.99.
Infinity
Yeah, I know this one is a little spendier, but there is some good source material and back history on the Black Order. This would be the 5th of the 5 comics if you’re going to pick up some extra reading material.
To save the world from ever-greater dangers, the Avengers got bigger. Yet when the oldest race in the universe marks Earth for destruction, it’s time for Captain America to think grander still. As the most powerful Avengers team ever assembled heads into space to join an intergalactic alliance against the ancient Builders, an old enemy deems their home unprotected. Thanos, the Mad Titan, unleashes his forces on Earth in the latest chapter of his endless quest for death. But even a world without Avengers has its defenders. Among them, the secret cabal of history-shapers known as the Illuminati – a group riven with internal conflict already confronting another planet-ending crisis. As Earth’s Mightiest Heroes wage war on multiple fronts, their battle for Infinity threatens to descend into Inhumanity.
COLLECTING: INFINITY 1-6, NEW AVENGERS 7-12, AVENGERS 14-23
Don’t miss the Ultimate Infinity War Shopping Guide
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