10 Movies you must watch before buying your tickets for Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* will premiere on May 2, 2025, a major film that will wrap up Phase Five of the MCU. The movie will bring back several supervillains and superheroes in a team called Thunderbolts as they go on a mission that brings back difficult memories from their past.

Just like other MCU movies where teams are involved, Thunderbolts* might fill the void that was created by the end of the Avengers movies. But before watching Thunderbolts*, there are still several Marvel movies that should not be missed, as many of them contain teasers and introductions to the characters that you’ll get to see in this new MCU film. This will, in turn, help you understand the characters better.

In this article, we have listed 10 Marvel movies that you should definitely watch before going to watch Thunderbolts*.

Disclaimer: This article is based on the writer’s opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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10 Movies you must watch before buying your tickets for Thunderbolts*

10) Spider-Man: Homecoming

In Thunderbolts*, we will again get to see the old Avengers Tower, but without the former owner. Spider-Man: Homecoming might not be one of the most important films to understand the upcoming movie, but it was one of those movies that prepared us for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character, who is one of the main characters in the new movie and was also in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

In a scene in the Spider-Man movie, we see that the Avengers’ things are being transported from the old Tower to the new location in New York, as Tony Stark has sold the place. After almost 8 years, we now know that it was Dryfuses’s Valentina who brought the Avengers Towers from Stark.

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9) Captain America: Civil War

Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes is an integral part of the Thunderbolts team, and hence watching Captain America: Civil War would give you a glimpse into Bucky’s tragic past and how he was used by Hydra as an assassin by brainwashing him.

The movie also shows in a mid-credit scene that Bucky has finally found refuge in Wakanda and is at peace and chooses to go back to his cryogenic sleep until a cure for his brainwashing is found. Civil War is a great movie to watch if you want to brush up on your memory of everything our Winter Soldier has been through.

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8) The Avengers

The Avengers is the first movie that introduced us to the Stark Tower, later the Avengers Tower. This served as the primary location for the Avengers throughout many more movies that followed.

In Thunderbolts*, the location will be back but with a new owner and a brand-new team of heroes.

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7) Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger is the introduction to Steve Rogers and his best friend, Bucky Barnes, and how one of them ended up becoming Captain America while the other fell into a more tragic fate.

In the film, Rogers forms a team called the Howling Commandos, which includes Barnes. Barnes falls from the train and is thought to be dead after the team attacks a train carrying the biochemist, Arnim Zola. We later find out in Winter Soldier what Bucky had gone through when he was captured by Hydra, while his friend thought he was dead.

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6) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the most important movies because in this Marvel movie, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes got a proper introduction among the MCU fans. This movie showed a troubled and brainwashed Bucky Barnes and the difficulties he faced as Hydra brainwashed and made him into a Winter Soldier, using him as an assassin.

It is a must-watch to understand Bucky’s troubled persona and his past before watching Thunderbolts*.

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5) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Before watching Thunderbolts*, watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a must, as it would provide insight into the character of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

Her lust for power and want to make the US the only country with access to Vibranium has caused a seething hatred in her against the people of Wakanda. She even tries to manipulate her ex-husband’s thinking about those people, and when she couldn’t turn him and acquire more secrets about the place, she arrested him.

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4) Captain America: Brave New World

In Captain America: Brave New World, Stan's appearance as Bucky is an important role as he comes to remind Sam Wilson of being the perfect candidate to become the next Captain America and wield his shield and also tells him that his humanity is what makes him the best man to take the job and it is not his limitation.

While consoling Wilson, it is also revealed that Bucky is running for congress, giving a bit of a teaser of his upcoming role in Thunderbolts*.

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3) Avengers: Endgame

Other than Thanos’ defeat, several of the Avengers also sacrificed in the battle. One of those Avengers is Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. She will be the driving force for the emotional journey that Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova will go through.

The upcoming MCU film will depict the domino effect that the news of Natasha’s death will have on Yelena and the others.

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2) Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of the most important movies to watch before Thunderbolts*, as it introduces the character of Ghost. Although in this movie, because she attempts to survive as she is revealed to be dying and needing quantum energy, she eventually tries to forcibly take it from Janet.

Watch Ant-Man and the Wasp to get to know Ghost, a.k.a. Ava Starr's character, better and also to see the extent of her power, as it is her first appearance in the MCU films.

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1) Black Widow

Another one of the unskippable MCU films to be watched before Thunderbolts* is Black Widow, as it gives a glimpse into the past of Black Widow and introduces us to her messy spy family that includes Yelena Belova, Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), and Rachel Weisz’s Melina Vostokoff.

The film recounts their days as undercover spies and later Natasha and Yelena’s training as black widows, and the extent of their relationship, which provides an insight into how close they were, as Natasha’s death will have an emotional impact on them.

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Also Read: 9 movies to watch as you gear up for Marvel Phase Six