The Marvel Cinematic Universe is closing in on its 30th feature film, so there are plenty of options for Marvel fans to choose from on movie night. Sometimes, there’s time to squeeze in two movies, in which case it’s fun to go for a double feature with two movies that pair well together.
Some MCU movie pairings make great double bills, like Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther, or Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home, or the ultimate MCU double feature, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
The Avengers & Iron Man 3
After The Avengers closed out Phase One with an ambitious crossover pulling together Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from their own solo movies, Iron Man 3 kicked off Phase Two by exploring the aftermath of the Battle of New York and the psychological toll it took on Tony Stark.
These two movies make a great double bill. Audiences can watch Tony work with a team for the first time and take a nuclear missile through a wormhole in the final battle. Then, they can dive into the ensuing PTSD that Tony suffers in Iron Man 3, and the emotional closure it eventually leads him to.
Captain America: Civil War & Black Panther
Before he got his own solo movie, T’Challa was given a promising introduction in Captain America: Civil War. The first Black Panther film picked up a few narrative threads from Civil War, like T’Challa’s grief from the loss of his father and his newfound superhero responsibilities.
A fun double feature is watching T’Challa’s debut alongside the other Avengers in Civil War before seeing him take center stage in the hugely enjoyable Black Panther.
Guardians Of The Galaxy & Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy arrived as a breath of fresh air, and Vol. 2 continued its heartfelt mix of laugh-out-loud gags and emotional gut-punches. The story won’t be complete until Gunn finishes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to close out the trilogy, but for now, the first and second movies make a neat duology.
The story threads from the first film carry into the second one, from Peter Quill’s quest to find his biological father to Gamora’s strained sibling relationship with Nebula.
Captain Marvel & Avengers: Endgame
Marvel made the bold choice to dig into the MCU’s past before securing its future in Avengers: Endgame. Captain Marvel details the intergalactic adventure that Nick Fury undertook with Carol Danvers in the ‘90s that inspired him to come up with the Avengers Initiative.
Much like audiences did in 2019, it’s a joy to watch Carol’s journey to becoming a more confident superhero, then kick off Endgame with her saving Tony Stark from the depths of space before triumphantly arriving to fight Thanos in the final battle.
Captain America: Civil War & Spider-Man: Homecoming
In addition to introducing Black Panther into the MCU, Civil War also introduced fans to a new incarnation of Spider-Man. Civil War established the father-son dynamic shared by Tony Stark and Peter Parker.
This dynamic was explored in more depth in Spidey’s first MCU solo movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming, which picks up where Civil War left off as Tony gives Peter a lift back to Aunt May’s apartment in Queens and supplies him with a new high-tech suit.
Doctor Strange & Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
The tone, storytelling, and visual style of Doctor Strange are wildly different from its sequel, but they make a fascinating double feature. The first movie tees up Strange’s origin story perfectly, then Multiverse of Madness launches him into a thrilling interdimensional chase.
Benedict Cumberbatch gives an equally committed performance in both, and it’s more fun to see alternate versions of Christine Palmer and Karl Mordo on the heels of seeing the original versions in the first movie.
Captain America: The First Avenger & The Avengers
According to IGN, Kevin Feige’s original plan to bring Steve Rogers to the big screen involved a “half and half” split between World War II action and modern-day post-origin storytelling. Ultimately, Captain America: The First Avenger ended up taking place largely during the war, but fans can enjoy the original storyline if they watch The Avengers right after it.
When Captain America awakens in the modern day and Nick Fury recruits him for the Avengers Initiative, it’s fun to dive right into the team-up as Cap adjusts to a world he doesn’t recognize and leads Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk into the Battle of New York.
Thor: Ragnarok & Thor: Love And Thunder
Thor was initially introduced to the MCU as a pseudo-Shakespearean figure. He became a much more interesting character when Taika Waititi took over the God of Thunder’s solo adventures and stopped taking him so seriously.
The zany comedic tone of Waititi’s Marvel debut Thor: Ragnarok and its follow-up Thor: Love and Thunder is unlike anything else in the MCU. Waititi’s MCU duology makes a great double feature.
Spider-Man: Far From Home & Spider-Man: No Way Home
Tom Holland’s second solo Spidey outing, Spider-Man: Far From Home, ends with the jaw-dropping twist of the Daily Bugle revealing Peter Parker’s secret identity to the world. The following movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, picks up exactly where Far From Home’s cliffhanger ending left off, as Peter and MJ flee from the commotion and deal with the fallout of the Bugle report.
Watching these two movies back-to-back feels like watching one really long Spider-Man adventure. Far From Home’s European vacation feeds into No Way Home’s live-action Spider-Verse.
Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame
The ultimate MCU double feature is Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. These two movies were originally announced as one two-part epic before being given their own individual titles. Infinity War ends with a bombshell cliffhanger as the Avengers suffer their worst defeat by failing to stop Thanos from wiping out half of the universe’s population in an instant.
Endgame follows on from this cliffhanger with a five-year time jump exploring the devastating effects of that failure before the team reunites for one last stand against the Mad Titan. It’s a wildly satisfying five-and-a-half-hour viewing experience.
