The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of Hollywood's longest-standing franchises, but it is also its biggest. That is an undisputed fact, as the superhero movie series has pulled in over $31 billion since its inception in 2008's Iron Man. To watch it grow over the course of 15+ years has been an incredible experience, especially as it has recently expanded into television via a host of Disney Plus shows, too.
From the early days of the Infinity Saga to the current, ongoing Multiverse Saga, the MCU has been one big evolving story. Marvel fans - and indeed general audiences - have loved keeping up with this never-ending story, losing their minds at each and every major development and how each one could impact the franchise as a whole.
That being said, not every MCU movie has offered much to the overall franchise's arc. With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the most skippable offerings. Now, it's important to note that these are not specifically the worst MCU movies; merely the most standalone, underwhelming outings that don't service the MCU as a whole.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
You probably aren't surprised to see Iron Man 2 here. It's been widely regarded as one of the weaker MCU movies since its debut, simply because it didn't quite capture the magic of its predecessor when it arrived in theaters in 2010. Opinions towards it have softened over the years as there are much, much worse MCU movies out there, but it still remains one of the least-necessary watches of the overall franchise.
From its lacklustre villains to its indulgent exploration of Tony Stark's recklessness, Iron Man 2 had too much going on to even do justice to its own story (never mind the MCU as a whole). Tony's initial failure to make it onto Nick Fury's Avengers program simply paved the way for his obvious inclusion in the end, so if you did skip it, you really wouldn't miss much.
We're ranking it lower on the list because it is important for two reasons: It introduces Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and features Don Cheadle's first appearance as Rhodey (as he took over the role from Terrence Howard). However, Black Widow is essentially reintroduced in The Avengers and Cheadle's continued appearances as Rhodey are so good that it doesn't matter which one is the first of them.
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
It's funny: For the longest time The Incredible Hulk was easily the most skippable movie in the MCU's complete history. That's no shade to the movie itself; although it doesn't get the most love for its rather straightforward plot, it is a good popcorn film full of entertaining battles. It's just that it revolves around Edward Norton's Hulk in his one and only appearance (before he was eventually recast with Mark Ruffalo). And the character is essentially reintroduced in 2012's The Avengers in a way that ensures viewers didn't need to watch his previous film.
However, in recent years, the developments of this one have become slightly more important to the overall franchise. While William Hurt's General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross continued to be a recurring presence throughout the Infinity Saga, the film's plot was largely ignored until the Multiverse Saga. The Abomination reappears in both Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, but the film's general storyline is revisited in 2024's Captain America: Brave New World, which essentially acts as a sequel to the 2008 movie.
That makes it slightly more necessary to the MCU's overarching story than it once was.
Eternals (2021)
As someone who just recently rewatched Eternals, let me tell you: The movie is extremely underrated. Although it's needlessly long, there's a great movie in there somewhere and it explores some of the more interesting elements that the Multiverse Saga has offered up. Unfortunately, its underperformance at the box office - and Marvel's subsequent move away from these characters - has made the film the most skippable MCU movie of them all.
The Multiverse Saga has only referenced the events of the movie once (see Captain America: Brave New World for more on that) but the characters and lore of Eternals has been largely ignored for five years now. Granted, the studio still utilizes some of those interesting concepts in episodes of animated series What If...? but as that series is set on a multitude of parallel earths, none of that is canon to the MCU in general.
Even the film's Blade reference hasn't went anywhere - in spite of the fact that Blade had been on the MCU release calendar for years before its eventual indefinite delay - so there is very little need to watch Eternals if you're hoping to catch up on the Multiverse Saga ahead of Avengers: Doomsday and / or Avengers: Secret Wars.