During the release of this year’s Box Office crusher Avengers: Infinity War, an interesting question popped up at Flicks HQ: how many people in the audience actually saw all of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before seeing this one? And how did that affect their viewing experience?
To answer this question like scientists, we went directly to the source and asked the people of New Zealand in May’s Hoyts Poll. We also opened the floor to those who wanted to explain further how their MCU knowledge (or lack thereof) affected their viewing experience.
Almost half of those who answered the poll (47%) said they saw all the films in the MCU before watching Infinity War.
Latham from Auckland stated: “It allowed me to be more invested in the storyline and these characters as I had spent so much time with them.”
“It made some of the subplots make a little more sense,” Amy from Canterbury commented. “If I hadn’t seen the likes of Doctor Strange (which I almost didn’t watch), the whole timestone thing and alternate realities wouldn’t have made as much sense and that was quite a key part to Infinity War.”
Will, another Cantabrian, added “It was a great payoff for fans… I understand a lot of complaints about people not empathising with characters they were unfamiliar with, but a great many people already HAD those connections from seeing their adventures over the years.”
Around a quarter of the poll-takers (27%) saw almost all of the MCU before Infinity War, with most of them reckoning you need to see certain films in the series to make sense of the latest one.
“I’d missed seeing Spiderman: Homecoming and after talking to someone that had seen it, I know I missed a couple of references and jokes,” said Marama from Canterbury. “However, a friend of mine had seen everything except Black Panther and were using trailers as their basis… they were pretty confused.”
Aaron from the Manawatu-Whanganui region also admitted to missing Black Panther, “but I read the synopsis before I saw Infinity War to catch up.”
Roughly a fifth of participants (21%) had seen half the films or fewer.
“The movies I hadn’t seen had no impact on my ability to follow the story,” Paige from Wellington declared. “I did, however, have little emotional connection to certain characters and therefore cared very little when they died. I had watched Thor: Ragnorak, Black Panther, and the (terrible) Civil War one, so that covered most bases.”
Katie from Auckland felt a similar way: “I didn’t understand who some of the characters were and how they fit into the storyline. I should have watched Doctor Strange, the latest Captain America, and also Black Panther.”
Jai from Waikato “was able to understand almost 80% of the film” but credited a lot of that to “being surrounded by people who know the MCU in and out.”
Meanwhile, Aucklander Nasra felt even more compelled to check out the other MCU films, saying “I feel I came out with the opportunity to catch up on the rest without taking away any of the surprises.”
Only 5% of those polled said Infinity War was their first MCU film. However, much like Nasra, fellow JAFA Andrew said: “I’m keen to watch them all now.”
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