Here's Every Marvel Film You Should Watch Before 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

Marvel's Asgardian hero is getting another solo outing in Thor: Love and Thunder. The titular Avenger (Chris Hemsworth) is on a soulful quest for peace. After saving the world multiple times, Thor seeks to lay down his arms and find a new purpose while facing Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale). Meanwhile, a Mjolnir-wielding Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) looks poised to take his place as the God of Thunder, and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) searches for someone to rule New Asgard at her side.

This may be the fourth Thor film, but the former God of Thunder has had a long and winding road to get to this point in his life. Between becoming an Avenger, losing his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and regaining his self-confidence after five years of depression, Thor's entire character arc has been leading up to this crossroads in his life. If you need a refresher on his story before his latest outing, here's every Marvel movie you should watch before Thor: Love and Thunder.

Back to where it all started. The first Thor film was the first foray into the more supernatural and arcane aspects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Thor starts off as an immature and petty god who is stripped of his powers until he can learn humility. After meeting Jane Foster on Earth, he learns how to use his godhood responsibly and becomes a hero after his brother Loki tries to take over Asgard and the human realm of Midgar.

The very first Avengers film marks Thor's return to Earth. After Loki wreaks havoc on the human realm, Thor tries to apprehend his brother and return him to Asgard. He eventually teams up with the likes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to defend humanity from an alien invasion.

In this underrated Thor sequel, Thor forms an uneasy alliance with Loki to defend the Nine Realms from the threat of the Dark Elves. Meanwhile, Jane tries to rein in the power of the Aether, a formless mass of boundless energy that the Dark Elves are targeting.

When Earth's mightiest heroes are needed once again, Thor rejoins the fight. While fighting the robotic entity Ultron (James Spader), Thor learns that the Infinity Stones are being brought into play for an unknown purpose. After helping save the world from Ultron's army, he vows to track down the Stones to prevent an even greater cataclysmic event.

In this trippy and psychedelic Thor movie, Thor and Loki face off against the Goddess of Death Hela (Cate Blanchett), who seeks to bring about the prophetic end of Asgard. After losing his hammer and being stranded on the junk planet of Sakaar, Thor meets Valkyrie and reunites with Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Together, they save the people of Asgard from certain death while sacrificing the city itself.

After the Mad Titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) kills Loki on his quest to gather the Infinity Stones, Thor vows revenge while trying to stop Thanos's plans. He forges a new ax called Stormbreaker and tries to kill Thanos with it. Unfortunately, he fails to defeat him before Thanos erases half of the universe's population from existence.

If only he went for the head...

Five years after the battle with Thanos, Thor becomes depressed, having resigned himself to a life of drinking and gaming. After being recruited in a time travel heist to reclaim the Stones and restore the universe, he regains his sense of purpose enough to obtain the Reality Stone. He later joins the final battle against Thanos's army.

While not technically required viewing for Love and Thunder, you might want to add the Guardians movies to your list. Having crossed paths with Thor in Infinity War and Endgame, the ragtag group of intergalactic antiheroes make a sizable appearance in the new Thor film to aid him along his quest.

Thor: Love and Thunder comes out in theaters on July 8, 2022.