Which Marvel movies can you skip?

The rule of thumb

A title is essential if skipping it leaves you confused later — a character appears from nowhere, a relationship is assumed, an object matters and you do not know why.

By that test most of the standalone Disney+ series are skippable, several Phase 4 films are skippable, and almost nothing from the Infinity Saga is.

What you can safely skip

These are all decent and none is required.

• The Incredible Hulk — barely referenced again, and the actor changed immediately.
• Thor: The Dark World — matters for one object, which the next film re-explains.
• Iron Man 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp — pleasant, low consequence.
• Eternals, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Werewolf by Night, the Holiday Special — self-contained.
• Black Widow — a prequel released after the character's death, and it shows.
• Thor: Love and Thunder, Echo, Ironheart — later, and largely disconnected.
• What If...? — explicitly alternate-universe, and never assumed knowledge.

What people wrongly skip

Three titles get skipped because they are television, and all three are load-bearing.

• WandaVision sets up Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness directly.
• Loki — both seasons — is the spine of the entire multiverse storyline. Skip it and Phase 5 onward stops making sense.
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier explains who is carrying the shield in every film afterwards.

The shortest coherent version

If even the essentials list is too long, the absolute minimum for the Infinity Saga is: Iron Man, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War, Endgame.

Eight films. You will miss a lot of texture and no plot.