Marvel Comic Universe

Objective

The idea behind dabbling in "film appreciation" to begin with is that I spend a lot of time watching movies and shows. A lot of things seem to get more fun and interesting when I know more about it and am able to appreciate it more. The same should hold for movies and shows, right? Not that I do not enjoy watching them right now. But there's a stark difference between entertainment which is gripping, has layers of intricacy and captures my imagination vs other entertainment. The hope is that by developing a more tuned eye and ear for film appreciation, I will automatically be a lot more stimulated by all of the content that I consume. And in the worst case, it doesn't happen, and I continue watching my shows and movies, but I have watched a lot more of them. So, there's no down side.
As for my approach to film appreciation, I have decided to just get started. I can of course pick up some interesting books, see what I learn and then try to apply it. I had taken a course on film theory as an elective in IIT Madras. From this limited experience I'm reasonably confident that such a book wouldn't bore me. But I also believe that I can map out a few key elements on my own, and they are likely be sort of in line with what the experts look at. As such, I therefore plan on making my own amateur attempt at film appreciation as a starting point. Post this first attempt, I can learn something from the experts and try to improve my understanding of the space.
As a starting point I have selected the marvel comic universe's set of movies and shows. The question is why this and not something else. There are 2 reasons that MCU stands out for me. The first is that it must be the most successful movie and show franchise of all time. With the massive volume of movies and shows that it has and the tremendous earngings that they post, there must be something amazing about this franchise. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are the best movies out there. But there is definitely something interesting enough about them for me to study the movies. The second reason is that the volume of movies and shows is as large as I can possibly get anywhere else. This gives me a brilliant amoutn of fodder to work on.

Approach

In order to study the marvel universe, I need to pay attention to some fo the finer details, rather than just sit back and enjoy what I'm watching. So, I need to pick out some details worth payign attention to. My first guess at the important details to pay attention to are:

• Storyline - I'd like to try to study the plot and arc in each movie/show, as well as the broader story across the universe. For one thing, I must try to figure out what makes for a good storyline. Over and above this, I'll look out for patterns and try to see what I like and dislike in how the stories are built up.

• Characters - There are a lot of characters available for me to study. I will focus on main characters, who show up in many different movies and shows. I will try to look out for consistency, character development as well as quality of portrayal (actiing).

• Visuals - Special effects are a big part of marvel movies. But beyond how cool it looks, I shall look out for whether cinematography is interesting. By this, I mean that I will be paying attention to whether screens pop and capture my imagination, whether the colours match the mood, whether the details in the background are on point and so on.

• Audio - I will also try to pay attention to everything which can be heard. This ranges from the obvious, like the sounds track down to the finishing touches, like making sure that there is balance between soft dialogue and loud noises.

Through these few dimensions, I think I should be able to get a more critical read on what works and what doesn't through out the marvel universe. I aim to maintain separate notes for each movie and each show. In addition to that I aim to maintain a separate note for each character, across the universe.
What I'm particulaly excited about is the environment in which I will be watching all of this. I have tried to create quite the movie watching atmosphere in my room. You can see more of that at room setup summer of 2022

Order

The biggest pro and con of the marvel universe is it's immense size. It makes it a little tricky to figure out what to watch and in what order. I will of course allow the experts on the internet guide me on what order to consume all of this content in. I have therefore consulted the following articles:

• How to watch marvel movies in order
• Marvel movies in order
• Best marvel movie/show viewing order

Each list provided broadly 2 options. One is the release order and the other is the chronological order. I particularly liked the 3rd link which provides an order of watching the movies and shows in chronological order, free of spoliers. That is the order that I plan on following. I am pasting the same order below for my convenience:
- captain america - the first avenger (2011 - movie)
- Marvel's Agent Carter Season 1 (2015 - Marvel Television show)
- Marvel's Agent Carter Season 2 (2016 - Marvel Television show)
- Captain Marvel (2019 - movie)
- Iron Man (2008 - movie)
- Iron Man 2 (2010 - movie)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008 - movie)
- Thor (2011 - movie)
- The Avengers (2012 - movie)
- Iron Man 3 (2013 - movie)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013 - movie)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014 - movie)
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 1 (2013 - Marvel Television show)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014 - movie)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017 - movie)
- Daredevil Season 1 (2015 - Marvel Television show)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015 - movie)
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 2 (2014 - Marvel Television show)
- Ant-Man (2015 - movie)
- Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015 - TV show)
- Daredevil Season 2 (2016 - TV show)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016 - movie)
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 3 (2015 - Marvel Television show)
- Luke Cage Season 1 (2016 - Marvel Television show)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 - movie)
- Doctor Strange (2016 - movie)
- Black Panther (2018 - movie)
- Iron Fist Season 1 (2017 - TV show)
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 4 (2016 - Marvel Television show)
- The Defenders Season 1 (2017 - Marvel Television show)
- The Inhumans Season 1 (2017 - Marvel Television show)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017 - movie)
- The Punisher Season 1 (2017 - Marvel Television show)
- Jessica Jones Season 2 (2018 - Marvel Television show)
- Luke Cage Season 2 (2018 - Marvel Television show)
- Cloak and Dagger Season 1 (2018 - Marvel Television show)
- The Runaways Season 1 (2017 - Marvel Television show)
- Daredevil Season 3 (2018 - Marvel Television show)
- The Punisher Season 2 (2019 - Marvel Television show)
- Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 5 (2017 - Marvel Television show)
- Iron Fist Season 2 (2018 - Marvel Television show)
- Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018 - movie)
- Black Widow (2021 - movie)
- Avengers Infinity War (2018 - movie)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019 - movie)
- WandaVision (2021 - Disney+ TV show)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021 - movie)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019 - movie)
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021 - Disney+ TV show)
- Eternals (2021 - movie)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021 - movie)
- Hawkeye (2021 - Disney+ TV show)
- Moon Knight (2022 - Disney+ TV show)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022 - movie)
- Loki (2021 - Disney+ TV show)

I'm hoping that all of these are available on Disney + Hotstar. But for those few movies/shows which aren't, I'm sure I'll be able to find them somewhere or the other.