Avengers: Age of Ultron opens tonight, which means you’re running out of time to marathon the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe before you sit down for a weekend of some robot-ass-kicking goodness. Should you plunk down a chunk of change you could buy a new triple-A video game for and sit through some 27-hour Marvel movie marathon?

What are you, crazy? The movie comes out this weekend! It doesn’t count if you sleep through it!

Don’t worry, unprepared movie fans, Geek Melee has your back. Here’s the short list of Marvel movies you’ve gotta brush up on before you see the Hulk bite off Ultron’s head at the box office.

1) Iron Man

Ahhh, the one that started it all. I knew something special was happening when my own sister and mother, two girls who couldn’t have told you Tony Stark from a cold stick of butter the week before, came home telling me how awesome the movie was. And it’s all thanks to Robert Downey Jr. His charisma is so strong, and his wise-cracking but conscientious Tony Stark so human, that he’s even somewhat altered the Tony of the comic books the way Christopher Reeve did Superman.

Plus, the movie is funny. Even the cheap laughs like Tony rocketing into the wall while testing his jet boots and getting sprayed by one of his robots played well, just on the strength of RDJ’s scowl. It’s no wonder the Iron-est of Mans still holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Marvel Cinematic Universe film at 93%. Definitely give this one a revisit before this weekend, and remember to watch after the credits to relive when the Avengers were just a gleam in Samuel L. Jackson’s motherfuckin’ eye!

2) The Avengers

Oh, Joss Whedon. How you knocked us off our socks with this surprisingly perfect popcorn masterpiece. You kept the Hulk in reserve until it counted, you gave us great moments between the movie’s stars, and we finally saw Black Widow being utilized in an interesting way. Robin from the then-still-on-top How I Met Your Mother playing tough-as-nails Commander Maria Hill was a welcome addition to the established players. And oh, Agent Coulson! How like a phoenix you have risen since that jaw-dropping scene with Loki! If you only have time for one movie before rushing off to live that Ultron-bashing greatness, you may as well make it the original Avengers film!

3) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It’s hard to predict how the intrigue-heavy events of last summer’s blockbuster will impact Age of Ultron, but the (relatively) politically-savvy superhero thriller is worth revisiting just in case. Although the script was somewhat flat and fans of Black Widow expecting more light to be shed on her mysterious backstory were disappointed, the film never faltered in its delivery of imaginative action. Winter Soldier has its share of big action set pieces, but also makes time for more scaled-down combat showcasing Cap’s hand-to-hand guile. Plus, Robert Redford in a superhero movie?? Why not! And for the love of Cap’s shield, don’t skip the Whedon-directed mid- and post-credits scenes which are direct lead-ins to Age of Ultron!

There you have it, your crème de la crème of modern Marvel masterpieces, in a list short enough to binge before Whedon’s next cinematic milestone hits the theaters! So get to watching, True Believers, and see you at the movies!