ATTENTION ALL MARVEL FANS
They’re the Guardians of the Galaxy! And with all due respect to super-soldier do-gooders, billionaire playboys in high-tech armour and hunky Norse gods, they’re the best Marvel Cinematic Universe super-team to date.
Which isn’t to say Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the rest of the gang have been a bunch of slouches. Since being acquired by Disney in 2009, Marvel Studios has pumped out one massively successful superhero blockbuster after another, a trend that appears to be continuing with last weekend’s release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Here’s a look at where to stream all the current Marvel offerings.
NETFLIX
If you’re one of the millions of Canadians with a Netflix subscription, you’re in luck. A good chunk of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe catalogue is on Netflix Canada — and only Netflix Canada, as it turns out.
While Netflix subscribers in both the U.S. and Canada can currently watch 2008’s Iron Man and last year’s Captain America: Civil War, only Canadian subscribers can enjoy Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (a close contender for the best Marvel flick), The Incredible Hulk (“enjoy” might be a bit of a stretch with that one), the first Thor and the original Guardians of the Galaxy.
NETFLIX, AGAIN
Netflix is also home to four (and counting) MCU TV shows, although there’s been very little crossover between these series and their big-screen cousins. Right now, Daredevil (two seasons), Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are all there for your binging pleasure.
Real talk, though: Every one of them would have been better served by being trimmed down to 10 episodes apiece, instead of a sluggish, bloated 13.
These four street-level heroes will team up for The Defenders, launching Aug. 18 on Netflix, after which we’ll see the Punisher standalone series and, eventually, new seasons of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil. (Sorry, Iron Fist. No one loves you.)
ITUNES, GOOGLE PLAY & YOUTUBE
Since the Netflix catalogue is a fluid and ever-changing beast, some of the Marvel movies have already come and gone, meaning you’re going to have to shell out a few bucks if you want to own all available MCU content. Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, The Avengers and Doctor Strange are all available for rent on iTunes, the Google Play store and YouTube’s movies on demand for $4.99 each ($5.99 for Doctor Strange) in HD. If you’d rather own than rent, you can do that for $19.99 to $24.99, depending on the movie.
If you’re truly committed to the MCU in its entirety, ABC’s pair of Marvel shows — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the superior but shorter-lived Agent Carter — are also on iTunes, Google Play and YouTube, for $2.99 per HD episode or $19.99 to $39.99 per season. If you don’t feel the need to actually own all these episodes, both shows are available for streaming on Crave TV ($7.99 per month, free for Bell TV subscribers).