Avengers: How To Time The Start Of The New Year With The Thanos And Iron Man Snaps

There are many ways to celebrate the countdown to the New Year. One common tradition is to start a favorite movie at precisely the right second and time it so that a certain scene or event happens at midnight. It's a popular practice among cinephiles who prefer to ring in the new year by watching awesomeness rather than dropping balls.

One obvious candidate for the midnight moment is the snapping of the Infinity Gauntlet. Of course, that universe-shaking activity takes place on multiple occasions. For those interested in watching Thanos (Josh Brolin) wipe out half of all life at the stroke of midnight on January 1st, they should start "Avengers: Infinity War" at 9:48:54 p.m. on December 31st. If watching Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man turn Thanos and his armies into dust is more your speed, you'll want to fire up "Avengers: Endgame" at 9:29:30 p.m. No sooner and no later, folks.

Now, watching Thanos make his snap at midnight is only ideal for those who want to watch the villain at his apex. Even Iron Man's snap isn't so much a happy-go-lucky instance as it is a monumental self-sacrifice, so those looking for a real feel-good moment should consider Hulk's (Mark Ruffalo) universe-restoring snap. For that to play exactly at midnight, you'll want to delay your "Avengers: Endgame" start time to 9:58:37 p.m. If you do that, you also get the added bonus of starting 2024 by watching an epic showdown outside of the Thanos-stomped Avengers compound.

If the snap isn't your schtick, there are plenty of other movie options out there. Here are a few top ones to consider:

Within the MCU, there are many other great points that make for perfect New Year's celebrations. Starting "Endgame" at 9:41:34 p.m. will give you Captain America's (Chris Evans) "Avengers, assemble!" line at the stroke of 12. Starting "The Avengers" at 10:07:51 p.m. will bring you to the first actual circle of assembled Avengers at midnight. And if you want to be literal — and work on a much shorter timeline — you can start "Iron Man 3" at 11:55:50 p.m. and end up celebrating the New Year at the same moment that it begins in the movie.

If you're interested in branching out from Marvel's cinematic universe, the options quite literally become endless. A couple of the best to keep in mind? You can start "Star Wars: A New Hope" at 10:02:42 p.m. to watch the biggest firework of them all — the Death Star — explode at 12. And if epic fantasy is your preference, fire up the theatrical version of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" at 9:46:22 p.m. to start the New Year with Théoden's (Bernard Hill) legendary line, "So it begins." As an added bonus, if watching the extended editions is your jam, start the movie at 9:09:37 p.m.

Happy New Year, everyone!