Summarise the Best Order to Watch a Franchise With Prequels and Spin-offs

Every group chat has one person insisting chronological order is objectively correct, and they are not always right. This lays out release order and story order side by side, states which one actually works better for a first watch and why, and flags what is genuinely skippable, so the argument ends before the first episode does.

Summarise the genuinely recommended watch order for {FRANCHISE_NAME}, which has prequels, spin-offs and releases that do not match chronological order. Give release order and story chronology as two short separate lists, then state which order is generally recommended for a first-time viewer and why, spoilers avoided, better pacing, or a specific instalment that works best last. Flag any entry that is optional or skippable for a first watch without missing anything essential. Keep the whole answer under 200 words.