How to Watch the Marvel Movies in Order

Whether you’re jumping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time or revisiting it as a longtime fan, there are two main ways to watch the MCU:

Timeline order – Follow the story as events occur within the MCU’s internal chronology.
Theatrical release order – Experience the franchise the way audiences originally did, watching characters, visuals, and storytelling evolve over time.

With Disney Plus now streaming almost the entire MCU library, getting caught up has never been more convenient.

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Marvel Movies in Timeline Order

Below is the MCU arranged according to when events take place within the universe.

Early History

• Eyes of Wakanda (1260 B.C.E.)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (World War II era)
• Agent Carter (1946)
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps
• Captain Marvel (1995)

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The 2010s Era

• Iron Man (2010)
• Iron Man 2 (2011)
• The Incredible Hulk (2011)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
• Thor (2011)
• The Consultant (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)
• Item 47 (2012)
• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• All Hail the King (2014)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• I Am Groot (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2014)

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Netflix & Street-Level Stories

• Daredevil Seasons 1–3 (2015–2017)
• Jessica Jones Seasons 1–3 (2015–2018)
• Luke Cage Seasons 1–2 (2015–2017)
• Iron Fist Seasons 1–2 (2016–2017)
• The Defenders (2016)
• Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1

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Key MCU Films

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Black Widow (2016)
• Black Panther (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016–2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Avengers: Endgame (2023)

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Disney Plus Era

• Loki Season 1 (2023)
• What If…? Season 1 (2023)
• WandaVision (2024)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2024)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2024)
• Hawkeye (2024)
• Moon Knight (2025)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
• Ms. Marvel (2025)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2026)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2026)
• Secret Invasion (2026)

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Upcoming MCU Projects (2026–2027)

• Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)
• Vision Quest (TBA 2026)
• Avengers: Doomsday (Dec 18, 2026)
• Avengers: Secret War (Dec 17, 2027)

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Marvel Movies in Release Order

Watching the MCU in release order offers a smoother narrative flow and avoids timeline confusion caused by flashbacks and prequels. Below is the franchise broken down by phase.

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Phase One

• Iron Man (May 2, 2008)
• The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008)
• Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010)
• Thor (May 6, 2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)
• The Avengers (May 4, 2012)

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Phase Two

• Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (Nov 8, 2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (Aug 1, 2014)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015)
• Ant-Man (July 17, 2015)

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Phase Three

• Captain America: Civil War (May 6, 2016)
• Doctor Strange (Nov 4, 2016)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5, 2017)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7, 2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (Nov 3, 2017)
• Black Panther (Feb 16, 2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (April 27, 2018)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6, 2018)
• Captain Marvel (March 8, 2019)
• Avengers: Endgame (April 26, 2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2, 2019)

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Phase Four

• WandaVision (Jan 15, 2021)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Mar 19, 2021)
• Loki Season 1 (June 9, 2021)
• Black Widow (July 9, 2021)
• What If…? Season 1 (Aug 11, 2021)
• Shang-Chi (Sept 3, 2021)
• Eternals (Nov 5, 2021)
• Hawkeye (Nov 24, 2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (Dec 17, 2021)
• Moon Knight (Mar 30, 2022)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022)
• Ms. Marvel (June 8, 2022)
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Aug 18, 2022)
• Werewolf by Night (Oct 7, 2022)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Nov 11, 2022)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Nov 25, 2022)

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Phase Five

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb 17, 2023)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023)
• Secret Invasion (June 21, 2023 – Series)
• Loki Season 2 (Oct 5, 2023 – Series)
• The Marvels (Nov 10, 2023)
• What If…? Season 2 (Dec 22, 2023 – Series)
• Echo (Jan 9, 2024 – Series)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (July 22, 2024)
• Agatha All Along (Sept 18, 2024 – Series)
• Captain America: Brave New World (Feb 14, 2025)
• Daredevil: Born Again (Mar 4, 2025 – Series)
• Thunderbolts (May 2, 2025)

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Phase Six

• The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025)
• Eyes of Wakanda (Aug 1, 2025 – Series)
• Marvel Zombies (Sept 24, 2025 – Series)
• Wonder Man (Dec 2025 – Series)
• Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (Mar 2026 – Series)
• Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)
• Avengers: Doomsday (Dec 18, 2026)
• Avengers: Secret War (Dec 17, 2027)

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Best MCU Movies (YTB Rankings)

If you’re short on time and want the essentials, these MCU films rank highest by YTB score:

• Black Panther (2018) — 96
• Avengers: Endgame (2019) — 94
• Iron Man (2008) — 94
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017) — 93
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) — 93
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) — 92
• Shang-Chi (2021) — 92
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) — 92
• Captain America: Civil War (2016) — 90
• The Avengers (2012) — 91
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) — 91