How to Watch Every MCU Movie So Far

There are currently 28 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and counting, all of them taking place in the same universe and connected by characters, events, and settings. So you’d be forgiven for being a little confused as to how, exactly, they all fit together and which order to watch them in. Marvel broke new ground with 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers, which brought together disparate heroes from their own individual movies (Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America, and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor) into one team-up movie, before then splitting them off again into their own sequels. Of course this way of telling stories had been done in comics, but telling a serialized story across many, many films with diverse tones and characters was brand new, and continues to be a gold mine of compelling stories and characters.

But as the MCU has grown in quantity, it’s also grown in complexity. Some films take place worlds away but at the same time as events that are occurring on Earth. And some films take place in the far past.

If you’re wondering how to watch the Marvel movies in order, we’ve got you covered. Below we’re offering two viewing options: the Marvel movies in order of chronological events, and the Marvel movies in order of when each film was released in theaters. Both are highly recommended and are the ideal ways to view this series if you’re in the mood to binge-watch a franchise. And below that, we’ve got a rundown of how to watch the Marvel Disney Plus shows in order.

The order of these lists also pulls heavily from our own comprehensive MCU timeline, which gets into the nitty-gritty of when every event happens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

RELATED: MCU Timeline Explained: From Infinity Stones to Infinity War, Endgame, and Beyond

Marvel Movies in Order of Release

Here are all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies in order of when they were released, broken up into “phases” that Marvel Studios uses to denote smaller story arcs within the larger MCU arc.

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
• Marvel’s The Avengers – May 4, 2012

Phase Two

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

Phase Three

• Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016
• Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016
• Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017
• Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017
• Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017
• Black Panther – February 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

Phase Four

• Black Widow – July 9, 2021
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – September 3, 2021
• Eternals – November 5, 2021
• Spider-Man: No Way Home – December 17, 2021
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – May 6, 2022
• Thor: Love and Thunder – July 8, 2022
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – November 11, 2022
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – February 17, 2023
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – May 5, 2023
• The Marvels (aka Captain Marvel 2) – July 28, 2023
• Fantastic Four – TBA

Past Phase Four

• Blade – TBA
• Untitled Deadpool Film – TBA
• Untitled Captain America Sequel – TBA
• Untitled Shang-Chi Sequel – TBA
• Untitled mutant film – TBA

Marvel Movies in Chronological Order of Events

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

Chronologically speaking, the film that is set the earliest in the MCU timeline is Captain America: The First Avenger. The Steve Rogers origin story begins in the year 1940 with Steve (Evans) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) enlisting and ends in 1945 with Steve’s plane crashing and him being frozen for the next half-century.

2. Captain Marvel

Next up we have Captain Marvel, which is actually one of the most recent Marvel movies but whose events precede those of the main MCU timeline. Brie Larson’s pilot character crashes her plane in the year 1989 and is subsequently trained as a Kree before returning to Earth in 1995, which is the year in which most of Captain Marvel takes place.

3. Iron Man

The first Marvel movie released is third in chronological order, and believe it or not—according to Marvel’s own timeline—it actually takes place in the year 2010 and not 2008 when it was released.

4. The Incredible Hulk

The events of the Edward Norton Hulk movie take place shortly after the events of Iron Man.

5. Iron Man 2

The Iron Man sequel is set in the year 2011.

6. Thor

The events of Thor also take place in 2011, around the same time as the events in Iron Man 2, although there are flashback to events that go back centuries.

7. The Avengers

The team-up finally occurs in the year 2012.

8. Iron Man 3

The underrated Iron Man 3, which deals heavily with Tony Starks’ PTSD from the events of The Avengers, take place in the year 2012.

9. Thor: The Dark World

The forgettable sequel is set in the year 2013.

10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The big fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. is set a couple of years after the organization helped form The Avengers, set in 2014.

11. Guardians of the Galaxy

The events of Guardians of the Galaxy also take place in 2014, around the same time as The Winter Soldier.

12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The Guardians sequel takes place a couple of months after the events of the first film.

13. Avengers: Age of Ultron

The second Avengers team-up film takes place in the wake of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s dismantling, in the year 2015.

14. Ant-Man

While the Avengers are fighting off ol’ Ultron, Scott Lang is busy becoming Ant-Man in 2015.

15. Captain America: Civil War

The Captain America sequel that’s also kinda-sorta an Avengers movie takes place in 2016, bringing additional characters into the fold to set the table for Infinity War and Endgame. But it also contains flashbacks that take place between The First Avenger and Iron Man, revealing the circumstances that surrounded the death of Tony Stark’s parents.

16. Black Widow

The Black Widow movie takes place in the immediate wake of the events of Captain America: Civil War and finds Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff on the run. It ends before the events of Avengers: Infinity War begin.

17. Spider-Man: Homecoming

The first MCU Spider-Man movie takes place the fall after the events of Captain America: Civil War, with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker struggling to become his own hero.

18. Black Panther

2016 is a busy year in the MCU, as it’s also when Black Panther takes place over in Wakanda.

19. Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange bridges the gap between 2016 and 2017, as Stephen Strange’s transformation into a superhero takes a bit of time.

20. Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok takes place in 2017 shortly after the events of Doctor Strange, as we see Thor visit Doctor Strange on Earth to try and track down his father.

21. Ant-Man and the Wasp

Despite being released after Avengers: Infinity War, the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp take place in 2018 right before Thanos arrives on Earth and the film ends with the infamous Thanos Snap. Although there are flashbacks to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) in the late 1980s.

22. Avengers: Infinity War

The events of Avengers: Infinity War take place over a very compressed time period—just 24-48 hours—in 2018.

23. Avengers: Endgame

The second have of the Infinity Gauntlet storyline begins shortly after the Thanos snap in 2018, but after Thor cuts Thanos’ head off, the film flashes forward and is set primarily in the year 2023—although it also sees the characters traveling back in time to events in the years 1970, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

24. Spider-Man: Far from Home

Spider-Man: Far from Home, takes place shortly after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

25. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

While Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings begins with a prologue that takes place hundreds of years in the past and also features extensive flashbacks to the year 1996, the bulk of the film takes place in the year 2023 not too long after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

26. Eternals

Although the Eternals have been around for over 7,000 years on planet earth, the main conflict of the movie is set sometime after Shang-Chi, around eight months after the events of Endgame.

27. Spider-Man: No Way Home

Of course, as we enter into the multiverse (and because of COVID), the timelines are going to be a little wonky. Technically Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is supposed to be set before Spider-Man: No Way Home, but release dates have to be shifted around. No Way Home takes place in the latter half of 2024, and because of the snap, time in the MCU is no longer parallel to our own world.

28. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

While it makes stray references to Spider-Man, it’s clear that this story was meant to take place before No Way Home, and while the official timeline might put this now shortly after No Way Home in Spring of 2025 – consider this one a gimme. Feel free to switch the order of this and Spider-Man around if you want to spend some time in the multiverse timeline where we got this movie first.

Marvel Disney Plus Shows in Order of Release Date

• WandaVision – Premiered January 15, 2021
• The Falcon & The Winter Soldier – Premiered March 19, 2021
• Loki – Premiered June 9, 2021
• Marvel’s What If… – Premiered August 11, 2021
• Hawkeye – Premiered November 24, 2021
• Moon Knight – Premiered March 30, 2022
• Ms. Marvel – Premieres June 8, 2022

Marvel Disney Plus Shows in Chronological Order

All of Marvel’s live-action Disney Plus shows thus far take place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but with the introduction of time travel and multiverses, it can be a bit tricky to figure out the exact chronological order.

1. Loki

A peak example of how tricky the timeline is getting, Loki is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, but picks up with the alt-Loki who got his hands on the tesseract and escaped. That means Loki technically picks up back in 2012 after The Avengers’ Battle of New York. However, once the TVA gets involved Loki takes place at multiple points in the timeline, from the distant past to the near-future, and indeed, outside time itself when within the walls of the TVA.

2. WandaVision

Despite the illusion of taking place in multiple eras, WandaVision’s timeline is actually much more clean cut. The series takes place very soon after the events of Avengers: Endgame, in the year 2023. Through the various experiences of the characters, the series takes us from the moment that the blipped returned through about a month later. That means the series is set after Endgame but before Spider-Man: Far From Home, which takes place about eight months after the end of Endgame.

3. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Likewise, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier also takes place in 2023, between Endgame and Far from Home, but a bit later than WandaVision. When we spoke with director Kari Skogland, she revealed that the series is set about six months after the events of Endgame.

4. Marvel’s What If…?

Set within various alternate timelines of the multiverse, the animated series Marvel’s What If…? isn’t exactly set within the established timeline of the MCU, but beside it, ranging from the events of Captain America: The First Avenger to Guardians of the Galaxy and more.

5. Hawkeye

Set firmly in the holiday season of 2024, Hawkeye takes place sometime after Endgame. Clint’s family is un-blipped and enjoying their time in the city. Theoretically this timeline should actually line up with Spider-Man No Way Home, and while there is no crossover, both projects do feature characters from the Daredevil series, with Charlie Cox appearing in Spider-Man and Vincent D’Onofrio appearing in Hawkeye.

6. Moon Knight

We can surmise that the events of Moon Knight take place after Hawkeye, and since it doesn’t look that cold in London, it is likely past the Winter season. The series takes place sometime in 2025.

6. Ms. Marvel

It’s safe to assume that Ms. Marvel comes after Moon Knight, but more importantly, it capitalizes on the fandom around the superheroes in-universe post-Endgame. There are more than enough references to the big fight to prove it and you can see signs of it all around the Avengers Con that Kamala attends. It’s unclear what year Ms. Marvel takes place, but it’s likely sometime in 2025.

Where to Watch the Marvel Movies Online

The following Marvel movies are all currently available to stream on Disney+:

• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• Thor
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• Marvel’s The Avengers
• Iron Man 3
• Thor: The Dark World
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Ant-Man
• Captain America: Civil War
• Doctor Strange
• Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
• Thor: Ragnarok
• Black Panther
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Captain Marvel
• Avengers: Endgame
• Black Widow
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• Eternals
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Not on Disney+

• The Incredible Hulk (HBO Max)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (Starz)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (Hulu Premium Subscription)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (Prime Video)

Therese Lacson also contributed to this article.