So, you’ve decided to watch every movie and TV show in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The only thing now separating you from understanding a lot of previously meaningless memes is roughly 125 hours of screen time (and counting). But the chronological timeline of all that content doesn’t match the order of the release dates—and it’s best to choose one viewing path and stick to it.
Much like some aficionados recommend watching the original Star Wars trilogy before the prequels, sequels, and spin-offs, there are plenty of Marvel fans who think first-time viewers should watch all the movies and series in the order in which they were released. That way, they’ll experience the evolution of the universe the way longtime fans did. On the other hand, you might have an easier time keeping track of Marvel’s many characters and plotlines if things are unfolding in a more linear fashion.
Below are two separate lists: one with the programs ordered by release date, and another ordered chronologically. The latter list also includes the year (or years) in which each story is generally believed to be set, though there’s quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding the exact chronology. Disney+ does lay out a timeline on its platform, but it has some issues. For one thing, it deviates slightly from the one published in the book Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years. It also doesn’t include 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home or the now-in-theaters The Marvels, which aren’t yet available to stream on Disney+.
Moreover, as the universe has expanded in recent years, Marvel has gotten increasingly vague about when each new program takes place. Not to mention that some of them hop around in time—or literally transcend it, in the case of Loki. Fans pretty frequently disagree with Disney+’s watch order, supporting their own theories with references in certain scenes or even quotes from the directors themselves. Our chronological breakdown mostly follows Disney+’s, with the occasional addition when necessary.
In short, the chronological timeline below is up for debate and also subject to change in the future. The important thing is that it should steer you clear of spoilers, so the discrepancies are relatively negligible. What will put you at risk of spoilers if you’re watching chronologically is a couple pivotal post-credits scenes—look out for asterisks in our list so you know which ones to save for later. All TV shows (and two TV specials: Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special) are bolded; the rest are movies.
Because the I Am Groot shorts were released as one series, they occupy a single spot on the top list; chronologically, however, they take place in two separate time periods, so are noted twice in the second list. Similarly, Loki’s two seasons each get their own spot in our release date order (it’s the only MCU show so far with more than one season). But you can watch them back to back if you’re following the chronological order, so we only listed Loki once on that list.
Also, don’t expect to see any sign of Daredevil, the X-Men, or other characters based on Marvel Comics. Many of them do now fall under the MCU umbrella thanks to various Disney acquisitions and licensing deals—and some of those superheroes have even shown up in recent MCU content—but their own programs were released before they joined the MCU, so we’re not including those (for now, at least).
Marvel Movies and TV Shows in Order of Release Date
- Iron Man (May 2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (June 2008)
- Iron Man 2 (April 2010)
- Thor (April 2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (July 2011)
- Marvel's The Avengers (April 2012)
- Iron Man 3 (April 2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (November 2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (March 2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (July 2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (April 2015)
- Ant-Man (July 2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (April 2016)
- Doctor Strange (October 2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (April 2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (October 2017)
- Black Panther (February 2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (April 2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 2018)
- Captain Marvel (March 2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (April 2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019)
- WandaVision (January–March 2021)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (March–April 2021)
- Loki Season 1(June–July 2021)
- Black Widow (July 2021)
- What If...? (August–October 2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 2021)
- Eternals (November 2021)
- Hawkeye (November–December 2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021)
- Moon Knight (March–May 2022)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 2022)
- Ms. Marvel (June–July 2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (July 2022)
- I Am Groot (August 2022)
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (August–October 2022)
- Werewolf by Night (October 2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 2022)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (November 2022)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 2023)
- Secret Invasion (June–July 2023)
- Loki Season 2 (October–November 2023)
- The Marvels (November 2023)
Marvel Movies and TV Shows in Chronological Order
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) // 1943-1945
- Captain Marvel (2019) // 1995
- Iron Man (2008) // 2010
- Iron Man 2 (2010) // 2011
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) // 2011
- Thor (2011) // 2011
- Marvel's The Avengers (2012) // 2012
- Thor: The Dark World (2013) // 2013
- Iron Man 3 (2013) // 2012
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) // 2014
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) // 2014
- I Am Groot: Groot's First Steps (2022) // 2014
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) // 2014
- I Am Groot: The Little Guy, Groot's Pursuit, Groot Takes a Bath, Magnum Opus (2022) // 2014
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) // 2015
- Ant-Man (2015) // 2015
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) // 2016
- Black Widow (2021) // 2016*
- Black Panther (2017) // 2016
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) // 2016
- Doctor Strange (2016) // 2016-2017
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) // 2017
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) // 2017**
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) // 2018
- Avengers: Endgame (2019) // 2018-2023
- Loki (2021) // Outside of time
- What If...? (2021) // Across various alternate timelines
- WandaVision (2021) // 2023
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) // 2023
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) // 2023
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) // 2024
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) // 2024
- Eternals (2021) // 2024
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) // 2024
- Hawkeye (2021) // 2024
- Moon Knight (2022) // 2025
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) // 2025
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) // 2025
- Ms. Marvel (2022) // 2025
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) // 2025
- Werewolf by Night (2022) // 2025
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) // 2025
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) // 2026
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) // 2026
- Secret Invasion (2023) // 2026
- The Marvels (2023) // 2026
*Don’t watch the Black Widow end-credits scene until after you’ve seen Avengers: Endgame. (Best understood if you’ve also already seen The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.)
**Don’t watch the Ant-Man and the Wasp end-credits scene until after you’ve seen Avengers: Infinity War.
A version of this story ran in 2021; it has been updated for 2023.
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as Conquering the MCU: How to Watch the Marvel Movies and TV Shows in Order.
