How to watch the Marvel movies in order (release date and chronological)

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Here's how to watch the Marvel movies in order, including the complete MCU chronological watch list

Black Panther, Iron Man, Vision, War Machine, and Black Widow at the Berlin airport in Captain America: Civil War - part of our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Right now might be the best time to watch the Marvel movies in order. We're still a few months away from new MCU projects and your New Year's resolution might even be to catch up and watch the dozens of Marvel Studios shows, movies, and specials before Captain America enters a Brave New World in February.

But it's a tricky task and every new release makes it more difficult than ever to follow your favorite heroes. To help guide you, we have a complete watchlist of all the Marvel movies and shows in order.

That includes every MCU movie in release date order, plus a Marvel timeline for those watching every Marvel Studios release in chronological order from Captain America: The First Avenger onwards.

There's also a rundown of upcoming Marvel movies, which is especially important given that Blade has been removed from Marvel's release schedule and there are major 2027 and 2028 releases to now look forward to.

How to watch the Marvel movies in order – release order

Robert Downey Jr. in his Iron Man suit during the 2008 movie, Iron Man

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

First up, here's how to watch the Marvel movies and shows in release date order. This is the best order for MCU newcomers and those who want to keep things simple and straightforward from Iron Man onwards.

Marvel Phase 1:

Marvel Phase 2:

Marvel Phase 3:

Marvel Phase 4:

Marvel Phase 5

To make the release date order easier to read, we've divided the list into Phases, beginning with 2008's Iron Man and leading right up to the most recent Marvel release, 2024's Agatha All Along, starring Kathryn Hahn as the titular Westview witch.

Need more context? The MCU is split into Phases, with the end of a Phase typically indicating a natural end to a story arc. The beginning of a Phase, therefore, signals the introduction of new, important characters.

Phases 1-3 are often referred to as the Infinity Saga, while Phases 4-5 form part of the new Multiverse Saga, leading to Phase 6's date with Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

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How to watch the Marvel movies in chronological order

Chris Evans as Steve Rogers AKA Captain America, holding up his iconic vibranium-lined shield.

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Here it is: the new and improved guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in chronological order.

We can thank Marvel itself for making things much clearer with the release of their 'Official Timeline' book as well as its own updated chronological order on the Marvel website. Both have eased many of our temporal-based headaches.

Better yet, this chronological list will make you see the MCU in a different light. We're going to start with Captain America: The First Avenger in the 1940s and work our way up to the MCU present day in 2026. That now includes Netflix's Marvel shows and Marvel's One Shots for the full picture.

  • Captain America: The First Avenger (1943-1945)
  • One Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
  • Captain Marvel (1995)
  • Iron Man (2008)
  • Iron Man 2 (2010)
  • The Incredible Hulk (2010)
  • One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2010)
  • Thor (2010)
  • One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
  • The Avengers (2012)
  • One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
  • Thor: The Dark World (2013)
  • Iron Man 3 (2013)
  • One Shot: All Hail the King (2013)
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2014)
  • I Am Groot seasons 1-2 (2014)
  • Daredevil season 1 (2014)
  • Jessica Jones season 1 (2015)
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  • Ant-Man (2015)
  • Daredevil season 2 (2015)
  • Luke Cage season 1 (2015)
  • Iron Fist season 1 (2016)
  • Marvel's Defenders (2016)
  • Captain America: Civil War (2016)
  • Black Widow (2016)
  • Black Panther (2016)
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
  • The Punisher season 1 (2016)
  • Doctor Strange (2016-17)
  • Jessica Jones season 2 (2017)
  • Luke Cage season 2 (2017)
  • Iron Fist season 2 (2017)
  • Daredevil season 3 (2017)
  • Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
  • The Punisher season 2 (2017)
  • Jessica Jones season 3 (2017)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
  • Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  • Avengers: Endgame (2018-2023)
  • Loki (outside of our conception of time, but around here!)
  • Loki season 2 (also outside of our conception of time!)
  • What If...? (multiverse)
  • WandaVision (2023)
  • Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2024)
  • Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2024)
  • Deadpool and Wolverine (2024)
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
  • Eternals (2024)
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)
  • Hawkeye (Christmas 2024)
  • Moon Knight (2025)
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
  • Echo (2025)
  • She-Hulk (2025)
  • Ms. Marvel (2025)
  • The Marvels (2025)
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
  • Werewolf By Night (2025)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2026)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2026)
  • Secret Invasion (2026)
  • Agatha All Along (2026)

As you can imagine, this chronological order a little less straightforward than the above release date list. But we now have official confirmation of where most of the MCU stands.

The 20th Century side the Marvel timeline only features Captain America's WW2 exploits, Captain Carter's post-war adventures, and Captain Marvel's blockbuster-era '90s origins.

From there, Iron Man takes place in 2008 before 'Fury's Big Week' in 2010, a bizarre period of time that sees several Marvel movies taking place in the same week.

Other major milestones including 2012's Battle of New York (as seen in The Avengers), The Snap in 2018, and the Endgame time skip up to 2023.

We've now reached 2025 and 2026, with a handful of steps back in time in entries such as Deadpool and Wolverine (which takes place first in 2018, then in 2024).

She-Hulk, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seemingly all taking place in that not-so-far-flung future year of 2025. Secret Invasion and Guardians 3, more or less, come after in 2026, but that isn't part of the official timeline book, so we're going on the Disney Plus order here. The most recent Disney Plus series release is Agatha All Along in the in-universe date of 2026, which takes place three years after WandaVision.

Marvel has also revealed the exact months or rough windows of when things happened in the MCU but, honestly, that doesn't specifically matter if you're just planning to sit down and consume them without doing what amounts to homework. All you need to know is everything is now officially correct above if you want to watch the Marvel movies in chronological order.

We should warn you, however: Marvel doesn't always take the best care with its timeline. As such, our own workings out takes into account Marvel's official order on Disney Plus, its new book, and some calculated guesswork. Some things might not make sense in terms of canon or don't have exact details to pin down their years. Our advice? Try not to think too hard about it.

But, wait, there's more! Just before you dive into our guide into how to watch the MCU in chronological order there's some housekeeping and notes to take in: The I Am Groot short 'First Steps' takes place before Guardians 2, while the rest of the shorts happen after that sequel.

For now, we've put Secret Invasion and Agatha All Along as the latest projects in chronological order as we're trusting Marvel Studios on that one. Thanks to its dabbling in the multiverse and timelines, respectively, What If...? and Loki take up arbitrary slots on the list, but Loki comes after Endgame with how the timelines have branched off.

Upcoming Marvel movies and shows: what's next in the MCU?

Anthony Mackie in Captain America 4

(Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

What's next? Marvel has laid out plans for Marvel Phase 5 – which began in 2023 – and beyond. Out of the current list, the next MCU release is Captain America: Brand New World. We also have Thunderbolts to look forward to. Fantastic Four is going to kick off Marvel's Phase 6, but Blade is currently no longer on the release schedule.

On the TV side of things, 2025 is proving exceptionally busy. A new Marvel trailer has given a glimpse at six new series, meaning that the next year calendar year is the joint-busiest MCU year ever (nine, tied with 2021). You can see them all, from Eyes of Wakanda to Wonder Man, down below.

The current newest Marvel release is Agatha All Along. For more, check out the latest Agatha All Along Easter eggs, our verdict on the new series in the Agatha All Along review, and how it all went down in the Agatha All Along ending.

For now, though, here's a taste of the confirmed Marvel movies and shows coming out over the next few years; it's the perfect way to futureproof your upcoming MCU binge-watches.

Marvel Phase 5

  • Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: January 25, 2025 (Disney Plus series)
  • Captain America: Brave New World – February 14, 2025
  • Daredevil: Born Again – March 4, 2025 (Disney Plus series)
  • Thunderbolts – May 2, 2025
  • Ironheart: June 24, 2025 (Disney Plus series)

Marvel Phase 6

  • Fantastic Four – July 25, 2025
  • Eyes of Wakanda: August 6, 2025
  • Marvel Zombies: October 2025
  • Wonder Man: December 2025
  • Untitled Marvel Movie – February 13, 2026
  • Avengers: Doomsday – May 1, 2026
  • Untitled Marvel Movie – November 6, 2026
  • Avengers: Secret Wars – May 7, 2027
  • Untitled Marvel Movie – July 3, 2027
  • Untitled Marvel Movie – November 5, 2027

TBA (unreleased):

  • Armor Wars – TBA
  • Black Panther 3 – TBA
  • Nova – TBA
  • Shang-Chi 2 – TBA
  • Spider-Man 4 – TBA
  • Spider-Man: Sophomore Year – TBA (Disney Plus series)
  • Vision Quest – TBA

How to watch the Marvel movies in order on Disney Plus

Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark snapping the Infinity Gauntlet during the events of Avengers: Endgame.

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

If you're like us, you might have assumed watching the Marvel movies and shows in order on Disney Plus would be easy. Not quite.

The vast majority of the Marvel movies are available on Disney Plus, but not everything. Currently, only Spider-Man: No Way Home is not available to stream on Disney Plus. Even so, Disney Plus is by far the easiest way to watch the MCU in order. Let's dive into the list.

  • Iron Man
  • The Incredible Hulk
  • Thor
  • Iron Man 2
  • Captain America: The First Avenger
  • The Avengers
  • Iron Man 3
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Thor: The Dark World
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming
  • 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
  • Captain Marvel
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp
  • Avengers: Endgame
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home
  • WandaVision
  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
  • Loki
  • Black Widow
  • What If...?
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
  • Eternals
  • Hawkeye
  • Moon Knight
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
  • Ms. Marvel
  • She-Hulk
  • Thor: Love and Thunder
  • Werewolf By Night
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
  • Secret Invasion
  • Guardians of the Galaxy 3
  • Loki season 2
  • Echo
  • The Marvels
  • Deadpool and Wolverine
  • Agatha All Along

Some things to note: Every MCU project is now on Disney Plus, barring one. We're still waiting for Spider-Man: No Way Home, but Tom Holland's previous Spider-Man projects and 2008's Incredible Hulk have made the leap across in recent years to fill out the few remaining gaps in its library.

On top of that, The Defenders saga (Daredevil seasons 1-3, Jessica Jones seasons 1-3, Luke Cage seasons 1-2, Iron Fist, and Marvel's Defenders) are now on Disney Plus, but are separate from the list to avoid any confusion over the 'main' MCU movies and shows.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 are also now available on Disney Plus after their cinema releases in 2023. The Marvels followed suit in February 2024, while Deadpool and Wolverine rocked up in November 2024.

Non-MCU Marvel movies and shows: is Spider-Man in the MCU?

Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2.

(Image credit: Sony)

The simple answer is only Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home are in the MCU. Spider-Man-centric properties such as Venom or the upcoming Kraven are part of Sony's Spider-Man universe and should be treated as a separate entity, even if there is some occasional crossover.

Now we're getting to the confusing bit: the multiverse. Thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, we have had various Spider-Man villains from through the multiverse in the MCU. To fully understand everyone's motives and intentions in No Way Home, you need to have watched a fair few older Spider-Man movies.

These take place on three alternate timelines: one where Tobey Maguire is Spider-Man, another where Andrew Garfield is Spidey, and a third where Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock becomes the villain Venom. For a full deep dive into watching these movies, then check out our guide to how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order.

Long story, short, however - Tom Holland's Spider-Man currently exists in the MCU, with the other Sony Spider-Man movies existing (broadly speaking) in the multiverse. Don't expect them to appear again into the main Marvel universe anytime soon, though.

You might also be wondering about Across the Spider-Verse. Technically, that also exists as part of the wider multiverse (indeed, No Way Home was referenced in the Spider-Verse sequel), but doesn't have to be watched in any order other than within the framework of its own trilogy. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has just been added to Disney Plus, too, for those looking to jump into one of Peter Parker's most tragic cinematic adventures.

Are Marvel's Netflix shows and X-Men canon?

Charlie Cox in the full Daredevil suit in Netflix's Daredevil series

(Image credit: Marvel Studios/Netflix)

Then there's The Defenders Saga, which were once considered part of the MCU, but also sort of not. They start very much linked to the movies, and then gradually lose all connection – thanks mainly to originally being Netflix products.

Now, though, they are all on Disney Plus and, yes, the Marvel Netflix shows are canon. If you want to tackle Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and The Punisher, then you're going to want to know the watch order. Luckily, we have exactly the piece you're after: how to watch The Defenders Saga in order. The list is also below:

Daredevil's story, which started in She-Hulk and will continue in Born Again, loosely picks up where the Netflix series left off. Daredevil also appears briefly in Echo, as does Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin.

X-Men, meanwhile, exist completely outside of the MCU as part of (formerly) Fox's X-Men cinematic universe on Earth 10005. But things are getting complicated when it comes to mutants thanks to Hugh Jackman’s recent return as Wolverine - as well as if the events of The Marvels post-credits scene head where we think they're heading.

Deadpool & Wolverine firmly places the Fox X-Men movies outside of the MCU – but only after we see how they directly affect the Sacred Timeline and how the TVA is aware of their existence. A Deadpool and Wolverine deleted scene has also made reference to the Sacred Timeline being the universe to focus on in the MCU. That (confusingly) makes those X-Men movies canon in the wider multiverse of the MCU before removing them entirely.

Basically, the door on the Fox X-Men movies is closed for now, and they exist on the outskirts of the MCU instead of firmly inside it. Only time will tell us how mutants will factor into the cinematic universe going forward. For now, you can watch them separately with our guide on how to watch the X-Men movies in order.

One of the most recent Marvel Studios productions, X-Men '97, is a continuation of the '90s X-Men: The Animated Series and isn't part of the wider MCU story (for now) but could be considered canon as part of the multiverse.

If you're short on time (and interest), everything here is technically skippable if you're only focusing on the MCU, though we'd certainly recommend the earlier Spider-Man films and the Spider-Verse movies for both a greater understanding of the multiverse and a deeper appreciation of No Way Home.

That's how to watch the Marvel movies in order. So, what are you waiting for?

Need more? Here are the best movies on Disney Plus and the best shows on Disney Plus. Then catch up on the competition with our guide on how to watch the DC movies in order as well as all the latest about Deadpool and Wolverine's home release.

If you haven't got Disney Plus, then here are the latest Disney Plus sign-up deals around the world. Now that the Disney Plus free trial is no more, it's the best way of getting maximum value for money.

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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