The Best Order to Watch the Entire Marvel Cinematic Universe (and We Mean *All* of It)
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It’s been more than a decade since Iron Man first premiered and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born. Since then, dozens of films and shows plus hundreds more hours of MCU content have been created, and more is on the way. But there’s one question that every new Marvel fan needs to ask themselves when they finally decide to join in on the fun: What’s the best order to watch them all in? And how do you even pick an order??
Well, whether you’re looking to go in Marvel release order, chronological order, or the ultimate order that includes every single show, one-shot, and film, we’ve got you totally covered. Get ready to sit down with a massive bucket of popcorn because it’ll take you a while to get through it all—but trust us, it’s worth it.
Here are the best ways to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in order.
Best Marvel Movie Option #1: How to Watch in Order Chronologically
Lucky for you, Disney+ has made it super easy to watch all things Marvel in chronological order. Editorially, the timeline gets a little wild (especially as new characters are introduced), but don’t worry, you can still easily follow along if you’re determined to do it chronologically.
Last note: Almost all the films are available on Disney+, except for the most recent Marvel releases, the Spider-Man films, and The Incredible Hulk. Otherwise, you can find the Marvel movies in chronological order below:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (now playing in theaters)
Best Marvel Movie Option #2: How to Watch in Order by Release Date
If you want to know exactly how the audience pieced everything together over the years, then you can always watch the Marvel movies in release order.
It’s pretty easy to follow along! Most movies fall into Marvel “phase” groups that were announced at the same time. Here’s the Marvel release order:
Phase 1:
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
Avengers
Phase 2:
Iron Man 3
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
Phase 3:
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Thor: Ragnarok
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Phase 4:
Black Widow
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Eternals
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Thor: Love and Thunder
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Phase 5:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (coming soon to theaters)
Best Marvel Option #3: How to Watch the Movies *and* TV Shows in Timeline Order
Listen. This kind of watch is not for the faint of heart. But if you’re a Marvel superfan and looking for basically everything MCU, then you’re going to want to take a look at this combined TV and movie list. Not only does it include the MCU films, but it also features every single show that takes place in the Marvel universe (and some alternate ones) and the iconic Marvel One-Shots included in some of the DVD/Blu-ray releases of the earlier titles.
This particular Marvel order requires jumping between some shows mid-season. Marvel TV shows are conveniently available on either Disney+ or Hulu.
Check out the best Marvel timeline order for movies and TV shows:
Captain America: The First Avenger
Agent Carter season 2
Captain Marvel
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (Marvel One-Shot)
Thor
Avengers
Iron Man 3
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1, episodes 1 to 7
Thor: The Dark World
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1, episodes 8 to 16
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1, episodes 17 to 22
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Daredevil season 1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2, episodes 1 to 19
Jessica Jones season 1
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2, episodes 20 to 22
Daredevil season 2
Luke Cage season 1
Ant-Man
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3, episodes 1 to 14
Cloak and Dagger season 1
Iron Fist season 1
Cloak and Dagger season 2
The Defenders season 1
Runaways season 1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3, episodes 15 to 19
The Punisher season 1
Captain America: Civil War
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3, episodes 20 to 22
Black Panther
Black Widow
Runaways season 2
Inhumans season 1
Jessica Jones season 2
Runaways season 3
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot season 1
Luke Cage season 2
Doctor Strange
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4, episodes 1 to 8
Iron Fist season 2
Daredevil season 3
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4, episodes 9 to 22
The Punisher season 2
Jessica Jones season 3
Thor: Ragnarok
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5, episodes 1 to 19
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 5, episodes 20 to 22
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 6
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 7
Avengers: Endgame
WandaVision season 1
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier season 1
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Eternals
Spider-Man: No Way Home
What If…? season 1 (alternate timelines)
Loki season 1 (alternate timeline)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Thor: Love and Thunder
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
If this particular list seems longer than expected, that’s because Marvel has had several different TV shows and shorts come out over recent years. The most important ones are only those that have been released in theaters and on Disney+.
No matter what order you decide to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in, just make sure to have a good time and enjoy the ride. After all, isn’t that the point?
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