How to watch all 33 Marvel movies in chronological order based on the MCU timeline
From Captain America: The Winter Soldier, right up to Carol Danvers’ outing in The Marvels
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the most expansive superhero property ever made, with box office hits in abundance. While Disney has decided to slow things down, with fears of audience fatigue, the MCU still has its legions of fans re-watching the movies over and over again.
While most agree that the best way to watch the Marvel movies is in the order that they were released, for those die-hard Marvel fans out there who’ve already seen all 33 superhero films, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as experiencing the MCU in chronological order.
But with so many Marvel movies, it’s difficult to know where to start and where to go next. That’s where we step in. We’ve compiled this handy guide to help you watch the Marvel movies in order, starting with Captain America: The First Avenger, which is set in the 1940s and ending with (for now) The Marvels, which is set in 2026. Note: We haven’t included the Marvel TV shows in this guide, though they do intersect with the overall MCU.
If you’re new to the Marvel cinematic universe, we highly recommend that you watch the Marvel movies in the order they were released – that’s the way the filmmakers intended them to be consumed, and you won’t get spoiled by end credit scenes.
Without further ado, buckle in – this is how and where you can watch every Marvel movie in chronological order. And, if you’d like to watch the films in the order they were released, scroll right to the bottom. We’ve got you covered.
Subscribe to Disney+ for £4.99 per month
If you’re looking to stream the Marvel movies, nearly all of them (barring the Spider-Man movies) are on Disney+. The ad-based plan costs £4.99 per month, the standard plan costs £7.99 per month or £79.90 per year and the premium plan costs £10.99 per month or £109.90 per year.
How to watch all the Marvel movies in chronological order
Watching the Marvel movies in the MCU chronological timeline is a really fun way to watch the films. You’ll encounter characters in the same sequence as they appear within the story's timeline. In Infinity War, there's a post-credit scene featuring Nick Fury that becomes more satisfying for anyone who has already watched Captain Marvel, which comes before Infinity War in the chronological timeline.
The only real issue you’ll face when watching it in chronological order are those post-credit scenes, which sometimes spoil events far in the future.
1. ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’
- Release year: 2011
- Set in: 1942
Set during World War II in the 1940s, Captain America: The First Avenger is the earliest story in the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It sees Steve Rogers’ origin story as he’s transformed into a super soldier.
2. ‘Captain Marvel’
- Release year: 2019
- Set in: 1995
While Captain Marvel wasn’t released until Phase 3, Carol Danvers’s origin story, in which she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful superheroes, is set in the mid-1990s. We won’t see her again for a long while after her introduction.
3. ‘Iron Man’
- Release year: 2008
- Set in: 2010
While Iron Man was the first film released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, kicking off what would one day be an enormous entertainment property, it’s actually the third film chronologically, taking place in 2008. It sees billionaire Tony Stark build a high-tech suit of armour and become Iron Man.
4. ‘Iron Man 2’
- Release year: 2010
- Set in: 2010
Introducing us to Black Widow for the first time, Iron Man 2 is the next MCU movie chronologically, picking up shortly after the events of the first movie.
5. ‘The Incredible Hulk’
- Release year: 2008
- Set in: 2011
Released after the first Iron Man movie, The Incredible Hulk follows Iron Man 2 chronologically. It’s the first and only standalone Hulk film, seeing Bruce Banner search for a cure for his transformation. Stark appears in a post-credits scene.
6. ‘Thor’
- Release year: 2011
- Set in: 2011
The sixth film based on the MCU timeline introduces us to the Norse God Thor, who’s been banished to Earth from Asgard. It was released around the same time as Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk and we meet Hawkeye for the first time.
7. ‘The Avengers’
- Release year: 2012
- Set in: 2012
With all four superheroes introduced, the gang is assembled together for the first time to form The Avengers. The movie broke several box office records worldwide. The MCU stage is set.
8. ‘Thor: The Dark World’
- Release year: 2013
- Set in: 2013
Set in late 2013, the second Thor movie introduces us to the first Infinity Stone – the Aether and sees Thor battle to save the Nine Realms from the dark elf Malekith.
9. ‘Iron Man 3’
- Release year: 2013
- Set in: 2013
Iron Man 3 takes place around Christmas 2013 and sees Tony Stark struggle after the events of The Avengers while battling the Mandarin. It’s Stark’s last solo film.
10. ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’
- Release year: 2014
- Set in: 2014
Cap adjusts to modern life in the Winter Soldier but then has to team up with Black Widow and Falcon to take down his best friend. It’s set in 2014.
11. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
- Release year: 2014
- Set in: 2014
Star-Lord and his motley crew of intergalactic misfits band together to stop Ronan the Accuser, from using a mysterious orb to destroy planets – later known as the Power Infinity Stone. It’s set in 2014.
12. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2’
- Release year: 2017
- Set in: 2014
The second Guardians of the Galaxy movie was released in 2017, but the film is actually set a few months after the first, in 2014. In the sequel, the guardians try to figure out where Star-Lord came from.
13. ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’
- Release year: 2015
- Set in: 2015
The Avengers are back together again to take down Ultron, an AI created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner that’s gone rogue. Set in May 2015, it’s the first time we meet Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision.
14. ‘Ant-Man’
- Release year: 2015
- Set in: 2015
Set in 2015, Scott Lang is recruited by Dr. Hank Pym and becomes Ant-Man for the first time, letting him shrink really small and get super strong. It’s the first time we’re introduced to the concept of the Quantum Realm.
15. ‘Captain America: Civil War’
- Release year: 2016
- Set in: 2016
Set after the events of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Civil War is basically another Avengers movie, pitting two teams of superheroes against each other, led by Captain America and Iron Man. It takes place between May and June 2016, and it introduces us to Black Panther and Spider-Man.
16. ‘Black Widow’
- Release year: 2021
- Set in: 2016
Released in 2021, Black Widow is the first Marvel movie in Phase 4. The film actually takes place five years prior in 2016, following the events of the Civil War (barring the post-credits scene, which is set in 2021).
17. ‘Black Panther’
- Release year: 2018
- Set in: 2016
Having been introduced to the superhero in Civil War, Black Panther takes place at the same time as both the third Captain America film and Black Widow. Set in 2016, the movie introduces us to Wakanda. It’s also the first time a Marvel movie has been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar
18. ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
- Release year: 2017
- Set in: 2016
Set in September 2016, Peter Parker’s first outing as Spider-Man follows the events of Civil War, balancing high school and mentored by Tony Stark. You’ll need a Netflix account to stream this one.
19. ‘Doctor Strange’
- Release year: 2016
- Set in: 2016-2017
Set between February 2016 and early 2017, Doctor Strange introduces us to the Sorcerer Supreme, the multiverse and alternate dimensions for the first time.
20. ‘Thor: Ragnarök’
- Release year: 2017
- Set in: 2017
Set in 2017, Thor: Ragnarök is the final film before that cataclysmic event in Infinity War. It sees Thor imprisoned on the planet Sakaar, racing to get home to stop Ragnarök from destroying Asgard.
21. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
- Release year: 2018
- Set in: 2018
Taking place in early 2018, Infinity War is the film that ends with Thanos snapping his fingers and completely changing the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
22. ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’
- Release year: 2018
- Set in: 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place at the exact same time as Infinity War. Scott Lang is sent into the quantum realm as Thanos snaps his fingers.
23. ‘Avengers: Endgame’
- Release year: 2019
- Set in: 2018-2023
The timeline starts to get a little messy with Endgame. The post-snap movie takes place over the course of six years, starting in 2018 and ending in October 2023. The movies continue after this point.
24. ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’
- Release year: 2021
- Set in: 2024
Shang-Chi is set in early 2024, though there are some earlier flashbacks that are set thousands of years earlier. In the movie, the superhero confronts his father Xu Wenwu, the leader of the Ten Rings organization.
25. ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’
- Release year: 2019
- Set in: 2024
Set eight months after the end of Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place in the summer of 2024 on a school trip to Europe, where Nick Fury asks Parker to help fight the Elementals. You’ll need a Netflix subscription to watch this one.
26. ‘Eternals’
- Release year: 2021
- Set in: 2024
While Eternals begins thousands of years before the events of Captain America, the bulk of the story takes place in late 2024, after Far From Home. It sees ancient heroes reunite to protect Earth from Deviants.
27. ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
- Release year: 2021
- Set in: 2024
No Way Home takes place in the same year as Far From Home but towards the end of the year after Spider-Man’s identity is revealed. Things go horribly wrong after Peter Parker seeks help from Dr Strange to make people forget, letting villains in from the multiverse. No Way Home will begin streaming on Netflix in October, but you can currently rent it from Prime Video.
28. ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’
- Release year: 2022
- Set in: 2024
The mind-bending Multiverse of Madness takes place directly after the events of No Way Home – things are getting a little more linear in the timeline now, even if it’s getting less linear in the story. It takes place in November 2024.
29. ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
- Release year: 2022
- Set in: 2025
Confusingly, Disney+ says that Black Panther 2 is set between MCU TV shows Moon Knight and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, putting it somewhere around spring 2025. That’s despite the events of the film taking place a year after T’Challa dies in Endgame in 2023.
30. ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’
- Release year: 2022
- Set in: 2025
According to Marvel’s official timeline, Thor’s fourth film Love and Thunder takes place after Wakanda Forever. Using that information and our own deduction, we believe it still takes place in 2025. In Ragnarök, Thor tells Loki that he and Jane Foster recently broke up in 2017, and in Love and Thunder, he tells Foster that it’s been eight years since they broke up.
31. ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’
- Release year: 2023
- Set in: 2025
According to the official Marvel timeline, the third Ant-Man film takes place after Thor: Love and Thunder, but before the TV series Secret Invasion, which is set in 2025. That means Quantumania also takes place in 2025. It sees the family exploring the quantum realm.
32. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’
- Release year: 2023
- Set in: 2026
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is set after the events of the holiday special, which takes place at Christmas in 2025. That means Volume 3 likely takes place in early 2026. The ragtag bunch of misfits rally around to save Rocket.
33. ‘The Marvels’
- Release year: 2023
- Set in: 2026
And finally, The Marvels. Confirmed to take place after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol3 and Secret Invasion, The Marvels most likely takes place in 2026. It will see the return of Carol Danvers, someone chronological viewers will have last seen 31 films ago.
How to watch all 33 Marvel movies in order of release date
If that’s too much to follow, just watching the Marvel movies in the order they were released is also a great idea. That’s how the filmmakers intended them to be watched, and they’re all split neatly into different phases, making them easier to keep track of. It’s nice to binge each phase as if they were a boxset. Here’s the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in release order, including both Marvel movies and TV shows.
Phase One
- ‘Iron Man’: May 2008
- ‘The Incredible Hulk’: June, 2008
- ‘Iron Man 2’: May, 2010
- ‘Thor’: May 2011
- ‘Captain America’: July 2011
- ‘Avengers’: May 2012
Phase Two
- ‘Iron Man 3’: May 2013
- ‘Thor: The Dark World’: November 2013
- ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’: April 2014
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’: August 2014
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’: May 2015
- ‘Ant-Man’: July 2015
Phase Three
- ‘Captain America: Civil War’: May 2016
- ‘Doctor Strange’: November 2016
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2’: May 2017
- ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’: July 2017
- ‘Thor: Ragnarok’: November 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
Phase Four
- ‘Wanda-Vision’: January 2021 (TV show)
- ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’: March 2021 (TV show)
- ‘Loki’, season 1: June 2021 (TV show)
- ‘Black Widow’: July 2021
- ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’: September 2021
- ‘Eternals’: November 2021
- ‘Hawkeye’: November 2021
- ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’: December 2021
- ‘Moon Knight’: March 2022
- ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’: May 2022
- ‘Ms Marvel’: June 2022 (TV show)
- ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’: July 2022
- ‘She-Hulk’: August 2022 (TV show)
- ‘Werewolf By Night’: October 2022 (TV show)
- ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’: November 2022
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’: November 2022 (TV show)
Phase Five
- ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’: February 2023
- ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’: May 2023
- ‘Secret Invasion’: June 2023 (TV show)
- ‘Loki’, season 2: October 2023 (TV show)
- ‘The Marvels’: November 2023
- ‘Echo’: January 2024 (TV show)
- ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’: July 2024
- ‘Agatha’: 2024
- ‘Captain America: Brave New World’: February 2025
- ‘Ironheart’: TBC (TV show)
- ‘Daredevil: Born Again’: 2025 (TV show)
Phase Six
- ‘Thunderbolts’: May 2025
- ‘Fantastic Four’: July 2025
- ‘Blade’: November 2025
- ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’: May 2026
- ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’: May 2027
Voucher codes
For the latest discounts on TVs and other tech offers, try the links below:
Your TV doesn’t support apps? Give it a new lease of life with one of the best streaming devices