Want to know how to watch every movie and TV show in the MCU in the right order? The MCU has grown into a movie powerhouse, becoming the biggest movie series ever. It has broken records and changed what a modern hit is.
There are so many movies and TV shows that it is hard to keep up. If you want to start watching the MCU or just want to know the best order to watch them in before you start another rewatch, we can help.
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Below, we’ll talk about how to watch the MCU in both chronological order and release order, pointing out the big differences between the two so you can choose which way you want to go. Most of the MCU shows and movies can be found on Disney+, but there are a few that can’t be found there. If you don’t have Disney+, we will link to what you can rent or buy on Amazon.
How to Watch the MCU in Release Order?
If you watch the MCU movies in the order they were released, you can follow the story as it happened in theaters. This is the best order for new fans.
This is mostly because the scenes after the credits often give hints about future movies, no matter where they are in the timeline. You could just skip the scenes after the credits, but they often have important information about when your favorite characters will show up again.
Here’s how to watch the MCU in the order it came out, including all the movies and Disney+ shows in each phase:
Phase One
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Marvel One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Marvel One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
Phase Two
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter (2013)
- Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 1-7 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King (2013)
- Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 8-16 (2014)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 17-22 (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Agent Carter Season 1 (2015)
- Daredevil Season 1 (2015)
- Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 1-19 (2015)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 20-22 (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
- Agent Carter Season 2 (2016)
Phase Three
- Daredevil Season 2 (2016)
- Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 1-19 (2016)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Team Thor Part 1 (2016)
- Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 20-22 (2016)
- Luke Cage Season 1 (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Team Thor Part 2 (2016)
- Agents Of Shield: Slingshot web series (2016)
- Agents Of Shield Season 4 (2016-2017)
- Iron Fist Season 1 (2017)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- The Defenders (2017)
- Inhumans (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Team Darryl (2017)
- The Punisher Season 1 (2017)
- Runaways Season 1 (2017-2018)
- Agents Of Shield Season 5 (2017-2018)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Jessica Jones Season 2 (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Cloak and Dagger Season 1 (2018)
- Luke Cage Season 2 (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Iron Fist Season 2 (2018)
- Daredevil Season 3 (2018)
- Runaways Season 2 (2018)
- The Punisher Season 2 (2019)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Cloak and Dagger Season 2 (2019)
- Agents Of Shield Season 6 (2019)
- Jessica Jones Season 3 (2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
- Runaways Season 3 (2019)
- Agents Of Shield Season 7 (2020)
Phase Four
- Wandavision (2021)
- Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
- Loki (2021)
- Black Widow (2021)
- What If…? (2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- Eternals (2021)
- Hawkeye (2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Moon Knight (2022)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- Ms Marvel (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- She-Hulk (2022)
- Werewolf By Night (2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
Phase Five
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How to Watch the MCU in Chronological Order?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008, but since then it has covered a lot of different stories that all connect to each other. Even though it may seem hard to follow, the official MCU schedule is easy to figure out if you watch the movies in order.
The tweet below shows a clip from MCU:
It’s a great way for fans to see how the different movies fit together, and it’s fun to watch again if you’re looking for something to do while you’re waiting for the next one.
We have included everything from Iron Man to the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, as well as the different One Shots, Netflix shows, and all seasons of Agents of Shield. Even though it’s still not clear if the different shows are part of the main MCU canon, we’ve decided to include them to give fans the fullest picture possible.
Below, we’ll tell you how to watch the MCU in order, with each movie and TV show and the year it takes place listed:
- Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1945)
- Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
- Agent Carter Season 1 & Season 2 (1946)
- Captain Marvel (1995)
- Iron Man (2010)
- Iron Man 2 (2011)
- The Incredible Hulk (2011)
- Marvel One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
- Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
- Thor (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Marvel One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2012)
- Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King (2012)
- Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 1-7 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 8-16 (2014)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 17-22 (2014)
- Daredevil Season 1 (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (2014)
- Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 1-19 (2015)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 20-22 (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
- Daredevil Season 2 (2015)
- Luke Cage Season 1 (2015)
- Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 1-19 (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Team Thor Part 1 & Part 2 (2016)
- Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 20-22 (2016)
- Agents of Shield: Slingshot web series (2016)
- Agents Of Shield Season 4 (2016)
- Black Widow (2016)
- Black Panther (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016 – beware that the “8 years later” card shown after the intro is a mistake, and was later retconned to be 4 years to match the series of events presented in this list.)
- Iron Fist Season 1 (2016)
- The Defenders (2016)
- The Punisher Season 1 (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Inhumans (2017)
- Cloak and Dagger Season 1 (2017)
- Jessica Jones Season 2 (2017)
- Luke Cage Season 2 (2017)
- Iron Fist Season 2 (2017)
- Daredevil Season 3 (2017)
- Runaways Season 1, 2, & 3 (2017)
- The Punisher Season 2 (2017)
- Jessica Jones Season 3 (2017)
- Cloak and Dagger Season 2 (2017)
- Agents Of Shield Season 5 episodes 1-11 (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Team Darryl (2017)
- Agents Of Shield Season 5 episodes 12-22 (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Agents Of Shield Season 6-7 (2018 – these Seasons do not connect to the events of Infinity War, and seem to represent a major dent in Agents of Shield’s questionable status as part of the MCU canon.)
- Avengers: Endgame (2023)
- Loki (2012/2023/void at the end of time/time travel is messy)
- What If…? (different timelines, but the events depicted throughout the series follow the Loki finale)
- Wandavision (2023)
- Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2023)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)
- Eternals (2023)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)
- Hawkeye (2024)
- Moon Knight (2025)
- She-Hulk (2025)
- Ms Marvel (2025)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
- Werewolf By Night (2025)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)
- Ant-Man and the WAsp: Quantumania (2025)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2025)
But keep in mind that for new fans, it might not be best to watch the MCU in order. Most movies have a scene after the credits, and these scenes often give away what comes next in the release order. For example, Captain Marvel takes place in 1995, but the scene after the credits ties into Avengers: Endgame and gives away a lot about Infinity War.
Chronological watches can help you keep track of what’s going on, but if you haven’t seen the MCU before, get ready for some spoilers that might be hard to understand.
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