Knowing how to watch the Marvel movies in order is pretty much a pop culture necessity at this point. With so many movies and shows to keep track of before the next big release (She-Hulk in August and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in November, in case you were wondering), there’s every chance some MCU entries can slip through the cracks during a binge watch.
So, whether you’re in a Marvel mood because of all of the MCU announcements made at Sand Diego Comic-Con, or are dipping your toes into Marvel’s waters for the first time, you’ll want to know how to watch the Marvel movies in order. That’s where we come in. Below, you’ll find several watch orders for the MCU.
First up is the tried-and-tested Marvel release order. From Iron Man up to Ms. Marvel, the complete picture is just a scroll away. For veterans, there’s also the chronological order to spice up your Marvel experience. That charts every MCU movie in the order they existed in-universe. Because most of you will be following along on Disney Plus, there’s also a guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order on Disney Plus. Word of warning: thanks to rights issues, it’s not as complete as you might hope but it’s well worth knowing going in.
How to watch the Marvel movies in order – release order
Best for: Newcomers to the Marvel movies.
First up, here's how to watch the Marvel movies in release order. Marvel films, we should note, are 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. Below, we go through Phases 1 to 4 in release order. Yes, that includes WandaVision/Falcon and The Winter Soldier/Loki. No, they're not technically movies, but the MCU is changing so rapidly that the Disney Plus shows are now just as important.
Phase One:
- 1. Iron Man (2008)
- 2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- 3. Iron Man 2 (2010)
- 4. Thor (2011)
- 5. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- 6. The Avengers (2012)
Phase Two:
- 7. Iron Man 3 (2013)
- 8. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- 9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- 10. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- 11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- 12. Ant-Man (2015)
Phase Three:
- 13. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- 14. Doctor Strange (2016)
- 15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
- 16. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- 17. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- 18. Black Panther (2017)
- 19. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- 20. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- 21. Captain Marvel (2019)
- 22. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- 23. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Phase Four:
- 24. WandaVision (Disney Plus series, 2021)
- 25. Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney Plus series, 2021)
- 26. Loki season 1 (Disney Plus series)
- 27. Black Widow (2021)
- 28. What If...? (Disney Plus series, 2021)
- 29. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- 30. Eternals (2021)
- 31. Hawkeye (Disney Plus series, 2021)
- 32. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- 33. Moon Knight (Disney Plus series, 2022)
- 34. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- 35. Ms. Marvel (Disney Plus series, 2022)
- 36. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Want to dive in right now? The majority of the Marvel movies are available on Disney Plus. If you want to check out the best deals for the streaming service, head over to our Disney Plus bundles page.
We also know a fair amount of what's coming up in the future, with Marvel having laid out plans for Phase 4 and beyond. Here's a taste of the Marvel movies coming out over the next few years – and for a full deep-dive, check out our explainer on all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows heading your way soon.
Phase Four continued (unreleased):
- I Am Groot – August 10, 2022 (Disney Plus series)
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – August 17, 2022 (Disney Plus series)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – November 11, 2022
Phase 5 (unreleased):
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – February 17, 2023
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – May 5, 2023
- Secret Invasion – Spring 2023 (Disney Plus series)
- The Marvels (AKA Captain Marvel 2) – July 28, 2023
- Loki season 2 – Summer 2023 (Disney Plus series)
- Ironheart – Fall 2023 (Disney Plus series)
- Blade – November 3, 2023
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos – Winter 2023/2024 (Disney Plus series)
- Daredevil: Born Again – Spring 2024 (Disney Plus series)
- Captain America: New World Order – May 3, 2024
- Thunderbolts – July 26, 2024
Phase 6 (unreleased):
- Fantastic Four – November 8, 2024
- Avengers: The Kang Dynasty – May 2, 2025
- Avengers: Secret Wars – November 7, 2025
TBA (unreleased):
- Deadpool 3 – TBA
- Shang-Chi 2 – TBA
- Nova – TBA
- Armor Wars – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- Wakanda/Okoye spin-off – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- Wonder Man – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- Werewolf By Night – TBA (Disney Plus special)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special – TBA (Disney Plus special)
- What If...? season 2 – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- What If...? season 3 – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- Spider-Man: Freshman Year – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- Spider-Man: Sophomore Year – TBA (Disney Plus series)
- Marvel Zombies – TBA (Disney Plus series)
How to watch the Marvel movies in order – chronological order
Best for: MCU veterans looking for a new way to watch.
Want to experience the MCU in a more complicated fashion? Then you'll perhaps want to know how to watch the Marvel movies in chronological order.
This one's a little less straightforward than the above list. Luckily, Marvel has revealed the official year in which each movie takes place. That goes right up to Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which fits snugly in-between Endgame and Far From Home and the likes of Hawkeye, which takes place around No Way Home.
- 1. Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1943)
- 2. Captain Marvel (1995)
- 3. Iron Man (2010)
- 4. Iron Man 2 (2011)
- 5. The Incredible Hulk (2011)
- 6. Thor (2011)
- 7. The Avengers (2012)
- 8. Iron Man 3 (2012)
- 9. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- 10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- 11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- 12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2014)
- 13. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- 14. Ant-Man (2015)
- 15. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- 16. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
- 17. Doctor Strange (2016-2017)
- 18. Black Widow (2017)
- 19. Black Panther (2017)
- 20. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- 21. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)
- 22. Avengers: Infinity War (2017)
- 23. Avengers: Endgame (2018-2023)
- 24. Loki (outside of our conception of time, but around here!)
- 25. What If...? (also outside of our conception of time!)
- 26. WandaVision (2023)
- 27. Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2023-2024)
- 28. Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023-2024)
- 29. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)
- 30. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
- 31. Eternals (2024)
- 32. Hawkeye (Christmas 2024)
- 33. Moon Knight (2025)
- 34. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2025)
- 35. Ms. Marvel (2025)
- 36. Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
Non-MCU Marvel movies and shows in the MCU
Best for: Anyone who wants to fully appreciate No Way Home
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, and 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 alternative 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.
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
- Venom (2018)
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
- Morbius (2022)
Then there's The Defenders, which are sort-of 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 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.
How to watch the Marvel movies on Disney Plus?
Best for: People with a Disney Plus subscription
Disney Plus has changed the streaming game. A huge competitor to Netflix and Amazon Prime, Disney's entry into the online content wars has made a huge impact, bringing all of the Mouse's classic movies into one place. There are also original series, plus the majority of the Marvel movies.
Below, find all the Marvel movies on and coming to Disney Plus. Note: You will not find The Incredible Hulk or most of the Spider-Man movies on Disney Plus. This is because the rights to Hulk belong to Universal, while the rights to Spider-Man are with Sony. Homecoming is available, however, in some regions, such as the UK. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is available on Disney Plus from June 22.
- Iron Man
- 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
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Captain America: Civil War
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Doctor Strange
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Black Panther
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Captain Marvel
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Endgame
- WandaVision
- 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
That's how to watch the Marvel movies in order. So, what are you waiting for? 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.
For more on movie watch orders, check out our expansive piece on how the watch the DC movies in order, how to watch the Star Wars movies in order, and how to watch the X-Men movies in order.
