How to watch the Marvel films in order: chronological & release date

But never fear: there are many Marvel films to enjoy in the meantime, beginning with Iron Man, which dropped out of the sky in May 2008. So many, in fact, that it can make deciding which order to watch them in a daunting task.

In addition to Marvel movies, Disney Plus has been dropping several new series in recent years, which form just as vital a part of the MCU; there’s been the quirky WandaVision, the Christmas-themed Hawkeye, the thrilling Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the timey-wimey Loki, the spooky but epic Moon Knight, the family-friendly Ms Marvel, and the highly amusing She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

And of course, there is plenty more on the way too, including Hawkeye spin-off series Echo, Loki season 2, Ironheart, WandaVision spin-off Agatha: Coven of Chaos, and the return of the Man Without Fear himself, Daredevil: Born Again.

It was also recently rumoured that Paul Bettany would return to the MCU for the upcoming series Vision Quest, while Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will portray Simon Williams in a Disney+ series focused on the hero Wonder Man.

Thankfully, it’s never been easier to watch everything in order as Disney Plus has nearly every movie – with the streaming platform having recently added theatrical releases such as Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder.

We also have you covered for how to watch the Spider-Man: No Way Home streaming release, which is a little more complicated due to the rights issues of it being owned by Sony Pictures – and might also require you to brush up on how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order.

There are plenty of new Marvel cinematic releases on the way too in Phase Five, including, Captain America: New World Order (3rd May 2024), Thunderbolts (26th July 2024), and Blade (6th September 2023).

After this, Phase Six will begin with Fantastic Four (14th February 2025), before concluding with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2nd May 2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (1st May 2026).

So, we still have a great deal of Marvel content to come our way.

Here is how to watch all of the Marvel films and series in order.

How to watch all the Marvel movies in order: MCU chronological timeline and release order

With so many new additions on the way, the MCU timeline can get a little muddled, but there are two main ways to watch the Marvel movies in order, chronological order, which kicks things off with Captain America: The First Avenger, or Marvel movies in release order, which starts with Iron Man.

When it comes to the best way to watch the Marvel movies in order, it’s really down to you, we like seeing things in release order as they naturally developed, but always advocate giving the chronological order a go at least once.

With Phase Four now wrapping up there’s no better time to get started. We’ve included all your options so get that Marvel movie marathon binge started now.

How to watch the Marvel movies in chronological timeline

Looking at the series in chronological order, it’s actually Captain America: The First Avenger that is set earliest, taking place during the Second World War where a skinny Steve Rogers is first dosed with the incredible Super Soldier Serum.

The latest film entries in the chronological timeline are Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which were released in 2022 but due to the Endgame time jump, actually takes place around the year 2026.

Some fans believe that this is the best way to watch the MCU movies as elements are introduced as the characters in the story encounter them – for instance, this method makes Nick Fury’s Infinity War cameo more satisfying, as viewers will already have the context provided by Captain Marvel (released in cinemas the following year).

However, there are other cases in which this is a detriment, such as Ant-Man and the Wasp, which is largely set before the events of Infinity War, but its own post-credits scene spoils the ending to the epic crossover movie.

The following list of films and TV series are based on Disney+’s official viewing order.

Here are the Marvel movies in chronological viewing order:

1. Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)
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. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
9. Iron Man 3 (2012)
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
14. Ant-Man (2015)
15. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
16. Black Widow (2016, excluding post-credits scene)
17. Black Panther (2016)
18. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
19. Doctor Strange (2016-2017)
20. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
21. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)
22. Avengers: Infinity War (2017)
23. Avengers: Endgame (2017-2022)
24. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)
25. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2023)
26. Eternals (2023, excluding flashbacks)
27. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
28. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2025)
29. Thor: Love and Thunder (2026)
30. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2026)
31. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2026)

Meanwhile, below you can find the Marvel TV shows in chronological viewing order:

• Werewolf By Night (TBC)
• Loki (after Endgame, but outside of the main timeline – read more on Loki’s timeline)
• WandaVision (2023)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023)
• Hawkeye (2024)
• Moon Knight (2025)
• She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (2025)
• Ms Marvel (2025)

Marvel’s What If…? is set outside the main timeline, as it takes place in various parallel realities.