Chronological Guide to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) In Order.
If you want to enjoy a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) marathon in 2021, you need to understand how to watch the Marvel movies in order. On this page, you will learn how to watch the Marvel movies in both chronological and release order to understand the MCU timeline. If you’re just getting started with WandaVision on Disney Plus, we’ll also tell you where that fits into the story.
Disney Plus happens to be a good place to start if you want to watch the Marvel movies in order, simply because most of them are streaming in 4K. WandaVision is just the first of many canonical MCU TV shows coming to the streaming service: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier follow in March 2021, then Loki lands in May 2021, and Ms Marvel and Hawkeye come in late 2021. Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Armor Wars, Ironheart, and Secret Invasion are also Marvel Originals scheduled for the service.
In 2021, Marvel films will return to theaters, starting with Black Widow in May and followed by Shang-Chi and Marvel’s Eternals later that year – assuming things go according to plan. All of this, of course, will significantly change this list of Marvel movies in order.
There are two ways to view the Marvel movies in order: There’s the chronological order, starting with Steve Rogers taking on Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, while watching the 23 Marvel movies in release order the debut of Iron Man in 2008. We explain both orders below so you can choose the one that works for you.
Here’s how to watch the Marvel movies in order: chronological order.
A Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline is probably what you are looking for. Here’s how to watch the Marvel movies in chronological order, starting with Captain America: The First Avengers and ending with Spider-Man: Far From Home. The reason to watch the Marvel movies in this order is pretty simple: you’ll see events unfold, starting with Red Skull ‘ s Search for the Tesseract and ending with Peter Parker’s Venetian vacation. The story has now continued with WandaVision on Disney Plus, which you’ll also find below – like Spider-Man: Far From Home, that’s set after Endgame.
Here’s the chronological viewing order of the Marvel movies:
* Captain America: The First Avenger (takes place during World War II).
* Captain Marvel (takes place in 1995)
* Iron Man (takes place in 2010)
* Iron Man 2 (takes place after Iron Man).
– The Incredible Hulk (time unspecified, pre-Avengers)
– Thor (takes place six months before Avengers)
– The Avengers (takes place in 2012)
* Iron Man 3 (takes place six months after The Avengers)
– Thor: Dark World (post-Avengers, pre-ultron)
– Captain America: Winter Soldier (post-Avengers, pre-ultron)
– Guardians of the Galaxy (sometime in 2014)
– Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (post-Guardians).
* Avengers: Age of Ultron (takes place in 2015)
– Ant-Man (takes place in 2015)
– Captain America: Civil war (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity war).
– Spider-Man: Homecoming (post-Civil war, pre-Infinity war).
* Doctor Strange (takes place in 2016)
* Black Panther (takes place in 2017)
– Thor: Ragnarok (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War).
* Avengers: Infinity War (takes place in 2017)
– Ant-Man and the Wasp (ambiguous, but fits well between IW and Endgame).
* Avengers: Endgame (takes place in 2017, ends in 2022)
* Spider-Man: Far From Home (post-Endgame)
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If you want to throw Marvel TV in there as well, WandaVision takes place after Endgame, but it’s unclear right now when it’s set relatively far from home:
* WandaVision (set shortly after endgame).
When 2021 Marvel movies like Black Widow and The Eternals are finally released, along with more Disney Plus shows like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki, we’ll update this MCU timeline accordingly. Black Widow is slated to be set after Captain America: Civil War-but it’s unclear if parts of that movie will be set sooner or later, so we’ve left it off the list for now.