Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Dominique Thorne is back as Riri Williams in the brand-new Disney+ series Ironheart, the 15th TV show taking place fully in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)—a shared world that now includes shorts, specials, and of course 37 feature films. Together, they create a (somewhat) cohesive whole.
Aside from Thunderbolts*, which only recently debuted in theaters, almost all the MCU content is streaming online. We’re here to tell you how to watch each movie and show in the proper order.
Of course, that depends on what you consider “proper.” You could go with the Order of Release option, which is how the die-hard fans do it—we watch everything on opening night. Or check out the Chronological Order option if you can’t deal with flashbacks or time jumps. There’s even a third way we’re calling Chronological Order With TV Shows and One-Shots, in which we toss in as many possible MCU-related TV shows and short films as possible. (These days, you can’t watch the movies without watching the TV shows.)
For the most part, Disney+ is all you need to stream the MCU. That’s where you’ll find the latest releases, like the excellent Daredevil: Born Again and this year’s Captain America: Brave New World, streaming. Any exceptions are noted below.
Order of Release (Movies Only)
Dates indicate when the film was (or will be) released to theaters.
MCU: Phase One
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Iron Man (May 2, 2008)
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The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008)
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Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010)
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Thor (May 6, 2011)
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Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)
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Avengers (May 4, 2012)
MCU: Phase Two
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Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013)
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Thor: The Dark World (Nov. 8, 2013)
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Apr. 4, 2014)
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Guardians of the Galaxy (Aug. 1, 2014)
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Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015)
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Ant-Man (July 17, 2015)
MCU: Phase Three
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Captain America: Civil War (May 6, 2016)
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Doctor Strange (Nov. 4, 2016)
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5, 2017)
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7, 2017)
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Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3, 2017)
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Black Panther (Feb. 16, 2018)
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Avengers: Infinity War (Apr. 27, 2018)
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Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6, 2018)
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Captain Marvel (Mar. 8, 2019)
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Avengers: Endgame (Apr. 26, 2019)
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Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2, 2019)
MCU: Phase Four
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Black Widow (July 9, 2021)
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Sep. 3, 2021)
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The Eternals (Nov. 5, 2021)
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Spider-Man: No Way Home (Dec. 17, 2021)
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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022)
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Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8, 2022)
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Nov. 11, 2022)
MCU: Phase Five
MCU: Phase Six
Chronological Order (Movies Only)
The date on each film below indicates the estimated year or years it takes place. There are caveats about timeline anomalies, and that’s before the films even get to the time travel stuff.
We also have links to find the movies. The majority are on Disney+. But Marvel’s rights issues with some characters go back decades, particularly with the Hulk and Spider-Man, which is why they’re sometimes on other services.
Disney bought Fox, so most of the Fox-produced X-Men movies—even Deadpool—are on Disney+ or Hulu. Unless explicitly told otherwise, consider that a different section of the multiverse.
The post-credits scenes at the end of each Marvel movie sometimes take place in wildly different timeframes than the main film itself or were bits cut from the next movie to come out. We’re not counting them here.
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Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)—Disney+
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[[Fantastic Four: First Steps (the 1960s, but on another earth in the Multiverse)—Only in theaters
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening takes place in 1980)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy (opening takes place in 1988)—Disney+
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Captain Marvel (1995)—Disney+
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Iron Man (2010)—Disney+
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Iron Man 2 (2011)—Disney+
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Thor (2011)—Disney+
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The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor, despite being released first)—Disney+
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The Avengers (2012)—Disney+
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Iron Man 3 (2012)—Disney+
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Thor: The Dark World (2013)—Disney+
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy (the rest of it is set in 2014)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (the remainder of it is set in 2014)
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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)—Disney+
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Ant-Man (2015)—Disney+
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Doctor Strange (2016-17; part of it happens after Civil War)—Disney+
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Captain America: Civil War (2016)—Disney+
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016—the opening takes place during Captain America: Civil War; the rest is set only four years after The Avengers, despite what it says on screen)—Disney+
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Black Panther (2017)—Disney+
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Thor: Ragnarok (2017)—Disney+
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Black Widow (2017)—Disney+
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Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)—Disney+
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Avengers: Infinity War (2017)—Disney+
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Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018, jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and 1970)—Disney+
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)—Disney+
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Eternals (2023)—Disney+
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Spider-Man: Far From Home (summer 2024)—Disney+
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Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)—Starz
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Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (early 2025)—Disney+
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Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)—Disney+
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)—Disney+
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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (probably 2026)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (mid-2026)—Disney+
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The Marvels (2026)—Disney+
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Deadpool & Wolverine (outside of time, but this is when to watch it according to the timeline on Disney+)—Disney+
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Captain America: Brave New World (2027)—streaming soon
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Thunderbolts* (2027)—only in theaters
Popularity Order (Movies Only)
Here’s yet another option: Watch the MCU in the order of movie quality.
Quality here is in the eyes of the users at JustWatch.com, a service for finding and rating anything streaming. It put together this infographic depicting the popularity ranking of the first 30 films in the MCU, everything up through 2022.
(Credit: JustWatch)
Spider-Man is the favorite franchise within the franchise, which is no surprise. Nor are the ranks for the much-reviled first sequels for Thor and Iron Man.
But The Eternals ranking above the Captain America films, especially The Winter Soldier? Madness!
Chronological Order With TV Shows and One-Shots
A shared universe that encapsulates not only movies but also TV shows? Sometimes it works, but usually it doesn’t. The original MCU shows were kept separate—a by-product of factions of Disney production that didn’t see eye to eye. Now, with the mega-producer of the MCU, Kevin Feige, in charge of even the TV shows on Disney+, the ties to the MCU are tight.
Feige has also brought back favorite characters such as Daredevil and the Kingpin. They were featured on the MCU shows that originally aired on Netflix. Those shows—Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and others—are now on Disney+ too and considered MCU canon.
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Shows like Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are full of flashbacks; we didn’t account for them all, unless the flashback was an entire episode (or more) set in a different period. But don’t watch those episodes out of order—that’s nuts. And don’t watch Inhumans at all. Ever. Even if it is on Disney+.
The 20th Century
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 1-2 (1931)—Disney+
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Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)
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Agent Carter—Marvel One-Shot short film (1946)—Disney+
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Agent Carter—Seasons 1 and 2 (1946 to 1947)—Disney+
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 3-4 (1955)—Disney+
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[[Fantastic Four: First Steps (the 1960s, but on another earth in the Multiverse)—Only in theaters
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 5-6 (1972-1976)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening in 1980)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 7 (1982)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy (opens in 1988)
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Captain Marvel (1995)
2010-11
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Iron Man (2010)
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Iron Man 2 (2011)
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The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; most sources say it takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor, but the official Marvel timeline disagrees)
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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer—Marvel One-Shot short film starting Agent Phil Coulson (2011)—Disney+
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Thor (2011)
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The Consultant—Marvel One-Shot short film starring Agent Phil Coulson; plays right into the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk (2011)—Disney+
2012
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The Avengers (2012)
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Loki (2012 for the variant Loki who then steps out of the timestream entirely, thanks to the Time Variance Authority)—Disney+
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Item 47—Marvel One-Shot short film, takes place post-Avengers (2012)—Disney+
2013
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Iron Man 3 (2012)
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Thor: The Dark World (2013)
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All Hail the King—Marvel One-Shot short film, takes place post-Iron Man 3 (2013)—Disney+
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 1-16 (2013-14)—Disney+
2014
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 17-22 (2013-14)—Disney+
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Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
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I Am Groot (“Groot’s First Steps” short)
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (three months later)
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I Am Groot (The rest of the short episodes take place between the end of the Guardians Vol. 2 and the tag at the end where Groot is a teen.)
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Daredevil—Season 1 (2014)—Disney+
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 2; Episode 20 is concurrent with Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014-15)—Disney+
2015
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Jessica Jones—Season 1 (2015)—Disney+
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Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 1-10 (2015)—Disney+
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Ant-Man (2015)
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Cloak and Dagger—Season 1 (2015)—Hulu
2016
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Daredevil—Season 2 (2016)—Disney+
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 11-19 (2016)—Disney+
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Luke Cage—Season 1 (2016)—Disney+
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Iron Fist—Season 1 (2016)—Disney+
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Cloak & Dagger (2016)—Season 2 —Hulu
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The Defenders—Mini-series (2016)—Disney+
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Doctor Strange (act one in 2016)
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Captain America: Civil War (2016)
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Black Widow (according to the official MCU timeline on Disney+, this happens in 2016 before…)
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Black Panther (2016)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 20-23 (2016)—Disney+
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
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Punisher—Season 1 (2016 holidays)—Disney+
2017
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Doctor Strange (the rest is set in 2017)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Episodes 1-8 with Ghost Rider (2017)—Disney+
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Marvel’s Inhumans (2017)—Disney+
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Ep 9-22 (2017)—Disney+
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Jessica Jones—Season 2 (Summer 2017)—Disney+
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Luke Cage—Season 2 (2017)—Disney+
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Runaways—Season 1 (2017)—previously a Hulu Original, only streaming via buy or rent now
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Runaways—Season 2 (2017-18)
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Iron Fist—Season 2 (late 2017)—Disney+
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Daredevil—Season 3 (2017)—Disney+
2018
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Thor: Ragnarok (2018)
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Punisher—Season 2 (2018)—Disney+
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Jessica Jones—Season 3 (2018)—Disney+
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Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018 but see below)
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Runaways—Season 3 (2018)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 5, Eps 11-22 (final four episodes concurrent to Infinity War in 2018)—Disney+
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Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
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Ant-Man and the Wasp—(the credits tag takes place at the same time as Thanos’s snap, trapping Scott Lang in the quantum realm from 2018 until 2023)
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Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018 then jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and a quick jump to 1970)
2019
2023
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Avengers: Endgame ending (2023)
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WandaVision (three weeks post-Endgame, 2023)—Disney+
2024
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Spring 2024)
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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Spring-Summer 2024)—Disney+
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Spider-Man: Far From Home (a full school year after Endgame, Summer 2024)
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Eternals (Oct. 2024)
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Spider-Man: No Way Home (Immediately follows Far from Home, but ends near Dec. 2024)
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Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7 – Episodes 8-13, which are entirely out of whack with continuity—Disney+
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Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (Autumn 2024)
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Hawkeye (December 2024)—Disney+
The Future(s)
2025
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Moon Knight (Spring 2025)
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Spring 2025; following the death of T’Challa in Spring 2024)
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Echo (this placement is according to the official MCU timeline)—This was the first Mature Audiences Only MCU show since the old stuff from Netflix and is dubbed a “Marvel Spotlight,” meaning you don’t need to have watched any MCU content to enjoy it. But it makes much more sense if you at least saw Daredevil and Hawkeye.
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She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Spring-Autumn 2025)
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Ms. Marvel (Autumn 2025)
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Thor: Love and Thunder (Autumn 2025…that’s eight years and seven months after Jane and Thor broke up)
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Werewolf by Night (Some won’t say for sure, but the official MCU timeline on Disney+ says it takes place after Love and Thunder in 2025)
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The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special (Holiday time 2025)
(Credit: Marvel Studios)
2026
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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (early 2026)
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Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (mid-2026)
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Secret Invasion (2026)
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The Marvels (2026)
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Deadpool & Wolverine (Who knows?)
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Agatha All Along (Fall 2026, three years after WandaVision)
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Daredevil: Born Again (Late 2026 for the first episode prelude)
2027
As you can see, the post-Snap continuity is messy.
Most of Loki and Deadpool & Wolverine occur outside of time, thanks to the Time Variance Authority. The official timeline says Loki S1 is simply post-Endgame, and S2 comes after The Marvels.
Storm (voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith) in ‘What If…?’ Season 3 (Credit: Marvel Animation.)
A show like What If…? takes place outside of continuity completely, but highly informs the future of movies that involve the multiverse.
If you don’t like this timeline, you have other options. Check out the scarily detailed one at the Marvel Cinematic Universe Fandom Wiki.
Or buy the hardcover coffee-table book The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline. It covers the Sacred Timeline (IYKYK, right Loki fans?)—which means it doesn’t include Marvel TV shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Daredevil, etc. (those are a separate branch, of course)—up through Phase 5.
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What’s Coming?
Plenty of movies and TV shows are coming soon to the MCU. These are the titles we know, with updated release dates.
MCU: Phase 6
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Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025)—Direct to theaters
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Eyes of Wakanda animated TV show (Aug. 6, 2025)—Direct to Disney+
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Marvel Zombies (Oct. 25, 2025 – What If…? spin-off) —Direct to Disney+
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Wonder Man TV show (December 2025)—Direct to Disney+
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)—Direct to theaters
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Avengers: Doomsday (Dec. 18, 2026)—Direct to theaters
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Punisher Special (2026)—Direct to Disney+
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Vision series (2026)—Direct to Disney+
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Avengers: Secret Wars (Dec. 17, 2027)—Direct to theaters
Dates for 2028 films with no titles attached yet.
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Feb. 2028
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May 2028
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Nov. 2028
Delayed or Canceled:
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Armor Wars—originally meant to be a TV show featuring Don Cheadle as War Machine, it’s being revamped into a film, or maybe it’s canceled.
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Blade—Direct to theaters
Likely candidates for those unannounced projects include sequels for Doctor Strange, Shang-Chi, Black Panther, and Thor and, potentially, the full MCU reveal of the X-Men. Maybe Blade will get back on the schedule. Perhaps we’ll get that team-up of Young Avengers Marvel has been teasing. We may also get TV shows about Okoye from Black Panther and the man called Nova (the Nova Corps are space cops; you saw a few in the first GotG).
Then again, Marvel’s multiverse may be a little too dense. Some claim the company is overdoing it. Marvel scaled back a bit as it faced numerous issues, including the fact that it fired Kang.
You can include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in the Marvel multiverse. The follow-up to the Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse hit theaters in the summer of 2023 and made more money than the first. A third, Beyond the Spider-Verse, originally meant to be out already, is now scheduled for a June 4, 2027 release.
Season one of X-Men ’97, the continuation of the cartoon that ended over 25 years ago, was a significant hit with Marvel fans in 2024. It’s a blast, but it’s not part of the MCU. Neither is the new Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, though it references MCU movie events.
This story doesn’t even dip into the Marvel-adjacent films from Sony, including Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter. If you liked Venom and Morbius, you might enjoy those, too. But probably not.
Finally, if you’re looking for an excellent Marvel TV show that has nothing to do with the MCU, is only slightly related to the X-Men films, and has musical numbers, watch Legion. All three seasons are on Hulu via FX.
About Eric Griffith
Senior Editor, Features
