The “shared universe” in popular entertainment is nothing new. It goes back decades in comic books, although it wasn’t truly defined as such until the 1970s. The essential way to understand this concept: If fictional character A meets character B, and B meets C, then A and C (and everyone else they know) live in a shared universe.You see it to the nth degree in media franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and even Godzilla. TV shows such as Law and Order, Happy Days, Cheers, and All in the Family have sequels and spin-offs galore. An excellent example with superheroes was The CW’s Arrowverse, which tied itself to modern and classic shows on other networks.No company has more successfully pulled off a shared universe with a cohesive set of stories, all told by completely different directors, writers, and stars than the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s the crown jewel of shared universes, including 32 films to date. They may not all tell the exact same story, but the different phases certainly built up to the monolithic double-shot of Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Now we’re done with Phase 4, which included a bunch of original TV shows that are available only on Disney+. All the MCU content is streaming online. We’re here to tell you how to watch each show and movie 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, because we can’t wait. If you’re not into jumping around in space and time, check out the Chronological Order, because some of the films have flashbacks or time jumps that may throw you off (assuming you’ve never read Slaughterhouse-Five or watched Doctor Who). With a third order we’re calling Chronological Order With TV Shows and One-Shots, we’re tossing in as many possible MCU-related TV shows and short films as we can, because it’s fun, even though the earliest Marvel TV shows are tangentially affiliated at best. These days, you can’t watch the movies without watching the TV shows. This isn’t very different from the heyday of comic collecting when you had to read every crossover to keep up. For the most part, Disney+ is all you need to stream the MCU. That’s where you’ll find the latest releases like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Loki, What If…? season 2, Echo (the first spin-off TV show from a previous Marvel show), and The Marvels. Other exceptions are noted below. Order of Release (Movies Only)Dates indicate when the film was (or will be) released to theaters.MCU: Phase OneIron Man (May 2008)The Incredible Hulk (June 2008)Iron Man 2 (May 2010)Thor (May 2011)Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)Avengers (May 4, 2012)
MCU: Phase 2Iron Man 3 (May 2013)Thor: The Dark World (November 2013)Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 2014)Guardians of the Galaxy (August 2014)Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015)Ant-Man (July 2015)
MCU: Phase 3Captain America: Civil War (May 2016)Doctor Strange (November 2016)Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 2017)Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 2017).Thor: Ragnarok (November 2017)Black Panther (February 2018)Avengers: Infinity War (April 2018)Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 2018)Captain Marvel (March 2019)Avengers: Endgame (April 2019)Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019)MCU: Phase 4 Black Widow (July 2021)Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 2021)The Eternals (November 2021)Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021)Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022)Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8, 2022)Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11, 2022)
MCU: Phase 5 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 the rights issues Marvel has with some characters go back decades, in particular with the Hulk and Spider-Man, which is why they’re sometimes on other services.Disney bought Fox, so now, even most of the Fox-produced X-Men movies are on Disney+ or Hulu. Even Deadpool. Consider that a different section of the multiverse until explicitly told otherwise. The post-credits scenes at the end of each Marvel movie sometimes take place in wildly different time frames than the main film itself or were bits cut from the next film to come out. We’re not counting them here.Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)—Disney+Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening 3 minutes take place in 1980)—Disney+Guardians of the Galaxy (opening 3.5 minutes take place in 1988)—Disney+Captain Marvel (1995)—Disney+Iron Man (2010)—Disney+Iron Man 2 (2011)—Disney+Thor (2011)—Disney+The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor despite being released first)—Disney+The Avengers (2012)—Disney+Iron Man 3 (2012)—Disney+Thor: The Dark World (2013)—Disney+Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)—Disney+Guardians of the Galaxy (the rest of it is set in 2014)—Disney+Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (the remainder of it is set in 2014—34 years after 1980, so it says—even though it came out in 2017)—Disney+Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)—Disney+Ant-Man (2015)—Disney+Doctor Strange (2016-2017, part of it happens after Civil War)—Disney+Captain America: Civil War (2016)—Disney+Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016—the opening takes place during Civil War; the rest is set only 4 years after The Avengers despite what it says on screen)—Disney+, Starz, FXNow, & FuboBlack Panther (2017)—Disney+Thor: Ragnarok (2017)—Disney+Black Widow (2017)—Disney+Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)—Disney+Avengers: Infinity War (2017)—Disney+Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018, jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and 1970)—Disney+Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)—Disney+Eternals (2023)—Disney+Spider-Man: Far From Home (Summer, 2024)—Disney+Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)—StarzDoctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (early 2025)—Disney+Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)—Disney+Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)—Disney+Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (probably 2026)—Disney+
Popularity Order (Movies Only)Here’s a unique 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 short of the releases of 2023.
(Credit: JustWatch)
Spider-Man is the favorite franchise within the franchise, which is no surprise. Nor is the rank for the much-reviled first sequels for Thor and Ironman. But The Eternals ranking above the Captain America films, especially The Winter Soldier? Madness. Chronological Order With TV Shows and One-ShotsA shared universe that encapsulates not only movies but also TV shows? It happens. Sometimes it works, but usually it doesn’t. The original MCU shows were kept separate—a by-product of warring factions of Disney production that didn’t see eye to eye. Now, with the mega-producer of the MCU, K.E.V.I.N. (wait, I mean Kevin Feige) in charge of even the TV shows on Disney+, the ties to the MCU are tight. He’s 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.A show such as Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is 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 really, 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 CenturyMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 1-2 (1931)—Disney+Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)Agent Carter—Marvel One-Shot short film (1946)—Disney+Agent Carter—Seasons 1 and 2 (1946 to 1947)—Disney+Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 3-4 (1955)—Disney+Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 5-6 (1972-1976)—Disney+Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening in 1980)Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 7 (1982)—Disney+Guardians of the Galaxy (opens in 1988)Captain Marvel (1995)2010 – 2011Iron Man (2010)Iron Man 2 (2011)The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; Most sources say it takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor, but the official Marvel timeline disagrees)A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer—Marvel One-Shot short film starting Agent Phil Coulson (2011)—Disney+Thor (2011)The Consultant—Marvel One-Shot short film starring Agent Phil Coulson; plays right into the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk (2011)—Disney+
2012The Avengers (2012)Loki (2012 for the variant Loki who then steps out of the timestream entirely, thanks to the TVA)—Disney+Item 47—Marvel One-Shot short film, takes place post-Avengers (2012)—Disney+2013Thor: The Dark WorldIron Man 3 (2012)All Hail the King—Marvel One-Shot short film, takes place post-Iron Man 3 (2013)—Disney+Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 1—16 (2013-2014)—Disney+
2014Captain America: The Winter SoldierMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 17-22 (2013-2014)—Disney+Guardians of the GalaxyI Am Groot (“Groot’s First Steps” short)Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (3 months later)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)Daredevil—Season 1—Disney+Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 2; Episode 20 is concurrent with Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014-2015)—Disney+2015Jessica Jones—Season 1—Disney+Avengers: Age of UltronMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 1-10—Disney+Ant-ManCloak and Dagger—Season 1—Hulu
2016Daredevil—Season 2—Disney+Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 11-19—Disney+Luke Cage—Season 1—Disney+Iron Fist—Season 1—Disney+Cloak & Dagger—Season 2 —Hulu The Defenders—Mini-series—Disney+Doctor Strange (act one)Captain America: Civil WarBlack Widow (according to the official MCU timeline on Disney+ this comes before…)Black PantherMarvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 20-23—Disney+Spider-Man: HomecomingPunisher—Season 1 (2016 holidays)—Disney+2017Doctor Strange (the rest)Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Episodes 1-8 (with Ghost Rider)—Disney+Marvel’s Inhumans—Disney+Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Ep 9-22—Disney+Jessica Jones—Season 2 (summer)—Disney+Luke Cage—Season 2—Disney+Runaways—Season 1—Previously a Hulu Original, only streaming via buy or rent nowRunaways—Season 2 (2017-2018)Iron Fist—Season 2 (late 2017)—Disney+Daredevil—Season 3—Disney+2018Thor: RagnarokPunisher—Season 2—Disney+Jessica Jones—Season 3—Disney+Ant-Man and the Wasp, but see belowRunaways—Season 3Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 5, Eps 11—22 (final 4 episodes concurrent to Infinity War)—Disney+Avengers: Infinity WarAnt-Man and the Wasp—the credits tag takes place at the same time as Thanos’s snap, trapping Scott Lang in the quantum realm until 2023.Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018 then jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and a quick jump to 1970)
20192023Avengers: Endgame ending (2023)WandaVision (three weeks post-Endgame, 2023)—Disney+The Future(s)2024Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Spring 2024)The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Spring-Summer 2024)—Disney+Spider-Man: Far From Home (a full school year after Endgame, Summer 2024)Eternals (October 2024)Spider-Man: No Way Home (Immediately follows Far from Home, but ends near December 2024)Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7 – Episodes 8 to 13, which are entirely out of whack with continuity—Disney+Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (Autumn 2024)Hawkeye (December 2024)—Disney+
2025Moon Knight (Spring 2025)Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Spring 2025; following the death of T’Challa in Spring 2024)Echo (this placement is according to the official MCU timeline)—This is 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 know any previous continuity to enjoy it. But it probably makes more sense if you watched Daredevil and Hawkeye.She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Spring-Autumn 2025) Ms. Marvel (Autumn 2025)Thor: Love and Thunder (Autumn 2025…that’s eight years and seven months after Jane and Thor broke up.)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.)The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special (Holiday time 2025)
(Credit: Marvel Studios)
2026Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (early 2026)Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (mid-2026)Secret Invasion (2026)The Marvels (2026)As you can see, the post-Snap continuity is messy. Most of Loki takes outside of time, thanks to the Time Variance Authority (TVA). The official timeline says S1 is simply post-Endgame, and S2 comes after The Marvels. A show like What If…? takes place outside of continuity completely, but highly informs the future of movies that involve the multiverse.
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If you don’t like this timeline, you have other options to check out, like the scarily detailed one at the Marvel Cinematic Universe Fandom Wiki. Or go buy the brand new hardcover coffee-table book entitled 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 SHIELD, Daredevil, etc. (those are a separate branch, of course)—up through Phase 5. What’s Coming?There are plenty of movies and TV shows coming soon to the MCU. These are the titles we know, with tentative release dates. The current wrinkles in time are the Hollywood strikes of 2023. It wreaked havoc with Marvel’s plans, filming stopped on many shows in production, in particular, Daredevil: Born Again (which is being re-tooled), Thunderbolts, and Wonder Man. MCU: Phase 5Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26, 2024)—Finally, Mutants in the MCU including OG Wolverine himself! It will be the only MCU film in theaters in 2024.Agatha All Along (Late 2024)—a sequel to WandaVision—Direct to Disney+What If…? – Season 3 (2024?)—Direct to Disney+Ironheart (2025)—Direct to Disney+Captain America: Brave New World (February 14, 2025)—Direct to theatersDaredevil: Born Again (March 2025)—the return of the Netflix version of The Man Without Fear, now firmly a part of the MCU—Direct to Disney+ Thunderbolts (May 2, 2025)—Direct to theatersYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (previously titled Spider-Man: Freshman Year (November 2024)—An animated prequel to the Tom Holland Spider-Man films—Direct to Disney+Marvel Zombies (2024)—Spinning off from What If…? —Direct to Disney+
MCU: Phase 6?Fantastic Four (July 25, 2025*)—Direct to theatersBlade (2026)—Direct to theatersAvengers: The Kang Dynasty (May 1, 2026*)—Direct to theatersAvengers: Secret Wars (May 7, 2027*)—Direct to theatersWonder Man TV show—Direct to Disney+*Wakanda TV show—Direct to Disney+Armor Wars (2026)—originally meant to be a TV show featuring Don Cheadle as War Machine, it’s being revamped into a film.Other titles may be in the offing, although nothing has been divulged yet. Likely candidates include sequels for Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Shang-Chi, and Thor, as well as, potentially, the full MCU reveal on the X-Men (beyond that bit at the end of The Marvels). 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), and maybe The Vision. There’s a reason that phases 4, 5, and 6 are now collectively dubbed The Multiverse Saga. Then again, Marvel’s multiverse may be a little too dense. Some people claim they’re overdoing it. Marvel may scale back as it faces many issues. Not the least of which is, it fired Kang.You can include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in that 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 film’s entire theatrical run. A third, Beyond the Spider-Verse, arrives sometime in 2025.
Arguably the biggest hit with Marvel fans in 2024 so far is season one of X-Men ’97, the continuation of the cartoon that ended over 25 years ago. It’s been a blast.This story doesn’t even dip into the Marvel-adjacent films coming from Sony, including Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter. If you liked Venom and Morbius, maybe you’ll enjoy those, too. Finally, if you’re looking for a really good 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.
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