Want to watch, or rewatch, all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? (Aka, the MCU.) The first thing you have to figure out is what order you’re going to watch them in. There’s more than one way to go about this, and I’ll break down the list into a few options.
Keep it simple: Watch in the order of film release
The release order isn’t my personal preference, but it will do. Note: there is no shame in skipping The Incredible Hulk altogether. Sure, for the sake of completeness it’s good to watch Edward Norton’s Hulk, but that movie just barely fits with the rest of the MCU (except in the last few seconds).
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Phase IV
The MCU Phase IV kicked off after Avengers: Endgame.
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Black Widow (2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Eternals (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
The Marvels (2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Fantastic Four
Watch in MCU chronological order
The MCU movies weren’t actually released in the order that they happen. It takes a minor tweak to fix that. Chronologically, Captain America: The First Avenger happened first — during WWII — although it was the 5th movie released. Then you would follow with Captain Marvel — 1990s — which was the 21st movie released. There is some logic to this order, but again, I wouldn’t suggest it. I think going by movie release order makes for a more enjoyable watch than this. But here it is anyway.
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Maximum Effect
My suggestion is to follow the movie release order, up to a point. Black Panther and Spiderman: Homecoming have events that take place immediately after Captain America: Civil War. You don’t need to see Doctor Strange until just before Avengers: Infinity War, actually, but you may as well view it before the Guardians of the Galaxy Movies I & II . You see, the GotG movies are completely independent from the rest of the previous MCU movies. However, they tie in closely with Avengers: Infinity War. Therefore I would recommend skipping over those two in the release order.
Therefore, to maximize your enjoyment I recommend watching Guardians I, Guardians II, then Thor: Ragnarok, right before Infinity War. In fact, if you have 5 hours to spare, you could watch Thor: Ragnarok and Infinity War back-to-back because they literally take place moments apart.
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) *
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Note: Ant-Man and the Wasp fits better before Infinity War, however — and this is huge — you must NOT watch the two extra scenes until after Infinity War on a 1st viewing. That said, if you did want to watch Ant-Man and the Wasp out of order for a re-watch, I’d put it after Spider-Man: Homecoming.
If you are also a die-hard fan of Marvel then make sure to give this fun quiz a try.
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Jill Florio Administrator
Your subtitle Maximum Effect…lol. From the corner of my eye I read MAXIMUM EFFORT….
lol – almost was a Deadpool funny, but your way makes more sense.
Jill Florio Administrator
My only suggested change is viewing Black Panther immediately after Civil War. T’Challa goes straight home after Civil War to assume the throne and share sorrow with his family.
Miller Woosley
There are a few changes I would make to the Chronological Order. Guardians 2 takes place a few months after Guardians 1, and before Age of Ultron. Black Panther takes place a week after Civil War, and should be followed by Spider-Man, since Homecoming is 2 months after Civil War. Doctor Strange should come next, since his take place over a long while as he learns about the Mystic Arts. And Ant-Man and the Wasp should come before Infinity War, though to be fair, there is an argument to be made about watching it after, due to the mid-credits scene. Anyway, that’s just my opinion, and I really like all of the orders.
Dan Gardner Administrator
You’re right. Great observations. Can you think of anything in the Guardians movies that tie them to the timeline of the Avengers before Infinity War?
You’re right that Ant-man and Wasp fits better before Infinity War, but not the two extra scenes. I updated my “Maximum Effect” with your suggestions.
Miller Woosley
No, the Guardians movies are pretty much separate from the other MCU movies (up to Infinity War, of course). Thanks for considering my suggestions! I was unsure about leaving a comment, since I wasn’t sure how you’d receive it, but you took it really well!
Dan Gardner Administrator
We’re all friends here. 🙂
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