Last updated on January 13, 2026
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) sprawls across dozens of films, Disney+ series, specials, and shorts—easiest path follows release order for narrative flow, while chronology demands timeline jumps. This full guide covers everything through Phase 6 previews like Avengers: Doomsday (2026). Skip Netflix/Agents of SHIELD if casual (separate timelines, loose canon); Phase 4+ TV integrates tightly (WandaVision shapes Multiverse of Madness).
How to Watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Release Order
To catch the full Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in the simplest way possible up to now, just follow the original launch dates for movies and TV shows Marvel.com. Keep in mind this path covers quite the haul though.
Want to lighten your load? Skip Agents of SHIELD or the Netflix series like Daredevil. They feature recurring MCU characters, but official word confirms separate timelines now—events still count toward broad canon.
Things shifted with Phase 4 TV rollout. Starting WandaVision, Disney+ shows lock straight into movie plots, sometimes carrying make-or-break weight.
In the list below, movies show bold, shorts italicized, TV series and one-off specials plain text.
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- Iron Man (May 2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (Jun 2008)
- Iron Man 2 (Apr 2010)
- Thor (Apr 2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (Jul 2011)
- The Consultant (Sep 2011)
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (Oct 2011)
- The Avengers (Apr 2012)
- Item 47 (Sep 2012)
- Iron Man 3 (Apr 2013)
- Agent Carter (Sep 2013)
- Agents of SHIELD S1 (Sep 2013–May 2014)
- Thor: The Dark World (Nov 2013)
- All Hail the King (Feb 2014)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Mar 2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (Jul 2014)
- Agents of SHIELD S2 (Sep 2014–May 2015)
- Agent Carter S1 (Jan–Feb 2015)
- Daredevil S1 (Apr 2015)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (Apr 2015)
- Ant-Man (Jul 2015)
- Agents of SHIELD S3 (Sep 2015–May 2016)
- Jessica Jones S1 (Nov 2015)
- Agent Carter S2 (Jan–Feb 2016)
- Daredevil S2 (Mar 2016)
- Captain America: Civil War (Apr 2016)
- Team Thor (Aug 2016)
- Agents of SHIELD S4 (Sep 2016–May 2017)
- Luke Cage S1 (Sep 2016)
- Doctor Strange (Oct 2016)
- Team Thor: Part 2 (Feb 2017)
- Iron Fist S1 (Mar 2017)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Apr 2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (Jul 2017)
- The Defenders S1 (Aug 2017)
- Inhumans S1 (Sep–Nov 2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (Oct 2017)
- The Punisher S1 (Nov 2017)
- Runaways S1 (Nov 2017–Jan 2018)
- Agents of SHIELD S5 (Dec 2017–May 2018)
- Black Panther (Feb 2018)
- Team Darryl (Feb 2018)
- Jessica Jones S2 (Mar 2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (Apr 2018)
- Cloak & Dagger S1 (Jun–Aug 2018)
- Luke Cage S2 (Jun 2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (Jul 2018)
- Iron Fist S2 (Sep 2018)
- Daredevil S3 (Oct 2018)
- Runaways S2 (Dec 2018)
- The Punisher S2 (Jan 2019)
- Captain Marvel (Mar 2019)
- Cloak & Dagger S2 (Apr–May 2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (Apr 2019)
- Agents of SHIELD S6 (May–Aug 2019)
- Jessica Jones S3 (Jun 2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (Jul 2019)
- Runaways S3 (Dec 2019)
- Agents of SHIELD S7 (May–Aug 2020)
- Helstrom (Oct 2020)
- WandaVision (Jan–Mar 2021)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Mar–Apr 2021)
- Loki S1 (Jun–Jul 2021)
- Black Widow (Jul 2021)
- What If…? S1 (Aug–Oct 2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Sep 2021)
- Eternals (Nov 2021)
- Hawkeye (Nov–Dec 2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (Dec 2021)
- Moon Knight (Mar–May 2022)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 2022)
- Ms. Marvel (Jun–Jul 2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Jul 2022)
- I Am Groot S1 (Aug 2022)
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Aug–Oct 2022)
- Werewolf by Night (Oct 2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Nov 2022)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Nov 2022)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb 2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 2023)
- Secret Invasion (Jun–Jul 2023)
- I Am Groot S2 (Sep 2023)
- Loki S2 (Oct 2023)
- What If…? S2 (Dec 2023)
- Echo (Jan 2024)
- Deadpool & Wolverine (Jul 2024)
- Agatha All Along (Sep–Oct 2024)
- What If…? S3 (Dec 2024)
- Captain America: Brave New World (Feb 14, 2025)
- Daredevil: Born Again S1 (Mar–Apr 2025)
- Thunderbolts (May 2, 2025)
- Ironheart S1 (Jun–Jul 2025)
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Jul 25, 2025)
- Avengers: Doomsday (Dec 18, 2026)
- Avengers: Secret Wars (Dec 17, 2027)
How to Watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Chronological Order
Here’s the definitive watch sequence for hardcore MCU fans wanting to follow events in true in-universe timeline order.
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Agent Carter (one-shot on Iron Man 3 DVD)
- Agent Carter (season 1)
- Agent Carter (season 2)
- Captain Marvel (mid-credits scene set after Infinity War)
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- The Incredible Hulk
- The Consultant (one-shot on the Thor DVD)
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (one-shot on the Captain America: The First Avenger DVD)
- Thor
- The Avengers (aka Avengers Assemble in some regions)
- Item 47 (one-shot on the Avengers Assemble DVD)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 1, eps 1-7)
- Thor: The Dark World
- Agents of SHIELD (season 1, eps 8-16)
- Iron Man 3
- All Hail the King (one-shot on the Thor: The Dark World DVD)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Agents of SHIELD (season 1, eps 17-22)
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
- I Am Groot (season 1)
- I Am Groot (season 2)
- Daredevil (season 1)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 2, eps 1-10)
- Jessica Jones (season 1)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 2, eps 11-19)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Agents of SHIELD (season 2, eps 20-22)
- Daredevil (season 2, eps 1-4)
- Luke Cage (season 1, eps 1-4)
- Daredevil (season 2, eps 5-11)
- Luke Cage (season 1, eps 5-8)
- Daredevil (season 2, eps 12-13)
- Luke Cage (season 1, eps 9-13)
- Ant-Man
- Agents of SHIELD (season 3, eps 1-10)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 3, eps 11-19 – split due to new story arc)
- Iron Fist (season 1)
- Captain America: Civil War
- Team Thor (one-shot on the Captain America: Civil War DVD)
- Team Thor: Part 2 (one-shot on the Doctor Strange DVD)
- Black Widow (watch credits scene after Avengers: Endgame)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 3, eps 20-22)
- The Defenders (season 1)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 4, eps 1-6)
- Doctor Strange
- Black Panther
- Agents of SHIELD (season 4, eps 7-8)
- Agents of SHIELD: Slingshot (season 1, eps 1-6)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 4, eps 9-22)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Team Darryl (one-shot on the Thor: Ragnarok DVD)
- Inhumans (season 1)
- The Punisher (season 1)
- Runaways (season 1)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 5, eps 1-10) – allowing for time travel craziness
- Jessica Jones (season 2)
- Agents of SHIELD (season 5, eps 11-18)
- Cloak & Dagger (season 1)
- Cloak & Dagger (season 2)
- Luke Cage (season 2)
- Iron Fist (season 2)
- Daredevil (season 3)
- Runaways (season 2)
- The Punisher (season 2)
- Jessica Jones (season 3)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (watch credits scene after Infinity War)
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Agents of SHIELD (season 5, eps 19-22) – concurrent with Infinity War
- Agents of SHIELD (season 6) – takes place in Endgame‘s five-year time jump
- Agents of SHIELD (season 7) – takes place in Endgame‘s five-year time jump
- Runaways (season 3) – seems to take place post-Snap mostly
- Avengers: Endgame
- Loki (season 1) (allowing for timey-wimey, alternate timeline weirdness)
- Loki (season 2)
- What If…? (season 1)
- What If…? (season 2)
- What If…? (season 3)
- WandaVision
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- Eternals
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Hawkeye
- Moon Knight
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Echo
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
- Ms Marvel
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Ironheart (season 1)
- Werewolf by Night
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
- Secret Invasion
- The Marvels
- Agatha All Along
- Daredevil: Born Again (season 1)
- Captain America: Brave New World
- Thunderbolts*
How to Watch Marvel Movies in Release Order
Not into MCU TV series? Totally get it. We’ve stripped down the timeline to spotlight theatrical films only.
Newcomers following release dates experience movies exactly as original audiences did—post-credit reveals intact. For chronological movies-only, check the film entries from the timeline above.
Since this list hits theaters exclusively, no bold/italics needed—all movies.
The Infinity Saga: Phase 1 (2008-2012)
- Iron Man (May 2, 2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (June 13, 2008)
- Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010)
- Thor (May 6, 2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)
- Marvel’s The Avengers (May 4, 2012)
Phase 2 (2013-2015)
- Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (November 8, 2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1, 2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015)
- Ant-Man (July 17, 2015)
Phase 3 (2016-2019)
- Captain America: Civil War (May 6, 2016)
- Doctor Strange (November 4, 2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5, 2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7, 2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (November 3, 2017)
- Black Panther (February 16, 2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (April 27, 2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 6, 2018)
- Captain Marvel (March 8, 2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (April 26, 2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2, 2019)
The Multiverse Saga: Phase 4 (2021-2022)
- Black Widow (July 9, 2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3, 2021)
- Eternals (November 5, 2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 17, 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)
Phase 5 (2023-2024)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17, 2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023)
- The Marvels (November 11, 2023)
- Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26, 2024)
- Captain America: Brave New World (February 14, 2025)
- Thunderbolts (May 2, 2025)
Phase 6 (2025-2027)
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025)
- Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026)
- Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027)
