How to watch the Marvel movies in order (The MCU, release and chronological)

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While it took a decade for Captain America to call for the Avengers to assemble, the Avengers (and other Marvel heroes) have not-so-quietly been assembling in what's become known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2008. With individual heroes like Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Thor, Jessica Jones, and others, as well as teams such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Defenders, and the Marvels, Marvel Studios' MCU has come to comprise movies, TV shows, cartoons, special features, and even short films.

And now with the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, it's about to be even bigger as it will back-door envelop all of 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie franchise, from heavyweights like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool to even Anna Taylor-Joy's Magik (let's start a petition!).

With all of that, it might be a bit confusing to determine how to watch Marvel Studios' MCU movies & TV shows. That's where we can help? Our crack team have been watching every Marvel movie, Marvel TV show, and Marvel whatever as its released, and have been writing it down and crossreferencing it to bring to you the a Watcher-level guide to watching the MCU.

Below, we’ll explain how to watch the MCU in both chronological and release order, covering the main differences between the two so that you can choose your preferred experience. We’ll also dive into the difference between the MCU canon and some stories that… don’t quite fit into that definition, at least for now. Basically, whatever you want to know, we’re here for you.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights: Disney CEO Bob Iger is promising Deadpool & Wolverine will be MCU's biggest movie "in a long time", how Marvel Studios is now working "much more closely" to sell Marvel comics, where Marvel sees its future audience (and it's not at Marvel, yet!), Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak, and the biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows.

WHere can I watch the MCU?

Let's get this out of the way first. Virtually all of the Marvel Studios' MCU movies and TV shows can be easily found on Disney+. If you're unable to subscribe to Disney+ however, we have links below to buying each MCU project individually.

How to watch the MCU in release order

Watching the MCU in release order allows you to follow the events as they occurred in theatres (and on the small screen), allowing you to relive the saga as it unfolded the first time. Below, we’ll list how to watch the MCU in release order, including all of the movies and series in each phase — but not including the Marvel shows that were made for ABC or Hulu, which are not part of official MCU canon. We’ll get to those shows soon enough.

We are including the Netflix shows, because at least two sources say that they count, officially. Yes, even though there's an officially licensed book that says otherwise; it's very confusing, but we're erring on the side of the most recent statements on the matter, here.

For now, the official MCU canon in release order:

• Iron Man (2008)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Thor (2011)
• Marvel One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)
• Marvel One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King (2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Daredevil Season 1 (2015)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)
• Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
• Daredevil Season 2 (2016)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Team Thor Part 1 (2016)
• Luke Cage Season 1 (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Team Thor Part 2 (2016)
• Iron Fist Season 1 (2017)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (2017)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• The Defenders (2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• The Punisher Season 1 (2017)
• Black Panther (2018)
• Jessica Jones Season 2 (2018)
• Team Darryl (2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Luke Cage Season 2 (2018)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Iron Fist Season 2 (2018)
• Daredevil Season 3 (2018)
• The Punisher Season 2 (2019)
• Captain Marvel (2019)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Jessica Jones Season 3 (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
• Wandavision (2021)
• Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
• Loki, season 1 (2021)
• Black Widow (2021)
• What If…?, season 1 (2021)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
• Eternals (2021)
• Hawkeye (2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• Moon Knight (2022)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
• Ms Marvel (2022)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
• Werewolf By Night (2022)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
• Secret Invasion (2023)
• Loki, season 2 (2023)
• The Marvels (2023)
• What If…?, season 2 (2023)
• Echo, season 1 (2024)

For those wondering how to watch all of this without buying each movie individually, just remember: all of the above is available on Disney+.

How to watch the non-canonical MCU Marvel shows in release order

Cast your mind back to 2012, when Marvel Television announced plans to make shows that were definitely, 100% in continuity with the MCU, that would appear on multiple platforms — including network and cable TV and streaming services, with ABC, Netflix, and Hulu all part of the plan. These shows didn’t include anything that was definitely in their own continuity, such as FX’s Legion, Hulu’s Hit-Monkey, or anything related to Spider-Man, but were instead shows that were initially promoted as being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe… but have since been officially declared non-canonical by Marvel, even thought parts of them may be referenced or folded into the MCU for future projects. Confused? That’s understandable. Think of them as MCU Apocrypha for now.

• Agents Of SHIELD Season 1 (2013-2014)
• Agents Of SHIELD Season 2 (2014-2015)
• Agent Carter Season 1 (2015)
• Agents Of SHIELD Season 3 (2015-2016)
• Agent Carter Season 2 (2016)
• Agents Of SHIELD: Slingshot web series (2016)
• Agents Of SHIELD Season 4 (2016-2017)
• Inhumans (2017)
• Runaways Season 1 (2017-2018)
• Agents Of SHIELD Season 5 (2017-2018)
• Cloak and Dagger Season 1 (2018)
• Runaways Season 2 (2018)
• Cloak and Dagger Season 2 (2019)
• Agents Of SHIELD Season 6 (2019)
• Runaways Season 3 (2019)
• Agents Of SHIELD Season 7 (2020)

Some, but not all, of the above is available on Disney+. The links above are to purchase each season individually on Amazon, but there is, inexplicably, no way to purchase Runaways Season 2 on Amazon currently, hence no link above. Similarly, the Agents Of SHIELD web series Slingshot is not available for purchase currently. (Neither are available on Disney+, either.)

How to watch the canonical MCU in chronological order

The Marvel Cinematic Universe started in 2008, but it has since explored both the distant past and the future while covering a range of intertwining storylines. While it may all seem a bit tricky to follow, watching the MCU in chronological order makes it easy to map the official timeline. It’s a great way for fans to understand how the various movies fit together, and makes for a fun rewatch if you’re after something to do while getting excited for the next movie.

However, be aware that watching the MCU in chronological order probably isn’t best for new fans. Most movies have a post-credits scene, and these often spoil content that would have followed in the release order. Captain Marvel, for example, takes place in 1995, but the post-credit scene ties into Avengers: Endgame and contains major spoilers for Infinity War. Chronological watches can be useful for keeping track of the events, but get ready for some confusing spoilers if you haven’t already watched through the MCU before.

Below, we’ll list how to watch the MCU in chronological order, including every movie and series, along with the year in which they take place:

• Loki season 2 (1868/time travel is messy)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1945)
• Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
• Loki season 2 (1977/1982 in an alternate timeline/time travel is messy)
• Captain Marvel (1995)
• Iron Man (2010)
• Iron Man 2 (2011)
• The Incredible Hulk (2011)
• Marvel One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
• Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
• Thor (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)
• Loki season 1 (2012/time travel is messy)
• Marvel One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
• Iron Man 3 (2012)
• Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King (2012)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Daredevil Season 1 (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (2014)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)
• Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
• Daredevil Season 2 (2015)
• Luke Cage Season 1 (2015)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Team Thor Part 1 & Part 2 (2016)
• Black Widow (2016)
• Black Panther (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016 - beware that the “8 years later” card shown after the intro is a mistake, and was later retconned to be 4 years to match the series of events presented in this list.)
• Iron Fist Season 1 (2016)
• The Defenders (2016)
• The Punisher Season 1 (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Jessica Jones Season 2 (2017)
• Luke Cage Season 2 (2017)
• Iron Fist Season 2 (2017)
• Daredevil Season 3 (2017)
• The Punisher Season 2 (2017)
• Jessica Jones Season 3 (2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• Team Darryl (2017)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Avengers: Endgame (2023)
• Loki season 1 (2023/time travel is messy)
• Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2023)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)
• Eternals (2023)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)
• Hawkeye (2024)
• Moon Knight (2025)
• She-Hulk (2025)
• Ms Marvel (2025)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
• Werewolf By Night (2025)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2025)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2025)
• Secret Invasion (2025)
• The Marvels (2025)
• Echo (2025)
• Loki season 1 (2023/void at the end of time/time travel is messy)
• Loki season 2 (void at the end of time/time travel is messy)

Impossible to place in this timeline are the two seasons of What If…?, which take place in different timelines, across different eras. Think of them as taking place parallel to the above list.

How to watch the canonical and apocryphal MCU in chronological order

If you want to include the non-canonical, but maybe they will be in the future, projects, this is what the timeline looks like. Again, What If…? doesn’t make it on there because of how impossible it is to place due to the different timelines and different time settings, but otherwise, we’ve included everything from Iron Man to Echo, along with the various One Shots, Hulu, Freeform, and Netflix series, and all seasons of Agents Of Shield. For this one, we’ve opted to include them to give fans the biggest possible picture — which looks something like this:

• Loki season 2 (1868/time travel is messy)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1945)
• Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
• Agent Carter Season 1 & Season 2 (1946)
• Loki season 2 (1977/1982 in an alternate timeline/time travel is messy)
• Captain Marvel (1995)
• Iron Man (2010)
• Iron Man 2 (2011)
• The Incredible Hulk (2011)
• Marvel One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
• Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011)
• Thor (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)
• Loki season 1 (2012/time travel is messy)
• Marvel One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
• Iron Man 3 (2012)
• Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King (2012)
• Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 1-7 (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 8-16 (2014)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 17-22 (2014)
• Daredevil Season 1 (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (2014)
• Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 1-19 (2015)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 20-22 (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)
• Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
• Daredevil Season 2 (2015)
• Luke Cage Season 1 (2015)
• Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 1-19 (2015)
• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Team Thor Part 1 & Part 2 (2016)
• Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 20-22 (2016)
• Agents of Shield: Slingshot web series (2016)
• Agents Of Shield Season 4 (2016)
• Black Widow (2016)
• Black Panther (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016 - beware that the “8 years later” card shown after the intro is a mistake, and was later retconned to be 4 years to match the series of events presented in this list.)
• Iron Fist Season 1 (2016)
• The Defenders (2016)
• The Punisher Season 1 (2016)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Inhumans (2017)
• Cloak and Dagger Season 1 (2017)
• Jessica Jones Season 2 (2017)
• Luke Cage Season 2 (2017)
• Iron Fist Season 2 (2017)
• Daredevil Season 3 (2017)
• Runaways Season 1, 2, & 3 (2017)
• The Punisher Season 2 (2017)
• Jessica Jones Season 3 (2017)
• Cloak and Dagger Season 2 (2017)
• Agents Of Shield Season 5 episodes 1-11 (2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• Team Darryl (2017)
• Agents Of Shield Season 5 episodes 12-22 (2018)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Agents Of Shield Season 6-7 (2018 - these Seasons do not connect to the events of Infinity War, and seem to represent a major dent in Agents of Shield’s questionable status as part of the MCU canon.)
• Avengers: Endgame (2023)
• Loki season 1 (2023/time travel is messy)
• Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2023)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)
• Eternals (2023)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)
• Hawkeye (2024)
• Moon Knight (2025)
• She-Hulk (2025)
• Ms Marvel (2025)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
• Werewolf By Night (2025)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2025)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2025)
• Secret Invasion (2025)
• The Marvels (2025)
• Echo (2025)
• Loki season 1 (2023/void at the end of time/time travel is messy)
• Loki season 2 (void at the end of time/time travel is messy)

How many Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are there?

As of 2023’s The Marvels, there have been 33 MCU movies, with a further seven having been announced and scheduled, and at least two more scheduled with not officially announced. You can get all of that information right here.

What is the correct order to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

It depends if you're wanting to watch the entire MCU, or a particular sub-section of it. Obviously, fans can follow individual characters - like, for example, Tony Stark - or individual series within the larger MCU, and in almost all of those cases, release order is the way to go. Arguably, the one character/storyline that stands in the most obvious contradiction to that is Black Widow, whose solo movie in 2021 takes place a significant period before her death in 2019's Avengers: Endgame, but I'd assume that was fairly obvious...

What order should I watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in?

That's obviously up to you, but if you ask us, watching in release order is probably the best order for new fans. This is largely due to the post-credit scenes, which often tease upcoming movies regardless of their position in the timeline. You could just avoid the post-credit scenes, of course, but they often include crucial details that tie into future appearances of your favourite characters. So... try release order and see how it feels.

What is Marvel's longest movie?

Somewhat fittingly, Avengers: Endgame is Marvel Studios' longest movie to date - at 3 hours and 2 minutes. It needed that much for everything it encompasses, but even we forget some moments of the movie or don't rememberif they're in this one. is Peter Dinklage in this Avengers movie? You'll have to think about that for a bit (or use Google!).

Is there any flop movies of Marvel?

This one stings - 2023's The Marvels is the biggest movie flop for Marvel Studios, taking in just $206.1 million worldwide against a budget of $274.8 million. Even the beleagued 2024 film Madame Web managed to earn a profit at theaters - something The Marvels can't claim it did.

What is the shortest Marvel movie?

At a brisk 102 minutes, 2023's The Marvels is the shortest Marvel Studis movie. If you count the one-off Werewolf by Night as a movie, that would be the shortest at 53 minutes. Besides those, the shortest Marvel movies are Thor: The Dark WOrld and The Incredible Hulk, both at 118 minutes.

Popverse has assembled everything you need to know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from our MCU watch order to a guide to upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows. Plus, we've taken the time to rank the entire MCU and compile the biggest outstanding questions from Marvel's connected films. Enjoy.