Accordingly, here is a guide on how to watch all of the Marvel films in chronological and release order.
It’s ridiculously simple to watch all of the Marvel movies in order with Disney Plus, which includes nearly all of the most recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has much to look forward to, but are you really ready for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to destroy your worldview?
Both of the most common approaches to reliving the theatrical experience and following the Avengers on their own paths are covered in our comprehensive guide to watching the Marvel movies in sequence. As a result, this week you’ll have gone from Tony Stark beta testing his first suits to the longest Marvel movie ever made.
As a side note, Sony Pictures and Disney have agreed to an agreement that will see all three Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire, Garfield, and Tom Holland made available on streaming services. In terms of viewing Spider-Man: No Home on the internet however, what’s the situation? You’ll have to wait until 2023 to get your money back from Disney Plus.
Despite the fact that all of the newly released MCU films and series take place at the same time, we’ve attempted to put them in sequence.
Because we know when the Marvel Disney Plus series takes place, we’ve included them to our list of chronologically-ordered Marvel movies as well. Enjoy! One huge happy (or miserable, depending on how you feel about Ultron) MCU.
While Disney does not own all of the MCU films, they are available on Disney Plus (some may forever stay far from home).
We’ve gone above and beyond for those who’ve already seen them all in the order they were released in theatres. Oh, and what about the next MCU films? If you want to know when your favourite superheroes will appear on the big screen again, check out our upcoming Marvel movies and shows calendar.
Firstly, we’ve arranged the Marvel films in chronological order based on the events in the Infinity Saga. It’s strange that the films weren’t released in that sequence, but the same holds true for the Star Wars trilogies as well. To be sure, there are flashbacks here and there that defy the proper narrative flow, but with your knowledge of Tony Stark via Groot, you can navigate the many detours along the path.
The best way to pass the time till the next episode of Falcon and Winter Soldier drops is to re-watch the Disney Marvel movies in sequence (and look at other studios’ Marvel movies as well). We won’t give anything away, but this programme is set to change the course of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it.
A list of Marvel films arranged by release date (and shows too)
In the case that you’ve already watched most or all of the Marvel films, rewatching them in chronological sequence (with flashbacks thrown in to keep you guessing) is a great exercise. The breakdown of what’s on Disney Plus and what isn’t is below since most of the Marvel movies are there.
For a decade-plus-long tale, certain plot aspects may develop stronger, while others may become more evident. And everything else will make sense now that we’ve seen Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 and Captain Marvel in 2019.
WandaVision and Falcon & Winter Soldier are not Marvel films, although they may be placed in the MCU’s timeline. We may set WandaVision between Endgame and Spider-Man: Far from Home since Monica Rambeau rejoins S.W.O.R.D. three weeks after she was brought back to reality by the events of Avengers: Endgame.
For the same reason, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier takes place three months after the blip that re-united everyone, putting it after WandaVision but before Far From Home (which is eight months after Endgame).
What about Loki? It begins at the same time as both Avengers and Avengers: Endgame and incorporates events from various eras. If you’ve already seen Endgame, then this movie is perfect for you.
When it comes to the MCU movies that came out after “Endgame,” “after Endgame” is a good place to put them. We can tell that Spider-Man: Far From Home occurs before Spider-Man: No Way Home and that Hawkeye takes place a short period after the two films.
Black Widow takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, therefore we’ve included it in the list. Technically, though, it occurs after the events of Endgame
A prequel to Far From Home, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is post-Blip and after Endgame (which takes place during summer 2024). In other words, Shang-Chi takes place about the same time as TFATWS. It’s not clear which of the two is superior.
- Captain America: The First Avenger (World War II)
- Captain Marvel (1995)
- Iron Man (2010)
- Iron Man 2
- The Incredible Hulk (occurs prior to The Avengers)
- Thor (occurs prior to The Avengers)
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (six months after The Avengers)
- Thor: Dark World
- Captain America: Winter Soldier (after The Avengers, before Age of Ultron)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (ca. 2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War
- Black Widow (with a scene that happens after Endgame)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Avengers: Infinity War (2017)
- Ant-Man and The Wasp
- Avengers: Endgame (2017 – 2022)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Loki
- WandaVision
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
- Eternals (on Disney Plus January 12)
- Spider-Man: No From Home (on Digital March 15)
- Hawkeye
In chronological sequence, these are the Marvel Studios films (and shows too)
For many reasons, it’s best to view the Marvel movies in the sequence they were released. Enjoy the evolution of visual effects and performances through time, and you won’t feel guilty about skipping places if you don’t want to do a whole binge-watch. Also, the release sequence tells a stronger storey; viewing Captain Marvel out of order might be more confusing than pleasant.
See below for the three Phases of the Infinity Saga as used by Marvel, as well as how we’ve divided them down here. Organizing your own Marvel movie marathon in this manner is a no-brainer.
Phase One
- 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 Two
- 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 Three
- 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)
Phase Four
- WandaVision (January 15, 2021)
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (March 19, 2021)
- Loki (June 9, 2021)
- Black Widow (July 9, 2021)
- What If…? (August 11, 2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3, 2021)
- The Eternals (November 5, 2021)
- Hawkeye (Nov. 24, 2021)
2022 and beyond: Marvel movies (and shows too)
As COVID-19 halts film production throughout the globe and prevents many multiplexes from screening Phase 4, the release dates for Phase 4 are constantly shifting.
Some speculate based on the following list of movies that the Avengers will find their new commander. As of July 2022, some fans believe that Carol Danvers will become leadership of the squad, but we’ll have to wait and see. Here’s a quick look at the release dates for forthcoming Marvel films (in order of theatrical release).
Phase 4
- Moon Knight (March 30, 2022)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8, 2022)
- Ms. Marvel (Summer 2022)
Phase 5
- Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever (November 11, 2022)
- The Marvels aka Captain Marvel 2 (February 17, 2023)
- Blade (To be announced)
- Avengers 5 (To be announced)
- Untitled Marvel Studios film (May 5, 2023)
- Untitled Marvel Studios film (July 28, 2023)
- Untitled Marvel Studios film (November 3, 2023)
Marvel’s finest films are listed here
Let’s say you just want to see the best films, and you don’t care about the others. Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok are two of the best Marvel films ever, but there’s also The Incredible Hulk (the pre-Ruffalo Hulk) for every Endgame. So, if you’re looking for the finest MCU movies, look no further.
The Rotten Tomatoes ratings of the Marvel films have been used to sort this list, providing us with a lot of information about how these films have been regarded by critics.
- Black Panther (2018) – RT score: 97%
- Avengers: Endgame (2019) – RT score: 94%
- Iron Man (2008) – RT score: 94%
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) – RT score: 93%
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) – RT score: 92%
- Captain America: Civil War (2016) – RT score: 91%
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) – RT score: 91%
- The Avengers (2012) – RT score: 91%
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) – RT score: 90%
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) – RT score: 90%
- Doctor Strange (2016) – RT score: 89%
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) – RT score: 88%
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – RT score: 85%
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) – RT score: 84%
- Ant-Man (2015) – RT score: 83%
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – RT score: 80%
- Iron Man 3 (2013) – RT score: 79%
- Captain Marvel (2019) – RT score: 78%
- Thor (2011) – RT score: 78%
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) – RT score: 75%
- Iron Man 2 (2010) – RT score: 73%
- Thor: The Dark World (2013) – RT score: 67%
- The Incredible Hulk (2008) – RT score: 67%
a Disney Plus subscription that includes Marvel movies
All but three of the MCU Marvel movies are available on Disney Plus, which is the streaming subscription that most MCU fans will want to have when they get the itch to re-watch the Avengers. In addition, if you’re planning a vacation in the near future, you may download all Disney Plus movies to watch offline.
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Captain America: Civil War
- Captain Marvel
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Iron Man 3
- Thor
- Marvel’s The Avengers
- Thor: Dark World
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Doctor Strange
- Black Panther
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Ant-Man and The Wasp
- Avengers: Endgame
- Black Widow
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Even while we’d love to see all 23 MCU films available on Disney Plus at some point, the fact that The Incredible Hulk and both Spider-Man flicks are owned by Sony and Universal raises the possibility that they won’t.
In a surprising move, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hasn’t found a new home after it was pulled off Netflix’s catalogue.
Movies from Marvel Studios aren’t available on Disney Plus
- You’ll have to rent or purchase The Incredible Hulk (2008) on Amazon, Apple, and other places because it isn’t accessible on any streaming service library.
- Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime members may watch Spider-Man: Homecoming on demand on Starz.
- DirecTV and Starz also carry Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019).
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) will be available on VOD on March 15, 2022, on Blu-ray in April 2022, and on Starz and Disney Plus in July 2022, at the latest.
You’ll need to rent or purchase the Incredible Hulk on Amazon, Apple, and other sites since it isn’t accessible on any streaming service.
According to Sony and Disney’s agreement, we expect Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far from Home to be added to Disney Plus in the near future, but that hasn’t happened yet. Starz offers both of these.
You may rent the remainder on iTunes or Amazon for $1.99–$3.99 apiece at this time if you don’t want Disney’s monthly subscription.