The timeline is a bit of difficult
Sony Footage
It started with 2008’s “Iron Man,” a movie that launched the world to Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark with the trace that he could possibly be a part of one thing better. Thirty-one movies later, the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains to be being instructed, albeit with numerous tributaries and detours that introduce new characters and new worlds that will or might not cross paths in the future. Every movie within the MCU stands on its own to some degree, however like constructing blocks, all of them join as a part of one interconnected universe. And in that means, watching the Marvel motion pictures so as tells one grand story.
There are a few other ways to look at the MCU motion pictures so as, however beneath we run down the way to watch the Marvel movies in chronological and launch date order. Certainly, some movies like “Captain Marvel” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” are full-on prequels set within the Nineties and Forties, respectively, and with such intricate storytelling all through the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, you possibly can watch the movies chronologically and all of it continues to make sense.
However in the event you’re a purist, we’ve additionally included the discharge order record of MCU motion pictures, in addition to which Marvel movies you possibly can stream on Disney+ proper now and the place all of the Marvel Disney+ exhibits slot in.
Marvel Motion pictures in Chronological Order
A lot of the Marvel motion pictures happen one proper after the opposite, however others chronicle occasions that happen concurrently with occasions from different movies. As an example, the occasions of “Thor: Ragnarok” happen across the identical time because the occasions of “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” with each movies main as much as “Avengers: Infinity Struggle.”
The MCU story is split up into three phases that make up The Infinity Saga, a narrative that begins with “Iron Man” and ends with “Avengers: Endgame.” Part 4 started with the Disney+ sequence “WandaVision” and likewise contains “Black Widow” and “Shang-Chi” and concludes with “Wakanda Eternally.” Part 5 begins with “Ant-Man 3.”
“Thor: Love and Thunder,” takes place after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame” and seems to be set some period after “Physician Unusual 2” and “Ms. Marvel.”
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” takes place after “Eternals” and “Spider-Man: No Manner House,” however concurrent with the occasions of “Thor 4” and never lengthy earlier than the occasions of the upcoming “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantmania” takes place in a post-“Avengers: Endgame” world, and presumably concurrently the upcoming sequel “The Marvels.”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” takes place at an unspecified time after the occasions of “Thor: Love and Thunder” and after the “Guardians of the Galaxy Vacation Particular.”
Right here’s the way to watch the MCU motion pictures in chronological order of occasions:
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain Marvel
- Iron Man
- The Unimaginable Hulk
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- Marvel’s The Avengers
- Iron Man 3
- Thor: The Darkish World
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Captain America: Civil Struggle
- Black Widow
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Black Panther
- Physician Unusual
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Infinity Struggle
- Avengers: Endgame
- Spider-Man: Far From House
- Eternals
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Spider-Man: No Manner House
- Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Marvel Motion pictures in Launch Order
Marvel Studios first started independently producing its personal movies with 2008’s “Iron Man,” and the primary few MCU motion pictures have been distributed by Paramount Footage (with Common distributing “The Unimaginable Hulk”) earlier than Disney purchased Marvel and launched each Marvel Studios film after “Captain America: The First Avenger.” The exceptions are, after all, the three standalone “Spider-Man” movies, which while official MCU canon, have been launched by Sony Footage.
So right here’s the way to watch all of the Marvel motion pictures so as of launch date:
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Unimaginable 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 Darkish World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil Struggle (2016)
- Physician Unusual (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity Struggle (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From House (2019)
- Black Widow (2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- Eternals (2021)
- Spider-Man: No Manner House (2021)
- Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally (2022)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Is It Higher to Watch Marvel Motion pictures in Chronological Order or Launch Order?
Whereas the general story is sensible both means, if it’s your first time within the MCU, you need to most likely begin by watching all the flicks so as of launch date. Not solely is that the order by which the movies have been made, however it’s also possible to chart the evolution and refinement of MCU storytelling as Marvel Studios labored out the kinks and perfected the way to make a Marvel film.
However in the event you’ve seen most or all the Marvel motion pictures, watching them in chronological order is a enjoyable expertise. It doesn’t change any of the story, and it’s undoubtedly bizarre to look at “Captain Marvel” so early after which wait 20 motion pictures for Brie Larson’s character to ever be talked about once more. But it surely means that you can respect how effectively Marvel retrofitted its prequel motion pictures into the prevailing timeline.
When the Marvel Disney+ Reveals Take Place within the MCU Timeline
WandaVision
The primary Marvel Disney+ present takes place three weeks after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame” and is nestled between “Endgame” and “Spider-Man: Far From House.”
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” takes place six months after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame,” however earlier than the occasions of “Spider-Man: Far From House.”
Loki
“Loki” begins within the rapid wake of “Avengers: Endgame,” nevertheless it’s unclear when the MCU-altering occasions of the Season 1 finale happen.
Hawkeye
“Hawkeye” takes place at Christmastime in 2024, a few 12 months after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame,” and concurrent with the occasions of “Spider-Man: No Manner House.”
Moon Knight
A particular timeline date for “Moon Knight” hasn’t been revealed aside from the truth that it takes place after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame.”
Ms. Marvel
The teenager-skewing “Ms. Marvel” clearly takes place after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame,” and it looks as if some important time has handed because the world was saved.
She-Hulk
“She-Hulk” takes place an indeterminate time period after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame.”
When Does the Guardians of the Galaxy Vacation Particular Take Place?
The “Guardians of the Galaxy Vacation Particular” isn’t fairly a film and never fairly a TV present, so it will get its personal little part right here. Written and directed by James Gunn, the 44-minute particular is ready after the occasions of “Thor: Love and Thunder” — throughout which the Guardians dropped off Thor after the occasions of “Avengers: Endgame” — and earlier than the occasions of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” James Gunn shot the vacation particular in the course of the manufacturing of “Vol. 3.”
Upcoming New Marvel Motion pictures
And right here’s an inventory of what’s subsequent for the MCU by way of confirmed movies and their deliberate launch dates.
- The Marvels – Nov. 10, 2023
- Captain America: Courageous New World – Could 3, 2024
- Thunderbolts – July 26, 2024
- Blade – Sept. 6, 2024
- Deadpool 3 – Nov. 8, 2024
- Unbelievable 4 – Feb. 14, 2025
- Avengers: The Kang Dynasty – Could 2, 2025
- Avengers: Secret Wars – Could 1, 2026
Which Marvel Motion pictures Are Streaming on Disney Plus?
Nearly each MCU film is streaming on Disney+, except for “The Unimaginable Hulk” and two of the three Tom Holland-fronted “Spider-Man” movies (“Homecoming” lastly landed on Disney+ for the primary time in Could).
“Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally” began streaming on Disney+ on Feb. 1. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” started streaming on Disney+ on Could 17.
Right here’s a whole record of all of the Marvel motion pictures streaming on Disney+ proper now:
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Marvel’s The Avengers
- Iron Man 3
- Thor: The Darkish World
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Captain America: Civil Struggle
- Physician Unusual
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Black Panther
- Avengers: Infinity Struggle
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Captain Marvel
- Avengers: Endgame
- Black Widow
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Eternals
- Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
