The "shared universe" in popular entertainment is nothing new. It goes back decades in comic books, although it wasn't truly defined as such until the 1970s. The essential way to understand this concept: If fictional character A meets character B, and B meets C, then A and C (and everyone else they know) live in a shared universe.
You see it to the nth degree in media franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and even Godzilla and the other Universal Films monster films. TV shows such as Law and Order, Happy Days, Cheers, and All in the Family have sequels and spin-offs galore. An excellent example with superheroes is The CW's Arrow-verse, which tied itself to modern and classic shows on other networks.
No company has more successfully pulled off a shared universe with a cohesive set of stories, all told by completely different directors, writers, and stars than the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It's the crown jewel of shared universes, including 30 films to date. They may not all tell the exact same story, but the different phases certainly built up to the monolithic double-shot of Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Now we're almost done with Phase 4, which included a bunch of original TV shows that are available only on Disney+.
All the MCU content is streaming online. We're here to tell you how to watch each show and movie in the proper order. Of course, that depends on what you consider "proper."
You could go with the Order of Release option, which is how the die-hard fans do it, because we can't wait. If you're into jumping around in space and time, check out the Chronological Order, because some of the films have flashbacks or time jumps that may throw you off (assuming you've never read Slaughterhouse-Five or watched Doctor Who).
With a third order we're calling Chronological Order With TV Shows and One-Shots, we're tossing in as many possible MCU-related TV shows and short films as we can, because it's fun, even though the earliest Marvel TV shows are tangentially affiliated at best. These days, you can't watch the movies without watching the TV shows! (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness makes much more sense if you watched WandaVision first, we promise.)
For the most part, Disney+ is all you need. That's where you'll find the latest releases in the MCU: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This week, the Nick Fury TV show Secret Invasion invades Disney+. Meanwhile, Guardians Vol. 3 remains in theaters for a while before it starts streaming. Other exceptions are noted below.
Order of Release (Movies Only)
Dates indicate when the film was (or will be) released to theaters.
MCU: Phase One
Iron Man (May 2008)
The Incredible Hulk (June 2008)
Iron Man 2 (May 2010)
Thor (May 2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)
Avengers (May 4, 2012)
MCU: Phase 2
Iron Man 3 (May 2013)
Thor: The Dark World (November 2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (August 2014)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015)
Ant-Man (July 2015)
MCU: Phase 3
Captain America: Civil War (May 2016)
Doctor Strange (November 2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 2017).
Thor: Ragnarok (November 2017)
Black Panther (February 2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (April 2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 2018)
Captain Marvel (March 2019)
Avengers: Endgame (April 2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019)
MCU: Phase 4
Black Widow (July 2021)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 2021)
The Eternals (November 2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 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)
MCU: Phase 5
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 16, 2023)
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (in theaters)
Chronological Order (Movies Only)
The date on each film below indicates the estimated year or years it takes place. There are caveats about timeline anomalies, and that's before the films even get to the time travel stuff.
We also have links to find the movies. The majority are on Disney+. But the rights issues Marvel has with some characters go back decades, in particular with the Hulk and Spider-Man, which is why they're on other services (for now). Those anomalies are in bold.
Disney bought Fox, so now, even most of the Fox-produced X-Men movies are on Disney+ or Hulu. Even Deadpool. Consider that a different section of the multiverse until explicitly told otherwise.
The post-credits scenes at the end of each Marvel movie sometimes take place in wildly different time frames than the main film itself or were bits cut from the next film to come out. We're not counting them here.
Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening 3 minutes take place in 1980)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy (opening 3.5 minutes take place in 1988)—Disney+
Captain Marvel (1995)—Disney+
Iron Man (2010)—Disney+
Iron Man 2 (2011)—Disney+
Thor (2011)—Disney+
The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor despite being released first)—HBO services
The Avengers (2012)—Disney+
Iron Man 3 (2012)—Disney+
Thor: The Dark World (2013)—Disney+
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy (the rest of it is set in 2014)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (the remainder of it is set in 2014—34 years after 1980, so it says—even though it came out in 2017)—Disney+
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)—Disney+
Ant-Man (2015)—Disney+
Doctor Strange (2016-2017, part of it happens after Civil War)—Disney+
Captain America: Civil War (2016)—Disney+
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016—the opening takes place during Civil War; the rest is set only 4 years after The Avengers despite what it says on screen)—Starz
Black Panther (2017)—Disney+
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)—Disney+
Black Widow—(2017)—Disney+
Black WidowAnt-Man and the Wasp (2017)—Disney+
Avengers: Infinity War (2017)—Disney+
Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018 then jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and 1970)—Disney+
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)—Disney+
Eternals (2023)—Disney+
Spider-Man: Far From Home (June 20, 2024, and July 10, 2024, according to the official MCU timeline)—Starz
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)—Starz
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (early 2025)—Disney+
Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)—Disney+
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)—Disney+
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (probably 2026)—Disney+ on May 17
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (mid-2026)--In theaters
Popularity Order (Movies Only)
Here's a unique option: Watch the MCU in the order of movie quality.
Quality here is in the eyes of the users at JustWatch.com, a service for finding and rating anything streaming. It put together this infographic depicting the popularity ranking of the first 30 films in the MCU, everything short of Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.
Spider-Man is the favorite franchise within the franchise, which is no surprise. Nor is the rank for the much-reviled first sequels for Thor and Ironman.
But The Eternals ranking above the Captain America films, especially The Winter Soldier? Madness.
Chronological Order With TV Shows and One-Shots
A shared universe that encapsulates not only movies but also TV shows? It happens. Sometimes it works, but usually, it doesn't. The original MCU shows were kept separate—a by-product of warring factions of Disney production that didn't see eye to eye. Now, with the mega-producer of the MCU, K.E.V.I.N. (wait, I mean Kevin Feige) in charge of even the TV shows on Disney+, the ties to the MCU are tight. He's also bringing back favorite characters such as Daredevil and the Kingpin, who'd been featured on the MCU shows that originally aired on Netflix. Those shows—Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and others—are now on Disney+ too.
A show such as Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is full of flashbacks; we didn't account for them all, unless the flashback was an entire episode or more set in a different time period. But really, don't watch those episodes out of order; that's nuts. And don't watch Inhumans at all. Ever.
TV shows and One-Shot short films are in bold below.
The 20th Century
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 1-2 (1931)—Disney+
Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)
Agent Carter—Marvel One-Shot short film (1946)—Disney+
Agent Carter—Seasons 1 and 2 (1946 to 1947)—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 3-4 (1955)—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 5-6 (1972-1976)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening in 1980)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 7 (1982)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy (opening in 1988)
Captain Marvel (1995)
2010 - 2011
Iron Man (2010)
Iron Man 2 (2011)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer—Marvel One-Shot short film starting Agent Phil Coulson (2011)—Disney+
Thor (2011)
The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor)
The Consultant—Marvel One-Shot short film starring Agent Phil Coulson; plays right into the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk (2011)—Disney+
2012
The Avengers (2012)
Loki (2012 for the variant Loki who then steps out of the timestream entirely, thanks to the TVA)—Disney+
Item 47—Marvel One-Shot short film, takes place post-Avengers (2012)—Disney+
Iron Man 3 (2012)
2013
Thor: The Dark World
All Hail the King—Marvel One-Shot short film, takes place post-Iron Man 3 (2013)—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 1—16 (2013-2014)—Disney+
2014
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 17-22 (2013-2014)—Disney+
Guardians of the Galaxy
I Am Groot ("Groot’s First Steps" short)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (3 months later)
I Am Groot (The rest of the short episodes take place between the end of the Guardians Vol. 2 and the tag at the end where Groot is a teen)
Daredevil—Season 1—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 2; Episode 20 is concurrent with Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014-2015)—Disney+
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Jessica Jones—Season 1—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 1-10—Disney+
Ant-Man
Cloak and Dagger—Season 1—Hulu
2016
Daredevil—Season 2—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 11-19—Disney+
Luke Cage—Season 1—Disney+
Iron Fist—Season 1—Disney+
The Defenders—Mini-series—Disney+
Doctor Strange (act one)
Captain America: Civil War
Black Widow (according to the official MCU timeline on Disney+ this comes before...)
Black Panther
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 20-23—Disney+
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Punisher—Season 1 (2016 holidays)—Disney+
2017
Doctor Strange (the rest)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Episodes 1-8 (with Ghost Rider)—Disney+
Marvel's Inhumans—Disney+
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Ep 9-22—Disney+
Jessica Jones—Season 2 (summer)—Disney+
Runaways—Season 1—Hulu
Runaways—Season 2 (2017-2018)—Hulu
Thor: Ragnarok
Luke Cage—Season 2—Disney+
Ant-Man and the Wasp, but see below.
Jessica Jones—Season 3 (November)—Disney+
Iron Fist—Season 2 (late 2017)—Disney+
2018
Daredevil—Season 3—Disney+
Punisher—Season 2—Disney+
Runaways—Season 3—Hulu
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 5, Eps 11—22 (final 4 episodes concurrent to Infinity War)—Disney+
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant-Man and the Wasp--the tag at the end takes place at the same time as Thanos's snap, trapping Scott Lang in the quantum realm until 2023.
Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018 then jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and a quick jump to 1970)
2019
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 6 (seems to be out of continuity by ignoring the Snap; or it's in a new timeline/alternate universe altogether)—Disney+
2023
Avengers: Endgame ending (2023)
WandaVision (three weeks post-Endgame, 2023)—Disney+
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (six months post-Endgame, 2023)—Disney+
The Future(s)
2024
Spider-Man: Far From Home (a full school year after Endgame, so summer 2024)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2024)
Eternals (October 2024)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Immediately follows Far from Home, but ends near December 2024)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7 - Episodes 8 to 13, which are entirely out of whack with continuity—Disney+
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2024; the official MCU timeline on Disney+ places this before Hawkeye)
Hawkeye (December 2024)—Disney+
2025
Moon Knight (2025)
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2025)
Ms. Marvel (2025)
Thor: Love and Thunder (Summer 2025...that's eight years and seven months after Jane and Thor broke up)
Werewolf by Night (Some won't say for sure, but the official MCU timeline on Disney+ says it takes place after Love and Thunder)
The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special (Xmas of 2025)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (probably 2025 or early 2026)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (early 2026)
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (mid-2026)
Secret Invasion (2026)
As you can see, the post-Snap continuity is messy.
Most of season 1 of Loki takes outside of time, thanks to the Time Variance Authority (TVA).
A show like What If...? takes place outside of continuity but highly informs the future of movies that involve the multiverse.
If you don't like this timeline, you have other options to check out, like the scarily detailed one at the Marvel Cinematic Universe Fandom Wiki.
What's Coming?
There are plenty of movies and TV shows coming soon to the MCU. These are the titles we know, with tentative release dates.
The current wrinkle in time is the current Hollywood writers' strike of 2023. It has already wreaked havoc with Marvel's plans, even forced the filming to stop on some currently in production, in particular Daredevil: Born Again, Thunderbolts, and Wonder Man; all three have canceled shooting until the strike ends. Or "strikes" if the actors' guild also starts picketing. We note the new dates below with an * to indicated the strike delay.
TV show titles are in bold.
MCU: Phase 5
Secret Invasion (May 2023)—Direct to Disney+
Loki—Season 2 (Starts October 6, 2023)—Direct to Disney+
The Marvels (aka Captain Marvel 2) (November 10, 2023)—Direct to theaters
Echo—Season 1 (All episodes drop November 29, 2023)—Direct to Disney+
What If...?—Season 2 ("Coming Soon")—Direct to Disney+
Ironheart (Late 2023)—Direct to Disney+
Agatha: Coven of Chaos (Late 2023)—a sequel to WandaVision—Direct to Disney+
Daredevil: Born Again (Early 2024)—the return of the Netflix version of The Man Without Fear, now firmly a part of the MCU—Direct to Disney+ (TBD*)
Deadpool 3—Finally, Mutants in the MCU including OG Wolverine himself! (May 3, 2024)
Captain America: Brave New World (July 26, 2024*)
Thunderbolts (December 20, 2024*)
Blade (February 14, 2025*)
Armor Wars (TBA)—originally meant to be a TV show featuring Don Cheadle as War Machine, it's being revamped into a film
MCU: Phase 6
Spider-Man: Freshman Year (2024)—An animated prequel to the Tom Holland Spider-Man films—Direct to Disney+
Marvel Zombies (2024)—Spinning off from What If...? —Direct to Disney+
Fantastic Four (May 2, 2025*)
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (May 1, 2026*)
Avengers: Secret Wars (May 7, 2027*)—rumors are this may be split into two films
Wonder Man TV show—Direct to Disney+*
Wakanda TV show—Direct to Disney+
Vision Quest—Another sequel to WandaVision—Direct to Disney+
Are you worried that phase 6 looks a little anemic? Don't be: At least two movies and more shows are coming, although no titles have been divulged yet. Likely candidates include sequels for Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Shang-Chi, and Thor, as well as, potentially, the full MCU reveal on the X-Men. There's a reason that phases 4, 5, and 6 are now collectively dubbed The Multiverse Saga.
You can include Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in that multiverse. The follow-up to the Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse arrived in theaters June 2 and already has made more money than the first's entire theatrical run. A third one, Beyond the Spider-Verse, arrives in March 2024.
This story doesn't even dip into the Marvel-adjacent films coming from Sony, including Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter. If you liked Venom and Morbius, maybe you'll enjoy those, too.
Finally, if you're looking for a really good Marvel TV show that has nothing to do with the MCU, is only slightly related to the X-Men films, and has musical numbers, watch Legion. All three seasons are on Hulu via FX.
