(Photo Credit: Marvel Studios)
Finding the best MCU watch order is a daunting task for newcomers. The Marvel Cinematic Universe got its start back in 2008 with Iron Man. Since then, there have been 60 movies, TV shows, and specials that tie together into one big story. That is a lot of material for even die-hard Marvel Zombies to keep straight!
Things have become even more confusing in the wake of the Marvel multiverse revealed in MCU Phase Four. Even if you’ve seen most of the movies over the years, it can be confusing how everything fits together. With that in mind, the following guide attempts to offer an MCU watch order that allows the entire saga to be enjoyed spoiler-free.
What’s the best viewing order for the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and TV shows?
(Image Source: Marvel Studios)
Piecing together a coherent MCU watch order required considerable research. Several of the movies and television shows take place concurrently. Others are somewhat vague about precisely when they take place in relation to other events within the same Phase. The following MCU watch order tries to take all the discrepancies into account and places the movies and TV shows in an approximate chronological order. The one exception to this is when seeing one movie or show would spoil another.
It should be noted that this list only includes Marvel Studios productions officially recognized as part of the MCU timeline. This means that shows produced by ABC or Netflix (such as Agent Carter or Jessica Jones) are not included. Neither are any of the Sony Spider-Verse movies, despite Tom Hardy’s dimensionally displaced Venom having a post-credit cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
MCU Phase One viewing order
The Avengers
The opening phase of the MCU is fairly straightforward. The movies were largely released in chronological order. The only odd point is that Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor all take place with a one week span.
The only change we recommend from the release order is to watch Captain America: The First Avenger first. It’s the earliest movie chronologically, and introduces the big plot device of MCU Phase One: the Tesseract. After that, it’s a swift run-up to the first ensemble movie, The Avengers.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Iron Man
Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
The Avengers
MCU Phase Two viewing order
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
MCU Phase Two is also fairly simple to understand. However, we’ve rearranged some entries to make the narrative more coherent. In particular, despite being released in MCU Phase Three, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 makes more sense chronologically if you watch it right before Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Thor: The Dark World
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Iron Man 3
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Released in Phase Three)
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
MCU Phase Three viewing order
The Avengers: Infinity War
With MCU Phase Three, the chronology becomes more complicated. For example, part of Black Widow takes place concurrently with Captain America: Civil War. Similarly, most of Captain Marvel takes place before the original Iron Man. The parts that do not spoil some things later, so we’ve left Captain Marvel here, between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame for that reason.
Doctor Strange
Captain America: Civil War
Black Widow (Released in Phase Four)
Black Panther
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Ant-Man & the Wasp
Thor: Ragnarok
Avengers: Infinity War
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame
MCU Phase Four and Five viewing order
Thunderbolts*
With MCU Phase Four, things began to go off the rails. MCU Phase Four was meant to begin “The Multiverse Saga” and introduce Kang the Conquerer. The time-manipulating tyrant was meant to be the chief villain of MCU Phases 4, 5, and 6. However, Kang’s actor, Jonathan Majors, was arrested on multiple violence charges in March 2023.
Another complication was delays brought about by production issues. These included the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. The strike froze work on Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars,
With that in mind, this portion of the MCU watch order merges Phases Four and Five. It is laid out in a roughly chronological order, but the exact sequence had to be guessed at in some places. It also groups together several shows and movies that were released in different phases, but which take place immediately after one another.
WandaVision Season 1
Falcon & the Winter Soldier Season 1
Spider-Man: Far from Home (Released in Phase Three)
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Hawkeye Season 1
Werewolf by Night (Can be skipped)
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Loki Season 1
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Loki Season 2
Deadpool & Wolverine (Can be skipped)
What If…? Season 1-3 (Can be skipped)
Thor: Love and Thunder
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Moon Knight
Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings
Wonder Man Season 1 (Released in Phase Six)
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Agatha All Along Season 1
Eternals
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1
Ms. Marvel Season 1
The Marvels
Secret Invasion Season 1
Echo Season 1
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1
Captain America: Brave New World
Ironheart Season 1
Thunderbolts
MCU Phase Six viewing order
Photo Credit: Disney+
MCU Phase Six acts as a soft reboot for the franchise. It begins with Fantastic Four: First Steps, which serves as a standalone introduction to the next round of Marvel movie and TV releases. Most of these shows and specials stand alone and don’t tie into the larger MCU saga. The one exception to this is Wonder Man, whose story is set across two years between events set in Phase Five.
It is ironic that Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is the first Phase Six production that starts tying things together again. The original Netflix Daredevil series was long denied official status as part of the MCU. Now, it is leading the way to Avengers: Doomsday, with The Punisher: One Last Kill special acting as a bridge between it and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Fantastic Four: First Steps
Eyes of Wakanda (Can be skipped)
Marvel Zombies (Can be skipped)
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
The Punisher: One Last Kill
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
