In entertainment, the concept of a “shared universe” is nothing new. Although it has been around for a while in comic books, it wasn’t classified as such until the 1970s. Moreover, the MCU has grown into a cinematic giant and is now the most successful film franchise in history. With so many films and television shows, it has smashed records. It has further redefined the modern blockbuster and grown incredibly difficult to follow. Further with the release of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and the finale of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Phase Four came to an official close. Phase Four had so much activity that the timeline became further confusing.
Besides, to avoid getting confused and help you decide which approach you should prefer, we’ll look at the main distinctions between seeing the MCU in release order vs chronological order in the article below. Most of the MCU is available on Disney+, which is where you can watch these television series and movies.
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Watch MCU in Release Order
The best way for new fans to follow the events of the MCU is to see the movies in the order in which they were released. This is large because post-credit scenes, regardless of where they fall in the timeline, frequently hint at subsequent films. Of course, you could just skip the post-credit scenes, but they frequently contain significant information connected to the upcoming appearances of your favorite characters.
Further, for maximum experience, watch the MCU films and Disney+ shows in the release order listed below for each phase.
Note: Keep in mind that these phases include movies, series, and One-Shots (a series of direct-to-video short films) as well.
The Infinity Saga (Phase 1-3)
#1. MCU – Phase One
- Iron Man
Release: 2008 - The Incredible Hulk
Release: 2008 - Iron Man 2
Release: 2010 - Thor
Release: 2011 - Marvel One Shot: The Consultant
Release: 2011 - Captain America: The First Avenger
Release: 2011 - Marvel One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
Release: 2011 - The Avengers
Release: 2012 - Marvel One Shot: Item 47
Release: 2012
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#2. MCU – Phase Two
- Iron Man 3
Release: 2013 - Marvel One Shot: Agent Carter
Release: 2013 - Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 1-7
Release: 2013 - Thor: The Dark World
Release: 2013 - Marvel One Shot: All Hail the King
Release: 2013 - Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 8-16
Release: 2014 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Release: 2014 - Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 17-22
Release: 2014 - Guardians of the Galaxy
Release: 2014 - Agent Carter Season 1
Release: 2015 - Daredevil Season 1
Release: 2015 - Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 1-19
Release: 2015 - Avengers: Age of Ultron
Release: 2015 - Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 20-22
Release: 2015 - Ant-Man
Release: 2015 - Jessica Jones Season 1
Release: 2015 - Agent Carter Season 2
Release: 2016
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#3. MCU – Phase Three
- Daredevil Season 2
Release: 2016 - Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 1-19
Release: 2016 - Captain America: Civil War
Release: 2016 - Team Thor Part 1
Release: 2016 - Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 20-22
Release: 2016 - Luke Cage Season 1
Release: 2016 - Doctor Strange
Release: 2016 - Team Thor Part 2
Release: 2016 - Agents Of Shield: Slingshot web series
Release: 2016 - Agents Of Shield Season 4
Release: 2017 - Iron Fist Season 1
Release: 2017 - Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
Release: 2017 - Spider-Man: Homecoming
Release: 2017 - The Defenders
Release: 2017 - Inhumans
Release: 2017 - Thor: Ragnarok
Release: 2017 - Team Darryl
Release: 2017 - The Punisher Season 1
Release: 2017 - Runaways Season 1
Release: 2017-2018 - Agents Of Shield Season 5
Release: 2018 - Black Panther
Release: 2018 - Jessica Jones Season 2
Release: 2018 - Avengers: Infinity War
Release: 2018 - Cloak and Dagger Season 1
Release: 2018 - Luke Cage Season 2
Release: 2018 - Ant-Man and the Wasp
Release: 2018 - Iron Fist Season 2
Release: 2018 - Daredevil Season 3
Release: 2018 - Runaways Season 2
Release: 2018 - The Punisher Season 2
Release: 2019 - Captain Marvel
Release: 2019 - Avengers: Endgame
Release: 2019 - Cloak and Dagger Season 2
Release: 2019 - Agents Of Shield Season 6
Release: 2019 - Jessica Jones Season 3
Release: 2019 - Spider-Man: Far From Home
Release: 2019 - Runaways Season 3
Release: 2019 - Agents Of Shield Season 7
Release: 2020
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The Multiverse Saga (Phase 4-6)
#4. MCU – Phase Four
- Wandavision
Release: 2021 - Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Release: 2021 - Loki
Release: 2021 - Black Widow
Release: 2021 - What If…?
Release: 2021 - Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Ring
Release: 2021 - Eternals
Release: 2021 - Hawkeye
Release: 2021 - Spider-Man: No Way Home
Release: 2021 - Moon Knight
Release: 2022 - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Release: 2022 - Ms Marvel
Release: 2022 - Thor: Love and Thunder
Release: 2022 - She-Hulk
Release: 2022 - Werewolf By Night
Release: 2022 - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Release: 2022 - The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Release: 2022
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#4. MCU – Phase Five
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Release: February 17, 2023 - Secret Invasion (Disney Plus series)
Release: 2023 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Release: May 5, 2023 - The Marvels (AKA Captain Marvel 2)
Release: July 28, 2023 - Echo (Disney Plus series)
Release: Summer 2023 - Loki season 2 (Disney Plus series)
Release: Summer 2023 - Ironheart (Disney Plus series)
Release: Fall 2023 - Agatha: Coven of Chaos (Disney Plus series)
Release: Winter 2023/2024 - Daredevil: Born Again (Disney Plus series)
Release: Spring 2024 - Captain America: New World Order
Release: May 3, 2024 - Thunderbolts
Release: July 26, 2024 - Blade
Release: September 6, 2024 - Deadpool 3
Release: November 8, 2024
#4. MCU – Phase Six
- Fantastic Four
Release: February 14, 2025 - Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Release: May 2, 2025 - Avengers: Secret Wars
Release: May 1, 2026
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Watch MCU in Chronological Order
Compared to the list above, this one requires a little more thought. The majority of the official years in which each movie is set to have fortunately been disclosed by Marvel. That extends up to Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which falls right in the middle of Endgame, Far From Home, and films like Hawkeye, which takes place around No Way Home. The year 2025 has arrived, and it appears that She-Hulk, Thor: Love and Thunder, and other similar titled films will also take place in the relatively near future.
But beware, sometimes Marvel messes around with the chronological order of some of these titles. Our list follows Marvel’s own official Disney Plus order, although if you give it too much thought, some things might feel out of place.
MCU Timeline: 1931 – 1995
For the moment, things are relatively precise. The post-credits scene from The First Avenger helps to position the story of Steve Rogers in part in 2011. Nevertheless, the essence of the plot takes place between 1943 and 1945, during World War 2, so we’ve placed it here for clarification. Further, this will become a consistent theme.
- Agents of Shield season 7
Timeline: 1931-2019 - Captain America: The First Avenger
Timeline: 1943-1945 - One Shot: Agent Carter
Timeline: 1944 - Agent Carter Season 1
Timeline: 1946 - Agent Carter Season 2
Timeline: 1947 - Captain Marvel
Timeline: 1995
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2010-2012
- Iron Man
Timeline: 2010 - Iron Man 2
Timeline: 2011 - The Incredible Hulk
Timeline: 2011 - One Shot: The Consultant
Timeline: 2011 - One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
Timeline: 2011 - Thor
Release: 2011 - Avengers
Timeline: 2012 - One Shot: Item 47
Timeline: 2012 - Iron Man 3
Timeline: 2012
In the Marvel timeline, things start to pick up a little steam at this point. According to Marvel’s 10 Years of Marvel Studios book, Iron Man appeared in 2010 rather than in 2008. A year passes before Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor, both of which miraculously appear in the same week.
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2013-2015
- One Shot: All Hail the King
Timeline: 2013 - Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 1-7
Timeline: 2013 - Thor: The Dark World
Timeline: 2013 - Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 8-16
Timeline: 2014 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Timeline: 2014 - Agents Of Shield Season 1, episodes 17-22
Timeline: 2014 - Daredevil Season 1
Timeline: 2014 - Guardians of the Galaxy
Timeline: 2014 - Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
Timeline: 2014 - Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 1-19
Timeline: 2015 - Avengers: Age of Ultron
Timeline: 2015 - Agents Of Shield Season 2, episodes 20-22
Timeline: 2015 - Ant-Man
Timeline: 2015 - Jessica Jones Season 1
Timeline: 2015 - Daredevil Season 2
Timeline: 2015 - Luke Cage Season 1
Timeline: 2015 - Agents Of Shield Season 3 episodes 1-19
Timeline: 2015
The Iron Man 3 events take place some months before the All Hail the King One Shot, solidly establishing it in 2013. In the meantime, after the eighth episode of the inaugural season of Agents of Shield, Thor: The Dark World is specifically acknowledged. The same problem occurs when using The Winter Soldier (this was when Marvel TV was trying to tie their series into the movie events, something they later stopped doing). Everything that happens in episodes 17 through the final episode of the first season happens after Hydra’s scheme is revealed in Winter Soldier.
2014 is the year in which Guardians of the Galaxy and its follow-up, Vol. 2 took place. Daredevil season 1 also begins during that year.
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2016
- Agents of Shield season 3, episodes 11-19
Timeline: 2016 - Captain America: Civil War
Timeline: 2016 - Agents of Shield: season 3, episodes 20-22
Timeline: 2016 - Agents Of Shield Season 4, episodes 1-8
Timeline: 2016 - Agents of Shield: Slingshot
Timeline: 2016 - Black Widow
Timeline: 2016 - Agents of Shield season 4, episodes 9-22
Timeline: 2016 - Iron Fist Season 1
Timeline: 2016 - The Defenders
Timeline: 2016 - Spider-Man: Homecoming
Timeline: 2016 - The Punisher Season 1
Timeline: 2016 - Doctor Strange
Timeline: 2016
As you can see, the Marvel universe had a very exciting year in 2016. The Marvel timeline is, nevertheless, quite simple to follow. The eleventh episode of Agents of Shield season 3 contains a slight leap, and Civil War is handled at the beginning of episode 20 onwards. The Slingshot web series is the only thing that breaks up Agents of Shield season 4 (which is not important).
2017-2018
- Agents of Shield season 5, episodes 1-19
Timeline: 2017 - Black Panther
Timeline: 2017 - Black Widow
Timeline: 2017 - Jessica Jones Season 2
Timeline: 2017 - Inhumans season 1
Timeline: 2017 - Luke Cage Season 2
Timeline: 2017 - Iron Fist Season 2
Timeline: 2017 - Daredevil Season 3
Timeline: 2017 - The Punisher Season 2
Timeline: 2017 - Jessica Jones Season 3
Timeline: 2017 - Runaways season 1 and 2
Timeline: 2017 - Cloak and Dagger Season 1 & 2
Timeline: 2017-2018 - Runaways season 3
Timeline: 2018 - Thor: Ragnarok
Timeline: 2017-2018 - Agents Of Shield Season 5 episodes 19-22
Timeline: 2018 - Ant-Man and the Wasp
Timeline: 2018 - Avengers: Infinity War
Timeline: 2018 - Agents Of Shield Season 6-7 (Although, these Seasons don’t relate to the events of Infinity War and appear to put a serious impact on Agents of Shield’s dubious standing as canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.)
Timeline: 2018
Though Luke Cage season 2 obviously comes before Iron Fist season 3, and Daredevil season 3 being a little later on the chronology makes a little more sense conceptually, the Marvel Netflix shows are now very similar to one another. Then there are the Freeform shows Cloak and Dagger and Runaways, both of which are set before Snap. The third season of Runaways got complicated by adding a time skip that should have happened during the Snap but is never addressed. A time skip in the third season finale moves the action up to around 2021.
The Future (2018-2026)
- Avengers: Endgame
Timeline: 2018-2023 - Agents of Shield season 7 finale
Timeline: 2019 - WandaVision
Timeline: 2023 - Loki
Timeline: 2023/2012 - Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings (Movie)
Timeline: 2023 - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Timeline: 2023/2024 - Spider-Man: Far from Home
Timeline: 2024 - Spider-Man: No Way Home
Timeline: 2024 - Eternals
Timeline: 2024 - Hawkeye
Timeline: 24 December - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Timeline: 2025 - Moon Knight
Timeline: 2025 - Thor: Love and Thunder
Timeline: 2025 - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Timeline: 2025 - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Timeline: 2025 - Werewolf By Night
Timeline: 2025 - The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Timeline: 2025
Ms. Marvel takes place unquestionably after Endgame, but details beyond that are difficult to pin down, even since Disney Plus places it after Moon Knight. While Jessica Gao, the head writer of She-Hulk, originally stated that the courtroom comedy takes place immediately after Shang-Chi, placing it in 2023, the show subsequently references No Way Home, putting it later than that. We’ll stay with the official Disney Plus timeline for the time being, which places it after Moon Knight but before Ms. Marvel.
About Agents of Shield, which is extremely vague as to how it departs from the Marvel timeline, they pretty much gave up on the idea of continuity with the MCU films. Moreover, season 7 takes viewers on a wild time-travel adventure, going back to the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The team then flashes back to 2018, and it appears that the sixth season climax takes place in 2019 (a period they eventually will return to). All of this appears to take place in a different timeline, one in which Thanos never totally conquered Earth.
Final Thoughts
Last but not least, keep in mind that it’s probably not the greatest idea for new fans to view the MCU in chronological order. Moreover, the post-credits sequence is a common feature of movies, and it frequently gives away information that would have been revealed later. For instance, the post-credit scene in Captain Marvel, which is set in 1995, references Avengers: Endgame and offers significant Infinity War spoilers. Chronological watches can help keep track of the events, but if you haven’t already seen through the MCU, get ready for some puzzling spoilers.
