How to watch the Marvel movies in order (release and chronological)

Bradley Russell
·13 min read
Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame, part of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame, part of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

Looking for how to watch the Marvel movies in order? Now that Loki season 2 is here, there's no better time for an MCU rewatch – and that could mean choosing to go in release date order or chronological order.

But, considering there are a massive 45 projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and counting), the watch order can be fairly complicated. But that's where we come in. We've got the complete guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order, as well as the best way to watch, right here.

We've also factored in the Disney Plus shows in our Marvel order, which means WandaVision all the way through to Loki season 2 and Secret Invasion. We've also included specials like Werewolf by Night, but not one-shots or non-canon series like Daredevil. We'll get into that properly later.

So, from Marvel Phase 1 up to Marvel Phase 5, here's how to watch the Marvel movies in order. For everything else coming soon, check out our full rundown on the upcoming Marvel movies. If you're seeking extra watch orders, check out our guides on how the watch the DC movies in order, how to watch the Star Wars movies in order, and how to watch The Walking Dead in order.

MCU watch order: all 45 movies and shows

How to watch the Marvel movies in order - including Loki
How to watch the Marvel movies in order - including Loki

How to watch the Marvel movies in order – release order

Best for: Newcomers to the Marvel movies.

First up, here's how to watch the Marvel movies and shows in order of release date. The MCU, we should note, are split into Phases, with the end of a Phase typically indicating a natural end to a story arc. The beginning of a Phase, therefore, signals the introduction of new, important characters.

Below, we go through Phases 1 to 5 in release order. Yes, that includes WandaVision/Falcon and The Winter Soldier/Loki/Moon Knight/She-Hulk and so on. They're not movies, but the Disney Plus series are just as important to the overarching story being told in te MCU.

Marvel Phase 1:

Marvel Phase 2:

Marvel Phase 3:

Marvel Phase 4:

Marvel Phase 5

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We also know a fair amount of what's coming up in the future, with Marvel having laid out plans for Phase 5 – which has just begun – and beyond. Out of the current list, Deadpool 3 is the only one not explicitly tied to a Phase, though we're comfortable putting it alongside Blade for now as Fantastic Four is going to kick off Marvel's Phase 6.

Here's a taste of the Marvel movies and shows coming out over the next few years.

Marvel Phase 5:

  • The Marvels (AKA Captain Marvel 2) – November 10, 2023

  • Echo – January 2024 (Disney Plus series)

  • Deadpool 3 – May 3, 2024

  • Captain America: Brave New World – July 26, 2024

  • Agatha: Darkhold Diaries – Fall/Winter 2024 (Disney Plus series)

  • Thunderbolts – December 20, 2024

  • Blade – February 14, 2025

  • Daredevil: Born Again – TBC (Disney Plus series)

  • Ironheart – TBC (Disney Plus series)

Marvel Phase 6:

TBA (unreleased):

  • Armor Wars – TBA

  • Black Panther 3 – TBA

  • Marvel Zombies – TBA (Disney Plus series)

  • Nova – TBA

  • Shang-Chi 2 – TBA

  • Spider-Man: Freshman Year – TBA (Disney Plus series)

  • Spider-Man: Sophomore Year – TBA (Disney Plus series)

  • Wakanda/Okoye spin-off – TBA (Disney Plus series)

  • What If...? season 2 – Christmas 2023 (Disney Plus series)

  • What If...? season 3 – TBA (Disney Plus series)

  • Wonder Man – TBA (Disney Plus series)

  • X-Men '97 (Disney Plus series) - Early 2024

How to watch the Marvel movies in order – chronological order

Infinity War
Infinity War

Best for: MCU veterans looking for a new way to watch.

Want to see the MCU in a slightly different light? Then perhaps you'll want to know how to watch the Marvel movies in chronological order.

This one's a little less straightforward than the above list. Luckily, Marvel has revealed most of the official years in which each movie takes place. For example: the likes of Falcon and the Winter Soldier fits snugly in-between Endgame and Far From Home while the likes of Hawkeye takes place around No Way Home. It's a lot to get your head around, but it'll make sense in the chronological list below.

We've now reached 2025 and 2026. She-Hulk, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seemingly all taking place in that not-so-far-flung future year. Secret Invasion and Guardians 3, more or less, comes after in 2026.

But be warned: Marvel occasionally takes creative liberties with the timeline order of some of these entries. Our list uses Marvel's own official order on Disney Plus as a guide, but some things might feel a little out of sorts if you think about it too hard. We're looking at you, Werewolf by Night. And also for the completionists among you – the I Am Groot short 'First Steps' takes place before Guardians 2, while the rest of the shorts happen after that sequel. For now, we've put Secret Invasion as the latest project in timeline order.

  • 1. Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1943)

  • 2. Captain Marvel (1995)

  • 3. Iron Man (2010)

  • 4. Iron Man 2 (2011)

  • 5. The Incredible Hulk (2011)

  • 6. Thor (2011)

  • 7. The Avengers (2012)

  • 8. Iron Man 3 (2012)

  • 9. Thor: The Dark World (2013)

  • 10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

  • 11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

  • 12. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2014)

  • 13. I Am Groot (2014)

  • 14. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

  • 15. Ant-Man (2015)

  • 16. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

  • 17. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)

  • 18. Black Widow (2017)

  • 19. Black Panther (2017)

  • 20. Doctor Strange (2017)

  • 21. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

  • 22. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)

  • 23. Avengers: Infinity War (2017)

  • 24. Avengers: Endgame (2018-2023)

  • 25. Loki (outside of our conception of time, but around here!)

  • 26. Loki season 2 (also outside of our conception of time!)

  • 27. What If...? (also outside of our conception of time!)

  • 28. WandaVision (2023)

  • 29. Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023-2024)

  • 30. Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2023-2024)

  • 31. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)

  • 32. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)

  • 33. Eternals (2024)

  • 34. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)

  • 35. Hawkeye (Christmas 2024)

  • 36. Moon Knight (2025)

  • 37. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)

  • 38. She-Hulk (2025)

  • 39. Ms. Marvel (2025)

  • 40. Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)

  • 41. Werewolf By Night (2025)

  • 42. Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)

  • 43. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2025)

  • 44. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2026)

  • 45. Secret Invasion (2026)

Non-MCU Marvel movies and shows: is Spider-Man in the MCU?

Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2
Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2

Best for: Anyone who wants to fully appreciate No Way Home

Now we're getting to the confusing bit: the multiverse. Thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, we have had various Spider-Man villains from through the multiverse in the MCU. To fully understand everyone's motives and intentions in No Way Home, you need to have watched a fair few older Spider-Man movies.

These take place on three alternative timelines: one where Tobey Maguire is Spider-Man, another where Andrew Garfield is Spidey, and a third where Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock becomes the villain Venom. For a full deep dive into watching these movies, then check out our guide to how to watch the Spider-Man movies in order.

Long story, short, however - Tom Holland's Spider-Man currently exists in the MCU, with the other Sony Spider-Man movies existing (broadly speaking) in the multiverse. Don't expect them to cross over again into the main Marvel universe anytime soon, though.

You might also be wondering about Across the Spider-Verse. Technically, that also exists as part of the wider multiverse (indeed, No Way Home was referenced in the Spider-Verse sequel), but doesn't have to be watched in any order other than within the framework of its own trilogy. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has just been added to Disney Plus, too, for those looking to jump into one of Peter Parker's most tragic cinematic adventures.

Then there's The Defenders, which are sort of part of the MCU, but also sort of not. They start very much linked to the movies, and then gradually lose all connection – thanks mainly to originally being Netflix products. Now, though, they are all on Disney Plus, and if you want to tackle Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and The Punisher, then you're going to want to know the watch order. Luckily, we have exactly the piece you're after: how to watch The Defenders Saga in order.

Daredevil's story, which started in She-Hulk and will continue in Born Again in 2024, loosely picks up where the Netflix series left off. Those three seasons on Netflix haven't been declared officially canon, but Charlie Cox's return and an intriguing Secret Invasion connection is about as close as we'll get to confirmation that The Defenders Saga semi-existed in the MCU.

X-Men, meanwhile, exist completely outside of the MCU as part of (formerly) Fox's X-Men cinematic universe. But that could be about to change with Hugh Jackman's arrival as Wolverine in Deadpool 3. Rumors suggest that the threequel could revolve around the Merc with a Mouth killing off the Fox universe. That'll (confusingly) make those X-Men movies canon in the MCU, before removing them entirely. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, you can watch them separately with our guide on how to watch the X-Men movies in order.

If you're short on time (and interest) everything here is technically skippable if you're only focusing on the MCU, though we'd certainly recommend the earlier Spider-Man films and the Spider-Verse movies for both greater understanding of the multiverse and a deeper appreciation of No Way Home.

How to watch the Marvel movies in order on Disney Plus

marvel movies order on Disney Plus
marvel movies order on Disney Plus

Best for: People with a Disney Plus subscription

Disney Plus has changed the streaming game. A huge competitor to Netflix and Amazon Prime, Disney's entry into the online content wars has made a huge impact, bringing all of the Mouse's classic movies into one place.

Want to watch the MCU right now? The vast majority of the Marvel movies are available on Disney Plus. Currently, only Spider-Man: Far from Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home are not available to stream on Disney Plus in the US. They can be watched on Starz.

Note: You will also not find The Incredible Hulk on Disney Plus. This is because the rights to Hulk belong to Universal, while the rights to Spider-Man are with Sony – though Far From Home is available in the UK and Homecoming made its way onto the service recently. Both The Amazing Spider-Man movies are available in the US.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 are also now available on Disney Plus after their cinema releases in 2023.

Below, find all the Marvel movies and shows on Disney Plus.

  • Iron Man

  • Thor

  • Iron Man 2

  • Captain America: The First Avenger

  • The Avengers

  • Iron Man 3

  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  • Thor: The Dark World

  • Guardians of the Galaxy

  • Spider-Man: Homecoming

  • Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Ant-Man

  • Captain America: Civil War

  • Doctor Strange

  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

  • Thor: Ragnarok

  • Black Panther

  • Avengers: Infinity War

  • Captain Marvel

  • Ant-Man and the Wasp

  • Avengers: Endgame

  • Spider-Man: Far From Home [not available in the US]

  • WandaVision

  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

  • Loki

  • Black Widow

  • What If...?

  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

  • Eternals

  • Hawkeye

  • Moon Knight

  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

  • Ms. Marvel

  • She-Hulk

  • Thor: Love and Thunder

  • Werewolf By Night

  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

  • Secret Invasion

  • Guardians of the Galaxy 3

  • Loki season 2

That's how to watch the Marvel movies in order. So, what are you waiting for? If you haven't got Disney Plus, then here are the latest Disney Plus sign-up deals around the world. Now that the Disney Plus free trial is no more, it's the best way of getting maximum value for money.

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