Now concluding its fourth phase, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has 30 movies, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever the most recent release in November 2022. There are many more movies in the works, as well as a whole host of shows, including Moon Knight, WandaVision, Loki, and Hawkeye now out on Disney+. With so much content coming out at different times, covering different time periods, it’s tough to understand the order of events.
Want to watch the MCU in chronological order? You’re in the right place. We’ve organized the movie in story order, so your watching experience can be as seamless as possible. We’ve also included some quick movie summaries for a refresher (consider this your spoiler warning).
Captain America: The First Avenger
Steve Rogers undergoes a dangerous, experimental procedure during World War II to turn him into a super-soldier. Dubbed “Captain America,” he then battles the Nazis and Hydra — a covert division of the Nazi Party developing powerful weapons fueled by a mysterious artifact known as The Tesseract. Along the way, Captain America loses his best friend James “Bucky” Barnes during a mission, defeats Hydra leader Johann Schmidt (aka Red Skull), loses The Tesseract, and eventually sacrifices himself to save the world by piloting an airplane full of explosives into the Arctic Ocean. Found and thawed out 70 years later, he meets SHIELD Agent Nick Fury, who offers him a chance to become a hero all over again.
Read our full Captain America: The First Avenger review
Captain Marvel
Air Force pilot Carol Danvers is caught in the explosion of an engine built using alien technology, developing powerful abilities that she first wields as a soldier for the Kree, the alien race that saved her life with a blood transfusion. She later uses her powers to defend Earth when the Kree endanger the planet during their war with the shape-changing Skrulls. She leaves Earth in the 1990s to help bring an end to the Kree-Skrull war, only to be called back years later due to the events of Avengers: Infinity War.
Read our full Captain Marvel review
Iron Man
Brilliant billionaire engineer Tony Stark develops a high-tech armored suit and becomes a one-man army. After stopping a former partner whose greed had turned him into a war profiteer, Stark is approached by SHIELD agent Nick Fury to join something he calls “The Avengers Initiative.”
Iron Man 2
Tony Stark’s battle against a pair of competitors — one with a personal vendetta against Stark and his family — results in some new additions to the MCU, including SHIELD agent Black Widow and Tony’s friend James Rhodes, who gets his own set of military-enhanced armor (earning him the code name “War Machine”). Nick Fury reveals that Tony’s father was a founding member of SHIELD, and after the dust settles following a battle with Russian villain Ivan Vanko and his army of drones, SHIELD reports that a strange hammer has been found in the desert in New Mexico.
Read our full Iron Man 2 review
The Incredible Hulk
Genius scientist Bruce Banner attempts to replicate the super-soldier serum that gave Captain America his abilities, only to suffer an accidental exposure to gamma radiation that causes him to transform into a green-skinned behemoth — dubbed The Hulk — when his heart rate rises above a certain level. After defeating a psychopathic soldier mutated by a mix of the serum and Banner’s blood, Banner (and Hulk) go into hiding.
Thor
Hot-headed Asgardian Thor is stripped of his powers and banished to Earth — specifically, New Mexico — after the latest transgression against his father, Odin, the ruler of Asgard. His diabolical half-brother Loki schemes to keep him there and take the throne for himself, but after Thor redeems himself, his powers and his magical hammer, Mjölnir, return to him. Later, Nick Fury reveals that SHIELD is in possession of The Tesseract (last seen in Captain America: The First Avengers), and we learn that Loki is very much still alive and is manipulating the scientist tasked with studying the powerful artifact.
Read our full Thor review
The Avengers
Loki agrees to obtain The Tesseract for an alien race called the Chitauri in exchange for an army that will help him take over Earth. He infiltrates SHIELD headquarters, prompting Nick Fury to assemble The Avengers for the first time. Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers are eventually joined by Thor, along with SHIELD agents Black Widow and Hawkeye, and together they stop Loki and his Chitauri army after a massive battle in Manhattan. The Tesseract is sent to Asgard, and the Chitauri’s mysterious leader is later revealed to be Thanos, who was attempting to acquire The Tesseract for his own purposes.
Iron Man 3
Tony’s pursuit of the terrorist leader known as The Mandarin embroils him in a conflict with a rival scientist that endangers everyone around him and injures both his friend Happy Hogan and his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. He eventually decides to destroy the majority of his Iron Man suits in order to keep them out of the wrong hands.
Read our full Iron Man 3 review
Thor: The Dark World
An ancient war between the Asgardians and the Dark Elves is reignited when a cosmic convergence of events unleashes the Aether, a powerful weapon hidden eons ago. Thor’s mother is killed in the ensuing battle and Thor is forced to enlist the help of Loki, who had been imprisoned on Asgard since the events of The Avengers. Thor defeats the Dark Elves’ leader, Malekith, and the Aether is moved off Asgard for safekeeping. The Aether and The Tesseract are first identified as “Infinity Stones” in this film, and because of that, it’s indicated that they shouldn’t be stored near each other.
Read our full Thor: The Dark World review
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America, Nick Fury, and Black Widow discover that SHIELD has been infiltrated by Hydra, the evil organization introduced in The First Avenger, but are forced to go on the run when they’re framed as murderers and enemies of the state. They’re joined by Air Force rescue pilot Sam Wilson (aka Falcon) and his high-tech wings as they attempt to expose Hydra. They soon discover that Bucky Barnes is not only alive but has been brainwashed by Hydra and turned into the powerful assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Hydra’s plot is eventually foiled, leaving SHIELD in disarray and the Winter Soldier on the run.
Read our full Captain America: The Winter Soldier review
Guardians of the Galaxy
Half-human mercenary Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) steals a mysterious orb from a remote planet but is forced to assemble a ragtag team of reluctant heroes — including Thanos’ daughter, Gamora — to retrieve it after it’s taken by the renegade Kree warrior Ronan. The orb is another Infinity Stone, one of six ancient artifacts with power over time, space, and reality. Ronan decides to use the stone for himself instead of giving it to Thanos, but Quill and his team defeat him and give it to the galactic peacekeepers known as the Nova Corps on the planet Xandar.
Read our full Guardians of the Galaxy review
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Peter Quill and his team — Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora, and Groot — find themselves targeted by a dangerous alien race, space pirates, and a living planet who is also Quill’s father. In the process of overcoming these threats, they’re joined by Gamora’s adopted sister, Nebula, who is on a mission to kill Thanos. They win in the end, of course, but not without suffering a heartbreaking loss: Quill’s adoptive father, Yondu, sacrifices himself to save his son.
Read our full Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 review
Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Avengers discover Hydra experimenting with Loki’s mind-controlling staff from The Avengers and free twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, who have super speed and bizarre telepathic, telekinetic powers, respectively. While studying the gem in the scepter, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner accidentally create Ultron, an artificial intelligence that tries to destroy humanity. To defeat Ultron, the team creates Vision, a sentient, synthetic being powered by the scepter’s gem — revealed to be another Infinity Stone. The team beats Ultron with help from the Maximoffs, but not before Pietro dies and most of a European nation is destroyed. In the aftermath, Hulk exiles himself, Thor returns to Asgard, and the original team effectively disbands, leaving Captain America and Black Widow to train new recruits War Machine, Wanda (aka Scarlet Witch), Vision, and Falcon. Meanwhile, Thanos vows to take matters into his own hands and personally retrieve the Infinity Stones.
Read our full Avengers: Age of Ultron review
Ant-Man
Ex-SHIELD agent Hank Pym recruits kind-hearted thief Scott Lang to steal a prototype size-changing suit created by his former protege before it’s sold to Hydra. Scott uses Pym’s own size-changing suit — which also allows him to communicate with ants — to prevent the sale and defeat the villain, while also discovering a way to shrink to sub-atomic size and enter a mysterious region outside of time and space known as the Quantum Realm.
Read our full Ant-Man review
Captain America: Civil War
The aftermath of Avengers: Age of Ultron leads the United Nations to establish the Sokovia Accords, putting the Avengers under control of the government. This fractures the team, and a subsequent terrorist attack that kills the leader of Wakanda is blamed on the Winter Soldier, putting two groups of Avengers — including new recruits Spider-Man and Ant-Man, as well as T’Challa (aka Black Panther), the Wakandan heir to the throne — on the hunt for him. Iron Man and Captain America lead their new teams in a fight against each other, leaving the Avengers’ loyalties divided. After his innocence is proven, Winter Soldier is granted asylum in Wakanda.
Read our full Captain America: Civil War review
Black Widow
Black Widow is settled in an odd place in the MCU timeline, after the Avengers’ Civil War and before the rise of Thanos. As such, it’s a far more personal story, taking a deep dive into the life of Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. When a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past threatens to unravel her life as an Avenger, Natasha confronts the darker parts of her past, including the makeshift spy family she built and abandoned long before her heroic turns.
Read our full Black Widow review
Spider-Man: Homecoming
High-school student Peter Parker returns home after helping Iron Man fight Captain America in Captain America: Civil War, and ends up battling with a villain wielding refurbished Chitauri technology salvaged after the battle in The Avengers. Initially mentored by Tony Stark, Peter learns to be a hero without the high-tech suit, defeats The Vulture, and turns down an offer to join The Avengers — preferring to remain a solo hero.
Read our full Spider-Man: Homecoming review
Doctor Strange
Arrogant neurosurgeon Stephen Strange loses the use of his hands in a car accident, eventually traveling deep into the Himalayas to study the mystic arts in an attempt to fix his injury. After gaining skill with his new powers, Strange is drawn into a battle with a renegade sorcerer and eventually saves the mortal realm — with some help from fellow sorcerers Wong and Mordo — by bending time with an artifact known as the Eye of Agamotto. He later returns to New York City to continue his studies.
Read our full Doctor Strange review
Black Panther
Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa returns to Wakanda and must overcome a challenge to the throne from rivals both within the African nation and coming from outside its borders, including the deadly Erik Killmonger. T’Challa manages to win the throne, but decides to finally share the secrets of his technologically advanced nation with the world.
Read our full Black Panther review
Thor: Ragnarok
Following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor returns to Asgard, hoping to prevent the prophesied apocalypse known as Ragnarök. Odin dies, and Thor soon finds himself exiled on the far-off planet Sakaar by Hela, his brutally ambitious sister who destroys Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, and takes over Asgard. Thor encounters both Hulk and Loki on Sakaar, and makes his escape from the planet along with another Asgardian he meets there known as Valkyrie. The quartet is forced to destroy Asgard in order to stop Hela’s conquest (with Thor losing his eye in the process), and escapes with the surviving Asgardians on a large spaceship — only to encounter Thanos’ massive warship during their journey through space.
Read our full Thor: Ragnarok review
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Under house arrest due to the events of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang is once again recruited by Hank Pym and his daughter, Hope van Dyne, to help rescue Hope’s mother, Janet, who was trapped in the Quantum Realm years earlier. Hope dons a new size-changing suit and becomes The Wasp. Together, Scott, Hank, and Hope evade a host of villains and the FBI, and rescue Janet from the Quantum Realm. However, during a subsequent expedition into the Quantum Realm that occurs during the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Janet, Hope, and Hank suddenly turn to dust, leaving Scott trapped in the sub-atomic nethers.
Read our full Ant-Man and the Wasp review
Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos decimates Xandar to acquire the Power Stone, one of the Infinity Stones, then takes The Tesseract — revealed to be the Space Stone — from the ship carrying what’s left of Asgard. He defeats Thor and Hulk, then kills Loki and most of the remaining Asgardians. Hulk crashes on Earth and warns the Avengers of Thanos’ plans to eliminate half the population of the universe by collecting all six Infinity Stones. Thanos manages to acquire both the Reality Stone — the Aether from Thor: The Dark World — and the Soul Stone, but in accomplishing the latter, he kills his daughter, Gamora.
Now in possession of four of the six Infinity Stones, Thanos battles the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange on his former home planet, only to have Doctor Strange inexplicably give him the Time Stone — revealed to be the Eye of Agamotto — in order to save Iron Man’s life. Thanos leaves Iron Man and Nebula stranded on the planet, then heads to Earth, where he battles the remaining Avengers before ripping the Mind Stone from Vision’s head, killing him. Thor wounds Thanos with a new, more powerful weapon, but is unable to prevent him causing half of the universe’s population to vanish in a cloud of dust. Just before disappearing, however, Nick Fury sends an emergency call to one Captain Marvel.
Read our full Avengers: Infinity War review
Avengers: Endgame
The highest stakes Marvel has ever played with, Endgame deals with finding that one-in-a-million successful timeline that Doctor Strange teased in Infinity War. Picking up five years after The Snap, the remaining Avengers continue to serve the world, albeit in a more nuanced capacity. Captain America is leading grief counseling, Black Widow is coordinating emergency service efforts, and Thor is, well, fat, drunk, and playing video games in Earth Asgard.
When Scott Lang is accidentally released from the Quantum Realm by a wandering cat after five years, he realizes that although the world has changed completely, he experienced only a few hours of time in the Quantum Realm. Rounding up the rest of the Avengers, they venture back in time (through many of the previous movies in a truly brilliant homage to the breadth and detail of this universe) to capture the Infinity Stones before Thanos can get them. Thanos, however, gets wise to the plan, leading to a showdown of epic proportions between his planet-eliminating power and the combined forces of the galaxy. This final battle proves Endgame‘s stakes truly are higher than any previous film in the MCU.
Read our full Avengers: Endgame review
Spider-Man: Far from Home
The first movie after what’s being called “The Blip” is appropriately lighthearted. Marvel’s Spider-Man films have a teenage innocence to them — at least at the start — that recontextualizes the Marvel Cinematic Universe as one that has suffered but is now whole again. However, it’s also the first film following Tony Stark’s death, and Peter Parker is left broken and looking for a father figure. He thinks he finds that in Quentin Beck, a Green Lantern-like warrior who has traveled to earth to defeat four mythical elemental creatures who destroyed his planet. Turns out, Beck isn’t who he says he is and becomes one of the most dangerous, manipulative villains Spider-Man has ever faced. Especially since his influence seems to extend from beyond the grave.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Phase Four of the MCU kicked off with a few TV series on Disney+. Shang-Chi was the first movie entry to the post-Infinity War saga. And it’s a great one. Not only does Shang-Chi introduce an exciting new hero, it deftly incorporates elements of the earliest MCU movies by telling the story of the criminal organization, the Ten Rings. (You may recall hearing about them in Iron Man films.) Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi, heir to the organization who has rebuffed his destiny, hoping to lead a normal life in America instead. But when the past catches up to him, he’s forced to stand as the final obstacle between his father’s relentless ambition.
Eternals
Eternals spans millennia, but the core of the story occurs in a post-Endgame world. While the film doesn’t always grapple well with the existence of immortal guardians on Earth who just randomly decided not to pick up arms against Thanos, Eternals does introduce a compelling new superhero team to the MCU. A race of ancient aliens who have secretly guarded the Earth for thousands of years, an unexpected tragedy now brings them out of the shadows to take on their most ancient enemy, the Deviants.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
One of the MCU’s most ambitious movies, No Way Home picks up right after the events of Far From Home, with Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) secret identity revealed. Framed for Mysterio’s murder, Peter is a pariah everywhere he goes, to the point that his best friends can’t get into their preferred colleges due to their association with him. Feeling guilty, Peter asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make the world forget he’s Spider-Man. But, as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”
Peter realizes he doesn’t want everyone to forget he’s Spider-Man, causing the spell to go awry, opening up several paths to alternative universes. As the multiverse opens, villains of different universes and timelines begin to enter Peter’s New York, all seeking vengeance on Spider-Man. Now, Peter must resolve the timeline and enlist Doctor Strange one more time to stop the multiverses from destroying our own.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
The MCU spent multiple movies and TV shows to introduce the concept of the multiverse and build a strong foundation. Finally, the universe dives in headfirst in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. After Spider-Man: No Way Home opened and closed the multiverse, things aren’t so cut and dry anymore. Turns out, a mysterious new adversary has emerged, forcing Doctor Strange to enlist the help of some mystical allies both old and new to head into the multiverse and confront the new threat at the source.
Read our full Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review
Thor: Love and Thunder
Picking up with everyone’s favorite god of thunder after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder sends the titular son of Odin on a galaxy-spanning adventure to save the pantheon of gods in the MCU from a terrifying threat. Along with shifting the balance of power in Asgard, the film also introduces Marvel’s version of Zeus and various other gods, as well as adds a new member to Thor’s own family.
Read our full Thor: Love and Thunder review
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman prompted Marvel and filmmaker Ryan Coogler to make some big changes in the MCU in this film, which finds the kingdom of Wakanda reeling after the sudden passing of T’Challa, their beloved monarch and protector. As if that wasn’t enough to manage, Wakanda soon finds itself threatened by a previously undiscovered underwater kingdom with technology and resources to rival its own, led by its own powerful ruler, Namor. The MCU gets a lot bigger in this film, which introduces several new characters — including future Ironheart star Riri Williams — even as the themes become a lot more personal.
How to watch in release order
Prefer to watch the films in order of release? That’s a fun way to see how the movies have evolved in terms of special effects, tone, and storytelling, and you can begin to appreciate just how well-thought-out the MCU was, with Easter eggs for the larger plan sprinkled into movies as far back as 2008’s Iron Man. On the negative side, you will bounce all over the timeline. Here’s how to do it:
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 2011)
- The Avengers (May 2012)
Phase Two
- 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)
Phase Three
- 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)
Phase Four (including TV series)
- Wandavision (TV series)
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TV series)
- Loki (TV series)
- Black Widow (July 2021)
- What If…? (TV series)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3, 2021)
- Eternals (November 5, 2021)
- Hawkeye (TV series)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 17, 2021)
- Moon Knight (TV series)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6, 2022)
- Ms. Marvel (TV series)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8, 2022)
- She-Hulk (TV series)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11, 2022)
Future MCU movies and TV shows
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 17, 2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5, 2023)
- The Marvels (July 28, 2023)
- Captain America: New World Order (May 3, 2024)
- Thunderbolts (July 26, 2024)
- Blade (September 6, 2024)
- Deadpool 3 (November 28, 2024)
- Fantastic Four (February 14, 2025)
- Secret Invasion (TV show — TBA)
- Ironheart (TV show — TBA)
- Armor Wars (TV show — TBA)
- Wakanda Series (TV show — TBA)
