What’s the best way to watch all the Marvel movies in order in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)? This is your guide to all the Marvel movies in the MCU and the best order to watch them. Also included are printable Marvel movies in release order lists and Marvel movies in chronological order lists.
Best Way to Watch the Marvel Movies in Order
What is the best order to watch all the Marvel movies before Deadpool 3? Some say chronological order and some say release order. Here you’ll find lists of Marvel movies in order of release date and a list of Marvel movies in chronological order and printable PDFs for both.
There are so many ways you can watch the Marvel movies, but these lists are based on your interests.
How many Marvel movies are there? Right now, there are 33 Marvel movies released in the MCU, including The Marvels.
Phase 3 ended in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home and Phase 4 ended with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Well technically Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
Phase 5 of the MCU began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
What order should YOU watch the Marvel movies? I recommend watching Marvel movies by release date for new Marvel movie watchers and chronological order or timeline order if you’ve already many or most of the Marvel movies.
The great thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies is you don’t have to know all about Marvel comics. It certainly helps, but it’s not a necessity to engage with fan favorite characters like Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Scott Lang, and more.
Deadpool 3 is the first Deadpool movie to be considered part of the MCU since Disney bought 20th Century Fox. However, now with all the storylines of the multiverses, nothing really makes sense anymore and anybody can talk to anybody.
List of Marvel Movies in Release Date Order
So you’re all in and want to watch all the Marvel movies? Release date order is the way I recommend watching the Marvel movies for the first time. They jump around in a timeline, but half the fun is figuring out how the post-credits scenes intertwine and lead into other movies in the Marvel universe.
If you watch them in the order they were released, then you’ll start to piece together things on your own.
Here is the List of Marvel Movies by Release Date Order:
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (July 2018)
- Captain Marvel (March 2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (April 2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (June 2019)
- Black Widow (July 2021)
- Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (September 2021)
- Eternals (November 2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (July 2022)
- Black Panther Wakanda Forever (November 2022)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (May 2023)
- The Marvels (November 2023)
Click on the image below for a free printable Marvel Movies in Release Order PDF.
Complete List of Marvel Movies in Chronological Order
How do you watch Marvel movies in the perfect order? I prefer Marvel movies in chronological order. This Marvel movies list is by the year the events happened. Marvel and Avengers movies like to jump around in time.
This is the list of Marvel movies in order by year to watch in real time sequence or as Disney+ likes to call it – Marvel movies in timeline order.
You can stream every Marvel movie in order on Disney+ except Spider-Man: No Way Home. You can rent that on Amazon Prime. However, you’ll want to watch the Disney Plus shows WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier which happened after Avengers: Endgame if you really want to understand some things that happen in Phase 4.
Phase 4 is the post-Thanos snap. Iykyk.
Marvel Movies List in Chronological Order
- Captain America: The First Avenger (1943-1945)
- Captain Marvel (1990s)
- Iron Man (2010)
- Iron Man 2 (2011)
- The Incredible Hulk (2011)
- Thor (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2012)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Widow
- Black Panther (2016-2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016-2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp -Happening the same time as Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame (2023)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2023)
- Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
- Eternals
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Thor: Love and Thunder
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3
- The Marvels
Click on the Marvel Movies in Chronological Order List PDF below to print.
Phase 4 and 5 Marvel TV Shows
If you want to understand some of the upcoming Marvel movies to watch The Marvels, then I recommend watching at least Loki, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Ms. Marvel, and Secret Invasion. WandaVision is just too good to skip.
- WandaVision
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
- Loki
- Hawkeye
- Moon Knight
- Ms. Marvel
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
- Secret Invasion
- Echo
MCU Official Timeline
I mostly agree with the MCU timeline order on Disney Plus, but moved a few around, because of post-credit scenes.
If you get technical, Spider-Man: Homecoming should be set in 2020, which is impossible, because those events happen before Avengers: Infinity War. Also, Spider-Man: Homecoming happens a few months after Captain America: Civil War.
Marvel has said Black Panther is set in 2017, but a news segment in the film mentions T’Chaka died a week earlier which happens in Captain America: Civil War, so I moved Black Panther after Civil War, because it makes more sense.
I added Ant-Man and the Wasp after Avengers: Infinity War, even though they are happening at the same time, too. Ant-Man and the Wasp mentions Scott has been on house arrest for 2 years.
You’ll need to watch Avengers: Infinity War first to understand the end credits of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Then there’s the whole when does Avengers: Endgame take place? Technically Avengers Endgame takes place in 2023, since it’s supposed to happen 5 years after Avengers: Infinity War. So it’s not all a perfect matchup. Then the rest of Phase 4 and Phase 5 happen after each other.
What to Watch Before Deadpool 3
There’s really nothing to watch in the traditional MCU before Deadpool 3. You’ll want to watch Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and the X-Men movies.
Is watching Marvel movies in a certain order important? To my husband, yes. He does not like watching things out of sequence. It drives him crazy to not put the Marvel puzzle together ahead of time.
For someone like me, no. I like being entertained, and it doesn’t bother me if I have to backtrack.
If you are someone who needs all the details, then watch the Marvel movies in chronological order.
Marvel Movies for Kids
Some Marvel movies are not for all kids. For example Deadpool movies are not kid-friendly Marvel movies.
I recommend screening the film or reading parent reviews first, because not all Marvel movies are created equally for kids, in my opinion. Black Panther was more violent than most and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had more language and sexual references than most Marvel films. And Doctor Strange 2 is violent and horror based.
If you need snacks to get through your Marvel movies list marathon, here are some Marvel drink recipes you can make – Spider-Man Drink, Captain American Drink Recipe or a Black Panther Frozen Drink.
Cynthia
Tuesday 13th of June 2023
Are The Eternals in important in the MCU, my son and I started watching all the movies but don’t want to watch that one. I can’t see the significance regarding the rest of the movies as I feel like it stands alone.
tanialamb
Tuesday 13th of June 2023
I don't think you need to watch it. Nothing in the plot is super important for the rest of the MCU.
Noname Otakugami
Tuesday 26th of April 2022
Thank you for having a concise list before the wall of text.
Tucker
Sunday 6th of March 2022
Do your writers review their content before submitting it for online users? The reason I ask is because I hadn't even started reading this article and I noticed this faux pax after the colon straight away...
Lists of All the Marvel Movies in Order Before Spider-Man: Now Way Home
Just thought you should see and know that although mistakes have always occurred in newspapers, at least we knew they were typically given the once over before running the presses.
Sorry, just seems like no one cares about their errors if it's online since everyone's in a rush to hit the enter button. Quantity over quality is not good...especially if your next "could be" boss reads it.
tanialamb
Sunday 6th of March 2022
Thank you! Sometimes mistakes are made and errors get overlooked. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
What's New on Disney+ on November 12th (Disney+ Day)! - Lola Lambchops
Thursday 11th of November 2021
[…] Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings and Enchanted! With Shang-Chi, now you can add to your Marvel movies in order list before watching Eternals in the theater. And Enchanted, starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, is […]
Is Marvel's Eternals Kid Friendly? Parents Guide - Lola Lambchops
Thursday 4th of November 2021
[…] too scary for kids? Yes, the Deviants are scary, but nothing over the top compared to other Marvel films. The Deviants are gross-looking monsters, almost dragon-like, with Venom-like attributes like […]