MCU Chronological Order: Marvel Movies and Series by In-Universe Timeline

Chronological order follows when events happen inside the story. It is better for a rewatch than a first viewing, because some films reveal things that later films assume you already know. A few placements are debated among fans, so treat this list as a sensible default rather than gospel.

Phase 1 · 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger
A small, determined volunteer becomes the symbol of a war effort. It is a period adventure with a sincere heart, and it sets the moral center that later films keep coming back to.
Phase 3 · 2019
Captain Marvel
A pilot with missing memories pieces together who she was, set in the mid-1990s. It sets up a key figure for the finale.
Phase 1 · 2008
Iron Man
The film that started everything. A brilliant, arrogant engineer is forced to rethink what his work is for, and builds a suit to do something about it. It is a self-contained origin story, so it is the friendliest door into the franchise.
Phase 1 · 2008
The Incredible Hulk
A scientist on the run tries to control the thing his body becomes. It is the odd one out of the early films, and the lead actor changed afterward, so it feels disconnected from the rest.
Phase 1 · 2010
Iron Man 2
Fame, a failing power source and a rival with a grudge. It spends a lot of time setting up the larger team-up, which makes it feel busier than the first film.
Phase 1 · 2011
Thor
A proud prince is cast out of his realm and has to earn his way back. This is where the franchise opens up from a tech thriller into myth and space.
Phase 1 · 2012
The Avengers
Separate heroes are forced into the same room and have to figure out how to fight as one team. The payoff of years of setup, and still one of the most rewatchable entries.
Phase 2 · 2013
Thor: The Dark World
An ancient threat returns and drags the god of thunder back into trouble. It plants an important object that matters later.
Phase 2 · 2013
Iron Man 3
A hero shaken by what he went through in New York has to rebuild without his usual gear. A more personal, thriller-flavored take that plays with expectations.
Phase 2 · 2014
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
A man out of his time finds that the institutions he trusted are not what they seem. A paranoid political thriller, and one of the strongest films in the whole run.
Phase 2 · 2014
Guardians of the Galaxy
A group of misfits with nothing in common get dragged into a fight over something far bigger than any of them. Loud, funny and full of heart, with a soundtrack that is half the personality.
Phase 3 · 2017
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The found family deals with the question of where each of them really comes from. Warmer and more personal than the first.
Phase 2 · 2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron
A plan to protect the world goes wrong in a very human way. A crowded sequel that introduces new faces and plants the seeds of the team's later split.
Phase 2 · 2015
Ant-Man
A reformed thief is given a second chance and a very small suit. A light heist comedy that works on its own.
Phase 3 · 2016
Captain America: Civil War
Public pressure forces the team to choose between oversight and independence, and friendships break over it. Effectively an Avengers film in all but name.
Phase 4 · 2021
Black Widow
A spy confronts the past she thought she had left behind. It takes place between earlier films, so it feels like a flashback chapter.
Phase 3 · 2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming
A teenager with big ambitions tries to prove he is ready for more than neighborhood problems. A school-movie spin on the hero formula.
Phase 3 · 2016
Doctor Strange
A gifted surgeon loses his career and goes looking for a cure in an unexpected place. It opens up the magical side of the universe with some of the best visuals in the series.
Phase 3 · 2018
Black Panther
A new king inherits a hidden, technologically advanced nation and a decision about what it owes the rest of the world. Strong on world-building, design and a memorable antagonist.
Phase 3 · 2017
Thor: Ragnarok
Stranded far from home, a god has to deal with a family secret and a looming catastrophe. A bright, comedic reinvention of the character.
Phase 3 · 2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp
A lighter caper that runs in parallel with the bigger events of the period. Charming, and it introduces ideas about the quantum realm that matter later.
Phase 3 · 2018
Avengers: Infinity War
Every storyline converges as a single threat moves across the universe. A large, bold film with a famously bleak ending.
Phase 3 · 2019
Avengers: Endgame
The survivors try to deal with loss and undo it. A long, emotional conclusion to more than a decade of storytelling.
Phase 3 · 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home
A school trip turns into a mess when the hero is pulled into a global problem. A lighter epilogue to the Infinity Saga.
Phase 4 · 2021
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
A man who walked away from his family's legacy has to face it. A martial-arts-driven story with a fresh cast.
Phase 4 · 2021
Eternals
An ancient group watched over humanity from the shadows and now must decide what to do. Large in scope and ambition, with a more polarizing reception.
Phase 4 · 2021
Spider-Man: No Way Home
A spell goes wrong and old problems arrive from unexpected places. A celebration of the character's history that also kicks the multiverse into gear.
Phase 4 · 2022
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
A hero crosses realities to protect someone who is being hunted. A horror-tinged adventure and the most direct follow-up to No Way Home.
Phase 4 · 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder
A god in search of purpose meets someone from his past and a threat to gods everywhere. Colorful and broad in tone.
Phase 4 · 2022
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
A nation grieves a loss and has to defend itself from a new rival. Serious, emotional and tied closely to the real-world loss behind the film.
Phase 5 · 2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
A family is pulled into a hidden realm and meets a threat on a very different scale. It introduces the main antagonist of the saga.
Phase 5 · 2023
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The team rallies around one of their own while facing the person responsible for his past. An emotional send-off for this group.
Phase 5 · 2023
The Marvels
Three heroes with linked powers keep trading places whenever they use them, and have to work out why before it becomes a bigger problem. A fast, short, lighter-toned team-up.
Phase 5 · 2025
Captain America: Brave New World
A new Captain America has to deal with a conspiracy that threatens a fragile peace between nations. A political thriller in the spirit of the franchise's earlier Captain America films.
Phase 5 · 2025
Thunderbolts*
A mismatched group of antiheroes gets pulled into a job together and has to decide whether they can trust each other. Darker and more character-driven than most of the franchise.
Phase 5 · 2024
Deadpool & Wolverine
A talkative mercenary who knows he is in a movie is recruited for a mission to save his world, and ends up paired with a very reluctant partner. Rated R, packed with jokes and fan-service surprises.
Phase 6 · 2026
Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Set four years after No Way Home, Peter Parker is on his own, patrolling New York as Spider-Man while his abilities keep changing. A fresh-start Spider-Man story for the next stretch of the franchise.
Phase 6 · 2025
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
A family of explorers gains unusual abilities and has to protect their city from a threat from space, in a retro-futuristic take on the 1960s. It is set in a different world from the main films.