Just like Avengers first brought together Marvel’s biggest superheroes for the first time in 2012 and Captain America: Civil War took that forward by introducing Sony-owned Spider-Man, Deadpool & Wolverine has brought about a seminal shift in the world’s biggest film franchise. The MCU is now 30 films old (and about a dozen TV series added to it). And the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-starrer has brought the mutants into the Marvelverse finally. But by now, the MCU had become so vast and large that tracking it all is not a straightforward task. So we bring you a handy guide on how to watch all MCU films till now in a chronological fashion.
But first, if you just want an overview of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by release date, we have that right here, as split up by the separate phases. MCU began in 2008 with Iron Man, the first film of the first phase. Phase One included its sequel Iron Man 2 as well as the introduction films of other superheroes – The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. The phase ended with the 2012 team up Avengers. Phase Two began with Iron Man 3 and saw the sequels of Thor and Captain America as well. The Guardians of the Galaxy got their own movie. The second phase also ended with an Avengers film – The Age of Ultron (2015). Although Ant-Man, released a few weeks later, is also considered part of Phase Two.
Phase Three saw the culmination of the Infinity Saga, the first overarching story of the MCU. Captain America: Civil War kicked it into gear, followed by Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Panther. It all came together in the two back-to-back Avengers films – Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019), Marvel’s most ambitious and highest-grossing films. In between these were Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel. While the Infinity saga ended with Avengers: Endgame, Phase Three came to a close with Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Phase Four of the MCU began in 2021 after the pandemic with Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals. But it was Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that truly kicked off the next segment of storytelling – the Multiverse Saga. In 2022, Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever brought Phase Four to a close. Phase Five has seen the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, and Deadpool & Wolverine.
Marvel Cinematic Universe films in chronological order (by the year they are set in)
However, some MCU films that released later are actually set earlier. This means that sometimes, it is important to watch films released later in order to follow the story chronologically. Here are all the MCU films in chronological order:
Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)
Captain Marvel (1995)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
The Incredible Hulk (2011)
Thor (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
Thor: The Dark World (2012)
Iron Man 3 (2012)
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 (2016)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
Black Panther (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Thor: Ragnarok (2016)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2018)
Avengers: Endgame (2023)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Eternals (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2023)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2022)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
The Marvels (2023)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Upcoming MCU films (Phase 5 and 6)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to continue with the Multiverse Saga with the remainder of Phase Five - Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts, both releasing in 2025. Then Phase Six begins with The Fantastic Four: First Steps followed by Blade’s entry into the MCU. It will all come to a head in the two-part Avengers showdown. Robert Downey Jr will debut as Victor von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday in 2026 followed by Phase Six’s conclusion in Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.
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 "A still from Deadpool & Wolverine")
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