This is the best time to begin a Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU) marathon - notably with Avengers: Endgame supporting us and Marvel Stage 4 coming soon.
Most Marvel films can now be found on streaming service Disney Plus, also. Later in 2020, we will also see new films like Black Widow added to the canon, along with MCU TV shows like August's The Falcon and Winter Soldier and December's WandaVision, assuming production resumes on the Disney Plus series shortly. A Marvel film marathon is the best way to pass time till they get here, then.
Marvel films
Watching the Marvel films in order should be rather straightforward, however, there are a couple of things worth noting. Watching the Marvel films in chronological begins in WW2 with Captain America: The First Avengers, with Cap facing off against Red Skull. If you begin the Marvel films in release order, however, you will want to start using 2008's Iron Man, the introduction of Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man and the MCU itself.
Watching the MCU movies in order will provide you vital context for Marvel Phase 4. Shows such as Loki or new movies like The Eternals will build on previous Marvel films in important ways. On this page, you will find lists of the chronological and launch orders of the Marvel films, in addition to a ranked list of the finest Marvel movies. If you only need to watch the Avengers films in order, by way of instance, you can skip the duds (sorry, The Incredible Hulk!). In this feature, also, we will explain that Marvel films are on Disney Plus in 2020.
Ready? Let us start your Marvel movie marathon...
The Way to see the Marvel movies in order: chronological order
A Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline is probably why you are here. This lists all of the Marvel films chronologically in The First Avenger to Avengers: Endgame. The main reason to see Marvel films like this is you will see significant events as they unfolded from the MCU. You will follow the Tesseract in the'40s to the present, see how Carol Danvers met Nick Fury from the mid-'90s, and follow Thanos' long, brutal trip to obtaining the Infinity Stones.
Here, then, is the chronological viewing order of the Marvel films:
Captain America: The First Avenger (happens during WWII)
Captain Marvel (takes place in 1995)
Iron Man (occurs in 2010)
Iron Man 2 (happens after Iron Man)
The Incredible Hulk (time unspecified, pre-Avengers)
Thor (takes place six months prior to Avengers)
The Avengers (occurs in 2012)
Iron Man 3 (takes place six months after The Avengers)
Thor: Dark World (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)
Captain America: Winter Soldier (post-Avengers, pre-Ultron)
Guardians of the Galaxy (sometime in 2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Two (after Guardians)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (takes place in 2015)
Ant-Man (takes place in 2015)
Captain America: Civil War (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (post-Civil War, pre-Infinity War)
Doctor Strange (takes place in 2016)
Black Panther (takes place in 2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (post-Ultron, pre-Infinity War)
Avengers: Infinity War (occurs in 2017)
Ant-Man and The Wasp (ambiguous, but fits well between IW and Endgame)
Avengers: Endgame (begins in 2017, finishes in 2022)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (post-Endgame)
As 2020 Marvel films like Black Widow and The Eternals are published, together with canonical Disney Plus shows such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (August) and WandaVision (December), we will add them to the MCU timeline. Black Widow, by way of instance, is definitely set after Captain America: Civil War, but with its release date now up in the air, we have left it off for today.
Marvel movies in sequence: release date
If you prefer to watch the MCU films in release order, however, you will need this list, which begins with Iron Man in 2008 and culminates in 2019's Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Starting with the first couple of movies is a fantastic nostalgia trip, and you will also see how the Marvel films were refined over time as funding increases enhanced the quality of the movies.
Phase One
Phase Two
Phase Three
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Two (2017)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
