So, you've finally stumbled upon the Marvel Cinematic Universe and don't know where to start? Traditionally, franchises ought to be watched by their release orders, but the world of Marvel is quite strict when it comes to exploring their timeline.
This article provides two ways to binge-watch and deep dive into the MCU the way you would want to: by Marvel Phases and their release orders, or by the MCU timeline — depending on whichever floats your boat.
Watch Order: Marvel Phases Explained
Why You Should Watch The MCU By Their Phase Numbers and Release Date
Listen, the ongoing Marvel phases (or in this case, Marvel Phases One to Six) exist for a reason. There’s more to it than just arranging the films by their release dates in theaters worldwide.
This is essentially how the Marvel Cinematic Universe was established from the ground up, which, of course, would start off by introducing the main superheroes who built the unstoppable Avengers team.
First things first: let's dive into why most fans would recommend binge-watching the MCU by its phases.
Marvel Phase 1 (2008-2012)
- Iron Man (May 2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (June 2009)
- Iron Man 2 (May 2010)
- Thor (May 2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (July 2011)
- The Avengers (May 2012)
Marvel Phase 1 began with Tony Stark/Iron Man, Bruce Banner/Hulk (the Edward Norton version, not Mark Ruffalo's just yet), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans).
You may even notice that the longer you continue down this binge-watching journey, by its phases, that the MCU is called the ‘MCU’ for a reason. Marvel has basically compiled each batch of films (and series) that contain overarching themes.
Marvel Phase 1 is where the original Avengers show up and how they came together in the end, a timely arrangement, wouldn’t you say? Even non-comic book readers are given the chance to get to know the heroes they'll see on the big screens.
Marvel Phase 2 (2013-2015)
- Iron Man 3 (May 2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (November 2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (August 2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015)
- Ant-Man (June 2015)
Well, since Marvel Phase 1 introduced the main heroes of the story, Marvel Phase 2 comes back with sequels, a new mission for the Avengers, and a new team called Guardians of the Galaxy, along with an additional hero, Ant-Man (played by Paul Rudd).
A traumatized Tony Stark, Thor finds trouble with some Dark Elves, and Captain America attempts to rescue his brainwashed supersoldier friend from the government.
Though neither the Guardians nor Ant-Man becomes part of the Avengers, they set up for what’s to come once the Avengers find new trouble among their midst, which unravels in Marvel Phase 3.
Marvel Phase 3 (2016-2019)
- 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)
Captain America bands together with Falcon, Bucky, Ant-Man, and Black Widow up against Tony Stark, War Machine, Vision, Spider-Man, and Black Panther in trying to prove who was right.
The Captain believes heroes should have autonomy in doing what's right for the people, which Tony Stark disagrees with. For Stark, especially after witnessing the harm his inventions at Stark Industries could cause, he needs guidance and oversight from the government.
Thor is forced to team up with Loki, alongside the Valkyrie and the Hulk, to go up against their long-lost sister, Hela, the goddess of death. We meet the first ever Avenger Nick Fury took inspiration from in building his band of heroes.
This Marvel Phase 3 is called the ‘phase to end all phases’ for a reason. The Avengers lost to Thanos, as Marvel’s big bad won and snapped half of the universe out of existence.
The original Avengers who didn’t get snapped out of existence are left to defend the universe and bring back everyone from the ashes. Unfortunately, a severe death caused a butterfly effect in Peter Parker’s sequel, leading him to defend himself and stand on his own without the help of the Avengers.
The Multiverse Saga: Marvel Phase 4 (2021-2022)
- WandaVision (2021)
- Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
- Loki Season 1 (2021)
- Black Widow (July 2021)
- What If...? (2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 2021)
- Eternals (November 2021)
- Hawkeye (2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021)
- Moon Knight (2022)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 2022)
- Ms. Marvel (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (July 2022)
- I Am Groot (2022)
- She-Hulk (2022)
- Werewolf By Night (2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 2022)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special (2022)
The emergence of the multiverse takes center stage in the MCU this Marvel Phase 4. This Marvel Phase kickstarts with the first Disney+ series, which includes WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki.
Loki Season 1 sets the clock for the next Marvel big bad after the death of He Who Remains: Kang the Conqueror, in his venture to branch out the multiverse for his own accord.
We also uncover the existence of the Eternals, one of the most prominent guardians that could surpass the likes of Thanos and then some.
More new heroes emerge this Marvel Phase 4, which include Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Black Widow, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals characters, Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac), and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The Multiverse Saga may have been the most highly anticipated saga in the franchise, but fans had unfortunately started developing Superhero Fatigue as the MCU quality started sinking during these times, too, leading to low viewership and support, especially among loyal fans.
Marvel Phase 5 (2023-2024)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 2023)
- Secret Invasion (2023)
- Loki Season 2 (2023)
- The Marvels (November 2023)
- What If...? Season 2 (2023)
- Echo (2024)
- Deadpool & Wolverine (July 2024)
- Agatha All Along (2024)
- What If...? Season 3 (2024)
- Captain America: Brave New World (February 2025)
- Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 (2025)
- Thunderbolts* (May 2025)
- Ironheart (2025)
The beginning of a new era, where the original Avengers are no longer a part of the overarching stories, and the franchise starts to gradually pass on the torch to a new batch of heroes.
Although Marvel Studios has definitely hit a snag in the progression of Marvel Phase 5, this phase holds a promising future for what the new Avengers team will turn out to be.
Quantumania introduced the Multiverse's abundance of Kang the Conqueror's powers and variants, but this overarching villain got scrapped after dealing with the actor's (Jonathan Majors) controversies.
Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 sets the bar on which new guardians are expected to be seen in the next films; The Marvels became a dry run on how Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau's Photon.
Deadpool & Wolverine made the X-Men emergence possible as they join the MCU franchise; Captain America 4 sets the new tone for the Falcon, aka Sam Wilson, wielding the Vibranium shield as he takes the mantle.
Lastly, Thunderbolts* adds a new team to the roster, a group of reformed villains banding together to replace the Avengers: Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, and U.S. Agent (the demoted Captain America replacement).
Marvel Phase 6 (2025-2027)
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 2025)
- Eyes of Wakanda (2025)
- Marvel Zombies (2025)
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 2026)
- Avengers: Doomsday (December 2026)
- Avengers: Secret Wars (December 2027)
The Fantastic Four is literally the first step of having the MCU add more superheroes and supervillains; apart from the first family, the film included the primary antagonists: Cosmic, Mole Man, and Subterranean, with Galactus as the looming threat.
As of writing, Marvel Phase 6 is building the MCU, especially the original Avengers, coming face-to-face against Doctor von Doom, who will be played by Robert Downey Jr., the original Iron Man.
What remains to be seen is whether this Doctor Doom will be a variant of the villain or an antagonistic variant of Tony Stark, their deceased comrade.
But if being pressured into watching the Marvel Phases is not your cup of tea, our second recommended watch time is everything according to the current MCU timeline, which might make it easier for new fans to follow.
Watch Order: MCU Timeline Order Explained
Why You Should Watch The MCU By The MCU Timeline Order
You may have heard of the MCU Timeline order (credits via GamesRadar) by now. And no, it is not dependent on the Marvel Phases.
The MCU Timeline starts off with the introduction of Captain America, how the Avengers came to be in Captain Marvel, up to how the Avengers lost the universe, bringing the Multiverse on the map.
It is also worth mentioning that this MCU Timeline watch order includes TV shows outside the official franchise roster; this includes proper timeline placements of Jessica Jones, Daredevil (before Born Again), The Punisher, and other similar shows.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the acronym suggests, is pretty much bringing the Marvel Comics to life in theaters, and with the multiverse now circulating the franchise, it’s only a matter of time before we get to see more heroes added into the MCU roster.
The MCU Timeline is often preferred by fans, considering it’s a different perspective to start the universe off with. And if you’ve got theories you want to prove, this might be the watch order you’re looking for.
Apart from following the official timeline of when each MCU hero and story occur, the MCU timeline gives off a more accurate depiction on following how Marvel Studios decided to tell the story from start to finish.
- Eyes of Wakanda (1260 BC-1896 AD)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (1943-1945)
- One Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
- Fantastic Four: First Steps (1960s - Alternate Universe)
- Captain Marvel (1995)
- Iron Man (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- The Incredible Hulk (2010)
- One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2010)
- Thor (2010)
- One Shot: The Consultant (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- One Shot: Item 47 (2012)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- One Shot: All Hail the King (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2014)
- I Am Groot seasons 1-2 (2014)
- Daredevil season 1 (2014)
- Jessica Jones season 1 (2015)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Daredevil season 2 (2015)
- Luke Cage season 1 (2015)
- Iron Fist season 1 (2016)
- Marvel's Defenders (2016)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Widow (2016)
- Black Panther (2016)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
- The Punisher season 1 (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016-2017)
- Jessica Jones season 2 (2017)
- Luke Cage season 2 (2017)
- Iron Fist season 2 (2017)
- Daredevil season 3 (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- The Punisher season 2 (2017)
- Jessica Jones season 3 (2017)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2018-2023)
- Loki (outside our concept of time, but its existence might be around here)
- Loki season 2 (outside our concept of time, but its existence might be around here)
- What If…? (somewhere in the multiverse timeline)
- WandaVision (2023)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2023-2024)
- Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2024)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2024)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
- Eternals (2024)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2024)
- Hawkeye (Christmas 2024)
- Moon Knight (2025)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
- Echo (2025)
- She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (2025)
- Secret Invasion (2025)
- Ms. Marvel (2025)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
- Werewolf By Night (2025)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2025)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2025)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2026)
- Secret Invasion (2026)
- The Marvels (2026)
- Deadpool and Wolverine (2026)
- Agatha All Along (2026)
- Daredevil: Born Again (2027)
- Captain America: Brave New World (2027)
- Thunderbolts* (2027)
So, Which Watch Order Should I Start With The MCU?
Overall, it honestly depends on you as the viewer. Take into account that the MCU has existed for a long, long time; there is a chance you have already been spoiled in the previous films and series, as well as the MCU storyline.
However, spoilers don’t always get rid of the fun. Try out these different watch orders, and you’ll see the MCU in a different light, as many MCU fans have recommended.
Either way, enjoying the MCU franchise is the most important goal here. You might want to kick it down a notch if you want to prevent yourself from experiencing superhero fatigue.
Not to mention, since Marvel Phase Six continues to get its delayed releases and filming cancellations, the most you can do now is wait around and take your time immersing in the world of Marvel.
You can watch all Marvel movies and series on Disney+.
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