As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, those looking to further immerse themselves into the superhero world might find watching the films in chronological, or timeline order versus release order helpful.
In order of release, the films came out in phases. The Infinity Saga has three phases. Phase one consists of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers.Phase 2 containsIron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Phase Three containsCaptain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
The Multiverse Saga contains two planned phases so far. Phase Four has reached completion withBlack Widow, 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 ThunderandBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever. Phase Five so far includesAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,andThe Marvels.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with release order, as watching the movies in that way exposes a viewer to how the MCU evolved over time as did CGI. To trace character arcs and how all the installments stack up in terms of the order of the story, though, chronological order will help examine the easter eggs and post credits in a new light.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
It all stars with Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger which came out in 2011.
CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
Brie Larson starred inCaptain Marvel, which comes next in the timeline even though it was released in 2019.
IRON MAN (2008)
Robert Downey Jr. brought Tony Stark into the mix in Iron Man (2008).
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)
William Hurt appeared inThe Incredible Hulk (2008) alongside Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner before Mark Ruffalo took on the green monster mantle.
IRON MAN 2 (2010)
Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle starred in 2010’s Iron Man 2.
THOR (2011)
Chris Hemsworth entered the fray as Thor in 2011.
THE AVENGERS (2012)
The Avengers originally consisted of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk when the first film came out in 2012.
IRON MAN 3 (2013)
Robert Downey Jr. reprised the role of Iron Man inIron Man 3.
THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)
Chris Hemsworth came back as Thor inThor: The Dark World (2013).
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)
Dave Bautista, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt and more make upGuardians of the Galaxy, who were introduced in 2014.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Zoe Saldaña, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista reprised their roles inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)
Chris Evans portrayed Captain America inAvengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
ANT-MAN (2015)
Paul Rudd came on the scene as Ant-Man in 2015.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
Sebastian Stan came back as Bucky Barnes inCaptain America: Civil War afterCaptain America: The Winter Soldier.
BLACK WIDOW (2021)
Scarlett Johansen’s Natasha Romanoff got a film installment all to herself in 2021.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
Tom Holland entered the MCU as Peter Parker in the first of three films:Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017.
BLACK PANTHER (2018)
Chadwick Boseman played T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) inBlack Panther (2018).
DOCTOR STRANGE (2016)
Benedict Cumberbatch brought Dr. Strange to life in the 2016 film.
THOR RAGNAROK (2017)
Thor’s third MCU installment was 2017’sThor Ragnarok.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018)
Ant-Man and the Wasp came out in 2018 introducing Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)
InAvengers: Infinity War, an army amasses including (L-R)Danai Gurira as Okoye, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, 2018.
AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)
In 2019, the world forever changed with this epic scene preceded by the words, “Avengers, assemble!”
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)
Jake Gyllenhaal played the villain in Tom Holland’s secondSpider-Manfilm in 2019.
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021)
Michelle Yeoh played Ying Nan and Simu Liu played Shang-Chi in the 2021 film.
ETERNALS (2021)
The cast of Eternals included (L-R) Lauren Ridloff, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Lia McHugh, Ma Dong-seok, Angelina Jolie, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan.
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021)
Zendaya and Tom Holland inSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022)
Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda is a villain of sorts inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
Natalie Portman reprised her role of Jane, aka Mighty Thor, alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Dorothy Steel, Florence Kasumba, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (2023)
Kathryn Newton and Paul Rudd starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
MCDGUOF WD040
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 focused on Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) in 2023.
THE MARVELS
The Marvels starred Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel in addition to Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.
Must Read Stories
Eyes $85M- $90M 2nd Frame To Become Top Pic Of 2024; Near $500M Global
Kevin Costner Not Returning For Final Episodes; Premiere Date Set
Alec Baldwin Again Fails To Get Case Tossed; Armorer Won’t Have To Testify At Trial
‘Bikeriders’ Filmmaker Jeff Nichols Talks ‘Sling Blade’: The Film That Lit My Fuse
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.
