How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in story order
The latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe hits theaters on November 11th with the highly anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. If you are looking to get into it for the first time or just conduct your most recent rewatch, we’re here to help with how to watch all 36 entries of the MCU timeline in chronological order.
Some will just jump right in and watch in the order the movies were released (aka Release Order), but I am a massive proponent of going in chronological order (aka Story Order). There aren’t many big changes, but it allows the Infinity Saga to flow much more smoothly (and helps keep the journey of the Infinity Stones in order).
Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain Marvel jump to the front of the queue for two of the biggest changes. First Avenger is set in the 1940s during World War II, and Captain Marvel takes place in the grunge-era 1990s. The best adjustment in going Story Order is probably bumping Black Widow up into the timeline where it fits — after Captain America: Civil War — rather than having it fall into its Release Order position — after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
After Endgame, the rigidity of order loosens up slightly as a lot of the Disney+ shows take place concurrently, so I listed them here how I prefer to watch.
Please note that I did not include Agents of Shield or any of the Marvel Netflix shows as the answer as to whether they are OFFICIALLY canon or not is pretty hazy. The introduction of Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdoch (aka Daredevil) and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin has blurred that line a little as they reprise their roles from the Daredevil Netflix series.
Here is the way to go if you want to consume the MCU in Story Order:
Captain America: The First Avenger Captain Marvel Iron Man Iron Man 2 The Incredible Hulk Thor The Avengers Thor: The Dark World Iron Man 3 Captain America: The Winter Soldier Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Avengers: Age of Ultron Ant-Man Captain America: Civil War Black Widow Black Panther Spider-Man: Homecoming Doctor Strange Thor: Ragnarok Ant-Man and the Wasp Infinity War Endgame Loki (Disney+ series) WandaVision (Disney+ series) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+ series) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Eternals Spider-Man: Far From Home Spider-Man: No Way Home Hawkeye (Disney+ series) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Moon Knight (Disney+ series) She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Disney+ series) Ms. Marvel (Disney+ series) Thor: Love and Thunder