MCU Watch Order

[Doctor Know]

14 years and 29 movies. Participating in a marathon would be a Herculean gauntlet. Disney+ released a timeline order of the films on their streaming service. This list excludes The Incredible Hulk (Universal) and the Spider-Man Home trilogy (Sony).


Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Ant-Man (2015)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Black Widow (2021)
Black Panther (2018)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)
Avengers: Infinity War (2017)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Eternals (2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)


I made a list adding the Hulk and Spidey movie back in. Do you agree with Disney’s official list, or do you watch the films in their original phase release order?

Disney+ Order


Phase 1-4 Release Order




I am attempting to make an abridged list of the Infinity Saga of the MCU. Since not every movie is essential to the larger narrative. Like The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 3, and Black Widow. And films like Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel coming out at the eleventh hour after Avengers Infinity War reached a point of no return with the Snap. Both films feel like tangents before last call of Endgame.

What do you think?

[80sbaby]

Personally I believe that you should always watch a film series in the order of release. That's how it was meant to be watched and a lot of the easter eggs/foreshadowing/surprises is lost if you view it by in-universe chronology.

However after you've watched them in the release order, it is fun to go back and look at them in various orders. For example, to prepare for Civil War's debut my friend and I watched Ironman 1-3 ,Captain America: TFA, Winter Soldier, Avengers and AoU.

[DrNewGod]

Personally I believe that you should always watch a film series in the order of release. That's how it was meant to be watched and a lot of the easter eggs/foreshadowing/surprises is lost if you view it by in-universe chronology.

Agreed. What the MCU is progressed over time. Release date is the way to go.

[Omega Alpha]

Watching Ant-Man and the Wasp before Infinity War totally spoils the ending of the latter.

[Doctor Know]

Watching Ant-Man and the Wasp before Infinity War totally spoils the ending of the latter.

Only for the after credit scene. Ant-Man and the Wasp’s ending isn’t bad. It leaves the audience with a mystery Infinity War answers.

Captain Marvel has it worse, with it’s post credit scene. It’s so far removed from the rest of the MCU (being set in the 90s) and unlike Captain America The First Avenger, Captain Marvel doesn’t lead into Avengers Endgame very well. Carol’s role in Avengers 4 is so small, that you could literally skip her movie and lose nothing.

[Omega Alpha]

Setting Captain Marvel in the 90's was a very weird choice. Not to mention they did her amnesia plot without Rogue, which can be understandable, since they didn't knew they would get the Fox rights back, but still before we actually knew her personality was...also weird. Just makes you wonder where she has been all this time- OK, she was in space, but neglecting her own planet for decades? Seems too much.

[Doctor Know]

Setting Captain Marvel in the 90's was a very weird choice. Not to mention they did her amnesia plot without Rogue, which can be understandable, since they didn't knew they would get the Fox rights back, but still before we actually knew her personality was...also weird. Just makes you wonder where she has been all this time- OK, she was in space, but neglecting her own planet for decades? Seems too much.

Yeah...

That fact that the recent Ms. Marvel show also brings Carol's absence from Earth up but doesn't try to answer it, but instead makes a joke about it. Demonstrates the powers that be weren't thinking about this lingering question (mystery box) they created at the time and still haven't come up with a satisfactory answer years later.

Considering that nothing about Carol's and original Mar-Vell's origin mandates it being a period piece. Hell, Carol could've been SHIELD test experiment from the Phase 2 plans Tony and Cap discovered in Avengers 1. Where alongside creating Tesseract powered nukes and modern day Tesseract rifles. Fury and the Council did human experiments. At least that would keep her current with the other Avengers and she's been a secret agent of SHIELD ever since.

[hyped78]

I prefer watching with the original release sequence

[Doctor Know]

If you were to make a short list of the MCU movies, how would it look?

The further and further we get away from it, I'm finding a hard time keeping The Incredible Hulk on my watchlist. Recasting the actor really pours arctic water on it being included in the wider MCU. Things not essential to the Infinity Saga like Iron Man 3 and Black Widow are easier to cut from an abridged list.

[choptop]

I thought Black Widow happened right before IW?

[Doctor Know]

I thought Black Widow happened right before IW?

Black Widow happens right after Civil War. With Natasha being a fugitive.

[DanMad1977]

I watched them in both orders, and had more fun with the chronological one. I mean from WW2 to today. I remembered things better that way. And it helps to watch a movie a day instead waiting for the cinematic release.

but I am fine with both.

[WebLurker]

I think release order makes the most sense. The flashback movies, like Captain America, Captain Marvel, or Black Widow either have framing devices that place them in the present and make no sense when taken out of context or carry more weight when positioned where they are (like Black Widow being a flashback after we know her fate).

[Catlady in training]

Another vote for the order in which they were released. Same as Star Wars, or anything with prequels.