There’s no denying that one of the biggest movie franchises out there is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ever since the first MCU movie came out in 2008, bringing popular Marvel superheroes to life on the big screen, it’s been a roaring success. Even over a decade later, it’s still going strong and has plans to continue into the future with Marvel Phase 5 and 6. As long as they have an audience, which seems likely given its popularity and material to turn into movies, of which there is a lot they have yet to touch, then they should be able to continue for a long time to come.
Update June 12, 2023: The article has been updated to reflect the latest MCU films released in Phase 5.
Though the franchise is, at its core, made of movies, they have begun to branch out into TV shows on Disney+ with Phase 4, filming the ideas that may not be movie-worthy or may need more time than a movie offers to fully flesh out. These may be stories using old heroes we know or brand-new ones that haven’t been seen in live-action before but still tie into the MCU as a whole.
While many of the MCU movies can work as stand-alone films without needing to see them all, as the franchise has grown so large with so many entries per year, it can become overwhelming to keep track of everything. If, for some reason, you haven’t seen all the movies, or you just want to refresh yourself on what’s happened before the next show or movie comes out, take a look at this list to help guide you. The MCU chronology is long and complicated, but this list will organize it by simply putting all of them in order.
Every Marvel Movie In Chronological Order
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The First Avenger is set in the middle of WWII when America was just getting involved. The movie follows sickly Steve Rogers as he tries to find a way into the army. When given the chance to try an experimental super-soldier serum, he becomes not only one of the best soldiers in the army but the world’s first superhero as he fights against the Nazi science division known as Hydra. While released three years after Iron Man kicked off the MCU in 2008, The First Avenger takes place sixty years before Tony Stark becomes Iron Man and acts as an origin story of sorts for the entire universe.
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel takes place several decades after Captain America disappears, with a new hero crashing to Earth in 1995. Carol Danvers was in the middle of fighting off the shape-shifting alien Skrull when she found herself on Earth, quickly discovering she used to have a life there that she doesn’t remember. With the help of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., she finds herself as the only one capable of protecting Earth from the otherworldly threat and looming war, but which side is the bad one? While released in 2019 and a part of Phase Three in the MCU, the film’s setting places it early in the chronology of Marvel movies in order and explains how Nick Fury lost his eye and that Carol Danvers was the inspiration for The Avengers Initiative.
Iron Man
Iron Man brings the MCU back to the present, where, in 2010 (originally 2008 at the time of its release but retconned with later films), rich weapons dealer Tony Stark is kidnaped by terrorists and is forced to build them weapons. Instead, he uses the parts they bring to build a metal suit to escape. He decides to no longer manufacture weapons after discovering they were ending up in the wrong hands and instead begins focusing on refining the suit into something more powerful, hoping to protect the world instead of damaging it. In a post-credits scene, Nick Fury informs Stark of the Avengers Initiative, indicating that the franchise was going to get a lot bigger.
Iron Man 2
After successfully designing the suit and becoming the hero known as Iron Man, Iron Man 2 shows everyone rushing to try and copy Stark’s suit with minimal success. Stark, however, is having his own problems, as the arc reactor in his chest is slowly poisoning him. As he believes he’s going to die soon, he tries to find a way to pass on his legacy safely, while the secret of the arc reactor is closer to being revealed than he realized.Iron Man 2 takes place six months after the events of Iron Man and kicks off what in the MCU is called “Fury’s Big Week” as the events of the movie overlap with two more MCU Phase 1 films: Thor and The Incredible Hulk.
Thor
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Before Thor, Agent Coulson left Stark’s side to go investigate an unidentified object in the middle of New Mexico which places the events of Thor happening right towards the end of Iron Man 2. What he finds there is an immovable hammer that belongs to the disgraced god of thunder, Thor. Thor was cast out from Asgard after causing war and now must live among humans in the town nearby where he and his hammer landed and prove himself worthy. However, life won’t stay as peaceful as it seems, for his brother Loki is after the throne and will stop at nothing in an attempt to get it.
The Incredible Hulk
Bruce Banner takes part in an experiment from the same WWII-era super-soldier projects as Captain America, in The Incredible Hulk. The experiment fails, turning Banner into the giant green Hulk when he’s angry; he goes on the run from the military, not wanting to be a tool of destruction. The government catches up to him though, but when the similarly mutated Abomination goes on a rampage in Harlem, the Hulk is released to stop it. Tony Stark appears at the end, spreading Nick Fury’s message that a team of superheroes is being put together.
The MCU’s black sheep, The Incredible Hulk was the second MCU film released after Iron Man, but chronologically takes place at the same time as Thor and towards the end of Iron Man 2 as the Hulk attack on the college campus is shown on the television screen when Tony Stark meets Nick Fury.
The Avengers
After falling into a dark abyss at the end of Thor, Loki returns in The Avengers, seeking a new place to rule after his plans for Asgard are foiled and decides on Earth. Stealing the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D., he intends to start a war and take over the world.
Only an elite team of heroes could stand a chance to recover the Tesseract and save the planet, and Nick Fury brings together Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow together to form the iconic team: The Avengers. The movie ends with the heroes going their separate ways, setting up their own solo films while a new threat emerges from the shadows with the appearance of Thanos, setting the stage for the Infinity Saga.
Iron Man 3
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Disney
After saving the world from Loki and the Chitauri invasion, Iron Man 3 shows that the battle affected Stark more than he would like to admit. Due to his near-death experience, he now has PTSD, and in trying to cope with it starts to drive a wedge between himself and Pepper Potts.
However, reality knocks on his door when his house is blown up by a terrorist group, and he finds that danger is far from over for him, forcing him to figure out what this group is up to and how to stop them. Iron Man 3 takes place the Christmas following The Avengers, so about six to seven months later, in December 2012. Back To Top
Thor: The Dark World
A new threat awaits Asgard in Thor: The Dark World. Jane Foster, the renowned human scientist, accidentally discovers one of the Infinity Stones, and it possesses her. This stone was highly sought after among the Dark Elves and was thought to be lost to the war, along with the extinction of the elves. However, neither prove to be true, as Thor must find a way to protect Jane and his people from both threats. He might even need to ask his brother for help.
Thor: The Dark World reveals that Thor’s stop on Earth in The Avengers was part of a larger campaign across the Nine Realms to maintain order after Loki destroyed the Bifrost. Future MCU films firmly place Thor: The Dark World as taking place in 2013.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Disney
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rogers is struggling to catch up with the world around him after being frozen for nearly 70 years. He works as an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. after the battle of New York and quickly discovers that his past is not completely behind him, for HYRDA infiltrated the organization long ago and is about to reveal themselves to take over the world. As familiar faces resurface, including Bucky Barnes, an old and presumed dead friend of his, he must find out how to stop Hydra again before it’s too late.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Disney
Guardians of the Galaxy offers a brief break from what’s happening on Earth, as it focuses on the cosmic side of the MCU and delves more into the Infinity Stones, and further establishes Thanos, the main villain of the Infinity Saga. Set in the year 2014, the movie introduces audiences to Peter Quill, who was kidnaped by aliens at a young age and became a Ravager.
Quill finds and steals an Infinity Stone with the intention of selling it for a lot of money but soon finds out it’s not worth the trouble it brings, and Thanos sends Ronan to retrieve it. Teaming up with a couple of misfits, including Gamora (Thanos’ daughter), Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax, they must stop Ronan before he can destroy an entire planet with the stone.
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
Disney
Set a few months after the events of the first film Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 sees the team is still working together but is struggling to work as a unit. Now acting like a mercenary group, they narrowly escape their last employer after angering them with the help of Quill’s previously absent father, Ego. Ego is not all he seems to be, however, as he brings them to his real self, a planet, and they soon discover he had underlying intentions for rescuing them.
The movie introduces Mantis to the MCU, as well as further develops former Guardians of the Galaxy villains Nebula and Yondu into making them full-blown heroes. By the end of the film, the team is more than a collection of criminals but a true family.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Disney
The Avengers team up once again in Avengers: Age of Ultron, initially trying to destroy the rest of the hidden Hydra cells that were out in the world. While reclaiming Loki’s scepter, the powerful Wanda Maximoff, one of Hydra’s experiments, makes Stark hallucinate his worst fear and spurs on what could be his worst decision yet. Thinking the scepter was the key to creating a powerful AI program that could protect the world, he accidentally created their newest threat: Ultron. Now they must find a way to stop him before he can destroy life as they know it.
Avengers: Age of Ultron takes place in 2015, a year after Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The movie also is an important film as it sets up major developments in three different MCU films: Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarök.
Ant-Man
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On the other side of America, Ant-Man shows what is happening on the West Coast in California. Hank Pym, the inventor of the Ant-Man suit, recruits Scott Lang, a recently released convicted criminal, to don the shrinking suit in his place. His old student is close to rediscovering the shrinking tech Pym kept hidden, knowing it would be deadly in the wrong hands.
Lang must help stop him before the tech becomes widespread. Ant-Man takes place shortly after Avengers: Age of Ultron, as references to Sokovia falling out of the sky and the Avengers moving into their new facility are referenced.
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: Civil War starts with the world wanting a restriction to be put on heroes, forcing them to be within the rules of the law after their collateral damage has grown to colossal sizes. Stark is willing to sign the accords, but Rogers has no intention of doing so. After the signing was supposedly bombed by Barnes, who had vanished after Hydra fell apart, Rogers can’t help himself and goes after him outside the accords with a small team, forcing Stark to then go after Rogers for breaking them.
By the end of the movie, The Avengers are disbanded, and many of the characters are set to go off on their own solo adventures. Captain America: Civil War lays the groundwork for the stories told in Black Widow, Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Black Widow
Disney
In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff eludes the US government after becoming wanted for helping Captain America escape and finds a safe house she plans to hide in for as long as she has to. However, her plans are interrupted when her sister, recently freed of the current Black Widow program’s mind control, tries to get help to free the other Widows. Together they must face the past if they have any hope of taking down the Red Room.
While the first film in Marvel Phase 4, Black Widow, gave the character closure after her death in Avengers: Endgame while also using her solo film to bring everything full circle from where audiences would see her in Avengers: Infinity War.
Black Panther
Disney
Black Panther begins shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War. T’Challa’s father died when the signing of the accords was bombed, passing the mantle of king onto him. Now as both the king and Black Panther, T’Challa must learn how to be a leader as his people debate whether to remain hidden or to open up and try to help people around the world. The appearance of an outsider in the kingdom who wants to turn the world into a Wakandan Empire and has a claim to the throne makes it even more difficult.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Sony
Two months after Spider-Man’s first appearance in Civil War on team Iron Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming gives a look into what life is like at home for Peter Parker. While he waits on a response from Stark, hoping to be called to help stop an Avengers-level threat, he cleans up the streets of his neighborhood and discovers a high-tech weapons dealer in the process. As the homecoming dance approaches and Parker struggles with balancing hero work and school, he must make a choice between looking into the weapons dealers more or focusing on his schooling.
Doctor Strange
Disney
Renowned surgeon Doctor Stephen Strange is in a bad car accident at the beginning of Doctor Strange that ruins his hands and his career. Desperate for any kind of cure to stop his hands from shaking and return to his job, he finds himself entering the strange world of magic under the teachings of the Ancient One. However, one of her previous students is currently seeking more power, and Strange accidentally finds himself in the middle of a fight to save the world.
Thor: Ragnarök
Following Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor went across the cosmos to uncover more about the Infinity Stones but found the Nine Realms in chaos, setting up his return home in Thor: Ragnarok. After he began having nightmares of Asgard’s destruction. Loki had taken over the throne of Asgard disguised as Odin without Thor’s knowledge. When Loki’s found out, Thor takes him to find where he left Odin, but they discover he’s dying and was the only thing holding back their deranged sister Hela, who will stop at nothing to gain power over everyone.
Thor crash lands on the Planet Skaar and must find a way off, and luckily encounters a fabled Valkyrie and his old friend, The Hulk, who has been in his Hulk form for two whole years. The trio, along with Loki, must find a way to save Asgard before it is too late. The movie’s mid-credit scene directly sets up the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War.Back To Top
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Disney
In Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott Lang is nearing the end of his house arrest after helping Captain America in Civil War. However, as Pym and his daughter Hope try to figure out the secrets of the quantum realm, he gets caught up in their work once again as he holds the secret to finding Hope’s mother. Now he must avoid being caught out of the house while a new villain tries to steal their gate into the quantum realm.
While Thor: Ragnarök ends right before the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War and the Ant-Man and the Wasp mid-credit scene features the results of the snap, the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp are happening shortly before Avengers: Infinity War.
Avengers: Infinity War
Disney
Avengers: Infinity War finally brings Thanos into play as he tries to collect all the Infinity Stones and bring balance to the universe by destroying half of all life. With the Infinity Stones spread across space, including a few on Earth, a large hero team-up commences, from the Avengers to the Guardians of the Galaxy and solo heroes like Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the entire nation of Wakanda to stop Thanos from getting the stones at all costs. Avengers: Infinity War ends with a massive universe-altering change, as Thanos completes his quest and snaps away half the life in the universe.
Avengers: Endgame
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Though the battle was close, in Avengers: Endgame, the remaining heroes who weren’t snapped away by Thanos (in The Blip) are struggling to deal with their loss. It seems there is no way to bring back those who have vanished until Scott Lang appears five years later, though it had only felt like a few minutes to him. Believing the quantum realm was the secret to time travel, the remaining heroes reunite to try and collect the stones from across time to bring everyone back.
Avengers: Endgame begins in 2018, shortly after the Snap, with the majority of the movie taking place in 2023. Much has changed for the MCU, and by the end of the film, the franchise is in a drastically different place with some classic heroes gone but an exciting new future ahead.
Eternals
In the Eternals, a special group of aliens comes to Earth in the early days of civilization to help protect the people from another alien species, the deviants. They help human civilizations flourish as they kill off the deviants but are sure not to get too involved as they guide humanity through the years.
However, living in present-day London, they realize they’ve only helped the humans grow to bring about the destruction of Earth and that the deviants aren’t gone after all. They must make a choice between completing their task or stopping it to save the humans. Eternals main plot is kicked off shortly after the Blip, with the massive amount of life returning, causing the emergence of a Celestial to speed up.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Disney
A new hero enters the mix in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Shang-Chi had been living peacefully in America before his father, the head of the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings, finds him again. After discovering his father is delusional, believing his dead wife is still around and being kept from him, Shang-Chi teams up with his sister to warn the village their mother was from and help protect them from the evil their father was about to unleash.
By the end of the movie, Shang-Chi is recruited by the Avengers, including Wong, Bruce Banner, and Captain Marvel, who informs him that he is now part of a larger universe and to be prepared.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-Man: Far From Home shows Peter Parker at the end of the school year after being brought back by the Avengers. This places Spider-Man: Far From Home about seven to eight months after Avengers: Endgame, and despite being released directly after, the film would chronologically follow Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (as well as Disney+ series like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier).
As he and the other classmates who were gone finish out the school year again, they decide to take a class trip to Europe, which Peter intends to fully enjoy and forget about being a hero for once. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. gets involved when they think he is the only person who can help them with the growing threat of the Elementals destroying the world.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Sony
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Parker is dealing with the fact that his secret identity was unwillingly revealed, flipping his whole world upside down. The movie picks up immediately after Spider-Man: Far From Home, and a quick montage, in the beginning jumps the film from the end of summer to the holiday season.
Struggling with the new attention, he seeks the help of Doctor Strange to make everyone forget he’s Spider-Man. The spell goes wrong, however, and the multiverse is revealed to them as other Spider-Man villains appear in his universe and begin to attack.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
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Disney
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes place after Spider-Man: No Way Home as the magical sorcerer references the multiverse issues with Spider-Man. The movie follows Doctor Strange trying to protect America Chavez, a young girl with the power to travel the multiverse, from former Avenger turned enemy Wanda Maximoff who has now embraced her destiny as the Scarlet Witch. Strange travels to the multiverse to protect the young girl and learns how to let go of his own wants and desires.
Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder picks up a couple of years after Avengers: Endgame with Thor working alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy, however, when it appears gods are being killed off across the galaxy, Thor goes to investigate. During his travels, he discovers that his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster has been given his powers thanks to his hammer Mjolnir which has reforged for Jane.
Jane Foster is dying of cancer, and the more she uses the hammer, the quicker her cancer spreads. Thor, Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg must travel to stop the villainous Gorr the God Butcher, all while bringing Thor and Jane’s love story to a fitting end that began all the way back in 2011’s Thor.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Disney
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in the year 2024 with the reveal that King T’Challa has died. The film then jumps forward one year later to show how Wakanda has been adjusting without its king or Black Panther. When the underwater civilization of Talokan makes their presence known to Wakanda, and their ruler Namor threatens Wakanda if they do not help him, Princess Shuri must find a way to adopt the mantle of Black Panther and protect her people from a war with another advanced civilization.
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Disney
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania kicked off Phase 5 of the MCU and takes place in 2026, with Scott Lang gaining a higher profile as a public superhero after most of the original Avengers have retired or died. Scott has published his memories but still works in the ice cream parlor. After a public reading of his memories, Scott gets a call to bail out his daughter after she is arrested in an illegal protest.
The whole gang reunites in the Pym household for dinner, and Scott finds out his daughter has been working on building quantum technology with Hank Pym. After being accidentally sent to the quantum realm, Janet reveals she had a fling with Kang the Conqueror, who presented himself as a dimensional traveler but was actually exiled by other Kang variants from the multiverse. Scott must join forces with the inhabitants of the quantum realm to defeat Kang and get back home.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3
Disney
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marks the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set in 2026, a whole twelve years after the Guardians of the Galaxy first resembled in the MCU timeline. It notably takes place a bit of time after Thor: Love and Thunder as Groot has grown past his Teen Groot form. The film focuses on Rocket’s origin at the hands of the High Evolutionary.
The film wrapped up many plotlines, including Peter Quill and the 2014 Gamora variants relationship following the events of Avengers: Endgame, and put many of the Guardians’ storylines to a close while putting many on a new trajectory. It’s an emotional ride that ends this team lineup, leaving a new one in place.
