How to watch every Marvel property in the perfect order – CNET

You’ve probably seen most of Marvel’s films, but what about the TV shows?

If you’re like me, that is to say a continuity junkie, timelines are very important to you — but timelines in the world of comics and movies can be more than a little confusing. 

Editors’ note, Dec. 31, 2017: We updated our biggest update ever to give some updates on updated dates, especially with all the new shows premiering soon (or announced, or pushed) and with even more upcoming films. Think you’ve found a mistake? Let me know in the comments!

So to either help you fill in the gaps before “Avengers: Infinity War,” to just watch all the shows for fun, or even merely try to impress your friends, we’ve created a timeline of Marvel’s Phase 1, 2 and 3 (and bits of 4) properties in the perfect viewing order.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it’s called, also sometimes includes connected properties such as movie tie-in comics or shorts. Here we’ve left out smaller properties and stuck to the big two: films in red, shows in black. 

Also, you should definitely still note that “The Incredible Hulk” is still skippable (we even watched it recently just to confirm) and even William Hurt (“Thunderbolt” Ross himself) has admitted it. Speaking to IGN, Hurt said that “[Ross in ‘Civil War’] is different because it’s a different style…And what they’ve done is they’ve taken a character who was the Ross from the older film and made a new version. This is a much newer Ross. A much different Ross.” After watching both, we can confirm this is indeed the case.

You’ll also notice that shorts and the Marvel “One-Shots” are missing from the graphic. These are brief videos initially created as standalone stories to provide backstory for characters or things seen in the movies; two of them would later become full-fledged shows.

Marvel One-Shots

Title, release date	Takes place…
The Consultant (Sept. 2011)	During the end of “Incredible Hulk”
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (Oct. 2011)	Directly before “Thor”
Item 47 (Sept. 2012)	Immediately following the Battle of New York in “Avengers”
Agent Carter (Aug. 2013)	One year after “Captain America: The First Avenger;” before “Agent Carter”
All Hail the King (Feb. 2014)	Roughly two years after “Iron Man 3;” before “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Marvel Webisodes

Continuity in the MCU

There’s definitely some continuity strangeness when you have both movies and television show properties, and those listed on the graphic are no exception.

Season 1 of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” saw the release of two Marvel movies and had to contend with incorporating those plots. Airing after the release of “Thor: The Dark World,” episode 8 of “S.H.I.E.L.D.” definitely takes place directly after those events. 

Later in the same season, episode 16 aired the same weekend as the release of “Captain America: Winter Solider,” and in a neat bit of continuity, the events portrayed on “S.H.I.E.L.D.” take place at almost the same time as the film. (Some people say episode 16 comes before “Winter Soldier,” and you can certainly treat it as such. The *absolute* best way to watch them would be simultaneously, but have yet to see anyone make that “fan edit.”)

Netflix’s “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones” also have wibbly-wobbly timelines. Early in the series, the Battle of New York is referenced as The Incident, and it’s said that it occurred about two years prior. But because of the show’s lack of interaction with any big-screen Marvel characters, it could take place almost anywhere on the timeline between “Thor: A Dark World” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” In our timeline, we placed it concurrent with the second season of “S.H.I.E.L.D.” so as to stay closer to the time it was actually released.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is higher up than you may have expected — that’s because of the number of years the film says have passed, meaning it takes place just a few months after the first film. 

Finally, many commenters feel that “Doctor Strange” should come before “Winter Soldier,” and they cite the scene with Jasper Sitwell on the roof naming Stephen Strange. But to be honest, this one has a better explanation as “the algorithm was right on the money with Strange” rather than “he was already a sorcerer” by then. In fact, one IGN editor has a pretty great breakdown of why this is exactly the case here.

It could probably go either way but all signs point to “Strange” taking place afterward. (But with time manipulation up for grabs now, who really knows??) 

Upcoming films

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told me is very important to Marvel: “You look at any of our films and they’ve been very diverse,” he said. “We feel like we’re just doing justice to the books by representing that fully.”

And after “Thor: Ragnarok” this weekend, the slate of MCU films does look a bit more diverse. “Black Panther” comes out in February 16, 2018, and is the first Marvel film with a POC as the lead, with Chadwick Boseman as the title character. The film also stars Michael B. Jordan (“Creed”), Lupita Nyong’o (“Queen of Katwe”), Danai Gurira (“The Walking Dead”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”), Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker — the list goes on, but hopefully you get the idea. 

Check out our CNET Magazine feature on Boseman, that accent and the power that is Black Panther.

“Avengers: Infinity War” drops May 4, 2018. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo say there are some unexpected characters and, oh, it’s basically a heist movie with Thanos at the center of it all.

With “Infinity War,” the biggest new element to the movie is Thanos and the fact that he’s entering the storytelling in a very bold, strong way, to the degree that he’s almost one of the leads. We’ve shaped an interesting narrative around him that in some ways leans heavily on a heist film in the fact that he’s going after the infinity stones in a much bolder, successful way than he has in the past. The entire movie has that energy of the bad guy being one step ahead of the heroes. We looked at a lot of movies that had that heist-style energy to them, [and] that brought some inspiration.

For more info on the next Avengers film, check out Erin Carson’s interview with the brothers. 

“Ant-Man & the Wasp,” starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily, is set for a July 2018, making it the first film to give title billing to a woman. And let’s not forget that Brie Larson will be playing Carol Danvers in 2019’s “Captain Marvel.”

With “Avengers: Infinity War” set for a May 2018 release, what’re the odds we’ll see Larson’s character well before her own film arrives? (I’d say pretty good.)

On the small(er) screen

Netflix’s Marvel shows still rule outside of the theaters, but ABC attempted to jump back into the game with “Inhumans” this fall but poor ratings mean any whisper of a second season is gone. The fifth season of “S.H.I.E.L.D.” has taken our heroes to the future (literally), but no word yet on its own.

New Marvel shows are now pretty consistently popping up, but only some are within the MCU canon. Next year, “Cloak & Dagger” is set to premiere on ABC’s young adult channel Freeform — it still has no premiere date, but there is a trailer. “Marvel’s New Warriors” was originally intended for the same network next year, but in November THR revealed it was being shopped to other networks. It currently has no air date.

Also, “Marvel’s Runaways” launched on Hulu recently; essentially the series centers on a group of teenagers who come together to defeat their evil parents.  

As for Netflix-Marvel properties, for the most part these series have fared better than the ABC projects. Speaking to CNET Magazine, Mike Colter mentioned that the humanity of Luke Cage and The Defenders is a big part of what he thinks resonates with people.

“A big part of what separates the Netflix kind of Marvel Cinematic Universe from the films is its ability to stay away from ‘quote, unquote’ superheroes, mysticism and alien interference. So yeah, I feel like it’s got its own audience. Our characters you know, we do tread some of the same territories as people [in real life]… We’re doing something different — not better, but just different. You can have both.”

Here’s where those Netflix properties stand as of now:

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The growth of the Marvel universe is extraordinary (har-har), and as the comics giant introduces new fans to new characters (some people had no idea who Doctor Strange was a couple of years ago) and partners with cable television and Netflix to expand even further, we could see some pretty epic pairings, teams and characters come out of the woodwork.

So, be honest. Which characters would you want to see in Marvel’s not-yet-announced-but-certainly-inevitable next phases on both the small and big screen?

This piece was originally published April 30, 2015, and is updated sporadically.