The Marvel Cinematic Universe has peaked with Avengers: Endgame, which is on track for a historic opening weekend in cinemas.
It brings to a climax the 22-strong series of Marvel’s Infinity Saga, which began in 2008 with Iron Man.
In what order should you watch the movies in the series?
Below are a couple of suggestions – based on release chronology, and timeline chronology.
MCU release order
This is the order in which the MCU movies have been released.
- Iron Man
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- The Avengers / Avengers Assemble
- Iron Man 3
- Thor: The Dark World
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Captain 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
Even though it’s not entirely in chronological order in terms of its storylines, this order does make the most sense: it’s the one most fans have experienced the saga in, and seeing Captain Marvel – which is set in the 1990s – immediately before Endgame is beneficial in that it introduces fans to Carol Danvers right before she joins the others.
But what about if you want to watch them in story timeline order?
MCU chronological order
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain Marvel
- Iron Man
- The Incredible Hulk
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- The Avengers
- Iron Man 3
- Thor: The Dark World
- 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
- Doctor Strange
- Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Black Panther
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Endgame
The MCU timeline has been famously hard to decipher over the years, with Spider-Man: Homecoming in particular proving hard to place.
But the above gives at least a rough guide as to how the films line-up chronologically.
At the very least, we know that Thor: Ragnarok leads directly into Avengers: Infinity War, which happens at roughly the same time as Ant-Man and the Wasp.
There’s one more film to go in this era: Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Bosses had previously indicated that it picks up just moments after the conclusion of Endgame, but speculation has also mounted that it could be a prequel.
Whatever the case, it remains to be seen where Marvel will officially take things after that – with rumours of The Eternals and a Black Widow prequel still pending official confirmation.
Avengers: Endgame is out now.