What Order to Watch Marvel Movies In

The perfect way to watch Marvel isn't actually one order — it's three orders, depending on what kind of viewer you are.

After 17 years, 38 movies, and a Disney+ library of shows, the MCU is now split into two sagas. The Infinity Saga (Phases 1-3) and the Multiverse Saga (Phases 4-6) are designed differently, so how you watch them matters.

Here is the complete breakdown as of 2026.

1. The Perfect Order for First-Timers: Release Order

If you've never seen the MCU, or you're showing it to someone new, watch it the way it was released. This is how Marvel intended it.

Post-credit scenes are designed to tease the next movie, not the next event in the timeline. Thanos is introduced as a shadow before you know what the Infinity Stones are. You meet Captain America in the 1940s after you've already met Thor and Iron Man, which makes his ending hit harder.

This is also now the official structure Disney+ uses for its phase groupings.

The Complete Release Order (Movies only):

Phase 1

1. Iron Man (2008)

2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

3. Iron Man 2 (2010)

4. Thor (2011)

5. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

6. The Avengers (2012)

Phase 2
7. Iron Man 3 (2013)
8. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
10. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
12. Ant-Man (2015)

Phase 3
13. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
14. Doctor Strange (2016)
15. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
16. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
17. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
18. Black Panther (2018)
19. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
20. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
21. Captain Marvel (2019)
22. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
23. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Phase 4
24. Black Widow (2021)
25. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
26. Eternals (2021)
27. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
28. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
29. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
30. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Phase 5
31. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
32. Guardians of the Galaxy】 Vol. 3 (2023)
33. The Marvels (2023)
34. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
35. Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
36. Thunderbolts* / The New Avengers (2025)

Phase 6
37. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
38. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

Next up: Avengers: Doomsday (Dec 2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (Dec 2027) will close the Multiverse Saga.

2. The Perfect Order for Rewatches: Chronological Timeline Order

Once you know the big twists, chronological order is incredibly rewarding. You see history unfold. As of March 2026, Disney+ updated its official timeline to start not with Captain America, but with an animated series.

This order includes where each story is set, not when it was released:

The Distant Past:

1. Eyes of Wakanda - 1260 BC to 1896 AD - the new earliest point in the Sacred Timeline

2. Captain America: The First Avenger - 1942-1945

The Pre-Avengers Era:
3. Agent Carter / One-Shot: Agent Carter - 1946-1947
4. The Fantastic Four: First Steps - 1964, but on an alternate Earth called Earth-828
5. Captain Marvel - 1995

The Modern MCU (2010 - 2016):
6. Iron Man (2010)
7. Iron Man 2 / The Incredible Hulk / Thor - all 2011
8. The Avengers (2012)
9. Iron Man 3 (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
10. Guardians 1 & 2 (2014)
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron / Ant-Man (2015)
12. Captain America: Civil War / Black Widow / Black Panther / Spider-Man: Homecoming - all set in 2016

The Infinity War Era:
13. Doctor Strange (2016-2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
14. Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2018 / 2023)

Post-Blip (2023 onwards):
15. WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Shang-Chi, Eternals, Spider-Man: Far From Home & No Way Home - all 2023-2024
16. The rest of Phase 4-5 shows and films flow from there, up to Thunderbolts* in 2027 and Spider-Man: Brand New Day in 2028 in-universe

Pro tip: Shows like Loki happen "Outside Time" and What If...? is in various timelines, so slot them after Endgame whenever you need a multiverse break.

3. The REAL Perfect Order: The Essentials Cut (22 Films)

Don't have 100+ hours? This is the list most fans recommend to get the main story without homework. It covers every Infinity Stone, every Avengers film, and all the setup for Doomsday.

Iron Man (2008)
Thor (2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Ant-Man (2015)
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Black Panther (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
WandaVision (2021) - series
Loki Season 1 (2021) - series
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - introduces Kang
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Loki Season 2 (2023)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Thunderbolts* (2025)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

This list is similar to Popverse's own "Best Marvel Watch Order for New Fans" that trims the 37-film saga to its core beats.

So which should YOU choose?

• First time ever? Release Order. No question.

• Second time, or you love history? Chronological Order.

• You want to catch up before Doomsday in December? The Essentials Cut.

Watch in Release Order once for the emotional payoff that Marvel Studios spent 10 years building, then rewatch in Chronological Order to appreciate how they retrofitted everything together.