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For your first MCU marathon, watch the movies in release order, starting with Iron Man (2008). Release order preserves the character introductions, post-credit teases, reveals, and escalating story that Marvel Studios originally designed for audiences. Chronological order is a good alternative for a rewatch.
As of August 9, 2026, there are 38 released Marvel Studios MCU theatrical feature films. The latest is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opened in U.S. theaters on July 31, 2026. This guide covers those MCU movies—not every film ever based on a Marvel Comics character.
![Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled (Iron Man / The Incredible Hulk / Iron Man 2 / Thor / Captain America: The First Avenger / The Avengers) [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qL8I5oMEL._SL160_.jpg)
Here’s How to Watch Every Marvel Movie in Order
Updated August 9, 2026. Release years and theatrical references below use the U.S. market unless stated otherwise. Streaming availability can change by country and over time.
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What does every Marvel movie mean here?
Marvel can mean several different things. A search for every Marvel movie might refer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, every live-action film based on a Marvel character, all the Spider-Man continuities, or every film released by Marvel-related studios.
This guide uses the most useful definition for a general MCU watch-through: the 38 released Marvel Studios feature films currently treated as part of the MCU’s main film continuity and its connected multiverse. It does not attempt to place every Marvel adaptation ever made into one timeline.
That means the list includes Deadpool & Wolverine, even though it uses characters, footage, and continuity from earlier Fox Marvel films. Those earlier movies remain optional companion viewing. The list does not include Fox’s X-Men series, the Sam Raimi or Marc Webb Spider-Man films, Sony’s Venom and related movies, the animated Spider-Verse films, older Blade movies, or other standalone Marvel adaptations.
Marvel’s official movie database and Disney+ timeline are useful references, but the full Disney+ timeline also includes television series, specials, One-Shots, and Netflix-era Marvel Television shows. Those are covered separately below so that the main movie checklist remains easy to follow.
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Release order is the recommended order for a first viewing. It is not merely a list sorted by year: it reflects when each story was introduced to audiences. The order preserves the intended buildup from Iron Man to the Avengers, the Infinity Saga reveals, and the later multiverse stories.
The sequence below is organized by Marvel’s phases. The years are U.S. theatrical release years. For a release-order reference, compare Marvel’s movie database with the current release-order guide from Rotten Tomatoes.
Infinity Saga: Phase One
- ☐ Iron Man (2008)
- ☐ The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- ☐ Iron Man 2 (2010)
- ☐ Thor (2011)
- ☐ Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- ☐ The Avengers (2012)
Infinity Saga: Phase Two
- ☐ Iron Man 3 (2013)
- ☐ Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- ☐ Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- ☐ Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- ☐ Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- ☐ Ant-Man (2015)
Infinity Saga: Phase Three
- ☐ Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- ☐ Doctor Strange (2016)
- ☐ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- ☐ Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- ☐ Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- ☐ Black Panther (2018)
- ☐ Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- ☐ Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- ☐ Captain Marvel (2019)
- ☐ Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- ☐ Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
These first 23 films make up the Infinity Saga. Avengers: Endgame is its central conclusion, while Spider-Man: Far From Home serves as the final film released during the saga and its immediate epilogue.
Multiverse Saga: Phase Four
- ☐ Black Widow (2021)
- ☐ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- ☐ Eternals (2021)
- ☐ Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- ☐ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- ☐ Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- ☐ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Multiverse Saga: Phase Five
- ☐ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
- ☐ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
- ☐ The Marvels (2023)
- ☐ Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- ☐ Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
- ☐ Thunderbolts (2025)
Multiverse Saga: Phase Six
- ☐ The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
- ☐ Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is an MCU film released in 2025, but its story takes place in a retro-futuristic alternate universe. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the newest released film in this guide and opened in U.S. theaters on July 31, 2026, according to Marvel’s release announcement.
Every MCU movie in chronological story order
Chronological order sorts films by when their main stories happen inside the fictional universe. It is useful for a rewatch, but it is not a perfectly linear order of every scene. Films contain flashbacks, framing sequences, post-credit scenes, time travel, TVA activity, and alternate realities.
The list below is a practical film-only adaptation of Marvel’s current Disney+ chronology. Marvel’s Complete MCU Timeline includes shows and specials between many of these films, so a movie-only list cannot reproduce every placement exactly.
Separate alternate-universe prologue
☐ The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
This film is set in a 1960s-inspired alternate universe, not in the primary MCU timeline. You can watch it first as a prologue, immediately before Avengers: Doomsday as preparation for the Fantastic Four’s crossover, or at the end of the movie list without disrupting the main chronology. Do not insert it between Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain Marvel as though it were an ordinary 1960s chapter of the main MCU.
Main MCU film chronology
- ☐ Captain America: The First Avenger — primarily World War II
- ☐ Captain Marvel — primarily 1995
- ☐ Iron Man — 2008
- ☐ Iron Man 2 — 2010
- ☐ The Incredible Hulk — approximately 2010
- ☐ Thor — approximately 2010
- ☐ The Avengers — 2012
- ☐ Thor: The Dark World — 2013
- ☐ Iron Man 3 — late 2013
- ☐ Captain America: The Winter Soldier — 2014
- ☐ Guardians of the Galaxy — 2014
- ☐ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — shortly after the first Guardians
- ☐ Avengers: Age of Ultron — 2015
- ☐ Ant-Man — 2015
- ☐ Captain America: Civil War — 2016
- ☐ Black Widow — immediately after Civil War
- ☐ Black Panther — shortly after Civil War
- ☐ Spider-Man: Homecoming — 2016
- ☐ Doctor Strange — begins in 2016 and spans roughly a year
- ☐ Thor: Ragnarok — 2017
- ☐ Ant-Man and the Wasp — 2018
- ☐ Avengers: Infinity War — 2018
- ☐ Avengers: Endgame — begins in 2018, then jumps to 2023
- ☐ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — primarily 2024
- ☐ Spider-Man: Far From Home — approximately eight months after Endgame
- ☐ Eternals — mainly 2024, despite its ancient-history flashbacks
- ☐ Spider-Man: No Way Home — late 2024
- ☐ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — after No Way Home
- ☐ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — approximately 2025
- ☐ Thor: Love and Thunder — approximately 2025
- ☐ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — late 2025 or early 2026, depending on how the timeline is interpreted
- ☐ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — after the Guardians Holiday Special and shortly after Quantumania in the current Disney+ placement
- ☐ The Marvels — after Secret Invasion in the complete timeline; for a movie-only watch, place it after Guardians Vol. 3
- ☐ Deadpool & Wolverine — practical placement after The Marvels
- ☐ Captain America: Brave New World
- ☐ Thunderbolts
- ☐ Spider-Man: Brand New Day — approximately four years after No Way Home, around the MCU’s 2028 period
Why chronological order is approximate
- Captain America: The First Avenger: Most of the film occurs during World War II, making it the natural beginning of the primary timeline even though its framing material occurs later.
- Captain Marvel: Its main story is set in 1995, but it was intentionally released much later. Release order therefore introduces Nick Fury differently and preserves the film’s original reveals.
- Eternals: Thousands of years of flashbacks do not move the film to ancient history. Its main contemporary storyline is generally placed around 2024.
- Avengers: Endgame: It begins immediately after the events of Infinity War, then jumps forward to 2023 and revisits earlier periods through time travel.
- Deadpool & Wolverine: The TVA, alternate realities, legacy Fox characters, and non-linear material make a strict calendar position artificial. Placing it after The Marvels is a practical viewing choice, not a claim that every scene occurs after every event in that film.
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps: Its retro-futuristic 1960s setting belongs to another universe. It is not a lost primary-Earth chapter between the first two chronological films.
- Post-credit scenes: A scene may be set later than the film it follows or may assume knowledge of a later release. That is one reason release order remains safer for first-time viewers.
Which order should you choose?
| Viewer | Best order | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First-time MCU viewer | Release order | Preserves introductions, reveals, character development, post-credit teases, and the intended progression. |
| Returning fan | Chronological order | Offers a new perspective on the timeline and character arcs. |
| Preparing for Avengers: Doomsday | Release order for the key connected films, plus selected shows | Gives useful multiverse and character context without requiring every MCU season. |
| Completionist | Disney+ Complete MCU Timeline | Includes movies, series, One-Shots, specials, and Netflix-era Marvel shows in one larger sequence. |
| Spider-Man-only viewer | A dedicated Spider-Man order | The Raimi, Webb, MCU, Sony, and animated Spider-Man films do not form one ordinary linear continuity. |
If you are unsure, choose release order. Chronological order can introduce a character or concept before the movie that originally explained why it mattered. For example, it shows Nick Fury in Captain America: The First Avenger before viewers experience his introductory Iron Man appearance and recruitment role.
Do you need to watch the Marvel shows?
No—not to follow the 38 MCU movies. The films can be watched as a standalone movie sequence. However, some series deepen or directly continue stories that later movies assume the audience may recognize.
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- WandaVision: Important background for Wanda and for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Directly establishes Sam Wilson’s position as Captain America before Captain America: Brave New World.
- Loki seasons 1–2: Important multiverse and TVA context, particularly for the larger Multiverse Saga.
- Ms. Marvel: Useful preparation for Kamala Khan’s role in The Marvels.
- Hawkeye: Develops Yelena and other street-level characters connected to Black Widow and later MCU stories.
- Secret Invasion: Establishes a status quo surrounding Nick Fury and the Skrulls before The Marvels, although its exact position is clearer in the full Disney+ timeline than in a film-only list.
- Daredevil: Born Again: Relevant to the current street-level MCU and its relationship with Netflix’s earlier Daredevil series.
- What If…? and Marvel Zombies: Alternate-reality projects rather than required chapters of the primary live-action film storyline.
Special Presentations and One-Shots
Completionists can also add these shorter projects. They should be treated as an optional expansion, not inserted into the numbered movie list:
- Agent Carter One-Shot
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer
- The Consultant
- Item 47
- All Hail the King
- Werewolf by Night
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Marvel’s current Disney+ Complete MCU Timeline places films, Disney+ series, specials, One-Shots, and Netflix-era shows into a single completionist guide. The exact full order is therefore much longer than 38 entries.
Where to watch the MCU movies in the United States
Availability checked August 9, 2026. Disney+ is the main U.S. hub for Marvel Studios content and provides both an MCU Movie Timeline and a Complete MCU Timeline. Its catalog currently lists Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts, among other MCU titles. You can use Disney+’s Spider-Man movie guide and the relevant U.S. pages for Spider-Man: No Way Home, Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts.
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Catalog rights vary by country and can change even when a film remains part of the MCU. Disney’s own pages warn that content and platform availability may vary by region. Do not assume that every Marvel-branded film—including Fox’s movies, Sony’s full catalog, older Blade films, or all animated projects—is on Disney+.
How to watch the post-credit scenes
Watch through the end of the credits for every movie, especially in release order. Marvel often uses mid-credit and post-credit scenes to introduce a future character, tease the next film, or connect apparently separate stories.
In chronological order, a post-credit scene may refer to a film that was released later or reveal information that release order deliberately held back. If you want to minimize spoilers, watch the entire movie—including its credits scenes—in release order before trying a chronological rewatch.
Useful shortcut orders
Only the Avengers movies
- The Avengers
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Avengers: Doomsday — unreleased as of August 9, 2026
- Avengers: Secret Wars — unreleased as of August 9, 2026
This is a character-event shortcut, not a complete story order. Watching only these films means missing many introductions and relationships that the Avengers movies assume.
Only the Spider-Man films
Spider-Man is spread across several continuities rather than one seamless series:
- Tobey Maguire: the Raimi trilogy.
- Andrew Garfield: the two Amazing Spider-Man films.
- Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man: Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
- Sony’s animated universe: the Spider-Verse films.
- Sony’s other live-action universe: Venom and related films.
Spider-Man: No Way Home connects some of these worlds through the multiverse, but that does not turn every Spider-Man or Sony film into a normal chapter of the MCU’s primary timeline. Disney+ also provides a Spider-Man movies and shows guide for the different groups.
A practical preparation list for Avengers: Doomsday
This is an editorial shortcut, not an official Marvel requirement. It prioritizes the Avengers, multiverse, legacy-character, and current-team context most likely to help before Doomsday:
- The Avengers
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Captain America: Civil War
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Loki seasons 1–2
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Captain America: Brave New World
- Thunderbolts
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day
For more character context, add WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Ms. Marvel. If you want the whole MCU experience rather than a shortcut, use the 38-film release order first.
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What comes next?
Do not add unreleased projects to the 38-film watch checklist. As of August 9, 2026, the next two announced and dated MCU event films are:
- Avengers: Doomsday: scheduled for December 18, 2026.
- Avengers: Secret Wars: scheduled for December 17, 2027.
Marvel’s official Avengers: Doomsday page lists both release dates. These titles are announced and dated, but they are not released movies and should remain separate from the completed checklist. Release plans can change.
Common watch-order mistakes
- Confusing Marvel with the MCU: The 38-film count is not a count of every Marvel Comics adaptation.
- Mixing shows into a movie list: The complete timeline is valuable, but it should not obscure the next feature film for someone who asked for movies.
- Treating alternate universes as ordinary chronology: The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a separate-universe story that connects to the MCU’s future.
- Overstating exact dates: The post-Endgame timeline contains flexible or disputed placements, particularly around Quantumania, Deadpool & Wolverine, and the shows between films.
- Sorting by flashbacks: Place a film by its main narrative, not by its oldest flashback. This matters for Captain Marvel, Eternals, Shang-Chi, and Endgame.
- Using stale streaming advice: No Way Home is currently listed on Disney+ in the United States, while Brand New Day remains a theatrical release as of this update.
- Skipping the credits: Post-credit scenes are part of the intended MCU viewing experience, but their placement can spoil later releases when viewed chronologically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I watch Captain America: The First Avenger or Iron Man first?
Watch Iron Man first if this is your first MCU viewing. Captain America: The First Avenger happens earlier in the story timeline, but release order preserves the original character introductions, Nick Fury’s early setup, and the franchise’s intended reveals.
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Is The Fantastic Four: First Steps part of the MCU?
Yes, it is an MCU feature film and belongs to Phase Six, but its own story takes place in a retro-futuristic alternate universe rather than the primary MCU Earth. Watch it as a separate-universe prologue or after the main films; do not treat it as an ordinary 1960s chapter of the main timeline.
Do I need to watch the old X-Men movies before Deadpool & Wolverine?
No. Deadpool & Wolverine works as an MCU film without requiring every earlier Fox movie. The older X-Men and Wolverine films are optional companion viewing that adds context for legacy characters and references.
Do I need to watch the Marvel shows?
No, not to follow the 38 MCU movies. The most useful optional shows are WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki seasons 1–2, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Secret Invasion, and Daredevil: Born Again. Marvel’s Complete MCU Timeline includes these alongside the films, but a movie-only watch remains valid.
Is Spider-Man: No Way Home on Disney+?
As of August 9, 2026, Spider-Man: No Way Home is listed on Disney+ in the United States. Availability can differ in other countries and may change, so check the catalog for your region.
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How many MCU movies are there?
There are 38 released Marvel Studios MCU theatrical feature films as of August 9, 2026. The count ends with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It does not include MCU television seasons, specials, One-Shots, or non-MCU Marvel films from Fox, Sony, and other studios.
Does chronological order spoil anything?
It can. A chronologically placed film may introduce a character or idea before the audience has seen the movie that originally revealed it, and post-credit scenes can refer to later releases. Use release order if avoiding spoilers is important.
Where do the post-credit scenes fit?
Watch each film’s credits scenes immediately after that film. They were generally designed for release order, so a scene can make more sense—or be less spoiler-sensitive—in the order audiences originally saw it.
Are the Sony Spider-Man and Venom movies included?
No. This guide counts the MCU’s 38 Marvel Studios feature films. Sony’s Venom films, the Raimi and Webb Spider-Man movies, and the animated Spider-Verse films belong to separate continuities, although Spider-Man: No Way Home connects some worlds through the multiverse.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWhat is the shortest useful MCU watch order before Avengers: Doomsday?
Use this editorial shortcut: The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Loki seasons 1–2, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Deadpool & Wolverine, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It is a practical preparation list, not an official Marvel requirement.
The Bottom Line
For a first MCU marathon, start with Iron Man and follow the 38 films in release order. Choose chronological order only if you already know the major reveals or want a different perspective on the timeline. Keep shows, specials, legacy Marvel movies, alternate-universe projects, and unreleased films in clearly labeled companion lists rather than mixing them into the main movie checklist.
