Follow The Marvel Saga In Chronological Order: MCU Timeline

Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) closed after the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). This means that we have phase Five to look forward to in 2023, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania coming up in February 2023. If you are wondering how to catch up to the new Marvel movie or where the Loki series fit into the timeline, we have got you covered in this article! Or if you are planning to watch the entire Marvel films and TV shows in order, this article is your guide!

Before we start, there’s one important ingredient we are missing for your Marvel binge-fest: an internet connection. Make sure you have a connection that offers faster internet speeds, seamless connectivity, and consistent connectivity. On that account, we recommend reaching out to Xfinity customer service for affordable internet plans. You don’t have to be interrupted mid-stream by lags now, do you?

Moving on, let’s first learn about the different phases in the Marvel series, before you can move on to find out their correct order.

MCU Phases

The MCU phases are a distinct part of the Marvel series; showing how the story started in the first three phases – introduction and background story of major heroes – to getting intense and building up in the later phases.

Phases 1-3 were called the Infinity Saga.

Movies featured in Phase 1 (2008 -2012):

The first phase of MCU brought an introduction of new heroes, starting with Iron Man, followed by other legendary Avengers namely Thor, Hulk, and Captain America:

• Iron Man
• The Incredible Hulk
• Iron Man 2
• Thor
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• The Avengers

Movies featured in Phase 2 (2013 -2015):

The second phase shows character development along with hints of the threats growing i.e. Thanos. They did face low-key threats in the Age of Ultron and defeated them only to come together as one team.

• Iron Man 3
• Thor: The Dark World
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Ant-Man

Movies featured in Phase 3 (2016 -2019):

The team experienced a fracture in the third phase, but there was an introduction of new heroes, such as Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Doctor Strange. The team came face-to-face with their biggest threat ever, Thanos.

• 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
• Spider-Man: Far From Home

Now here comes phase 4-6, called the Multiverse Saga.

Movies featured in Phase 4 (2021-2022)

In phase four, more new heroes were introduced, though, in Black Widow, it’s not the Black Widow that’s new, but rather her sister Yelena Belova. There was a lack of major teaming-up moments for the Avengers, but the story was still lined up in how MCU wanted to build their sagas.

• Black Widow
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
• Eternals
• Hawkeye
• Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Thor: Love and Thunder
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Movies Featured in Phase 5 (2023-2024):

The movies in phase five have yet to release, and there will be further character development as well as the introduction of new heroes.

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
• The Marvels
• Blade
• Captain America: New World Order
• Thunderbolts

Movies Featured in Phase 6 (2025-2026)

The final phase in the multiverse saga will play out and conclude the story here, and we have yet to see how this one builds up.

• Fantastic Four
• Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
• Avengers: Secret Wars

Are you wondering how you can stream all these Marvel movies? Here, we’ll share a tip: since Disney owns Marvel, if you are a subscriber of Disney Plus streaming services, then you can stream most of the MCU content!

Marvel Movies in Chronological Order:

Now here comes the part where all the MCU movies are played out in a sequence, regardless of their release dates:

• Captain America: The First Avenger (release date: 2011, timeline: 1942)
• Captain Marvel (release date: 2019, timeline: 1995)
• Iron Man (release date: 2008, timeline: 2010)
• Iron Man 2 (release date: 2010, timeline: 2011)
• The Incredible Hulk (release date: 2008, timeline: 2011)
• Thor (release date: 2011, timeline: 2011)
• The Avengers (release date: 2012, timeline 2012)
• Iron Man 3 (release date: 2013, timeline: 2012)
• Thor: The Dark World (release date: 2013, timeline; 2013)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (release date: 2014, timeline: 2014)
• Guardians Of the Galaxy (release date: 2014, timeline: 2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (release date: 2017, timeline: 2017)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (release date: 2015, timeline: 2015)
• Ant-Man (release date: 2015, timeline: 2015)
• Captain America: Civil War (release date: 2016, timeline: 2016)
• Black Widow (release date: 2021, timeline: 2016)
• Black Panther (release date: 2018, timeline: 2016)
• Spiderman: Homecoming (release date: 2017, timeline: 2016)
• Doctor Strange (release date: 2016, timeline: 2016-2017)
• Thor: Ragnarok (release date: 2017, timeline: 2017)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (release date: 2018, timeline: 2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (release date: 2018, timeline: 2017)
• Avengers: Endgame (release date: 2019, timeline: 2017-2022)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (release date: 2021, timeline: 2023)
• Spiderman: Far From Home (release date: 2019, timeline: 2023)
• Eternals (release date: 2021, timeline: 2023)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (release date: 2021, timeline: 2024)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (release date: 2022, timeline 2025)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (release date: 2022, timeline: 2026)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (release date: 2022, timeline: 2026)

This list is purely just to show you how the entire MCU story is played out in a timeline, no matter what their release dates are.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know the correct timeline of how the Marvel story begins and carries on, go ahead and start your binge-watching.

However, if you are new to the MCU, we recommend just watching the entire Marvel saga in their release order, instead of following the timelines. It does make sense to follow the timeline and is incredibly appealing, but we think that it might hamper your entire MCU experience!

If you are an ardent Marvel fan, revisiting the story, you should definitely follow the chronological order!