Marvel movies in order: chronological or by release date?

If you are watching the Marvel movies for the first time, start with Iron Man and follow the release order. If you are rewatching them, you can choose the order in which the events happen. For movies and series together, there is a separate table that shows when to watch each season.

The MCU is the Marvel Cinematic Universe: the movies and series whose stories and characters are connected. You can watch them in release order or in the order the events happen. Series and short films only appear in the complete version, along with Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Marvel movies in release order

For a first viewing, start with the release order: the order in which the movies came out in cinemas. You begin with Iron Man and meet the heroes before you see them fight together. Each movie has its release year next to it.

MCU movies in release order

Best superhero movies from Marvel Studios

Marvel movies in chronological order

Chronological order follows when the story of each movie takes place. That is why Captain America: The First Avenger comes before Iron Man. Movies set in other worlds keep the place Marvel gives them in its list.

The movies are the same; only the order changes. Some post-credits scenes, the ones after the list of the crew's names, show what comes next in other movies. On a first viewing, release order helps you keep the surprises.

All MCU movies, in chronological viewing order

Marvel movies and series in chronological order

The complete version puts the movies and series in a single list. If you reach a season of Daredevil, watch that season and move on. You come back to Daredevil when the next season appears.

The seasons of a series can appear in different places in the table. “Short” means a short film, and “Special” means a standalone story, such as Werewolf by Night. Agent Carter here is the short film, not the series with the same name.

The combined MCU timeline: movies, series, short films and specials

Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes place after No Way Home. It comes out before VisionQuest, but the order between these two stories is not confirmed. It is not certain which of them happens first.

Best Marvel TV shows

What about the other Marvel series?

Some Marvel series are missing from the official guide used for the table. You can watch them separately, season by season, and the list of the best Marvel series brings them all together. Recognizing a hero does not tell you exactly between which movies their story takes place.

The series Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Inhumans, Runaways and Cloak & Dagger are missing from this official list. The Marvel guide does not give them a place between the movies, so they are not in the table either.

X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man tell stories from other worlds, with their own versions of the heroes. You can watch them separately. The table follows Marvel's MCU guide; for other superhero movies, see the best superhero movies.

Questions about the order of the Marvel movies

For a first viewing, use the release order. If you also want to follow the series in the order the events happen, choose the complete version. A few cases may seem unclear.

If you have already seen the series once, why we enjoy movies we have already seen explains what you gain from a second viewing.