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Marvel movies in release order, with notes

Every title carries a tag so you can decide what to skip. Essential means the main story depends on it, Recommended adds a lot but you’ll follow without it, and Optional is safe to skip. Each entry also shows its release date and, where known, when the story is set.

Marvel movies in story order

If you’ve seen them before, here’s the same 38 films in the order the story happens, following Marvel’s official timeline:

1. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
2. Captain Marvel (2019)
3. Iron Man (2008)
4. Iron Man 2 (2010)
5. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
6. Thor (2011)
7. Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
8. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
9. Iron Man 3 (2013)
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
12. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
13. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
14. Ant-Man (2015)
15. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
16. Black Widow (2021)
17. Black Panther (2018)
18. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
19. Doctor Strange (2016)
20. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
21. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
22. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
23. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
24. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
25. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
26. Eternals (2021)
27. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
28. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
29. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
30. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
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* (2025)
37. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
38. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

Every other Marvel movie in order

Marvel licensed its characters to other studios for years before the MCU began, and Sony still makes Spider-Man films of its own. None of these are on Marvel’s official timeline, though Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine brought several of their heroes into the MCU through the multiverse.

Live-action theatrical films (39)

1. Howard the Duck (1986)
2. Blade (1998)
3. X-Men (2000)
4. Blade II (2002)
5. Spider-Man (2002)
6. Daredevil (2003)
7. X2 (2003)
8. Hulk (2003)
9. The Punisher (2004)
10. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
11. Blade: Trinity (2004)
12. Elektra (2005)
13. Fantastic Four (2005)
14. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
15. Ghost Rider (2007)
16. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
17. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
18. Punisher: War Zone (2008)
19. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
20. X-Men: First Class (2011)
21. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
22. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
23. The Wolverine (2013)
24. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
25. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
26. Fantastic Four (2015)
27. Deadpool (2016)
28. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
29. Logan (2017)
30. No Good Deed (2017)
31. Deadpool 2 (2018)
32. Venom (2018)
33. Dark Phoenix (2019)
34. The New Mutants (2020)
35. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
36. Morbius (2022)
37. Madame Web (2024)
38. Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
39. Kraven the Hunter (2024)

For single franchises in order, see X-Men, Spider-Man, Venom, Blade and Fantastic Four.

Animated Marvel movies (23)

1. Ultimate Avengers (2006)
2. Ultimate Avengers 2 (2006)
3. The Invincible Iron Man (2007)
4. Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme (2007)
5. Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008)
6. Hulk Vs. (2009)
7. Planet Hulk (2010)
8. Thor: Tales of Asgard (2011)
9. Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013)
10. Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel (2013)
11. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload (2013)
12. Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United (2013)
13. Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)
14. Iron Man & Captain America: Heroes United (2014)
15. Big Hero 6 (2014)
16. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled (2015)
17. Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! (2015)
18. Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell (2016)
19. Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors (2018)
20. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
21. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
22. LEGO Marvel Avengers: Code Red (2023)
23. LEGO Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition (2024)

TV and direct-to-video films (15)

Made for TV, sent straight to video in the US, or (in the case of 1994’s The Fantastic Four) never officially released at all.

1. Spider-Man (1977 TV film) (1977)
2. The Incredible Hulk (1977 TV film) (1977)
3. The Return of the Incredible Hulk (1977)
4. Dr. Strange (1978) (1978)
5. Captain America (1979)
6. Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979)
7. The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988)
8. The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989)
9. The Death of the Incredible Hulk (1990)
10. The Punisher (1991)
11. Captain America (1992)
12. The Fantastic Four (1994)
13. Generation X (1996)
14. Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998)
15. Man-Thing (2005)

More detail on all of these is in Marvel movies outside the MCU, the animated guide and the full movie database.

Which shows are worth adding?

If you’re going films-only but want to add a few series without doubling your watch time, these four do the most work:

• WandaVision: leads directly into Multiverse of Madness.
• Loki Season 1: the multiverse starts here.
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Sam’s road to Brave New World.
• Loki Season 2: how the multiverse holds together going into Doomsday.

The full verdicts are in which Disney+ shows actually matter. For the films of a single hero, see the franchise and character orders.

More ways to plan your watch

Want the full count, specials included? See how many Marvel movies there are, and how long it takes to watch the MCU with or without the shows. If you’re new, the beginner watch order trims the list, our ranking of the best MCU movies points you at the highlights, and the MCU timeline explained shows when each film happens.

Frequently asked questions