MCU Watch Order
To watch Avengers: Doomsday, you need 28 of 42 films and 13 of the 19 series.
The essential Marvel watch order before Avengers: Doomsday
Every Marvel film and series in release order
The order the story was built to be discovered in, grouped by Marvel's own Phases.
Phase One (2008–2012)
Infinity Saga · 9 titles- 1Iron Man2008Essential
- 2Recommended
- 3Iron Man 22010Recommended
- 4
Thor2011Essential - 5Essential
- 6Optional
- 7
- 8The Avengers2012Essential
- 9Optional
Phase Two (2013–2015)
Infinity Saga · 8 titles- 1Iron Man 32013Recommended
- 2Optional
- 3Optional
- 4Optional
- 5Essential
- 6Essential
- 7Essential
- 8Ant-Man2015Essential
Phase Three (2016–2019)
Infinity Saga · 11 titles- 1Essential
- 2
Doctor Strange2016Essential - 3Essential
- 4Essential
- 5Thor: Ragnarok2017Essential
- 6Black Panther2018Essential
- 7Essential
- 8Essential
- 9
Captain Marvel2019Essential - 10
Essential - 11Essential
Phase Four (2021–2022)
Multiverse Saga · 18 titles- 1Essential
- 2Essential
- 3Essential
- 4Black Widow2021Recommended
- 5Recommended
- 6Recommended
- 7Eternals2021Optional
- 8Essential
- 9Essential
- 10
Essential - 11Essential
- 12
Essential - 13Recommended
- 14Optional
- 15Essential
- 16Optional
- 17Essential
- 18Optional
Phase Five (2023–2025)
Multiverse Saga · 12 titles- 1Recommended
- 2Essential
- 3Essential
- 4The Marvels2023Essential
- 5
Essential - 6Essential
- 7
Essential - 8Optional
- 9
Listed - 10Essential
- 11Thunderbolts*2025Essential
- 12
Essential
Phase Six (2025–2027)
Multiverse Saga · 8 titles- 1Essential
- 2Optional
- 3Optional
- 4
Essential - 5Essential
- 6
Not out yet - 7
Not out yet - 8
Not out yet
Announced (TBA)
No Phase announced yet · 2 titles- 1Not out yet
- 2
Black Panther 32028Not out yet
Adjacent, and not on the MCU timeline
Worth knowing about · 8 titles- 1
Netflix, not Marvel Studios. Daredevil: Born Again continues it. - 2
Netflix, not Marvel Studios. Daredevil: Born Again continues it. - 3
Deadpool2016Fox X-Men film. Not MCU, but Deadpool & Wolverine assumes it. - 4
Netflix, not Marvel Studios. Daredevil: Born Again continues it. - 5
Netflix, not Marvel Studios. Daredevil: Born Again continues it. - 6
Netflix, not Marvel Studios. Daredevil: Born Again continues it. - 7
Netflix, not Marvel Studios. Daredevil: Born Again continues it. - 8
Deadpool 22018Fox X-Men film. Not MCU, but Deadpool & Wolverine assumes it.
Every Marvel film and series in chronological order
When everything actually happens, rather than when it came out.
Chronological order
Story timeline · 68 titles- 1Optional
- 2Essential
- 3Optional
- 4Essential
- 5Captain Marvel2019Essential
- 6Iron Man2008Essential
- 7Iron Man 22010Recommended
- 8Recommended
- 9
- 10Thor2011Essential
- 11Optional
- 12The Avengers2012Essential
- 13Optional
- 14Iron Man 32013Recommended
- 15Optional
- 16Optional
- 17Essential
- 18Essential
- 19Optional
- 20Essential
- 21Essential
- 22Ant-Man2015Essential
- 23Essential
- 24Optional
- 25Black Widow2021Recommended
- 26Black Panther2018Essential
- 27Essential
- 28Doctor Strange2016Essential
- 29Thor: Ragnarok2017Essential
- 30Essential
- 31Essential
- 32Essential
- 33Optional
- 34Essential
- 35Essential
- 36Essential
- 37Recommended
- 38Essential
- 39Essential
- 40Eternals2021Optional
- 41Essential
- 42Essential
- 43Essential
- 44Recommended
- 45Essential
- 46Essential
- 47Essential
- 48Essential
- 49Essential
- 50Recommended
- 51Optional
- 52Essential
- 53Optional
- 54Essential
- 55Recommended
- 56Essential
- 57Essential
- 58The Marvels2023Essential
- 59Essential
- 60Essential
- 61Listed
- 62Thunderbolts*2025Essential
- 63Essential
- 64Not out yet
- 65Not out yet
- 66Not out yet
- 67Not out yet
- 68Black Panther 32028Not out yet
Titles with no announced placement are held at the end in release order. Chronological is the harder watch for a first time through — it opens in 1943 and spoils Captain Marvel's reveal before Iron Man has happened.
Frequently asked questions
What order should I watch the Marvel movies in?
Release order, starting with Iron Man. It is the order the story was built to be discovered in, and every reveal in the Infinity Saga is timed against it. Chronological order is the better second pass, once you already know who everyone is.
Should I watch Marvel in release order or chronological order?
Release order for a first watch. Chronological order opens on Eyes of Wakanda and moves a major reveal to the front of the run, which is a worse introduction even though it is a tidier timeline. Both orders are listed on this page, so you can switch between them.
Do I need to watch every Marvel movie?
No. 41 of the 68 titles carry the main story; the other 27 fill it in. You can finish the central arc without them and go back afterwards.
How many Marvel movies are there?
42 Marvel Cinematic Universe films and 19 Marvel Studios series, plus 7 shorts and special presentations. Counted apart, because a season is not the same viewing commitment as a film, and a four-minute One-Shot is not either. All of them are listed above, in Phase order.
What should I watch before Avengers: Doomsday?
41 titles. They are marked Essential in the lists above and collected into the route at the top of this page, which tracks what you have already seen.
Where do the Disney+ series fit in the Marvel watch order?
Interleaved with the films by first air date, not gathered at the end. That is why WandaVision sits straight after Avengers: Endgame rather than after the Phase Four films — the films' own continuity refers back to it.
How long does it take to watch all the Marvel movies?
About 86 hours of film across the 42 released features, before any of the series. At two films an evening that is roughly three weeks.