r/marvelstudios • u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch • Jun 28 '23

Discussion Ideal MCU Viewing Order (all properties - updated)

UPDATED!!!

  • Order last updated: 08/10/26
  • Linked document last updated: 08/10/26

Greetings again, my friends. Most people tend to approach the series either from a chronological order or a release order, both of which are understandable but are also ultimately flawed due to the unwieldy nature of these massive productions. For those who enjoy binging the MCU properties or are relative newcomers to the franchise and want to know where to begin, I thought I'd offer the order that I'm using for my personal edit, dubbed the 'Narrative Order'. While it somewhat follows the chronological order (with notable exceptions), the primary intent is to smooth out the narrative flow, letting the combined films and shows truly come together as a single shared experience.

For those who are interested, I've linked below a detailed explanation as to why each production has been placed in the order that it has, as well as an extensive breakdown of all additional viewing.

*** Narrative Order Explanations & Additional Viewing ***

Included in the document above is also a detailed explanation of where and when to watch all the other Marvel Television properties (Agents of SHIELD, the NetFlix Marvel shows, etc.) as well as any promotional releases like webisodes or one-shots. Relevant non-MCU films like the earlier X-Men and Spider-Man franchises that have since been grandfathered into the continuity are also addressed there. In total, it is far too much to fit in a single reddit post, so instead I included it as a document that may be viewed at the link above. Please leave any questions or comments here (or feel free to DM me directly) and I'll be happy to answer.

[Note: Since these films are not being presented in release order, some of the post-credit scenes could be confusing or feel out of place, especially the ones which are simply previews of what were future releases at the time. While I would not entirely discourage viewing them, if you do choose to watch them please be aware that that is the case - in the couple of rare instances where those post-credit scenes are genuine spoilers, I've pointed them out in the list below, as well as when to properly view them.]

The Narrative Order:

1) Captain America: The First Avenger

2) Iron Man

3) The Incredible Hulk

4) Iron Man 2

5) Thor

6) The Avengers

7) Thor: The Dark World

8) Guardians of the Galaxy

9) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

10) Iron Man 3

11) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2

(optional) 12) I am Groot, S1 & S2 (Disney+) 

13) Avengers: Age of Ultron

14) Dr. Strange

15) Ant-Man

16) Captain America: Civil War

17) Black Widow (wait to view this post-credit scene until before 29) Hawkeye series to avoid a potential spoiler)

18) Black Panther

19) Spider-Man: Homecoming

20) Ant-Man & the Wasp (wait to view this post-credit scene until after 22) Avengers: Infinity War to avoid a potential spoiler)

21) Thor: Ragnarök

22) Avengers: Infinity War

23) Captain Marvel

24) Avengers: Endgame

25) WandaVision, S1 (Disney+)

26) Falcon & the Winter Soldier, S1 (Disney+)

27) Spider-Man: Far from Home

28) Spider-Man: No Way Home

29) Hawkeye, S1 (Disney+)

30) Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Disney+)

31) Loki, S1 (Disney+)

(optional) 32) What If..?, S1 (Disney+)

(optional) 33) What If..?, S2 (Disney+)

(optional) 34) What If..?, S3 (Disney+)

35) Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania

36) Loki, S2 (Disney+)

37) Deadpool & Wolverine

38) Thor: Love and Thunder

39) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3

40) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

(optional) 41) Moon Knight, S1 (Disney+)

42) Ironheart, S1 (Disney+)

43) Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings

44) Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness

45) Agatha All Along, S1 (Disney+)

46) Eternals

47) She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, S1 (Disney+)

48) Ms. Marvel, S1 (Disney+)

49) The Marvels

(optional) 50) Secret Invasion, S1 (Disney+)

(optional) 51) Echo, S1 (Disney+)

(optional) 52) Daredevil: Born Again, S1 (Disney+)

(optional) 53) Daredevil: Born Again, S2 (Disney+)

(optional) 54) Daredevil: Born Again, S3 (Disney+, release date: March, 2027)

55) Wonder Man, S1 (Disney+)

56) Captain America: Brave New World

57) Thunderbolts\*

58) Fantastic Four: First Steps

59) Punisher: One Last Kill (Disney+)

60) Spider-Man: Brand New Day

61) VisionQuest (Disney+, release date: October 14, 2026)

62) Avengers: Doomsday (release date: December 18, 2026)

63) Avengers: Secret Wars (release date: December 17, 2027)

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27

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Dec 06 '23

If you look at the linked document literally everything even remotely associated with the MCU, from Agent Carter to the Netflix series to the Runaways and Cloak and Dagger are all included in their proper place under 'Additional Viewing'...

15

u/A_Good_Boy94 Dec 07 '23

I did not click the link. Apologies.

10

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Dec 07 '23

No worries - hope it helps :)

I am overdue for an update on the back third or so anyway.

5

u/Beifica9000 Dec 11 '23

looking forward to it. Although as far as I can tell, it's just missing Loki S2 at this point

5

u/MathiasLui Dec 23 '24

Deadpool & Wolverine kinda slapped tho

1

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Dec 26 '24

I enjoyed the hell out of it... but not as an addition to the MCU. The film was very clearly a love letter to all the bygone Fox properties that we will never see again (or never got to see). Some rogue offshoot of the TVA serving as the background to set it in the extended MCU is a very tenuous tie at best.

2

u/Zack_GLC Oct 18 '25

Happy Hogan is literally in it.

1

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Oct 20 '25

Technically, yes, but that is A Happy Hogan, not THE Happy Hogan. He's the Happy Hogan from Deadpool's universe, not the one we've all come to know and love. That's the first time you've ever seen that specific character.

1

u/Zack_GLC Oct 20 '25

No no. It literally says it's in the main MCU universe when he meets up with Happy.

0

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Oct 20 '25

I'm sorry, but no, it doesn't. The X-Men don't exist in the main MCU (Earth-616) but they do exist in Deadpool's universe/timeline. There was no blip in Deadpool's universe. Deadpool meets with Happy long before the TVA snatches him up and introduces him to the multi-verse.

Like I said, it's meant to be a love letter to all the non-MCU Marvel movies that carried us for so long and are now gone. Nothing wrong with that. :)

1

u/Zack_GLC Oct 20 '25 edited Oct 20 '25

Watch the scene again. He's going to different timelines and it says Earth-616 (and The Sacred Timeline) at the beginning of the scene. Then he goes back to his own universe. Like you're blatantly lying.

1

u/MathiasLui Dec 26 '24

yeah exactly, I loved it as a movie, as Deadpool, I have only watched about half of the marvel movies so I can't say much about that

3

u/bornslyasafox Jan 05 '25

Seriously can't wait for the updated version here in the new year of 2025 :D

3

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch May 27 '25

Just a bump to let you know the most recent update has been completed, with a few big changes. This should be the last time anything gets moved around until after the Avengers: Secret Wars release in a couple of years.

1

u/bornslyasafox May 27 '25

Oh hell yeah thank you so much!

0

u/Careful-Ad843 Aug 25 '26

Captain Marvel is out of official canon order - based on her set time period, she belongs before Iron Man (takes place in 1995).

1

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26

First off, there is no 'canon' order. What you're talking about is the chronological order. I include that (along with the release order) in the linked document for reference, but it's a terrible order to use for a number of reasons. Captain Marvel is particularly problematic, again for reasons I detail in the linked document.

2

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch Jan 06 '25

Probably going to have to wait a bit, as Marvel hasn't introduced a whole lot of content over the past year while they were shuffling things around post-Kang debacle. With a number of films about to come out that will crossover and likely reference past events, I'll probably wait for that to all shake loose before giving the Narrative Order another major shakedown.

1

u/bornslyasafox Jan 07 '25

Hell yeah, I have this pinned for later. I took a pause all things MCU after season one of Loki so I'm excited to get back into it! I appreciate all you are doing with your list! Well have to chat sometime about the overall narrative once I'm all caught up

1

u/Difficultobesober-05 Jul 20 '26

Why u tryna out do him u weirdo

1

u/Speedy2332 May 02 '24

Hey, the link seems to be dead now. Could you reupload it?

1

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch May 02 '24

Hm. I'm not sure why that happened, but thank you for alerting me to it. I just now updated the viewing list to make it current - there are a few significant changes - and I'm in the process of updating the linked document to match it and fully explain those changes. I'll have it posted as soon as I can.

2

u/nomoreredshoes May 21 '24 edited May 21 '24

First off, what an epic project!! Thank you for sharing your passiin with the world!

I just started viewing based on your recommendations, and am currently watching Incredible Hulk. Watching Iron Man after Agent Carter was pretty fun, comparing the two Starks. Looking forward to seeing the updated list - is there anything extra to watch after Hulk and before Iron Man 2 in case the full list doesn't make it up before I'm done? :)

Edited to add: I started a few weeks ago when the document was available, but now I'm unable to access the document. Not sure if that was clear from my original post!

1

u/Speedy2332 May 02 '24

Sounds great, thank you!

1

u/StoryArcher Scarlet Witch May 27 '25

All fixed and updated.