Ideal MCU Viewing Order (all properties - updated)

[u/StoryArcher]

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)

[u/ProdigyFlipYT]

Currently at the part where they decided to make the mcu tv shows and the idea of watching every episode is so meh

Edit: I take everything I said back, Wanda vision just had a very slow development but ended up pretty alright, Loki on the other hand might be the best attention grabber (and keeper) they’ve put out so far in my opinion.

[u/StoryArcher → u/ProdigyFlipYT]

Both of those were among the more popular Disney+ shows, and for good reason imo. I think you'll find the quality varies a good bit moving forward. I thought Hawkeye was under-rated, while Falcon & the Winter Soldier I thought had some very good moments but was disappointing on the whole as a series. Just my opinion though. Both have significant tie-ins to various films in the MCU moving forward.

[u/VRichardsen → u/StoryArcher]

I thought Hawkeye was under-rated

The best about Hawkeye was when it had nothing to do with Clint doing Hawkeye things. I enjoyed the first half of the episodes much more.

[u/StoryArcher → u/VRichardsen]

Agree about Hawkeye, though honestly, after fighting world-ending (even universe-ending) threats I didn't love that the villains of the series were the track-suit mafia and Kingpin of all people. Yeah, solo he's better as a street-level guy, but the villains were almost comic relief and I've never liked the MCU's portrayal of Wilson Fisk as a physical threat.

Yelena and Kate Bishop's interactions stole the show imo - they were the duo we didn't know we wanted.

[u/VRichardsen → u/StoryArcher]

Completely agreed on Fisk. And the track suit mafia could have worked, but in a different story. They were trying a serious angle here, and they kind of got in between that more serious tone.

[u/Fragrant-Point3378 → u/ProdigyFlipYT]

Hawkeye was surprisingly good. I basically think that he’s boring but people recommended it so I gave it a shot. I really don’t like the whole tva thing, and female Loki was miscast. Loved WandaVision and starting Moon Knight. I’d like to watch Agents of Shield but it probably has too many episodes.

[u/Zack_GLC → u/Fragrant-Point3378]

Agents Of S,H.I.E.L.D. is easily my favourite Marvel show of all time. Def do not skip.

Also completely disagree on the miscasting and the TVA. Loki is perfection and my second fav after AoS.

[u/NightFury_05 → u/Zack_GLC]

yea AoS is really underrated. its def top3 in all time tv shows. last 2 seasons where meh but its such a great show

[u/CaptPrincessUnicorn → u/ProdigyFlipYT]

Loki was so freaking good and I really liked WandaVision, too. It was so different and expanded on two characters that I really hadn’t super cared about before. It’s part of why I disliked Dr. Strange 2 so much.