Since ‘Howard the Duck’ in 1986, Marvel’s list of heroes has been pumped out frequently.
However, when looking at Marvel movies in order, our focus is on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a series of movies that began with Iron Man in 2008.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the biggest movie franchises in the world. With its vast collection of heroes and villains, it has countless stories, giving depth to some of comics’ biggest characters.
CHECK OUT: Who Is The Best Spider-Man?
To keep track of the order of the MCU, a wiki page has been made, but it is easy to get lost in. We wanted to come up with a better version of it.
Should I Watch Marvel Movies In Chronological Order Or Based On Release?
When it comes to big-budget action movies, Marvel has you covered.
But if you’re new to the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), it’s better to watch all the epic stories in release order.
However, if you don’t mind the jarring difference in special effects or varying ages of characters across the movie timelines, watching them in chronological order is the best, and more convenient if you want to soak up the story from A to B.
It will take over 57 hours to watch all of the MCU, without TV shows. So we recommend picking out a single movie, with a decent rating (check out the ratings below), before sitting down to such a time commitment.
(Thor: Ragnorok is our favorite, but Black Panther is also fantastic).
CHECK OUT: How Fast Is The Flash? (And Is Anything Quicker?)
Furthermore, we have divided the release order into three phases, so you can watch all the movies per phase. Let’s find out what comes next!
All Marvel Movies in Order Of Release
Phase 1:
- Iron Man—that’s where MCU is born (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Thor (2011)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Avengers (2012)
Phase 2:
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
Phase 3:
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- GotG 2 (2017)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Black Panther—sadly, the hero is dead now (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Phase 4:
- Black Widow (2021)
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- Eternals (2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Dr. Strange in The Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
- The Marvels (2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2023)
- Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
- Fantastic Four (2024)
All MCU Movies In Chronological Order
We recommend watching in chronological order if you’re rewatching or want to binge-watch. Just like release order, here is the MCU chronological order:
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Iron Man (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Thor (2011)
- Marvel’s The Avengers (2012)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)
- Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Black Widow (2021)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Ant-Man And The Wasp (2018)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
- Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021)
- Eternals (2021)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Dr. Strange in The Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
- The Marvels
All Marvel Movies: Story Plot, Box Office Earnings, Ratings and More: Iron Man
- Release date: (2008)
- Reported Budget: $140M
- Worldwide Gross: $585,174,222
- Domestic Gross: $318,412,101
- Opening Weekend: $98,618,668
- IMDB: 7.9/10
A brilliant inventor with incredibly expensive taste and a penchant for fast cars and the ladies, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) gets kidnapped by enemy forces and creates an armored suit that he uses to escape his captors.
And while saving the day, Stark becomes increasingly convinced that it’s up to him to rid the world of evil – and becomes Iron Man.
The Incredible Hulk
- Release Date: (2008)
- Reported Budget: $150M
- Worldwide Gross: $263,427,551
- Domestic Gross: $134,806,913
- Opening Weekend: $55,414,050
- IMDB: 6.6/10
Scientist Bruce Banner is terrified of his own shadow. With good reason, as it turns out. When angry he transforms into the powerful Hulk. A giant green creature with anger management issues whom nobody would want to get close to.
Iron Man 2
- Release Date: (2010)
- Reported Budget: $200M
- Worldwide Gross: $623,933,331
- Domestic Gross: $312,433,331
- Opening Weekend: $128,122,480
- IMDB: 6.9/10
Now that the world knows Stark is Iron Man, the billionaire inventor finds himself pressured by the military to share his technology. It is difficult for him to divulge the secrets of his armored suit, for fear of it being misused.
But Tony learns he can’t do this alone and as a man who made weapons for a living, Tony embraces a new perspective on what his genius is capable of.
Thor
- Release Date: (2011)
- Reported Budget: $150M
- Worldwide gross: $449,326,618
- Domestic gross: $181,030,624
- Opening Weekend: $65,723,338
- IMDB: 7.0/10
Thor is a journey of the character’s ego. From self-important hero to troubled son and brother.
Captain America: The First Avenger
- Release Date: (2011)
- Reported Budget: $140M
- Worldwide gross: $370,569,774
- Domestic gross: $176,654,505
- Opening Weekend: $65,058,524
- IMDB: 6.9/10
It’s 1941, and the world is at war. Steve Rogers dreams of being his own man and joining the armed forces, but, due to his small stature, the military turns him down.
That is until Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) offers him a chance to become a super-soldier, who later becomes Captain America.
The Avengers
- Release Date: (2012)
- Reported Budget: $220M
- Worldwide gross: $1,518,812,988
- Domestic gross: $623,357,910
- Opening Weekend: $207,438,708
- IMDB: 8/10
When the son of mischief, Loki, Thor’s brother, gains access to the all-powerful Tesseract, Nick Fury is forced to assemble Earth’s mightiest heroes in a bid to protect the planet.
Led by Iron Man – aka Tony Stark – Captain America, Bruce Banner, and Thor are joined by Black Widow and Hawkeye in their battle to prevent global annihilation at Loki’s hands.
Iron Man 3
- Release Date:(2013)
- Reported Budget: $200M
- Worldwide gross: $1,214,811,252
- Domestic gross: $409,013,994
- Opening Weekend: $174,144,585
- IMDB: 7.1/10
After saving New York from destruction, Tony Stark is now plagued with worry and insomnia.
He’s like Batman, in a way, and needs to have his life set out just right to function properly — especially since he has a girlfriend Pepper who struggles with Stark’s hero status.
Thor: The Dark World
- Release Date: (2013)
- Reported Budget: $170M
- Worldwide gross: $644,571,402
- Domestic gross: $206,362,140
- Opening Weekend: $85,737,841
- IMDB: 6.8/10
In the distant past, a huge war was waged between the Aesir and the Dark Elves.
Although Aesir won the battle many thousands of years ago, there were some survivors who possessed with them certain powerful weapons. Amongst these weapons was one known as the Aether.
This powerful energy source remained undiscovered for centuries until Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) stumbles upon it.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Release Date: (2014)
- Reported Budget: $170M
- Worldwide gross: $714,264,267
- Domestic gross: $259,766,572
- Opening Weekend: $95,023,721
- IMDB: 6.9/10
Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) moves to Washington, D.C., but finds himself in the center of an unpredictable conspiracy that threatens America’s security. He then fights together with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a new ally, Falcon (Anthony Mackie).
Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG)
- Release Date:(2014)
- Reported Budget: $170M
- Worldwide gross: $773,328,629
- Domestic gross: $333,176,600
- Opening Weekend: $94,320,883
- IMDB: 8.0/10
A brash and impulsive space adventurer named Peter Quill finds himself at the mercy of a powerful villain when he steals an orb coveted by the said villain.
When Quill learns about the orb’s true nature and the inherent cosmic threat it poses, he turns a rag-tag band of misfits into the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Release Date: (2015)
- Reported Budget: $250M
- Worldwide gross: $1,405,403,694
- Domestic gross: $459,005,868
- Opening Weekend: $191,271,109
- IMDB: 7.3
When Tony Stark discovers that the peacekeeping program he started isn’t doing what he intended it to, he enlists a team to help him find out why. As the Avengers investigate further, they discover a terrifying discovery that could destroy Earth!
Ant-Man
- Release Date: (2015)
- Reported Budget: $130M
- Worldwide gross: $519,311,965
- Domestic gross: $180,202,163
- Opening Weekend: $57,225,526
- IMDB: 7.3/10
The Ant-Man suit falls into the hands of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), allowing him to shrink in size, ultimately possess superhuman strength, and control an army of ants.
Captain America: Civil War
- Release Date: (2016)
- Reported Budget: $250M
- Worldwide gross: $1,153,304,495
- Domestic gross: $408,084,349
- Opening Weekend: $179,139,142
- IMDB: 7.8/10
Captain America supports a system of accountability when the actions of The Avengers lead to collateral damage. This clashes with Iron Man’s lack of support for any such system; turning them into an ideological conflict.
Distinguishing between his teammates, Captain America and Iron Man begin bickering until tensions rise high enough to make even Black Widow choose a side.
Doctor Strange
- Release Date: (2016)
- Reported Budget: $165M
- Worldwide gross: $677,718,395
- Domestic gross: $232,641,920
- Opening Weekend: $85,058,311
- IMDB: 7.5/10
Dr. Stephen Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) life changes after an accident left him with damaged hands. While he was searching for answers, he found himself in a mysterious enclave – and was soon being forced to face dark forces trying to destroy reality.
Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) 2
- Release Date: (2017)
- Reported Budget: $200M
- Worldwide gross: $863,562,289
- Domestic gross: $389,813,101
- Opening Weekend: $146,510,104
- IMDB: 7.6/10
Star-Lord finds out who his father is, and it ends up in a no-holds-barred battle.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
- Release Date: (2017)
- Reported Budget: $175M
- Worldwide gross: $880,166,924
- Domestic gross: $334,201,140
- Opening Weekend: $117,027,503
- IMDB: 7.4/10
Excited to be an Avenger, web-slinging teen Peter Parker is being tutored by Iron Man.
Thor: Ragnarok
- Release Date: (2017)
- Reported Budget: $180M
- Worldwide gross: $853,977,126
- Domestic gross :$315,085,289
- Opening Weekend: $122,744,989
- IMDB: 7.9/10
Thor is trapped on the other side of the universe and is put into a galactic gladiatorial contest. With help from friends he escapes to find his home under threat, but to save it he must do the unthinkable.
Black Panther
- Release date: (2018)
- Reported Budget: $200M
- Worldwide gross: $1,346,913,161
- Domestic gross: $700,059,566
- Opening Weekend: $201,797,000
- IMDB: 7.3/10
T’Challa is king and protector of the hidden nation of Wakanda. However, when his enemies learn that he’s been hiding a secret that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear, T’Challa must suit up as the Black Panther.
Avengers: Infinity War
- Release date: (2018)
- Reported Budget: 316M
- Worldwide gross: $2,048,359,754
- Domestic gross: $678,815,482
- Opening Weekend: $257,698,183
- IMDB: 8.4/10
The Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet – Thanos, who plans on using the Infinity Stones to inflict his twisted will on the universe.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Release date: (2018)
- Reported Budget: 130–190M
- Worldwide gross: $622,674,139
- Domestic gross: $216,648,740
- Opening Weekend: $75,812,205
- IMDB: 7.0/10
Scott Lang, a father and not a superhero, must don the Ant-Man suit once again, this time alongside the Wasp, to fight off an enemy that could have potentially devastating results if left unchecked.
Captain Marvel
- Release date: (2019)
- Reported Budget: 152M
- Worldwide gross: $1,128,274,794
- Domestic gross: $426,829,839
- Opening Weekend: $153,433,423
- IMDB: 6.8/10
Captain Marvel is a superhero who lost everything she knew and cared about before embarking on a journey to become the ultimate hero.
Avengers: Endgame
- Release date: (2019)
- Reported Budget: $356 million
- Worldwide gross: $2,796,267,086
- Domestic gross: $858,365,685
- Opening Weekend: $357,100,000
- IMDB: 8.4/10
This is where The Avengers story arc ends. With Thanos winning and only a tiny hope, The Avengers try to put right what the Mad Titan had done.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
- Release date: (2019)
- Reported Budget: $160M
- Domestic gross: $388,112,846
- Worldwide gross: $1,126,343,923
- Opening Weekend: $92,579,212
- IMDB: 7.4/10
Parker suddenly is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D and finds himself joining forces with Nick Fury and Mysterio to save the world from four massive entities that can wreak havoc across continents at any given moment.
Black Widow
- Release Date: (2021)
- Reported Budget: $200 million
- Worldwide gross: $379.6 million
- Domestic gross: $183.6 million
- Domestic opening weekend: $80 million
- IMDB: 6.7
Natasha Romanoff faces the darker aspects of her past after a conspiracy that ties to her origins arises. Natasha must deal with her own origin story while being pursued by an unknown force that wishes to bring her down.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Release Date: (2021)
- Reported Budget: $150-200M
- Worldwide gross: $432.2 million
- Domestic gross: $224.5 million
- Opening weekend: $75.4 million
- IMDB: 7.5/10
Shang-Chi is a martial arts master who is living a peaceful life in California. However, old adversaries catch up with him, and he must learn about a mysterious organization called the Ten Rings.
Eternals
- Release Date: (2021)
- Reported Budget: $200 million
- Worldwide gross: $402.02 million
- Domestic gross: $164.9 million
- Opening weekend: $71.3 million
- IMDB: 6.5/10
‘The Eternals’ introduces a new batch of heroes and villains, immensely powerful, with a hidden agenda on Earth. An agenda that splits the team in half.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Release Date: (2021)
- Reported Budget: $200 million
- Worldwide gross: $1.69 billion
- Domestic gross: $721 million
- Opening weekend: $260.14 million
- IMDB: 8.7/10
Spider-Man’s identity is now revealed, and he can no longer separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero.
Dr. Strange in The Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Dr. Strange is back, and so are other multiverse-hoppers. There are even dream-hoppers, as Dr. Strange finds out when he is forced to reckon with a teenage girl and multiverse versions of himself.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Thor is tired, and seeking peace within himself. The main thrust of this movie is the handoff – and not just any handoff. As Thor comes to learn while battling Gorr the God Butcher, his magical hammer Mjolnir finds a new hero to wield it.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The death of main actor Chadwick Boseman required some inventive thinking from the Marvel crew, and that’s just what we got. Queen Ramonda takes the lead and gathers supporters to protect Wakanda from the outside forces that seek its destruction.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Dr. Strange isn’t the only Marvel character who has to contend with, shall we say, unusual travel plans. In this installment, Ant-Man and the Wasp dig into the Quantum Realm, and are forced to face their biggest challenge yet: Kang the Conqueror.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The Guardians are back, and if you’re a fan of the lovable little scamp Rocket, you’re in for a treat. Peter Quill wants to move on after the loss of Gamora, and he names Rocket as the new captain. From there, the gang does battle to ensure their own survival.
The Marvels
Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel must now deal with a universe that’s off its rocker thanks to her previous battles with Kree. Like other recent installments, Danvers finds herself traveling through time/space/universes, where she meets others who share similar powers.