How to Watch the Marvel Movies in Chronological Order

• Release Date: July 19th, 2011
• Stars: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Samuel L. Jackson
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

The MCU starts off with Captain America: The First Avenger, which is set in 1941. While not technically classified as a military movie, it kind of is in our opinion because it takes place during World War II. While not the best movie in the MCU, you’ll need to pay close attention as a couple of the characters (one in particular) is going to pop up again in a way that can only be described as chaotic (we’re trying to give as little spoilers as possible). The First Avenger is also important because it ends in the year 2010, paving the way for Marvel to enter into the “modern world.”

• Release Date: February 27th, 2019
• Stars: Brie Larson, Gemma Chan, Samuel L. Jackson
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Next you have to jump all the way to 1995 with Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. There are differing opinions when it comes to Captain Marvel. Some loved it, while others tolerated it just to not fall behind. I personally found the flashback scenes and Captain Marvel trying to put all the pieces of her past life together pretty interesting. Plus the 1990s throwbacks were fun such as the Blockbuster store and hearing TLC’s “Waterfalls.” 

• Release Date: May 2, 2008
• Stars: Robert Downing Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Don Cheadle
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

If there’s no such thing as a perfect movie, we’d have to say Iron Man gets pretty darn close. A lot was hinging on the success of Iron Man in 2008. Marvel was losing its value, and if the film didn’t meet expectations, then the MCU would have been kaput. Well, Iron Man was a massive success as the world was introduced to the cocky yet somehow loveable Tony Stark Jr., who was now in charge of running Stark Enterprises after the passing of his father (Tony Stark Sr. is the one responsible for creating Captain America by the way).

Tony Stark is just living his wonderful wealthy life until he gets kidnapped by terrorists overseas, and then it goes uphill from there (uphill because it forces him to become Iron Man). 

• Release Date: May 7th, 2010
• Stars: Robert Downing Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Don Cheadle
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

You could make the argument that Iron Man 2 was the most anticipated sequel of its time, as the first movie ended on something that was not quite a cliffhanger, but “kind of a cliffhanger” if you catch our drift. Facing pressure from everywhere to share his technology with the military, we get the pleasure of being introduced to Black Widow in this film. And that’s all we’re going to say because anything else leads to a spoiler.

• Release Date: June 13th, 2008
• Stars: Edward Norton, Lou Ferrigno, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

If we’re keeping it 100% real here, you technically don’t have to watch The Incredible Hulk unless you want to. It wasn’t really considered a Marvel film at the time of its release in 2008, and it has no bearing on anything current that has happened in the MCU. In fact, the movie isn’t even available on Disney+, and Edward Norton isn’t the one that plays the Incredible Hulk down the line (Mark Ruffalo takes on that role). So you only have to watch this one if you want to.

• Release Date: May 2nd, 2011
• Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%

We were also introduced to Thor in 2011, which starred Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston. The first Thor is all about betrayal, love, and diving into the world of Asgard, and what happens when Thor (Hemsworth) gets kicked out of the kingdom due to his bad attitude and temper. The Thor franchise is a wild ride, so buckle up. Oh and for lack of confusion purposes only, Thor and Loki (Hiddleston) are basically the MCU version of Cain and Abel.

• Release Date: May 4th, 2012
• Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Pay attention closely here because this first Avengers is where we get introduced to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agency. In short, Loki (Thor’s evil brother) is causing havok, and it’s going to take the entire Avengers crew to stop him. Captain America is back in the picture after spending 70 years frozen, Iron Man gets involved along with Black Widow, the Hulk and Hawkeye show up, and it’s the dream team baby!

• Release Date: November 8th, 2013
• Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

Back to the individual Thor storyline, Thor returns to earth after successfully taking down his brother, and has to deal with the consequences of leaving his girlfriend Jane (Portman) hanging after not telling her he was back in town. Unfortunately his weapon, the Aether, is programmed to kill her, and with no answers on how to stop it, Thor has no other choice than to turn to his brother Loki for help. 

• Release Date: May 3, 2013
• Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

The Iron Man series returns as Tony Stark Jr., is completely caught up in his Iron Man persona, causing him to suffer from depression and insomnia. With all of his personal relationships being affected including the one with girlfriend Pepper (Paltrow), Stark is unexpectedly put into a position where he has to fight for those he loves both literally and figuratively.

• Release Date: April 4th, 2014
• Stars: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Many consider The Winter Soldier to be the best Captain America movie, and it’s kind of hard to argue otherwise. With Cap struggling to adjust to “normal” life, he suddenly finds himself called back to S.H.I.E.L.D., when an assassin starts to cause trouble. Remember how we said that you were going to have to pay attention in the first movie because one of the characters comes back to cause chaos? This is where that information is going to come in handy.

• Release Date: August 1st, 2014
• Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, James Gunn
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Okay we have to deliver another honest moment here. You should watch the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise because it’s really good, but once again, you technically don’t have to because while the Guardians gang are a part of Marvel, they do not connect to anything that is going on with S.H.I.E.L.D. or the individual storylines of the characters involved (unless you count Infinity War). They are their own entity so to speak. That said, you should still watch because the movies are very enjoyable.

• Release Date: May 5th, 2017
• Stars: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Kurt Russell
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Same deal. No bearing on what’s going on with S.H.I.E.L.D., but still a fun one as the Guardians are hired by a powerful alien race, the Sovereign, to protect their precious batteries from invaders, all while dealing with personal family matters that struggle to keep them together as a team. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due out on May 5th, 2023, and it will be the last of the gang as we know it (at least for the foreseeable future).

• Release Date: May 1st, 2015
• Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%

In short, Tony Stark Jr. causes a terrible situation by accidentally creating a villain named Ultron. Thanks to Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a serious problem, and they have to enlist the services of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (this movie is helpful to understanding WandaVision by the way).

• Release Date: July 17th, 2015
• Stars: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, T.I.
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

The Ant-Man series is hands down the funniest in the MCU in our opinion as it is straight comedy at times (such as the scene where Scott Lang aka Ant-Man gets fired for lying about being a criminal on his resume and still leaves with the free drink he’s offered on the way out). Then there’s his friend Luis (Michael Peña) who has a very interesting way of telling stories. Ant-Man is a fun and funny way of being introduced to the future S.H.I.E.L.D. superhero.

• Release Date: May 6th, 2016
• Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Civil War is technically not an Avengers film, but at the same time it is, and the film is full of drama. The Avengers can’t stop fighting because of the United Nations asking the team to sign the Sokovia Accords and only fighting when told to due to an incident from Scarlet Witch where innocent people end up being killed. Some of the team is for it while others aren’t, and it’s causing division. At the same time, we get our introduction to King T’Challa (Black Panther) by way of tragedy as his father T’Chaka is killed by the same assassin that was a problem in Winter Soldier. This sets up the storyline for Black Panther, so make sure you pay attention.

• Release Date: July 9th, 2021
• Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Since we’ve been keeping it real, we’ve got to stay consistent. Black Widow is a film that should have come out no later than 2015 (maybe even earlier) in our opinion. Granted the film was hit with delays, but as you progress in the MCU storyline, you will see why 2021 was just way too late for a movie on Black Widow. That said, her story has to be told so you still have to watch, but as you progress, you’ll understand what we are talking about here.

• Release Date: July 7th, 2017
• Stars: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Zendaya
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Okay we have to issue a warning here. None of the previous Spider-Man movies you’ve seen count here. Tobey Maguire’s films from the early 2000s technically aren’t Marvel, and while Andrew Garfield’s take on the character is a Marvel film, that storyline has nothing to do with the current MCU. Now that we have that out of the way, Homecoming introduces Tom Holland as the iconic character who got to join the Avengers because of Tony Stark Jr. As he embraces his new identity, his powers are soon threatened by an evil force looking to take everything he has away from him.

• Release Date: February 13th, 2018
• Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

The only thing you need to know prior to starting the Black Panther series is that King T’Challa’s father T’Chaka is killed. Other than that, it’s pretty much a fresh start as we are introduced to the wonderful world of Wakanda and its magical characters. While Wakanda is indeed beautiful, it doesn’t take long for the kingdom to be threatened by evil, meaning that the young king has to put his powers to the test.

• Release Date: November 4th, 2016
• Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

Okay, Doctor Strange is weird. There’s really no denying that fact. He’s also slightly paranoid, but the things that make him quirky are also the same things that make him powerful as he learns to become sorcerer after a car accident leaves him no longer able to use his hands. However, when his former pupil Kaecilius attacks in the search for magic that will help him contact Dormammu of the Dark Dimension, Doctor Strange is left to put the pieces together.

• Release Date: November 3rd, 2017
• Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Hands down the best Thor in the series. Thor and Hulk are at odds suddenly becoming enemies, Thor and Loki discover that they have an evil older sister Hela (Blanchett), who’s even more evil than Loki (which is saying something), and Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) enters into the picture. Trust us when we say this the best Thor.

• Release Date: July 6th, 2018
• Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

Scott Lang is in trouble again. Not only is he on house arrest because of his involvement in Civil War, but he is also on the odds with Hope and Hank as they feel him working with S.H.I.E.L.D.’ was the ultimate betrayal. However, when Lang has a vision/dream of Hope’s mother (who was presumed to be dead) being stuck somewhere in the Quantum Realm, he starts back working with Hope and Hank again in the effort to find her. This leads us to the newest movie in the series, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which comes out on February 17th.

• Release Date: April 27th, 2018
• Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Before you can get to Endgame, you gotta get through Infinity War. Thanos is the villain in question here as he has possession of the power stone, and is literally out to get every superhero in the MCU. That said, we like Thanos. He’s evil, but we still like him. You’ll also find out why the Black Widow movie was super late.

• Release Date: April 26th, 2019
• Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

So we all agree that Endgame is the best Avengers correct? Good! Now that we have that established we’ll travel five years as the Avengers experiment with time travel in the hopes of being able to go back in time to defeat Thanos (slight spoiler). There’s only a handful of films that have had this much hype in recent memory, and just in case you’ve forgotten Endgame was hyped.

• Release Date: July 2nd, 2019
• Stars: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Sorry for the spoiler here, but we can give a description about Far From Home without first telling you that Tony Stark dies in Endgame. With Peter still grieving the loss, Peter is faced with the task of having to save Europe at the same time he’s on a school trip. With access to all of Stark’s resources, Peter teams up with multiverse superhero Beck, only to realize that Beck isn’t actually who he says he is.

• Release Date: September 3rd, 2021
• Stars: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Enter Shaun aka Shang-Chi, who is attacked by his dad’s criminal organization, the Ten Rings, while in San Francisco. From there, he goes to find his sister Xialing, and from there they travel to a place called Ta Lo, where they find out from their aunt that their dad is being manipulated by the Ten Rings organization. Knowing that information, they set out to save him while trying to capture the Dweller-in-Darkness.

• Release Date: November 5th, 2021
• Stars: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%

And while all this is happening, it turns out that there is a race of immortals that have secretly been operating on earth called the Eternals, and their main job is to protect humans from divergents, until they discover that they are actually supposed to make humanity develop enough so that way a celestial can be born. The only problem is if the celestial is born, it will kill all the humans on earth.

• Release Date: December 15th, 2021
• Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Welp, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man cover is blown for the first time ever, and unfortunately Peter’s life is in bad shape because of it. Many people believe he is a monster, and even the ones who don’t still fail to treat him like a normal person (well normal when he’s not Spider-Man). So what does Peter Parker do? He goes to Doctor Strange to ask him to cast a spell that will make everyone forget he’s Spider-Man. And it goes downhill from there.

• Release Date: May 5th, 2022
• Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez, Elizabeth Olsen
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74%

After the events of No Way Home, Doctor Strange is back with Scarlet Witch. Now you don’t necessarily have to watch Wandavision to understand the relationship between Doctor Strange and Elizabeth Olsen, but it might help. Scarlet Witch has always kind of had an issue with controlling her powers, and unfortunately she keeps using magic to heal her grief from losing Vision (which Strange previously warned her about). Scarlet Witch eventually decides she’s willing to travel to a different timeline/dimension where her sons existed, and she’s not afraid to use her powers for evil either.

• Release Date: July 7th, 2022
• Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64%

Still feeling like something is missing in his life after joining the Guardians, Thor is given no other option but to return to Earth when someone starts killing gods. Of course he runs into his on-and-off again lover, Jane who is now a powerful entity herself, but unfortunately the reunion is a short one as Jane passes from cancer. Overwhelmed with grief, Thor still has to find a way to save the world.

• Release Date: November 11th, 2022
• Stars: Letita Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Tenoch Huerta, Dominique Thorne
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

A celebration and tribute to both the lives of Chadwick Boseman and his portrayal of Black Panther, Wakanda Forever is an emotional rollercoaster, and quite simply a brilliant movie. There’s so many moving pieces in this film that it’s hard to sum up, but Wakanda Forever is a beautiful introduction to Shuri becoming Black Panther, which regardless of how many people complained about the casting, was always the plan as Shuri is the one that becomes Black Panther in the comics.

• Release Date: February 17th, 2023
• Stars: Paul Rudd, Kathryn Newton, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%

Released on February 17th, 2023, Ant-Man in the gang are tasked with exploring the Quantum Realm which involves strange new creatures embarking on an adventure that pushes them beyond any and all limitations.

Release Date: May 5th, 2023
Stars: James Gunn
Rotten Tomatoes Score: TBA

From what we know thus far, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is about the Guardians gang adjusting to life on Knowhere after the events of Vol. 2. Events of Rocket’s past begin to resurface, and to keep him protected, Peter Quill takes the charge of leading on a tough and dangerous mission that may or may not lead to the team being torn apart.