Marvel Cinematic Universe Phases and Release Order
The Marvel Cinematic Universe spans multiple phases that group films and television series by story arcs and release dates. Phase One introduced Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers, establishing the shared universe. Phase Two continued with Iron Man 3, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man. Phase Three began with Captain America: Civil War and included Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home, with Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel filling the gaps. Phase Four launched with Black Widow and Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, followed by Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and the Disney+ series WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, and Hawkeye. Phase Five includes Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, and upcoming titles such as Deadpool and Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World, with more Disney+ series expanding the timeline. Phase Six is scheduled to begin with The Fantastic Four, followed by Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which will conclude the current saga arc. For the latest release schedule and confirmed titles, visit the official Marvel Studios page at Marvel.com Movies.
Box office performance and audience reception have shaped the order in which fans revisit Marvel content. The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Black Panther, and Spider-Man: No Way Home rank among the highest-grossing films worldwide. The Disney+ series are produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, with each season mapped to specific MCU phases. The multiverse saga, which started with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and continued through Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Marvels, connects multiple variants of characters across dimensions. Disney+ hosts the majority of current television series, while theatrical releases remain the primary format for major crossover events. Streaming viewership data and international box office totals help define which storylines and characters are prioritized in future phases. For financial details on Disney's entertainment segment and Marvel content performance, see the Disney Investor Relations page at Disney Investor Relations.
Chronological Timeline Order for MCU Stories
Watching Marvel content in chronological timeline order places Captain America: The First Avenger first, followed by Agent Carter, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man, then progressing through The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger's post-credits connections to The Avengers. The timeline continues with Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Ant-Man and The Wasp before concluding with Avengers: Endgame. The post-Endgame timeline includes Spider-Man: Far From Home, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, Hawkeye, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Marvels