The MCU in chronological order

The full Marvel timeline, from ancient history to the multiverse — every film and series arranged by when it happens rather than when it came out.

Updated 3 August 2026 · 75 titles tracked

Chronological order is the better *second* watch. It turns twenty years of films into a single history: Wakanda across the centuries, Steve Rogers in 1943, Carol Danvers in 1995, then the whole modern era in sequence.

It is not the better first watch. Putting Captain Marvel fifth deflates her arrival in Endgame, and Black Widow lands in the middle of Infinity War's cliffhanger. If this is your first time through, use the release order guide instead.

The complete MCU timeline

Grouped into in-universe eras. This is the rewatch order — it reads as one continuous history, but it does spoil a few reveals if you have not seen the films before.

Open the interactive MCU list

How this timeline was built

Phase 1 to 3 chronology is well-established and barely contested — the films state their dates, and the few ambiguous cases have settled into consensus.

Phase 4 onward is genuinely fuzzy. Multiverse stories do not sit on a single timeline by definition, several series run concurrently, and Marvel has never published an official ordering. The order here is a considered best effort, not a settled fact.

The awkward cases

A few titles resist clean placement, and any honest timeline has to admit it.

Black Widow happens right after Civil War but was released after Endgame, so it always feels like an interruption.
Loki takes place outside time entirely, at the TVA. Its slot is about when it matters to the story, not when it happens.
What If...? is explicitly alternate-universe. It is placed where its framing narrative sits, not where its episodes do.
Eyes of Wakanda spans centuries of history, so it opens the timeline even though it is a recent release.
Deadpool & Wolverine moves between timelines; it sits late because of what it sets up, not where it is set.

The eras, in brief

The timeline is grouped into eras rather than phases, because in-universe the phases mean nothing. Ancient History covers everything before the modern age. World War II is Steve Rogers. The 1990s is Captain Marvel. Heroes Emerge runs from Iron Man to The Avengers. After New York, A Fractured Team, then The Snap & The Blip — the five-year gap that reshapes everything. After Endgame is the rebuilding. Then the multiverse starts to crack.

Common questions

What is the MCU in chronological order?

It starts with Eyes of Wakanda (ancient history), then Captain America: The First Avenger (1943), Captain Marvel (1995), Iron Man (2010) and forward through the modern era. The full list is on this page.

Is chronological order better than release order?

Not for a first watch — it spoils reveals the films were built to deliver in release order. It is an excellent rewatch, though, because it reads as one continuous history.

Where does Loki fit in the MCU timeline?

Loki happens largely outside time, at the Time Variance Authority. It is placed after the immediate post-Endgame series because that is when its consequences start driving the wider story.