How to Watch Marvel Movies and TV Shows in Order of When They Took Place in the MCU

This past year, I’ve had a bit more time at home than usual and have been catching up on movies I missed over the last nine years (since having kids). I want to watch them in order of when the events took place, not in order of when they were filmed or released. Of course, I couldn’t find a comprehensive list like this including both movies AND TV shows, so I set about writing my own list so I know how to watch marvel movies and TV shows in order of when they took place in the MCU. 

The most accurate official timeline I could find was from this Marvel tweet which details all moments leading up to and during ‘Fury’s Big Week’ which is in MCU phase one and precedes The Avengers. I don’t go into official MCU phases in this post.

Each movie title is followed by an = sign which then has the estimated year the events took place. For TV shows, the same applies, but it is broken down by season (or in some cases by episode). I’ve linked to the One Shot videos and upcoming trailers on YouTube.

• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 7 episode 1 & 2) = 1931
• Captain America: The First Avenger = 1943–45 
• Marvel’s Agent Carter (season 1) = 1946
• Marvel’s Agent Carter (season 2) = 1947
• One Shot: Agent Carter (from Iron Man 3 DVD) = 1944
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 7 episodes 3 & 4) = 1955
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 7 episodes 5 & 6) = 1973
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 7 episodes 7 & 8) = 1982
• Captain Marvel = 1995
• Iron Man = 2010
• Iron Man 2 = 2011 (specifically during ‘Fury’s Big Week’)
• One Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (from Captain America: The First Avenger DVD) = 2011
• Thor = 2011 (specifically during ‘Fury’s Big Week’)
• The Incredible Hulk = 2011 (specifically during ‘Fury’s Big Week’)
• One Shot: The Consultant (from Thor DVD) = 2011
• The Avengers = 2012
• One Shot: Item 47 (from The Avengers DVD) = 2012 
• Iron Man 3 = 2012 
• One Shot: All Hail the King (from Thor: The Dark World DVD) = 2012
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 1 episodes 1–7) = 2013
• Thor: The Dark World = 2013
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 1 episodes 8–16) = 2014 (Bucky Barnes is mentioned in episode 10)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier = 2014
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 1 episodes 17) = 2014 (Takes place during The Winter Soldier and ties into that significantly)
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 1 episodes 18–22) = 2014
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 2 episodes 1–2) = 2014
• Guardians of the Galaxy = 2014
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 2 episodes 3–4) = 2014
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 = 2014
• Baby Groot = 2014  (TV show not yet released)
• Daredevil (season 1) = 2014
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 2 episodes 5–19) = 2014
• Avengers: Age of Ultron = 2015
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 2 episodes 20–22) = 2015
• Ant-Man = 2015
• Jessica Jones (season 1) = 2015
• Daredevil (season 2) = 2015
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 3 episodes 1–19) = 2015
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse = alternate timeline
• Captain America: Civil War = 2016
• Black Widow = 2016 (movie to be released on July 9, 2021)
• Black Panther = 2016
• Spider-Man: Homecoming = 2016
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Slingshot = 2016
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 3 episodes 20–22) = 2016
• Luke Cage (season 1) = 2015
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 4 episodes 1–8) = 2016
• Doctor Strange = 2015–2017
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Slingshot = 2016
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 4 episodes 9–22) = 2016
• Iron Fist (season 1) = 2016
• The Defenders = 2016
• The Inhumans = 2017
• The Punisher (season 1) = 2016
• The Runaways (seasons 1 & 2) = 2017
• Jessica Jones (season 2) = 2017
• Cloak and Dagger (season 1) = 2017
• Luke Cage (season 2) = 2017
• Iron Fist (season 2) = 2017
• Daredevil (season 3) = 2017
• The Punisher (season 2) = 2017
• Jessica Jones (season 3) = 2017
• Cloak and Dagger (season 2) = 2017
• The Runaways (season 3) = 2017
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 5 episodes 1–18) = 2017
• Thor: Ragnarok = 2017
• Ant-Man and the Wasp = 2018
  
  *THE SNAP*

• Avengers: Infinity War = 2017–18
• Loki (season 1) = 2018
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 5 episodes 19–22) = 2017–18
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 6) = 2023
• Avengers: Endgame = 2018–23

   *THE BLIP*

• Wandavision = 2023 (three weeks after Blip as explained in episode 4 which takes place one second to one month after the Blip)
• Falcon and the Winter Soldier = 2023 (six-episode TV show) (six months after Blip)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home = 2023 (eight months after Blip)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness = 2023 (movie to be released on March 25, 2022)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home = 2023 (movie to be released on December 17, 2021)
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (season 7 finale) = 2023
• Hawkeye = Christmas 2023 (TV show not yet released)
• Eternals = 2023 (TV show to be released on November 5, 2021)
• Thor: Love and Thunder = 2023 (movie to be released on May 6, 2022)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special = Christmas 2023 (TV special not yet released)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3  = 2023 (movie to be released on May 5, 2023)
• Armor Wars = 2023 (not yet released)
• Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever = 202? (movie to be released on July 8, 2022)
• Ms. Marvel = 202? (TV show not yet released)
• Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels = 202? (movie to be released on November 11, 2022)
• Black Panther II = 202? (movie not yet released)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania = 202? (movie to be released on February 17, 2023)
• Fantastic Four = 202? (movie not yet released)
• What If…? (season 1) = 202? (TV show not yet released)
• Moon Knight = 202? (six-episode TV show not yet released)
• She-Hulk = 202? (10-episode TV show not yet released)
• Secret Invasion = 202? (six-episode TV show not yet released)
• Ironheart = 202? (not yet released)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings = 202? (movie to be released on September 3, 2021)
• Untitled Wakanda Series = 202? (TV show not yet released)

The X-Men series is a whole different realm I did not approach in this post, but Maggie Tillman of Pocket-lint covers it all in this article.

So, how did I do in getting the order right? There are bound to be points for discussion and debate, but for the most part it is in keeping with things mentioned in each film and show as well as characters existing. Now, to go rewatch them all in this order with my knitting handy!

Who is your favorite Marvel character?