Marvel Studios has long had a tradition of jumping between eras to tell its heroic stories with films taking place in the '90s, World War II, and even recently going as far back as Ancient Egypt with Eternals. While many fans opt to view the franchise in release order as was originally intended, the chronological viewing order of the MCU is another common option that Disney+ makes easier than ever with its ordered timeline section.
Currently, the MCU begins chronologically with Captain America: The First Avenger and ends with Spider-Man: No Way Home - although Hawkeye remains the most recent project available on Disney+ for now.
Across the MCU's 27 movies and five Disney+ series, there are some points of confusion among many as to the chronological order of events. One error even made its way onto Disney+ for some time, although this has just recently been corrected on the streaming service.
The MCU's Updated Timeline Order
Disney+ recently updated its Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline to place Black Panther chronologically after Black Widow instead of before, as it previously was.
The latest MCU timeline order is as follows:
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Captain Marvel
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Thor
- The Avengers
- Thor: The Dark World
- Iron Man 3
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Ant-Man
- Captain America: Civil War
- Black Widow
- Black Panther
- Doctor Strange
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Loki
- What If...?
- WandaVision
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Eternals
- Hawkeye
The MCU's Confusing Timeline
Both Black Widow and Black Panther directly follow their leading characters' appearances in Captain America: Civil War only a matter of days later. This means that despite the ordering, much of both solo blockbusters probably take place simultaneously.
Disney's original listing of the reverse ordering of the two solo flicks was likely an error by the streaming service, although not a major one as the two do take place so close together, likely with some overlap.
Ever since Avengers: Endgame's time jump shot the MCU forward five years into 2023, the timeline of events has been more confusing than ever. Loki, Eternals, and Black Widow threw particular bumps in the road with stories taking place years before the time jump.
Hawkeye's reference to the Captain America-inspired Statue of Liberty - which was subsequently destroyed in Spider-Man: No Way Home - confirmed that the Multiversal blockbuster is to date the latest project in the MCU timeline.
The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe - excluding the Spider-Man movies and The Incredible Hulk - is streaming now, exclusively on Disney+.
