Marvel Cinematic Universe Catch-Up Guide
UPDATED AS OF JUNE 2025
With the introduction of the multiverse, any of Marvel’s previous movies & tv series are fair game to be reintroduced in future projects.
That makes jumping in & catching up increasingly impenetrable for a novice.
However, I have some helpful tips before we go down this road.
1. Enjoy the journey. THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT.
If at any point you get burnt out, or stop caring, get off the ride. These movies are supposed to be fun, and for nerds homework can be fun, but sometimes it can just be homework.
2. Don’t worry about how everything fits.
Marvel hasn’t really figured it out fully yet, so I’m gonna let you know how I think it works, but it is by no means is 100% fool proof.
3. If you have questions, ask!
I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands & love comic minutiae. Don’t be surprised if an answer starts with “It doesn’t really matter, but” and I then proceed to give you a treatise on almost 70 years of Marvel history.
Without further ado, here’s the path through the ever-increasing Marvel Cinematic Multiverse Saga!
The Infinity Saga (2008-2019)
Pretty straight forward, in release order for the most part, watching it this way minimizes spoilers & puts the “phases” in manageable chunks.
I feel like most people that have an interest in this stuff were already on the Marvel ride up through Endgame, so with the exception of Black Widow (2021), most of these you’ll have seen/have a general idea of who everyone is.
Phase 1: Assembled (2008-2012)
Iron Man (2008) + Post credits
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Thor (2011) + Post credits
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The Avengers (2012) + Post credits
Phase 2: Disassembled (2013-16)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor: The Dark World (2013) + Post Credits
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) + Post credits
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) + Post credits
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) + Post credits
Ant-Man (2015) + Post credits
Captain America: Civil War (2016) + Post credits
Phase 3: Infinite (2016-19) (2016-2023 in Universe)
Black Widow (2021)
Black Panther (2018) + Post credits
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) + Post credits
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) + Post credits
Ant-Man and The Wasp (2019) + Post credits
Captain Marvel (2019) (Prequel)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The Multiverse Saga (2021-Present)
These are not in strictly chronological or release order, they are structured in such a way as to make ease of access simpler (or as simple as can be in this increasingly complex multiverse of madness), as well as to limit spoilers.
All take place after Avengers: Endgame, within a few years.
Movies, series & specials have been placed together with like themes, to make sense of the somewhat rudderless direction Phases 4 & 5 have started out with.
Multiverse Saga: Endgame Fallout Pt. 1 - Returning Characters
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) (miniseries)
Black Widow post credits
Hawkeye (miniseries) (2021)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) + Post credits
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) + Post credits
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) (special)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) + Post credits
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
Thunderbolts* (2025) + Post credits
Multiverse Saga: Endgame Fallout Pt. 2 - Multiverse Madness
Loki Season 1 (2021) (series)
What If…? Season 1 (2021) (series)
WandaVision (2021) (miniseries) + Post credits
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) + Post credits
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) + Post credits
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Loki Season 2 (2023)
What If…? Season 2 (2023)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
What If…? Season 3 (2024)
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Season 1 (2025)
Multiverse Saga Part 3: Brave New Worlds
The Eternals (2021) + Post credits
Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) + Post credits
Ms. Marvel (2022) (miniseries) + Post credits
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) (miniseries)
Moon Knight (2022) (miniseries) hasn’t factored into the wider universe yet)
Werewolf by Night (2022) (special) (hasn’t factored into the wider universe yet)
Secret Invasion (2023) (miniseries) (hasn’t factored into the wider universe yet)
The Marvels (2023) + Post credits
Echo (2024) (miniseries)
Agatha All Along (2024) (miniseries)
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 (2025)
Ironheart (miniseries) (2025)
Optional Viewing (The Multiverse is Infinite)
The MCU becomes increasingly more difficult to catalogue with the introduction of the multiverse, as any of Marvel’s previous media could be brought back/referenced to.
I will not be listing every cartoon/movie/live-action show that they’ve ever produced, because its 60+ years of stuff at this point.
But if you want to watch some supplemental Multiversal material for added context, or just to get some different flavour, I can provide a game plan.
Marvel Television (2013-20) (ABC series’)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (2013-20) (7 Seasons)
This show kind of went wacky after Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out)
Agent Carter (2015-16) (2 Seasons)
(I haven’t seen it but I’ve heard it’s the best of the three, set after Captain America: The First Avenger)
Inhumans (2017)
Literally to just explain who Black Bolt is in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Wiki him, not worth your time.
These series were largely disconnected from the main MCU, post Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The Defenders Saga (2015-18) (Netflix series’)
Daredevil Season 1 (Set around 2015, about 3 years after The Avengers)
Jessica Jones Season 1
Daredevil Season 2
Luke Cage Season 1
Iron Fist Season 1
The Defenders (Teamup crossover with the stars of each series)
The Punisher Season 1
Jessica Jones Season 2 (Takes place after Captain America: Civil War)
Luke Cage Season 2
Iron Fist Season 2
Daredevil Season 3
The Punisher Season 2
Jessica Jones Season 3
For our purposes:
Before Spider-Man No: Way Home, Hawkeye, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, & especially Daredevil: Born Again, watch all three seasons of Daredevil.
20th Century Fox (2000-2019)
Out of all these, the X-Men have the most to offer in terms of quality, but Deadpool & Wolverine will be so much less impenetrable if you have knowledge of any of these movies.
X-Men (2000)
X2 (2002)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) (prequel)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
The Wolverine (2013)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) (timeline resets)
X-Men: First Class (2011) (prequel)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) (sequel to DOFP)
Dark Phoenix (2019)
New Mutants (2020)
Deadpool (2016)
Logan (2017) (end of the timeline)
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
The X-Men movie timelines make no sense.
Characters appear different, or act like they don’t have extensive histories with each other due to creative liberties in prequels. It’s a big mess. Just try to enjoy them for what they are.
Daredevil (2003)
Elektra (2005)
Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Fantastic Four (Fan4stic) (2015)
Sony Pictures Spider-Man Character Movies (2002-Present)
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
For our purposes, before or after Spider-Man: No Way Home, you can watch Spider-Man 1, 2, 3, Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
The Spider-Verse movies are great just on their own, some of the best Spider-Man stuff you can get.
Venom (2018)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
The Venom movies are barely connected to any of this. They’d be fine for movies that came out in 2003, but your life will not be richer for seeing them.
Morbius (2022)
Madame Web (2024)
Kraven the Hunter (2024)
Not connected in any way. Seems like a waste of everyone’s time.
Miscellaneous
New Line Cinema (1998-2004)
Blade (1998)
Blade 2 (2002)
Blade Trinity (2004)
New World Pictures/Lions Gate (1989-2008)
The Punisher (1989)
The Punisher (2004)
Punisher: War Zone (2008)
The Blade trilogy is great for a pre-MCU slate of movies, especially if you like horror-flavored stuff.
Character Arcs
If you dig a particular character, and you don’t really care about the rest of the universe/multiverse/spoilers, then here are some quick guides.
Iron Man
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
The Avengers
Iron Man 3
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Thor
Thor
The Avengers
Thor: The Dark World
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thor: Ragnarok
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Thor: Love & Thunder
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
I am Groot
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Thor: Love & Thunder (Cameo)
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Black Widow
Iron Man 2
The Avengers
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Black Widow
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Hawkeye
The Avengers
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Black Widow (cameo)
Avengers: Endgame
Hawkeye
Hulk
Incredible Hulk
The Avengers
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Thor: Ragnarok
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Captain America: Brave New World
The Falcon
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man (Cameo)
Captain America: Civil War
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Falcon & The Winter Soldier
Captain America: Brave New World
The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: Civil War
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Falcon & The Winter Soldier
Captain America: Brave New World (Cameo)
Thunderbolts*
Ant-Man
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange
Thor: Ragnarok
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Scarlet Witch
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Captain America: Civil War
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
WandaVision
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Agatha All Along (Wanda’s Legacy)
Black Panther
Captain America: Civil War
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (T’Challa’s Legacy)
Spider-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Daredevil
Daredevil Seasons 1
Daredevil Season 2
The Defenders (Can skip, not very good)
Daredevil Season 3 (Catches you up on what happened during Defenders)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Cameo)
Hawkeye (More substantial than cameos)
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (More substantial than cameos)
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1
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