During its 15 years (and counting), the Marvel Cinematic Universe has presented an abundance of characters and narratives, and they are all connected. The story told through all these years weaves between different movies and shows, culminating in a tapestry that has been consideredthe biggest franchise in cinema history. The effect on the film industry cannot be overstated.
Perhaps OG Marvel fans know every nook and cranny of such a large and continuously expanding epic, but with more content coming out faster than lightning, it’s understandable if things get confusing. Starting in 2008 withIron Man, the MCU now has over 40 movies and TV shows that fall under two sagas and six phases so far. The legendary Stan Lee, creator of most of these heroes along with Jack Kirby,has a cameo appearance in 22 of the following films.
The story has been expanding and introducing new characters as it goes,and leaving some behind as well. Bringing such iconic characters from the comics to the screen is a challenging task, and though there have been some downfalls, the MCU has overall been absolutely game-changing.
With jumping timelines and the movies being released in a non-chronological way, it can get confusing to get immersed fully in the marvelous franchise. Here is a simple explanation of the MCU — its saga, phases, and how to watch each movie and TV show in order of release date.
What Are the Marvel Phases and Saga?
The MCU is so vast that many characters and narratives overlap in their multitude of connections. Over the many years of movie and TV releases, the franchise has been divided into the MCU Phases, which group several movies and TV shows released within a certain time bracket together, with a general theme or big bad guy that connects each one. Their overarching stories are greatly enjoyed if you are familiar enough with the movies and TV shows within each phase, especially since there are often references to other characters or significant events.
If we zoom out and see the bigger picture, several phases make up a saga, and so far there have been two: The Infinity Saga and The Multiverse Saga. If you’re familiar at all with the MCU, the saga names should indicate which films are within that saga. The sagas contain several overlapping characters, while some others are entirely new. So far, the MCU has six phases, where phases one to three fall under The Infinity Saga, and phases four to six fall under The Multiverse Saga. This structure may help you to separate the larger narratives that each saga brings.
The Infinity Saga
The Infinity Saga starts with the “genius billionaire playboy philanthropist” Tony Stark in 2008’sIron Man. Slowly, the MCU introduced the original Marvel heroes one by one throughout these early movies, eventually bringing them together to fight greater threats as The Avengers.
Iconic Moments of the MCU’s Infinity Saga
Marvel Studios established the MCU as the most popular film franchise of all time. Here are thirteen iconic moments from the Infinity Saga.
Phase 1 (2008 - 2012)
Phase 1 is where it all started. We are introduced to a handful of heroes with their own standalone movies, and each film has small references to other heroes or other events going on that will be linked. The characters introduced in Phase 1 with their own movies are Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. Interestingly,The Incredible Hulkstarring Edward Norton is considered canon, even though the actor playing the Hulk changes, and there is almost no overlap with the other films — Stan Lee does make his classic cameo appearance though.
Through some of those films, Black Widow and Hawkeye, who are also Avengers, as well as smallersignificant contributors. Phase 1 concludes withThe Avengers,where the heroes, now established, fight an epic battle against Thor’s brother Loki — we’ll see more of Loki later on. Phase 1 ends with the first hint of Thanos and what trouble he will soon bring. These films will all be listed by release date, but at the end of the article, we will explain how to watch the MCU chronologically, too.
The movies included in Phase 1 are:
Movie Title
Release Year
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers
Phase 2 (2013 - 2015)
After the epic destruction of New York City inThe Avengers, Phase 2 starts with the heroes dealing with the aftermath of the battle against Loki. Phase 2 shows the heroes’ continued journeys while introducing new characters: Ant-Man, Falcon, Quicksilver, and Star-Lord.
Following a similar structure to Phase 1, Phase 2 tells several heroes’ individual stories and then links them together in one film where they fight against the big bad of the phase, Ultron, inAvengers: Age of Ultron.In this phase, the universe expands drastically by introducing the new cosmic team throughGuardians of the Galaxy,while alsohighlighting Thanos’ terrible acts. This is also the first Phase where Marvel TV shows began to interlace with the movies. Only the films are canonically necessary, but the shows add depth to the world and background to many characters in the films, such as the iconic and lovely Agent Carter fromCaptain America: The First Avenger.
The movies and shows included in Phase 2 are:
Movie or Show Title
Iron Man 3
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.Season 1
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2
Agent CarterSeason 1
DaredevilSeason 1
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3
Jessica JonesSeason 1
Agent Carter Season 2
Daredevil Season 2
Phase 3 (2016 - 2019)
Phase 3 is where everything that The Infinity Saga has been building towards reaches its peak. With about three giant superhero films each year in this Phase, things got very Marvel-saturated in the cinema world. Now that a good handful of heroes and villains had been introduced, the story grows bigger, leading them into a head-to-head battle. Still, Phase 3 introduces new heroes too, such as Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel.
The same structure applies to Phase 3— the new heroes get their own movies as well as some others. In the end, they all join forces to defeat Thanos. The final phase of The Infinity Saga is intense and packed with high-stakes stories and actions, so there are quite a number of films in this phase. As before, the shows are not necessary to understand the MCU, but certain shows likeLokiadd a lot of depth and storytelling that is relevant — not to mention beingwell-told and entertaining.
The movies and shows included in Phase 3 are:
Captain America: Civil War
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4
Luke CageSeason 1
Doctor Strange
Iron FistSeason 1
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Spider-Man: Homecoming
The DefendersSeason 1
InhumansSeason 1
Thor: Ragnarok
The PunisherSeason 1
RunawaysSeason 1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5
Black Panther
Jessica Jones Season 2
Avengers: Infinity War
Cloak & DaggerSeason 1
Luke Cage Season 2
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Iron Fist Season 2
Daredevil Season 3
Runaways Season 2
The Punisher Season 2
Captain Marvel
Cloak & Dagger Season 2
Avengers: Endgame
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6
Jessica Jones Season 3
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Runaways Season 3
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7
WandaVision
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
LokiSeason 1
The Multiverse Saga
After concluding The Infinity Saga withSpider-Man: Far From Home, the MCU enters it’s second saga, with another big plot under its wings. This saga introduces many characters through both movies and TV shows, as well asthe bizarre concept of the multiverse. So far, The Multiverse Saga has beenreceiving mixed reactions from fans, especially since it doesn’t follow the same structure as The Infinity Saga.
But, some will argue that the structure is quite similar — introducing new characters and bringing them together — only this time, it’s with additional TV shows, which some take as lacking interconnectivity. Indeed, the abundance of new characters and plots can make it tricky to connect every dot. But, the overarching structure stays true to its original form: introduce, expand, conclude.
Phase 4 (2021 - 2023)
In Phase 4, there have been standalone movies of some heroes to deepen their stories, and there also have been plenty of new characters introduced. Compared to Phase 1, this phase is less connected, and focuses more on introducing new characters while brushinga little deeper into the concept of multiversethat this saga will utilize.
MCU: Every Phase Four Marvel Movie, Ranked by Box Office Results
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe transitioned into Phase Four after Avengers: Endgame, there were a lot of box office hurdles to overcome.
The movies and shows included in Phase 4 are:
Movie and Show Title
Black Widow
What If…?Season 1
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Moon Knight
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Thor: Love and Thunder
I Am GrootSeason 1
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law
Werewolf By Night
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Phase 5 (2023 - 2025)
With the multiverse expanding massively, the concept of time is starting to blur. As seen inLokiseason 2, the timeline is all over the place, with vast multiverses to which the characters can jump. The one thing about the multiverse is that even something tiny can change things significantly, so Phase 5 will be a wild ride (as it already has been, and we’re still at the beginning).New characters and variants are still introduced, eventually leading toAvengers: Secret Wars.
The movies and shows included in Phase 5 are:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Secret Invasion
I Am Groot Season 2
Loki Season 2
The Marvels
What If…? Season 2
Deadpool 3
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries
Captain America: Brave New World
Daredevil: Born Again
Phase 6 (2025 - 2027)
Similar to Phase 3, which concludes The Infinity Saga, Phase 6 will have two Avengers movies to conclude The Multiverse Saga. Afterseveral shuffles and delays in release datesand the fate of several movies and TV shows, the current timeline shows that Phase 6 will kick off withFantastic Four. Nothing is for certain currently, and things might change, but for now, Phase 6 will have six movies to finish The Multiverse Saga.
The movies included in Phase 6 are:
Fantastic Four
Thunderbolts
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Avengers: Secret Wars
Armor Wars
Every MCU Movie and TV Show in Chronological Order
The MCU has been running for 15 years and releasing dozens of movies and TV shows divided into phases and sagas. While it isn’t always possible to know exactly when some of the events in the MCU take place, for the most part this list is accurate. But with shows likeAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.orLoki, there is no real way of knowing when or how they align with the rest of the MCU.
The long listmight be overwhelming, but there’s a particular fun and even beauty in enjoying the characters’ journeys and how they eventually intertwine. Here are all of the MCU movies and TV shows in chronological order rather than release date, so you may see how things evolved from the very beginning:
Year of Events
Agent Carter Season 1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episodes 1-7
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episodes 8-16
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1, Episodes 17-22
Daredevil Season 1
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2, Episodes 1-19
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2, Episodes 20-22
Jessica Jones Season 1
Luke Cage Season 1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episodes 1-19
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 3, Episodes 20-22
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episodes 1-8
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Episodes 9-22
Iron Fist Season 1
The Defenders
The Punisher Season 1
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5, Episodes 1-19
Inhumans Season 1
Runaways Seasons 1 and 2
Cloak and Dagger Season 1 and 2
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5, Episodes 19-22
Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
Ms. Marvel
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Guardians of the Galaxy 3
