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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the MCU: Episode-by-Episode Watch Order

Updated October 16, 2026

The best way to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with the MCU movies is to slot its first five seasons between the films they were built around: the pilot after Iron Man 3, "The Well" after Thor: The Dark World, a split around Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and so on up to Avengers: Infinity War. Seasons 1 to 5 aired from September 2013 to May 2018, 22 episodes each, while Phase Two and Phase Three were in theaters. Watch them in this order and the crossover episodes land the way they did on broadcast, with the movie fresh in your head. We start in the 1940s with Agent Carter and finish with every Phase One to Three film, so this works as a full MCU watch order up to Avengers: Endgame.

This order is for people who want the show and the films together, not for anyone who just needs the movies. The films never depend on S.H.I.E.L.D., so you can skip the show entirely and miss nothing a film requires. To be clear about the official status: Marvel's 2023 official timeline book leaves out Marvel Television series such as S.H.I.E.L.D. while noting they are part of the larger Marvel canon, and the show's own producers admitted the connection mostly ran one way. The tie-in points below come from what the show's episodes and producers say about the films. Where a placement is a fan convention rather than something stated, we say so. More on that in Is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. canon?

The order, from Captain America to Infinity War

38 steps, with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. split into 11 episode runs around the films they tie into. Red-edged rows are S.H.I.E.L.D. episode runs.

1. Captain America: The First AvengerFilmThe World War II origin of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter; everything in the Agent Carter material follows on from it.
2. Marvel One-Shot: Agent CarterFilmSet a year after The First Avenger; Disney+ lists it right after that film, though its final scene jumps ahead of the TV series.
3. Agent Carter Season 1SeriesEight episodes set in New York in 1946, with Peggy working for the SSR.
4. Agent Carter Season 2SeriesTen episodes set in Los Angeles in 1947, roughly six months to a year after Season 1.
5. Captain MarvelFilmSet in 1995 and features a rookie Phil Coulson; it also works in release order, right before Endgame.
6. Iron ManFilmPhase One starts here; from now until Iron Man 3 the films go in release order.
7. The Incredible HulkFilmPhase One in release order; no direct S.H.I.E.L.D. TV link.
8. Iron Man 2FilmPhase One in release order; no direct S.H.I.E.L.D. TV link.
9. ThorFilmPhase One in release order; no direct S.H.I.E.L.D. TV link.
10. Marvel's The AvengersFilmThe pilot references the Battle of New York repeatedly, and Coulson's fate here is the show's opening hook.
11. Iron Man 3FilmThe pilot is set after this film and borrows its Extremis virus.
12. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1 E1–E7Episodes"Pilot" through "The Hub", the run of episodes before the Thor tie-in.
13. Thor: The Dark WorldFilm"The Well" opens in the immediate aftermath, with the team cleaning up the film's mess.
14. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1 E8–E16Episodes"The Well" through "End of the Beginning"; E16 leads straight into the film and ends with a scene from it.
15. Captain America: The Winter SoldierFilmWatched between E16 and E17, a common placement that mirrors the broadcast (E16 April 1, film April 4, E17 April 8, 2014).
16. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1 E17–E22Episodes"Turn, Turn, Turn" runs alongside the film's events, and the season deals with what the film does to S.H.I.E.L.D.
17. Guardians of the GalaxyFilmReleased between Seasons 1 and 2; no direct S.H.I.E.L.D. TV link.
18. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2FilmSet a few months after the first film, so a common placement is right behind it rather than in release order.
19. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S2 E1–E19EpisodesPeggy Carter flashbacks in "Shadows" and "The Things We Bury"; E18–E19 feed into Age of Ultron's opening scene.
20. Avengers: Age of UltronFilmOpens with the Avengers raiding Strucker's Hydra base in Sokovia, which E19 "The Dirty Half Dozen" sets up.
21. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S2 E20–E22Episodes"Scars" deals with the film's aftermath, then the two-part finale "S.O.S."
22. Ant-ManFilmReleased in July 2015, between Seasons 2 and 3; no direct S.H.I.E.L.D. TV link.
23. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S3 E1–E19Episodes"Laws of Nature" through "Failed Experiments"; the season's Inhuman story runs parallel to the Civil War themes.
24. Captain America: Civil WarFilmIntroduces the Sokovia Accords, which E20 picks up a few days after the film's release in 2016.
25. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S3 E20–E22Episodes"Emancipation" is set in the aftermath of Civil War and shows how the Accords hit the Inhumans.
26. Black PantherFilmSet after Civil War as T'Challa takes the throne; a common placement here rather than in release order.
27. Spider-Man: HomecomingFilmPicks up Peter Parker's story after Civil War; no direct S.H.I.E.L.D. TV link.
28. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (optional)SeriesSix short digital episodes, mostly set just before Season 4, in which Yo-Yo is made to sign the Sokovia Accords.
29. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S4 E1–E6EpisodesThe Ghost Rider arc begins with Robbie Reyes (Gabriel Luna), after the signing of the Sokovia Accords.
30. Doctor StrangeFilmFits a common placement after E6; E7 aired after the film's release and nods to it visually, but the tie is thematic.
31. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S4 E7–E22EpisodesThe rest of the Ghost Rider arc, then the LMD and Framework arcs, linked by the Darkhold.
32. Thor: RagnarokFilmSet two years after Age of Ultron, and its post-credits scene sets up Infinity War.
33. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S5 E1–E18EpisodesE1–E10 take place on a destroyed future Earth; the team is back in the present from E11.
34. Avengers: Infinity WarFilmA common placement after E18; the last four episodes of Season 5 take place during the film's events.
35. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S5 E19–E22Episodes"Option Two" through "The End" run over a single day alongside the film and use the Thanos threat.
36. Ant-Man and the WaspFilmSet two years after Civil War, with a deliberately vague link to Infinity War; its mid-credits scene plays best after it.
37. Avengers: EndgameFilmThe end of the line for the S.H.I.E.L.D.-era films; Seasons 6 and 7 aired afterward but sidestep it.
38. Spider-Man: Far From HomeFilmSet eight months after Endgame and the last Phase Three film, which closes the Infinity Saga.

Seasons 6 and 7

Seasons 6 and 7 aired after Endgame and are best watched as their own story once you finish this list. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 (13 episodes, May to August 2019) begins a year after Season 5, in the aftermath of Infinity War, but the show never deals with the film's events. The showrunners said they wanted to tell their own story and accepted that the series no longer lined up with the films' timeline. Clark Gregg is back, playing a mysterious figure called Sarge.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 7 (13 episodes, May to August 2020) is the final season. The writers knew it was coming while making Season 6, so the two seasons form one story, with a Season 6 cliffhanger that Season 7 resolves. It opens in 1930s New York, before S.H.I.E.L.D. existed, and has the team chasing the Chronicoms through different eras. Its time travel has its own rules, built around "tides". Agent Carter fans get a treat: Enver Gjokaj returns as Daniel Sousa in 10 episodes, and an early episode refers back to Agent Carter Season 2.

Tips for watching this way

• Keep seasons whole if you prefer. The only splits that really matter are Winter Soldier (after S1 E16), Age of Ultron (after S2 E19), Civil War (after S3 E19) and Infinity War (after S5 E18). Watch any other film between seasons and you lose very little.
• Short on time? The episodes that link most directly to the films are "Pilot", "The Well", "End of the Beginning", "Turn, Turn, Turn", "The Dirty Half Dozen", "Scars" and "Emancipation". The rest is the show's own story, which no film requires, so you can skip it for the films' sake. It is also most of what makes the show worth watching.
• Captain Marvel is flexible. We put it in 1995 order, but it works just as well right before Endgame, where it was released. Either way, look for a young Coulson.
• Slingshot is optional. It is six short digital episodes released on December 13, 2016, and it fills in Yo-Yo's story before Season 4.
• The Netflix shows are left out on purpose. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders and The Punisher were added to the Disney+ timeline in January 2024, but slotting them in here would double the list. See Are the Netflix shows canon? and our chronological order if you want them.
• Plan the marathon. That is 110 S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes plus 18 of Agent Carter before you even count the films, so the marathon planner and watch tracker will help.

Want the verdict first? Read do I need to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?, the essential episodes list, or is Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. canon?

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