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Best MCU watch order for beginners, with notes

Every title carries a tag so you can decide what to skip. Essential means the main story depends on it, Recommended adds a lot but you’ll follow without it, and Optional is safe to skip. Each entry also shows its release date and, where known, when the story is set.

Why these titles

Each one either starts a thread the rest of the MCU depends on or pays one off.

• The foundation (Iron Man → The Avengers): Tony, Steve and the idea of a team. The Avengers gives you enough of Thor and Hulk to follow along, though Thor’s first film is one of the gaps listed below.
• The middle stretch (The Winter Soldier → Black Panther): the three or four films people mean when they say the MCU is good. Civil War sets up the split that Infinity War exploits.
• The ending (Infinity War, Endgame): the payoff for everything above.
• The multiverse (WandaVision → Loki Season 2): how the MCU’s current story works.
• Getting current (Deadpool & Wolverine → First Steps): the teams and the villain heading into Doomsday.

What you’ll miss, and when to add it back

A shortcut always costs something. These are the gaps a first-timer is most likely to notice, and the one or two titles that fill each one:

• Thor, Loki and the Tesseract. The Avengers picks up straight from Thor (2011), which gives Loki his origin, introduces the Tesseract and explains why Loki attacks Earth in the first place. It’s graded essential, so add it after Iron Man if you can.
• Spider-Man’s backstory. No Way Home is the third film in a trilogy. If you want its emotional beats to land, watch Spider-Man: Homecoming after Civil War and Far From Home after Endgame.
• Who Doctor Strange is. He turns up in Infinity War fully formed. Doctor Strange (2016), placed after Civil War, explains him and the Time Stone.
• The Quantum Realm. Endgame’s plan depends on it. Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp set it up, and the second one’s mid-credits scene matters.
• Carol Danvers. Endgame treats her as a big deal. Captain Marvel between Infinity War and Endgame shows why.
• Yelena and John Walker. Thunderbolts* assumes you know them. Black Widow and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduce them.
• Deadpool and Wolverine themselves. Deadpool & Wolverine is funnier if you know Fox’s versions. Deadpool and Logan are the two that matter most.

Thor: The Dark World is the other Thor skip. Thor: Ragnarok covers what you need from it.

Easy additions

If you’ve got more time: Captain Marvel between Infinity War and Endgame, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before Loki Season 2, and Captain America: Brave New World before Thunderbolts*. For the complete list, use release order; for only the titles graded essential, see the MCU essentials.

Frequently asked questions