I have come to the conclusion that quarantine is a great time to accomplish things instead of just sitting in a state of infinite boredom. Although hardly any of this can be considered productive, I might have one suggestion that will take up a very large chunk of your time, as it has for me.
If you are not aware of the chronological order of Marvel’s The Infinity Saga, it is 23 movies, with most being two or more hours apiece. If you’re looking for something to binge that takes up a massive chunk of time, this is your series. Here’s the “correct” order to how to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in:
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Captain Marvel (2019)
- Iron Man 1 (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Thor (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
- Guardians of The Galaxy (2014)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Ant Man (2015)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- Spiderman: Homecoming (2017)
- Black Panther (2018)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Ant Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Avengers Endgame (2019)
- Spider Man: Far From Home (2019)
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Now, let me explain why you should watch these movies in this order and not by the dates they came out…
Captain America: The First Avenger takes place during World War II, around 1943. Therefore, on the timeline, it’s the first movie you should watch. If you’re unfamiliar with any of these movies, it’s a good place to start because you’re introduced to the overarching plot of phase 1 (The movies up to The Avengers) without being thrown into complete disarray. Also, starting with this movie makes the Iron Man and Hulk movies feel less like stand alone films, as they were when Paramount and Universal Studios first released them.
Captain Marvel comes in next, and although this movie and Captain Marvel herself aren’t relevant until Avengers: Endgame, watching this movie second makes it feel less convenient than when it was released. It was way too obvious that she was going to swoop in and save the day in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War.
The rest of the order is self-explanatory until you reach the two Guardians of the Galaxy films. Although they were released three years apart, the events that occur in both films happen one after the other. It’s better for the character development and also for avoiding a gap in the plot before Infinity War.
After Age of Ultron, the plot becomes clear with the order. Spiderman: Homecoming and Black Panther should be watched first because it gives the viewer a direct link to the events in the wake of Captain America: Civil War. Next should be Doctor Strange and Thor: Ragnarok, which throws you right back into the linear plot leading up to Avengers: Infinity War.
You can watch most of these movies if you have Disney+ but unfortunately, not all of them. Sony finances and owns all of the rights to the Spiderman movies, so Homecoming and Far From Home are not on any streaming network. To watch those ones, you’d have to rent or buy them.
Although Homecoming is not entirely essential to the Infinity Saga plot, it gives the viewer a good perspective of someone who isn’t on top or an Avenger with all the experience. Far From Home gives a great introduction into Marvel’s phase 4, while also being an overall great movie. The Incredible Hulk was produced by Universal Studios and has also been kept off of Disney+ and is not on any other platform. Avengers: Infinity War and Antman and the Wasp still fall under the contract between Netflix and Disney, so you can find them there.
The next movie to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Black Widow, which has been postponed to hit theatres sometime in November. If you watch all of these movies with a Disney+ subscription, you’ll be all caught up to watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is a live-action miniseries that is supposed to drop on Disney+ in late August.
With many more productions set to release over the next few years, the MCU is about to explode even more than it already has. You should consider watching these movies in this order so the plot makes more sense and is more entertaining.
