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A New 'Punisher' Premieres: How to Watch All the Marvel Movies and TV Shows in Order

Looking to revisit the MCU franchise now that 'The Punisher: One Last Kill' special is streaming? Whether you want to watch in order of release or chronological story order, we've got you covered.

Eric Griffith
 & Eric Griffith Senior Editor, Features

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The Punisher, Marvel's unstoppable crime-fighting machine with a tortured past, had a two-season run on Netflix years ago. He made a big return to the small screen last year in Daredevil: Born Again. With that show's second season wrapped, Punisher is back again, on his own, on May 12 with an ultra-violent TV special. (He'll next appear in a few weeks on big screens as part of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.)

To date, there are nearly 20 streaming shows taking place in (or adjacent to) the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU); over 30 if you are liberal with your definition of "adjacent." The Punisher: One Last Kill is the third official one-off Disney+ special in the MCU, a shared world that includes movies (the most recent of which was Fantastic Four: First Steps), shows, and shorts. Together, they create a (somewhat) cohesive whole. We're here to tell you how to watch each movie and show in the proper order.

That order depends on your preference. You could opt for release order, since that's how everything was intended to be viewed. Alternatively, you could check out the chronological order option if you're a seasoned veteran and want something different. For even more fun (and homework) you could include every TV show and short in that watch order, which will have you watching as many MCU-related TV shows and short films as possible.

For the most part, Disney+ is all you need to stream the MCU, though a few things are available elsewhere. That's where you'll find the latest releases, like the excellent Wonder Man and last year's truly stellar Thunderbolts*, as well as Fantastic Four and classic shows like Agent Carter. Other exceptions are noted below.

Order of Release (Movies Only)

Dates indicate when the film was released to theaters.

MCU: Phase One

MCU: Phase Two

MCU: Phase Three

MCU: Phase Four

MCU: Phase Five

MCU: Phase Six

Coming in 2026

  • Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)
  • Avengers: Doomsday (Dec. 18, 2026)
  • Avengers: Secret Wars (Dec. 17, 2027)

Chronological Order (Movies Only)

The date on each film below indicates the estimated year or years it takes place. There are caveats about timeline anomalies, and that's before the films even get to the time travel stuff.

We also have links to find the movies. The majority are on Disney+. But Marvel's rights issues with some characters go back decades, particularly with the Hulk and Spider-Man, which is why they're sometimes on other services.

Disney bought Fox, so most of the Fox-produced X-Men movies—even Deadpool—are on Disney+ or Hulu. Unless explicitly told otherwise, consider that a different section of the multiverse.

The post-credits scenes at the end of each Marvel movie sometimes take place in wildly different timeframes than the main film itself or were bits cut from the next movie to come out. We're not counting them here.

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  • Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)
  • The Fantastic Four: First Steps (the 1960s, but on another earth in the Multiverse)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening takes place in 1980)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (opening takes place in 1988)
  • Captain Marvel (1995)
  • Iron Man (2010)
  • Iron Man 2 (2011)
  • Thor (2011)
  • The Incredible Hulk (May-June 2011; takes place after Iron Man 2 and Thor, despite being released first)
  • The Avengers (2012)
  • Iron Man 3 (2012)
  • Thor: The Dark World (2013)
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (the rest of it is set in 2014)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (the remainder of it is set in 2014)
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  • Ant-Man (2015)
  • Doctor Strange (2016-17; part of it happens after Civil War)
  • Captain America: Civil War (2016)
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016—the opening takes place during Captain America: Civil War; the rest is set only four years after The Avengers, despite what it says on screen)
  • Black Panther (2017)
  • Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
  • Black Widow (2017)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp (2017)
  • Avengers: Infinity War (2017)
  • Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018, jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and 1970)
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2023)
  • Eternals (2023)
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home (summer 2024)
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
  • Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (early 2025)
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2025)
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (probably 2026)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (mid-2026)
  • The Marvels (2026)
  • Deadpool & Wolverine (outside of time, but this is when to watch it according to the timeline on Disney+)
  • Captain America: Brave New World (2027)
  • Thunderbolts* (2027)

Popularity Order (Movies Only)

Here's yet another option: Watch the MCU in the order of movie quality.

Quality here is in the eyes of the users at JustWatch.com, a service for finding and rating anything streaming. It put together this infographic depicting the popularity ranking of the first 30 films in the MCU, everything up through 2022.

(Credit: JustWatch)

Spider-Man is the favorite franchise within the franchise, which is no surprise. Nor are the ranks for the much-reviled first sequels for Thor and Iron Man.

But The Eternals ranking above the Captain America films, especially The Winter Soldier? Madness!

Chronological Order With TV Shows and Shorts

A shared universe that encapsulates not only movies but also TV shows? Sometimes it works, but usually it doesn't. The original MCU shows were kept separate—a by-product of factions of Disney production that didn't see eye to eye. Now, with the mega-producer of the MCU, Kevin Feige, overseeing even the TV shows on Disney+, the ties to the MCU are tight.

Feige has also brought back favorite characters such as Daredevil and the Kingpin. They were featured on the MCU shows that originally aired on Netflix. Those shows—Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Punisher, and others—are now on Disney+ too and considered MCU canon.

Shows like Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are full of flashbacks and bits that are out of step with the established timeline; we didn't account for them all. But don't watch those episodes out of order—that's nuts. And don't watch Inhumans at all. Ever. Even if it is on Disney+.

Pre-20th Century

  • Eternals--Various flashbacks in the film go back to ancient times
  • Eyes of Wakanda—Each episode covers Wakandan and Black Panther history in previous centuries

The 20th Century

  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 1-2 (1931)
  • Captain America: The First Avenger (1942)
  • Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (1946)
  • Agent Carter (1946-1947)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 3-4 (1955)
  • The Fantastic Four: First Steps (the 1960s, but on another earth in the Multiverse)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episodes 5-6 (1972-1976)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (opening in 1980)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7, Episode 7 (1982)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (opens in 1988)
  • Captain Marvel (1995)

2010-11

2012

2013

  • Iron Man 3 (2012)
  • Thor: The Dark World (2013)
  • Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King— short film, takes place post-Iron Man 3 (2013)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 1-16 (2013-14)

2014

  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 1, Episodes 17-22 (2013-14)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
  • I Am Groot ("Groot’s First Steps" short)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (three months later)
  • I Am Groot (The rest of the short episodes take place between the end of the Guardians Vol. 2 and the tag at the end where Groot is a teen.)
  • Daredevil—Season 1 (2014)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 2; Episode 20 is concurrent with Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014-15)

2015

  • Jessica Jones—Season 1 (2015)
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 1-10 (2015)
  • Ant-Man (2015)
  • Cloak and Dagger—Season 1 (2015)—Disney+/Hulu

2016

  • Daredevil—Season 2 (2016)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 11-19 (2016)
  • Luke Cage—Season 1 (2016)
  • Iron Fist—Season 1 (2016)
  • Cloak & Dagger (2016)—Season 2 is set after the events of Luke Cage
  • The Defenders—Mini-series (2016)
  • Doctor Strange (act one in 2016)
  • Captain America: Civil War (2016)
  • Black Widow (according to the official MCU timeline on Disney+, this happens in 2016)
  • Black Panther (2016)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 3, Episodes 20-23 (2016)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Set between Seasons 3 and 4
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
  • Punisher—Season 1 (2016 holidays)

2017

  • Doctor Strange (the rest is set in 2017)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Episodes 1-8 with Ghost Rider (2017)
  • Inhumans (2017)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 4, Ep 9-22 (2017)
  • Jessica Jones—Season 2 (Summer 2017)
  • Luke Cage—Season 2 (2017)
  • Runaways—Season 1 and 2 (2017-2018)
  • Iron Fist—Season 2 (late 2017)
  • Daredevil—Season 3 (2017)

2018

  • Thor: Ragnarok (2018)
  • Punisher—Season 2 (2018)
  • Jessica Jones—Season 3 (2018)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018, but see below)
  • Runaways—Season 3 (2018)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 5, Eps 11-22 (final four episodes concurrent to Infinity War in 2018)
  • Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp (the credits tag takes place at the same time as Thanos's snap, trapping Scott Lang in the quantum realm from 2018 until 2023)
  • Avengers: Endgame (starts in 2018, then jumps to 2023, with hops back to 2012, 2013, 2014, and a quick jump to 1970)

2019

  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 6 (seems to be out of continuity by ignoring the Snap; or it's in a new timeline/alternate universe altogether)

2023

  • Avengers: Endgame ending (2023)
  • WandaVision (three weeks post-Endgame, 2023)

2024

  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Spring 2024)
  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Spring-Summer 2024)
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home (a full school year after Endgame, Summer 2024)
  • Eternals (Oct. 2024)
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (Immediately follows Far from Home, but ends near Dec. 2024)
  • Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—Season 7 - Episodes 8-13, which are entirely out of whack with continuity
  • Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (Autumn 2024)
  • Hawkeye (December 2024)

2025

(Credit: Marvel Studios)

2026

The Future(s)

2027

  • Captain America: Brave New World
  • Daredevil: Born Again (early 2027 for the remainder of the first season; season 2 set six months later)
  • Thunderbolts* (six months after Captain America: Brave New World; post-credit sequence jumps ahead a year or more)

As you can see, the post-Snap continuity is messy. Shows like What If...? and its spin-off, Marvel Zombies, take place completely outside of continuity.

Storm (voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith) in 'What If...?' Season 3
(Credit: Marvel Animation.)

If you don't like this timeline, you have other options. Check out the scarily detailed one at the Marvel Cinematic Universe Fandom Wiki. Or buy the hardcover coffee-table book The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline. It covers the Sacred Timeline (IYKYK, right Loki fans?)—which means it doesn't include Marvel TV shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, etc. (those are a separate branch, of course)—up through Phase 5.

What's Coming?

Plenty of movies and TV shows are coming to the MCU. These are the titles we know, with updated release dates.

MCU: Phase 6

  • Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31, 2026)—Direct to theaters
  • Vision Quest (2026)—Direct to Disney+
  • Avengers: Doomsday (Dec. 18, 2026)—Direct to theaters
  • Daredevil: Born Again Season 3 (2027)—Direct to Disney+
  • Avengers: Secret Wars (Dec. 17, 2027)—Direct to theaters
  • Wonder Man Season 2 (eventually)—Direct to Disney+

This story doesn't even dip into Sony's Marvel-adjacent films, including Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Venom: The Last Dance, as well as Morbius (Disney+, Tubi), Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter. It also doesn't mention Fox's X-Men franchise or Sony's previous Spider-Man films, even if they are technically "in continuity" now.

About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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