If you've yet to finish a movie in the MCU, it's a good time to start. With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in cinemas now, it's the perfect time to get up to speed on this universe before you get introduced to a whole load of others.
Don't worry, if binge-watching 28 films in a row is more than a little daunting for you, don't worry. We help with a breakdown of every movie in chronological order so you don't get lost along the way.
Start out with Captain America: The First Avenger as he battles the Nazis in the 1940s, and then relive the 90s with Captain Marvel, the Skrulls, and Blockbuster. You will be watching Iron Man after which you will pick up the thread of the MCU as it was made. If you think it's smooth sailing from there, you've forgotten about Black Widow, the back-to-back Guardians films and so much more.
There is so much to be gained from watching all the movies in chronological order. Not only will it give you a new appreciation of the complex universe, but you will also get to relive some of the best space movies ever made. All you need to do is subscribe to Disney Plus. You will have to find other Spider-Man films and The Incredible Hulk before you can see Doctor Strange in the cinema. We have a guide for where to find those outliers.
You can breakdown every movie in chronological order. You won't find Venom or Morbius on this list.
If you want to watch all the movies in chronological order, you have to start with Captain America: The First Avenger. It's not the best movie by a long shot, but it's the oldest, and it takes place during World War 2 in 1942. Cap was frozen in ice so he could leapfrog through time to the present day and eventually team up with the avengers, only to be frozen in time to watch him fight HYDRA and fall forPeggy Carter. This is where it all began.
The First Avenger was Captain America.
In the 90s, you'll see a community of Skrulls hiding in plain sight on Earth, as well as a community of grunge. The origin movie was set in 1995 and featured appearances from 90s icons such as payphones and Nine Inch Nails. It was the first movie in the franchise to have one of its main characters de-aged using some impressive CGI so a young Nick could kick ass right alongside one of the most powerful superheroes.
She was named Captain Marvel.
Iron Man is the third movie in chronological order. Tony Stark created the Iron Man suit to escape his captivity and become a powerful but arrogant superhero in this origin movie. Tony took down Obadiah Stane, the baddie who arranged his kidnapping, because he wanted to take over Stark Industries.
The man is Iron Man.
The son of a former Stark employee tried to kill Tony with his own version of Tony's Iron Man suit technology less than a year later. Tony found out that the Arc Reactor that keeps him alive and powers his suit is actually killing him. Tony isn't having a great year, but thanks to a little help from Nick and Black Widow, he cures himself and takes down Vanko.
Bruce Banner is trying to find a cure for his condition that will cause him to turn into a big, raging, green monster whenever he feels annoyed. Ross sends a special forces soldier to take down Banner, who is being hunted by General Thaddeus. Blonsky is no match for the Hulk, so he agrees to be injected with a similar serum to the one that turned Banner into the Hulk. It makes him insane. Banner convinces Ross to let him stop Blonsky and save the day as he became Abomination and went on a killing rampage.
Disney/Marvel say no, but it was clearly meant to be in the MCU when it was created, as evidenced by Tony Stark's post credits.
The year of 2011 was a busy one for the MCU, as God of thunder THOR was exiled to Earth by his dad and discovered that he was no longer worthy to lift his hammer. He learns how to live as a mortal from Jane Foster. On Asgard, the God of Mischief finds out that he is actually adopted and doesn't take it very well. After proving himself worthy enough to once again wield his hammer, he returns to Asgard to stop his brother from causing any more trouble, only to witness his brother supposedly die.
Surprise! The creation of the Avenger in 2012 is a result of the return of Loki, who tried to take over Earth a year before. A recently unfrozen Cap, Iron Man, and a reluctant Banner/Hulk all team up to stop Loki. Black Widow and Clint Barton are also with them. A huge battle ensues destroying most of New York, but eventually ends with Loki being captured and taken back to Asgard for a spanking.
After taking down his brother, Thor returns to Earth and runs into Jane who has accidentally absorbed a dangerous substance called the Aether, and is more than a little upset that he didn't call her when he was in town. After learning that the Aether will kill Jane, Thor enlisted the help of his brother to trick the dark elf Malekith into getting the Aether out of her. During the confrontation, it is said that Loki was killed and that Malekith was stopped from using the Aether to wreak havoc on Earth.
The Dark World is where the god of thunder lives.
Tony is struggling with his experiences during the Battle of New York. The only way to protect Earth and the ones he loves is with more Iron Man suits, and he spends the better part of 2012 creating suit after suit, only for bombs to start going off all over the place. Tony discovers that scientist Aldrich Killian is behind the attacks and that he kidnapped the President. Tony and Rhodey team up to save the President, eventually destroying all of his suits and promising Pepper that he will tone down the superhero thing for a while.
Iron Man 3.
The Winter Soldier is an assassin who is going to cause trouble for S.H.I.E.L.D. when he starts causing trouble. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been taken over by HYDRA. Cap, Black Widow and Sam Wilson help bring down the HYDRA/S.H.I.E.L.D., but Bucky ends up on the run.
The Winter Soldier is a film about Captain America.
The same year Star-Lord is roaming the galaxy trying to find a buyer for a powerful Infinity Stone he was stolen when he was attacked by the adoptive daughter of the god of destruction, Gamora, and bounty hunters, Rocket and Groot. After being sent to prison and meeting Drax, the unlikely friends team up, break out, and decide to sell the stone to keep it from the baddie who wants to destroy Xandar. All doesn't go to plan and they end up in a big battle with Ronan, which ends with an awkward dance off and victory for the Guardians of the GALAXY.
It was the first time that the MCU was sent into space.
There is a movie called "Guardians of the GALAXY".
They were faced with another big baddie in the same year, this time with some added family drama, after they defeated Ronan. Star-Lord is estranged, but his powerful father, Ego, shows up and wants to teach him. It turns out that Ego is a mass-murdering psychopath, which makes it difficult for the Guardians to destroy him. They made a new friend with the help of the empath Mantis.
2 is the second part of the film, "Guardians of the GALAXY: Vol. 2." 2
In 2015, the avengers had to reform to defeat another villain, but this time it was their own making. Tony is anyway. He is still trying to protect humanity, but he has created a robot that is more interested in enslavement than saving it. It comes at a high price, with the destruction of Sokovia, but the heroes have to work together to stop Ultron.
The movie is called Age of Ultron.
Scott Lang, an ex-con, broke into Hank Pym's house and stole his suit while the Avengers were taking down Ultron. Hank revealed that he set up the whole thing to see if Scott was good enough to become an Avenger. The good news is Hank passed, the bad news is that he needs his help to stop his former protégé from developing his own suit. Scott saved the day after training with Hank and his daughter Hope.
There is a man named ant-man.
The United Nations wants the Avengers to sign the Sokovia Accords and not do superhero-ing until they are told to. Only half of the Avengers think it's a good idea, with Iron Man and Captain America opposing each other. The international incident involving Black Panther was caused by the death of King T’Chaka, who was supposedly killed by the Winter Soldier. Cap and Bucky discover that Zemo was the real murderer and that he coordinated the whole thing to split the Avenger's up. Zemo reveals that Cap and Tony's friendship is over after he killed Iron Man's parents.
The Civil War of Captain America.
The Red Room organization that tortured and trained her to be a Black Widow is still up and running, even after she broke the Sokovia Accords. With an antidote to the Black Widow mind-control, and her former fake family in tow,Natasha tracks down the head of the Red Room, Dreykov who turned his own daughter into the perfect soldier, Taskmaster. They use the antidote to save her and the other Black Widows and then plan to save the rest around the world.
Black woman.
After teaming up with Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man is back in his old neighborhood when he discovers that weapons made from alien tech are being sold by Adrian Toomes. He tried to stop him, but Iron Man saved him when he thought he was too reckless. Trying to get back to normal life, Peter asks his crush, Liz, to the prom, only to discover that her dad is Toomes. Awkward. Peter abandons his prom date to stop Toomes from stealing a plane full of alien weapons.
There is a movie about Spider-Man called Spider-Man: Homecoming.
After the death of his father in Captain America: Civil War, TChalla returns to Wakanda to take his rightful place as king, but quickly discovers that Wakandan artifacts are being stolen. C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross was badly hurt in his attempt to catch the man responsible. The man who killed Klaue is also the one who brought his body to Wakanda and revealed himself to beChalla's cousin. He won the ritual combat for the throne. Challa must gather his remaining allies to stop him from sending weapons to his operatives around the world.
There is a film called Black Panther.
Dr. Stephen Strange lost his hands in a car accident. He travels the world trying to find a cure and eventually meets The Ancient One after being devastated that he can no longer wield a scalpel. After agreeing to train him in the mystic arts, Strange is learning how to become a sorcerer when a former student, Kaecilius, attacks him looking for magic that will help him contact Dormammu of the Dark Dimension. Killing The Ancient One, Strange creates a time loop prison for Dormammu until he agrees to leave Earth forever.
Doctor Strange is a fictional character.
In the year of 2017, Thor discovers that his brother, Loki, is actually their father. They found their dad dying and that they have a terrible older sister, Hela. Hela is going to wage war on the rest of the universe after he dies. After escaping to Sakaar, the two of them are able to make friends with the other, as well as get to know the other person, who has been missing since Age of Ultron. They banded together to return to Asgard and defeat Hela, escaping with most of the people of Asgard on a spaceship.
There is a movie called "Throat: Ragnarok."
Scott/Ant-Man is under house arrest because of his involvement in Captain America: Civil War when he runs into Hope and Hank who are on the run because the authorities think they also had something to do with it. They need his help to rescue Hope's mom from the Quantum Realm, but they are not the only ones trying to master it. Hank successfully brings Janet back from the Quantum Realm after Ghost tried to steal his lab, but the team of ants and theWasp were able to stop her. Everyone works out fine until everyone mysteriously dies, except for the one who is trapped in the quantum realm.
There is a lot of quantum physics going on here, and if you want to know more about it, we have done a dive into how realistic it is.
There is a movie called "Ant-Man and the Wasp".
The Power Stone is already in the possession of Thanos, so he destroyed the Asgardian ship to get the Space Stone. He sends his children to Earth to look for the Mind and Time Stones as he searches for the Reality and Soul Stones. The movie climaxes with him snapping his figures to whip out half of the universe as the other heroes try to stop him. Bummer.
There is a movie called "Instur War."
Five years later, the world is still trying to get over the loss of so many people when Scott Lang returns from the Quantum Realm with an idea to bring everyone back. Using his knowledge, Tony and the rest of the heroes are able to travel back in time to find the Infinity Stones before the event. When they return, they use the stones to bring everyone back, but they have to stop the other team from stopping him. Iron Man saves the day with a click of his fingers, but dies in the attempt.
There is a movie called "Avengers: Endgame."
Peter is still grieving the death of Tony when he goes on a school trip to Europe. Tony gets old glasses from Nick that give him access to all of Stark's resources, and Peter teams up with Beck, a superhero from across the multiverse, to defeat the Elementals. Believing Beck is the hero the world needs, Peter gives him Tony's glasses, only to discover that he's not a superhero at all, but an ex-Stark employee who was after the glasses all along. Beck lands Spider-Man in hot water when Peter and his friends stop him.
When his dad is attacked by the Ten Rings, he is in San Francisco. He goes to find his sister, but the Ten Rings also show up there and take both of them to their dad, who is going to find their dead mother in a place called Ta Lo. Their aunt tells them that their dad is going to be set free by the Dweller-in-Darkness monster, and they have to work together to stop him. The Dweller-in-Darkness escaped but with the help of a dragon they were able to defeat him and save the day. It's good!
The Eternals, a race of immortals, have been living in secret on Earth since the dawn of time. They think their only job is to make sure humanity develops enough so that a giant Celestial can be born from the Earth's core.
The Eternals have come to know and love all the humans over the last thousand years, so most of them decide to kill the Celestial instead. After fighting amongst themselves and fighting more divergings, the Eternals were able to kill the Celestial and save the world, but their boss, Arishem, wasn't too happy about it.
After Mysterio revealed Spider-Man's secret identity and blamed him for the attacks in London, Peter's life has gone from bad to worse. Some people think he's a murderer and the press won't leave him alone, so he and his friend can't get into college. He asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make everyone forget that he is Spider-Man.
Spider-Man villains from other multiverses start to break through into Peter when things don't go to plan. With the help of his friends, old and new, he defeats the villains by curing rather than killing them, but Doctor Strange has to cast another spell to make everyone forget Peter ever existed to stop the multiverses destroying each other. Sad times.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a sequel to Doctor Strange in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was a pivotal role in the movie. Following on from the TV show Wandavision, Scarlet Witch hasn't learned her lesson about using magic to try and heal her grief, but instead she wants to travel to an alternate time period where her sons exist.
America Chavez is number 1 on the Wanda list and has the ability to travel between multiverses. Doctor Strange and Wong desperately try to protect America while jumping between some pretty interesting multiverses and stop Scarlet Witch from doing the unthinkable before it's too late.
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