In the beginning, characters such as the X-men (part of the X-men film series universe), Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four and others were sold as options to various studios to produce their own corresponding films. Therefore several studios own the rights to these various characters and they all lived in their own separate film universe.

Fans demanded continuityIn fiction, the consistency of people, plot, objects, and places over a period of time..

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was then created as a shared universe centered mainly on the characters portrayed in The Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and upcoming Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain Marvel films.

Then came the new wave of Marvel Web/TV series connected to the MCU. Things got confusing really fast.

For the superhero film cinephile, comic movie connoisseur and comic-book film geek there has never been an official list of how to watch every Marvel Film and TV show ever produced in the chronological order of events in which they occurred. You’ll find plenty of Avengers-only (MCU) or X-Men-only (X-men film series universe) lists with none being a complete chronology.

So after putting in a ton of research and using a little creativity, I was able to arrange every Marvel film, series and short ever produced in an order based on the time their events take place. My sources are listed at the end and any corrections/questions please leave them in the comments. Let’s jump in.

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MCU Phase 1 Begins

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011 movie) takes place in the 1940s, during World War IIA global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945 involving the majority of the world’s countries. It is said to have begun on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany.. ⬤ Introduction of the Space StoneIn the MCU the Space Stone is also known as the Tesseract, which allows its controller power over space such as creating portals from one part of the universe to another. (Tesseract). Trivia: There was a Captain America serial film in 1944 loosely based on Timely Comics (now Marvel Comics), two Captain America pilot episodes for an unproduced TV series in 1979 and a Captain America (1990) film all which are non-canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter – accompanied the Iron Man 3 (2013 movie) Blu-ray release as a follow-up and spin-off to Captain America: The First Avenger. It takes place one year after the events of The First Avenger.

Marvel’s Agent Carter (2015 series) Season 1 takes place in 1946.

Marvel’s Agent Carter (2016 season) Season 2 takes place in 1947.

X-Men: First Class (2011 movie) Mainly takes place in the 1960’s around the Cuban Missile Crisis(1962). Note: X-Men films are not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but exist within their own X-Men Universe continuity.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 movie) takes place mainly in 1973 (Wolverine travels back from 2023). This film reset the entire franchise as Wolverine changed the timeline. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006 movie) events were definitely erased and never happened, X2 (2003 movie) events probably occurred somewhat differently, and the first X-men (2000 movie) events probably did occur. The majority of the events from The Wolverine (2013 movie) were likely erased. The earliest parts of X-Men Origins (2009 movie) did occur but the remaining story is erased from continuity. The entire First Class (2011 movie) and Days of Future Past’s 1970s events did occur. Assume everything prior to 1973 is the same but everything after has been erased and reset. This film essentially split the X-men franchise into two timelines – one where Days of Future Past occurs in the future after The Last Stand (2006 movie) and one where it occurs after First Class. Pretty confusing eh?

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009 movie) takes place partially in the 1800s, Vietnam WarA war fought between North and South Vietnam, that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. 1960s, in the mid-1970s around the time Wolverine becomes part of Weapon X ProgramIn Marvel comic fiction, a code name for a secret US government genetic engineering project intended to deliberately trigger the manifestation of mutations in humans and superhuman abilities for military purposes., and also partially in the 1980s.

Hulk (2003 movie) explores the origins of Bruce Banner portraying Bruce through various actors at the ages of 2, 4, 5, 9, 16 years old and eventually an adult. There is no specific mention of dates but one can assume this film takes place in the mid-to-late 70s and moves forward into the 80s, 90s etc as Bruce gets older. It doesn’t matter much since its continuity was rebooted in 2008 to bring the Hulk franchise into the MCU.

The Incredible Hulk (1978 series) is the classic TV series starring Bill Bixby as David Banner based on the comic book version of Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. The series ran on CBS from 1978 to 1982, therefore we can assume it takes place during that time. There were also several other made-for-TV moviesA feature-length motion picture that is produced for, and originally distributed by or to, a television network as opposed to a theatrical film made for showing in movie theaters. based on the series made thereafter from 1977 through 1990 made as revival attempts of the original series.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016 movie) — In the NEW timeline created by Days of Future Past (2014 movie), this is the chronological start of the X-men as a group after the events of Days of Future Past changed the timeline. So, therefore it takes place in 1983, ten years after.

Dark Phoenix (2020 movie) was theatrically released in the United States on June 7, 2019, produced, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) as the seventh and final installment in the main timeline of the X-men film series and the 12th X-Men film overall. The events of the film take place initially in 1975 and then in 1992. It stars an ensemble cast featuring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Jessica Chastain.

Howard the Duck (1986 movie) takes place in 1986.

The Punisher (1989 movie) takes place in 1989.

The Fantastic Four (1994 movie) an unreleased film but we can assume it takes place in 1994, you can still view it online.

Captain Marvel (2018 movie) takes place in 1994 on the Kree Empire’s capital planet of Hala and eventually onto Earth, primarily Los Angeles. The film depicts a younger S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury prior to losing sight in his left-eye and prior to developing the Avengers Initiative. The film also features a younger rookie S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson. Both Samuel Jackson and Clark Gregg who play the characters respectively were digitally de-aged by 25 years. The film also features Ronan the Accuser, a high-ranking Kree official prior to becoming a radical zealot as depicted in future (chronologically) Guardians of the Galaxy films. SPOILER: ⬤ The first contact between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Space Stone also known asthe Tesseract, which allows its controller power over space such as creating portals from one part of the universe to another. (Tesseract).

Fantastic Four (2015 movie) this film serves as a Continuity RebootA technique used frequently in comic books, films and series to disregard all previous events in an established series in order to recreate its characters, timeline and backstory from the beginning. for the 2005 film. The story depicts Reed Richards and Ben Grimm as childhood friends meeting initially at the ages of 11 years old but has many contradictions in terms of its chronology. Ben is shown as a 10-year old 5th-grade student in 2007, but in 2015 his military file lists him as born in 1986. So to be accurate I placed this film in the late 90’s initially (c. 1997) moving forward into the mid to late 2000s.

Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998 movie) — television film that takes place in 1998 and is not connected to any of the current Marvel timelines. David Hasselhoff is cast as Nick Fury.

Blade (1998 movie) takes place in 1998.

X-Men (2000 movie) takes place in 2000.

Blade II (2002 movie) takes place in 2000, two years after the events in Blade (1998 movie).

Mutant X (2001 series) Season 1 takes place in 2001.

Spider-Man (2002 movie) takes place in 2002. Trivia: There were two previous Spider-Man made-for-television filmsA feature-length motion picture that is produced for, and originally distributed by or to, a television network as opposed to a theatrical film made for showing in movie theaters. in 1977 and 1978.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 movie) is a reboot of the 2002 film so the events take place during the same time.

Mutant X (2002 season) Season 2 takes place in 2002.

Daredevil (2003 movie) takes place in 2003.

X2: X-Men United (2003 movie) takes place in 2003.

Mutant X (2003 season) Season 3 takes place in 2003.

The Punisher (2004 movie) takes place in 2004.

Spider-Man 2 (2004 movie) takes place in 2004.

Blade Trinity (2004 movie) takes place in 2004. Interestingly enough this was Ryan Reynolds first collaboration with Marvel Entertainment prior to being cast later as Wade Wilson (Deadpool). He was also cast as Hal Jordan in the DC ComicsAn American comic book publisher, often seen as the rival of Marvel Comics, responsible for some of the most recognizable super heroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Flash film Green Lantern (2011 movie). Ryan sure gets around.

Elektra (2005 movie) takes place after the events in Daredevil (2003 movie).

Man-Thing (2005 movie) — we can assume it takes place in 2005.

Fantastic Four (2005 movie) takes place in 2005. Chris Evans’ first appearance as the Marvel character Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) prior to being cast as Captain America.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006 movie) – takes place somewhere between 2005-2006. The events of this film were erased by the events that took place in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 movie) .

Blade: The Series (2006 series) takes place after the events of Blade Trinity (2004 movie). The TV series did not cast Wesley Snipes as Snipes had been unhappy with the previous Blade Trinity film. Kirk Sticky Fingaz JonesSticky Fingaz is a rapper, actor, film director and record producer. He is widely known as a member of the multi-platinum record selling group Onyx. starred in the title role. The two-hour pilot was titled Blade: House of Chthon and was also later released on DVD in unrated expanded format with harsher language and frontal nudity.

Ghost Rider (2007 movie) takes place primarily in 2007 with some events involving The Devil, MephistophelesMephistopheles is the father of Blackheart who tricked Johnny Blaze into selling his soul, which turned him into Ghost Rider. taking place over one hundred years prior and some also taking place in 1986.

Spider-Man 3 (2007 movie) takes place in 2007.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007 movie) takes place in 2007.

Iron Man (2008 movie) was the first released film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and definitely takes place in 2008 backed up by the fact that in Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie), Vision said Stark announced himself as Iron Man 8 yrs ago.

The Incredible Hulk (2008 movie) is a Continuity RebootA technique used frequently in comic books, films and series to disregard all previous events in an established series in order to recreate its characters, timeline and backstory from the beginning. of the Hulk (2003 movie). This is the second film released film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in which Edward Norton portrays Bruce Banner in this version. Note: Three different actors have been cast as Bruce Banner in the 2003, 2008 and The Avengers (2012 movie) films. The film displays a contradictory timeline as Bruce Banner has been on the run for 5 years and was last seen fleeing on October 21st 2006. Afterward Bruce goes 158 days without hulking out which places these events at March 2007. But since this would place these events prior to the events of Iron Man (2008 movie) there is a continuity issue here. Based on the events of this and other films, this film definitely takes place in May and early June of 2011.

Iron Man 2 (2010 movie) is unique in the fact that this film along with: Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (2011 short), The Incredible Hulk (2008 movie), Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (2011 short), and Thor (2011 movie) — ALL take place at the same time over a period of 7 days in 2011.

Punisher: War Zone (2008 movie) takes place in 2008.

The Avengers (2012 movie) takes place in 2012. ⬤ The Space StoneIn the MCU the Space Stone is also known as the Tesseract, which allows its controller power over space such as creating portals from one part of the universe to another. now appears in the form of the Tesseract. ⬤ The Mind StoneIn the MCU the Mind Stone allows its user the power of mind control. makes its debut. ***SPOILER*** The Tesseract as of the events of this film is being kept safely in Odin’s vault and the Mind Stone appeared within a powerful scepter given to Loki by Thanos was not known to be the Mind Stone to the audience at the time.

Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (2012 short) accompanies The Avengers (2012 movie) Blu-ray release as a follow-up and spin-off to the film. Takes place right after the events in the film. This short led to ABC ordering the television series spin-off, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (2013 series).

MCU Phase 2 Begins

Iron Man 3 (2013 movie) takes place in 2013.

Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014 short) – Released with Thor: The Dark World Blu-ray as a follow-up spin-off to Iron Man 3.

The Wolverine (2013 movie) takes place in 2013, seven years after X-Men: The Last Stand (2006 movie) in the first timeline.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 series) Season 1 (ep. 1-7) takes place in 2013.

Thor: The Dark World (2013 movie) takes place in 2013. ⬤ The Reality StoneIn the MCU the Reality Stones appears in liquid form as the Aether and presumably is used to alter the nature of reality. (The Aether) makes its debut in liquid form as it was revealed that originally Malekith, lord of the Dark Elves, attempted to use it to blot out all light in the universe. ***SPOILER*** It was ultimately turned over by the Asgardians to The Collector in the end credits. 

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 series) Season 1 (ep. 8-16) takes place leading into 2014. Note: Episode 16 was aired the same weekend Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014 movie) was released and the events in this episode take place right before and during the events of the film.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014 movie) is a sequel in the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2012 movie) reboot of the 2002 trilogy but the events take place in 2013.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014 movie) takes place in 2014, two years after the Battle of New York as depicted in The Avengers (2012 movie)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 series) Season 1 (ep. 17-22) takes place in 2014.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014 movie) takes place primarily in 2014.  ⬤ The Power StoneIn the MCU the Power Stone grants unlimited destructive capabilities to its owner. (The Orb) makes its debut. ***SPOILERS*** The Power StoneIn the MCU the Power Stone grants unlimited destructive capabilities to its owner. is procured in an ancient temple by Star Lord and plays an important role throughout the film. It is ultimately handed off to the Nova Corps by the Guardians and resides on the planet Xandar. First visual depiction of a Celestial: Eson The Searcher is shown as the Celestial in The Collectors demonstration . This being isn’t specifically referred to as a ‘Celestial’, but bears a strong resemblance to Eson the Celestial from the comics who was described by The Collector as a being of immense power that lived long ago. Knowhere is also makes an appearance and referred to as being “the severed head of an ancient celestial being”.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017 movie) takes place late 2014 to early 2015. James Gunn specifically wanted this to take place just a few months after the first Guardians, presumably to keep Baby Groot in the picture. ***SPOILERS*** Peter Quill’s biological father, Ego the Living Planet, makes an appearance and is described as a Celestial in the MCU which differs from his description in the comics. The MCU Ego is somewhat of a composite character of Egros/Ego the Living Planet, Emperor J’son and The Gardner.

Marvel’s Daredevil (2015 series) Season 1 takes place in 2015.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014-2015 season) Season 2 (ep. 1-19) takes place in 2015.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015 movie) takes place in 2015. ⬤ The Mind StoneIn the MCU the Mind Stone allows its user the power of mind control. makes its second appearance as it fell into the hands of HYDRA to be used in the creation of a powerful sentient android, the Vision.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 (2014-2015 season) (ep. 20-22) takes place in 2015.

WHIH Newsfront Ant-Man Campaign (2015 short) Season 1 takes place in 2015.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011 film) takes place in 2015, 8 years after the events in the first film and is also known as Ghost Rider 2.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015-2016 season) Season 3 (ep. 1-10) takes place in 2015. The events take place 6 months after the events that concluded the second season.

Marvel’s Jessica Jones  (2015 series) Season 1 takes place in 2015.

Marvel’s Daredevil Season 2 (2016 season) takes place in 2016.

Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 1 (2016 series) takes place in 2016.

Ant-Man (2015 movie) takes place in 2016.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015-2016 season) Season 3 (ep. 11-19) takes place in 2016, three months after the events of episode 10.

WHIH Newsfront Captain America: Civil War Campaign (2016 short) Season 2 takes place in 2016.

Deadpool (2016 movie) Takes place in 2016 based on the new timeline. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 movie) changed the previous portrayal of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009 movie). It is possible that this film could take place sometime after X2 where Colossus was first introduced but the new timeline makes most of the X-men film series irrelevant. Wade Wilson isn’t an experiment of William Stryker in this film and is instead a mercenary who kills for money. There are also references in the film to other films such as The Avengers (2012 movie). Colossus also appears older and larger in this film than he did in X2 and the exterior scenes, cars, and backgrounds depict a modern world so one could assume the events in this film take place in 2016.

Iron Fist (2017 Series) Season 1 takes place in 2016.

MCU Phase 3 Begins

Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie) takes place in 2016. ⬤ The Mind StoneIn the MCU the Mind Stone allows its user the power of mind control. makes its third appearance as the stone embedded in the Vision’s headpiece, and grants sentience to Tony Stark’s AI assistant, Jarvis.

Black Widow (2021 movie) Although chronologically among Phase 3 titles, this film is the beginning of MCU Phase 4 in which the film’s events take place initially in 1995 and then in 2016 during the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie). Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natalia Alianovna “Natasha” Romanoff travels to Budapest to deal with ghosts from her past while confronting a few classic Marvel villains, such Taskmaster. The film also stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, and O.T. Fagbenle. Black Widow was directed by Cate Shortland, making her the first solo female director in the MCU.

Team Thor (2016 short) is a mockumentaryA mock documentary, usually of a serious motion picture, subject or film, that takes the form of a parody presented as a documentary recording of real life, released with the Civil War (2016 movie) Blu-ray, of what Thor was doing during the events of ‘Civil War’. You can watch it here.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015-2016 season) Season 3 (ep. 20-22) takes place in 2016.

Most Wanted (2016 pilot) a spin-off to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and part of the MCU but not ordered to be a series. Takes place in 2016.

The Defenders. Season 1 (2017 series) takes place from October 2016 to March 2017 and brings together Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist to face common enemies in The War for New York.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 (2016 season) takes place in late 2016 throughout 2017 spanning across the events of Doctor Strange (2016 movie), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 movie), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017 movie).

Black Panther (2018 movie) was released in the United States on February 16, 2018, in IMAXBilled as The World’s Most Immersive Movie Experience using widescreen cinematography, state-of-the-art sound and sometimes immersive 3D technology to display films and takes place after the events in Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie). A portion of the movie is set in the distant past however the primary events of the storyline may have begun to take place in late 2016 leading into 2017.

Team Thor 2 (2016 short) Sequel to the previous Team Thor mockumentaryA mock documentary, usually of a serious motion picture, subject or film, that takes the form of a parody presented as a documentary recording of real life. released with the Doctor Strange Blu-ray. You can see it here.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 4 Episodes 7-8

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot (2016 series) Season 1 Episodes 1-6: a spin-off of the original Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 series)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 4 Episodes 9-22

Legion (2017 series) is based on the Marvel Comics character David Haller/Legion, the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier, but interestingly enough is not part of the MCU or the X-men film series universe. The series was stated to be set in a universe parallel to the X-men films where “the US government is in the early days of being aware that something called mutants exist but the public is not.” There was talk of Legion possibly connecting to future X-men universe films. This would most likely take place in the new timeline created by Days of Future Past (2014 movie) since Xavier’s wheelchair from X-Men: Apocalypse (2016 movie) was shown in a brief flashback.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 movie) premiered in NYC on June 28, 2017, and was released on July 7, 2017. It is interesting to note that Peter Parker is portrayed much younger than in previous Spider-Man films as he is still enrolled in high school. This film is part of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. Various artifacts and events are referenced from the aftermath of the The Avengers (2012 movie) which takes place in 2012 and Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie) which takes place in 2016. The majority of the film can be assumed to take place in 2017. In the film the character Aaron Davis makes a reference to his nephew Miles Morales.

Doctor Strange (2016 movie) initially takes place in 2012, 2014 and 2016. The story then leads into early 2017 by the time Strange confronts Dormammu. ⬤ The Time Stone (Eye of Agamotto) makes its debut. Time Stone in the MCU is embedded in a pendant known as the Eye of Agamotto and grants its user the power to control the flow of the space-time continuum. ***SPOILER*** It was left safely guarded inside the majestic library of Kamar-Taj, the headquarters of the Masters of the Mystical Arts. Trivia: There was a pilot episode produced in 1979 for an unproduced TV series.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017 movie) Premiered in theaters on November 3rd, 2017. This story is presumed to be running concurrently with some the events of Spider-Man Homecoming (2017 movie) and details the events that occurred on Asgard with Thor during his absence from Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie).

Marvel’s Inhumans (2017 series) Season 1 premiered on IMAX screens September 1st, 2017 before premiering on ABC September 22nd. The events take place in late 2017 after Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 (2016 season).

Marvel’s The Defenders (2017 series) premiered on NETFLIX on August 18th, 2017 and takes place throughout 2017 and is interconnected with Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.

Marvel’s The Punisher (2017 series) Season 1 premiered on NETFLIX on November 17th, 2017, takes place in 2017 and is interconnected with Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders series.

Marvel’s Jessica Jones (2015 series) Season 2 takes place in 2018.

Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2 (2016 series) takes place in 2017.

Marvel’s The Runaways (2017 series) premiered on HULU on November 21st, 2017 and takes place in late 2017 after Inhumans (2017 series) Season 1.

Marvel’s The Runaways (2017 series) Season 2 takes place in 2018

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 (2017 season) takes place in late 2017 and will continue throughout 2018.

Marvel’s The Gifted (2017 series) premiered on Fox on October 2, 2017 and is connected to the X-men film series universe but is not part of the MCU. The series is set in an alternate timeline where the X-Men have disappeared. The series takes advantage of the multiple, different timelines established by X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 movie).

Marvel’s Jessica Jones (2015 series) Season 2 takes place in 2017 during the events of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 Episodes 1-11

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger Season 1 (2018 series) takes place in 2017.

Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2 (2016 series) takes place in 2017.

Marvel’s Iron Fist (2017 Series) Season 2 takes place in 2017.

Marvel’s Daredevil Season 3 (2016 series) takes place in 2017.

Marvel’s The Runaways (2017 series) Season 2 takes place in 2017 leading into 2018.

Marvel’s The Punisher (2017 series) Season 2 takes place in 2018 – 2019.

Marvel’s Jessica Jones (2015 series) Season 3 takes place in 2018 – 2019.

Deadpool: No Good Deed (2017 movie) A short film available on both Ryan Reynolds and 20th Century Fox YouTube Channels made to debut exclusively before the U.S. and Canadian release of Logan (2017 movie). The sequence serves as a first-look at the Deadpool sequel but is not intended to be a teaser or trailer so we can reasonably assume that it takes place 1-2 years after the events of Deadpool (2016 movie).

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018 movie) had its world premiere in Hollywood on June 25, 2018, was released on July 6, 2018, and takes place in 2018.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018 movie)⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ The ultimate MCU tie-in bringing together all the cinematic Marvel characters held its world premiere on April 23, 2018 in Los Angeles, was released in the United States on April 27, 2018, and takes place in 2018.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 (ep. 19-22) runs concurrent with Avengers: Infinity War (2018 movie)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 takes place in Avengers: Endgame (2019 movie) five-year jump.

Deadpool 2 (2018 movie) just as the first film is based on the new timeline. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 movie) changed the previous portrayal of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009 movie).  The film takes place 2 years after the first film which places its events in 2018. A PG-13 rated version of the film, titled Once Upon a Deadpool, was released on December 12, 2018.

Once Upon a Deadpool (2018 movie) is Deadpool reading the story of Deadpool 2 (2018 movie) while editing out inappropriate content to make film PG-13. Deadpool is reading the story to a now adult Fred Savage, whom he kidnapped, tied up, and has captive in a replica bedroom from The Princess Bridge (1987 film). The film, breaking the fourth wall in a most unusual way, takes presumably just after the events of Deadpool 2 (2018 movie). At Ryan Reynold’s request, $1 of tickets sold was donated to the charity F*ck Cancer.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018 movie) is a computer animated feature-film featuring Miles Morales / Spider-Man. It had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 14. It is the first animated film in the Spider-Man franchise and is set in a shared multiverse called the “Spider-Verse” which has alternate universes. Stan Lee’s original Peter Parker exists in the Earth-616 universe, but the events of this film take place within Earth-1610, presumably in 2018. It won numerous awards, including Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, 46th Annie Awards, and 76th Golden Globe Awards. It was the first non-Disney or Pixar film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature since 2011’s Rango. A sequel and spin-off are in development.

New Warriors (Cancelled 2019 series) is an unaired American television pilot based on the Marvel Comics superhero team bearing the same name. It was originally intended to be set in the MCU and to air on Freeform however the series was officially cancelled in September 2019.

Marvel’s The Runaways (2017 series) Season 3 takes place in 2019.

The New Mutants (2020 movie) is a horror film in the superhero genre based on the Marvel Comics team The New Mutants. The film was theatrically released on August 28, 2020. Originally planned as the first in a trilogy, Disney’s purchase of Fox reverted the film rights to Marvel Studios making the possibility of future films highly unlikely. The New Mutants, essentially a junior X-men team, is the thirteenth and final installment in the entirety of the X-men film series.

It is not part of the MCU nor does it directly tie-in with previous X-men films. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Jordan Mintzer said, “Generic and, at its best, straining to be heartfelt, director Josh Boone’s adaptation of the Marvel spin-off comic series is a Marvel movie spinoff in its own right, making vague references to the X-Men franchise but attempting to stand on its own. Unfortunately it rarely does, even if the film’s trio of young and tough female leads manages to give your typically male-dominated genre something of a feminine twist.” Peter Debruge of Variety said, “Despite all the meddling and interference the film reportedly went through, The New Mutants feels pretty coherent in the end. What it doesn’t achieve is a memorable personality of its own.”

Director Josh Boone — a big fan of the comics — has explained to Den of Geek on a Zoom call, ““There were a lot of scripts and drafts written over time. It started being in the original X-Men timeline, ended up completely its own thing, still with connections to X-Men and all that, and obviously in the same universe, but not tethered to the Dark Phoenix universe.”

Since it cannot be logically placed into any specific year in any specific timeline we must assume it possibly takes place somewhere/anywhere between 2019 to late 2020 after X-Men: Apocalypse (2016 movie), as the X-Men are mentioned as a publicly-known team of heroes..

Avengers: Endgame (2019 movie) ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ Was released in the United States on April 26, 2019 and is the first film to feature all of the current living Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.

When does Avengers: Endgame take place? Well, there has been a timeline issue created during the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 movie) in which its inaccuracies have been retconned by Avengers Infinity War (2018 movie). Endgame initially begins in 2018 but then skips ahead to 2023, five years after Thanos’ snap where the primary events of the story take place. This can be confirmed thanks to the intricate research on Marvel Wiki. There are also time travel scenes back to an alternate 1970 and an alternate 2014.

MCU Phase 4 Begins

Eternals (2021 movie) Released Nov 5,  2021, Eternals takes place initially in the early beginnings of civilization and spans millennia but primarily after the events of Avengers: Endgame, as the Eternals come out of hiding to confront their ancient enemy, the Deviants. Eternals producer Nate Moore, states the film takes place concurrently with Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019 movie) which events took place in London in the summer of 2024 with some variance because the films operate on a different system of time. Moore estimated that 60% of the film was set in the present and 40% of its run time is spent in various points in history.

This makes placement on this chronology challenging but placing it here is the film’s logical position of order since these events must have taken place just prior to Far From Home, since there is no mention of Spider-Man in London in the film, and then as the film plays on the events of this film possibly begin to run concurrent with Far From Home. The cast includes Richard Madden, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Don Lee, and Barry Keoghan. Eternals was directed by Chloé Zhao.

Loki (2021 Disney+ series) ⬤⬤⬤⬤ In this Disney+ series featuring the God of Mischief and half-brother of Thor Loki., The initial events of Loki take place in 2012, in which there was a split timeline created when members of the Avengers traveled back in time to the events of the first Avengers movie. In Avengers Endgame (2019 movie) Loki grabs the Tesseract and escapes. This created the Nexus Event – a time-based anomaly that verges off from the Sacred Timeline. So we’re following the 2021 Loki here and not the one who goes on to die by the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018 movie). The series directly references events in the MCU timeline including those in Avengers: Endgame (2019 movie).

This places the film’s events somewhere in 2024 but since the TVA exists outside of time we can also say that it doesn’t occur in the MCU timeline at all. To support this claim, Loki wasn’t featured in Disney Plus “Timeline Order” which may possibly mean the series is in a completely different timeline or in no timeline at all.

**SPOILER** The popular theory is that the six episodes of Loki represent the six Infinity Stones. The series premiere shows that the stones are useless at the TVA headquarters which exists both outside of time and outside of the stones native universe. Loki finds five of the six Infinity Stones (which includes the tesseract confiscated from him) inside a drawer in which they are being used as ordinary paperweights. The mind stone (yellow) appears to be the one that is missing.

What If…? (2021 Disney+ series) It is important to note that the events in What If…? do not take place in the normal MCU timeline as the series explores alternate timelines in the multiverse that show what would happen if major moments from the MCU films occurred differently, as observed by the Watcher. So each episode takes place in a different MCU timeline where not all dates can be pinpointed exactly.

Based on my current knowledge:

Episode one (Captain Carter) ⬤ definitely takes place in the 1940s .

Episode two (T’Challa) ⬤ definitely takes place in 1988 and then twenty years later in 2008.

Episode three (Mightiest Heroes) cannot be pinpointed but we can assume it takes place around 2008 – the same time the events of Iron Man (2008 movie) takes place.

Episode four (Doctor Strange) ⬤ cannot be pinpointed but we can assume it takes place around 2016 – the same time the events of Doctor Strange (2016 movie).

Episode five (Zombies) span style=”color: #3366ff;”>⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ definitely takes place in 2018.

Episode six (Kilmonger) span style=”color: #3366ff;”>⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ definitely takes place in 2008.

Episode seven (Thor) ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ begins in an alternate Thor’s childhood where no exact date can be pinpointed. It then moves forward to a young but grown Thor, in which no exact date can be pinpointed either.

Episode eight (Ultron) ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ chronicles a tale of What If…Ultron won where no exact date can be pinpointed. It is possible it could be sometime after when the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019 movie) occurred or would have occurred.

Episode nine (The Watcher) ⬤⬤⬤⬤⬤ may possibly be placed in 2016 during the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016 movie). It is also possible it could be sometime after when the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019 movie) occurred or would have occurred.

WandaVision (2021 Disney+ series) Season 1 takes places shortly two weeks after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019 film) placing it in late 2023. There are flashbacks to Wanda Maximoff’s childhood past in Sokovia and Agatha Harkness’ past in Salem in 1693.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021 Disney+ series) The story follows the subsequent adventures of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier after Endgame. Season 1 takes places six months after old Steve Rogers gave Sam Wilson the Captain America shield in Avengers: Endgame (2019 film). Its timeline is very close to the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019 movie) which is set eight months after Endgame. This places the events of this series in the early summer of 2024  Rio Rocket was featured as a Marvel expert on Looper.com for this series.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021 movie) Released September 3rd, 2021 the film stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, most notably known from the series Kim’s Convenience. The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and also stars Awkwafina and Tony Leung. The film’s events take place partially in the distant past, then in 1996 and then over a few days from the end of March through the beginning of April 2024.

Venom (2018 movie) is the first film in Sony’s Marvel Universe, which has loose connectivity to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is hypothesized that Spider-Man who exists in MCU also exists in this universe since Sony originally intended this film to share the world of MCU’s Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 movie). In June 2017, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that Venom was solely a Sony project and Marvel Studios had no plans to connect it with the MCU. However, producer Amy Pascal soon clarified that Sony intended to have their MU films take place in “the same world” as the new MCU film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), describing them as “adjunct” to that world. She said that Venom would connect to the next planned film in Sony’s MU, Silver & Black, and that there was potential for Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man to appear in either. There is no exact date which can be pinpointed but where it is ordered on this chronology places it in 2024 for now.

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019 movie) was theatrically released in the United States on July 2, 2019 as the last film in Phase Three of the MCU. It grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide making it the first Spider-Man film to pass $1 billion. The film stars Jake Gyllenhall as Mysterio, his first appearance in the MCU. The film’s events take place in the summer of 2024.

Spider-Man (2002 movie) SONY: The first film in the original Spider-Man trilogy which stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. The events of this film will have retro-fit continuity to current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

Spider-Man 2 (2004 movie) SONY: The second film in the original Spider-Man trilogy which stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. The events of this film will have retro-fit continuity to current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

Spider-Man 3 (2007 movie) SONY: The third film in the original Spider-Man trilogy which stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. The events of this film will have retro-fit continuity to current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 movie) SONY: The first film in the second Spider-Man film series which stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The events of this film will have retro-fit continuity to current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014 movie) SONY: The second film in the second Spider-Man film series which stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The events of this film will have retro-fit continuity to current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021 movie) SONY: Tom Hardy reprises his role as Eddy Brock who is bonded with the symbiote to become Venom. The film also introduces Cletus Kasady as Carnage. The films events begin initially in 1996 and then move to present day. Approximately a year and a half has transpired between this film and Venom (2018 movie) possibly placing it in late 2025 or early 2026.

TheDailyBugle.net EXCLUSIVE: (2019 YouTube videos) A series of YouTube videos released featuring J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). This series is also ongoing on social media, TikTok specifically.

Helstrom (2020 HULU Series) Season 1 is a series based on the Marvel Comics characters Daimon and Satana Hellstrom and serves as a standalone story within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The series has flashbacks that date between 1993 and 1998 then move forward to approximately 2017 and 2018, and then forward again to after the events of Endgame and all the previously listed series in this chronology. There are no definitive dates that can be pinpointed for this series as of yet.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021 movie) Released on December 17th as the third installment in the Tom Holland MCU Spider-Man film series. This film establishes continuity with the previous Spider-Man film series starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield thereby making the characters of the MCU aware of a multiverse.

Morbius (2022 movie) Released on April 1st, 2022. The events in this film take place shortly before the events in Hawkeye thereby placing it sometime in 2024.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (2022 movie) Elisabeth Olsen reprises her role as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in the aftermath of the events in WandaVision. The events in this film take place shortly before the events in Hawkeye thereby placing it sometime in 2024.

Hawkeye (2021 Disney+ Series) The film events take place Christmas week of 2024. Jeremy Renner reprises his role as Clint Barton from the film series. The first season of Hawkeye consists of six episodes in which the first two episodes premiered on November 24, 2021 and the last four episodes concluded by December 22, 2021.

Moon Knight (2022 Disney+ Series) The film events either take place shortly before or after the events in Hawkeye. MCU Phase 4 gets confusing when it comes to placing films and series in the timeline so for the purpose of ordering we will assume it takes place in 2025 after the events of Hawkeye.

Ms. Marvel (2022 Disney+ Series) In this series we are introduced to Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel. The events in this series take place during the spring through fall of 2025 (about two years after Endgame (2019 movie).

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022 movie) Introduces Gorr the God Butcher, Zeus and a whole host of other gods. The majority of the events in this movie take place away from Earth leaving us with no idea of what is transpiring on Earth as the story unfolds. We can safely estimate that these events began shortly after those in Ms. Marvel leaving possibility for overlap but may very well continue into 2026.

Logan (2017 movie) Takes place primarily between 2024-2029 with parts from the past. Its events are likely based on the new timeline created by Wolverine himself in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014 movie). It is currently actor Hugh Jackman’s final cinematic appearance as Wolverine.

Upcoming Productions

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (July 8, 2022) Writer/director Ryan Coogler stated he will not recast the character of T’challa after  Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death in August 2020.

The Marvels (Nov 11, 2022) Possibly the title for Captain Marvel 2 as the logo for The Marvels shows both Captain Marvel’s star and the trademark swoosh of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel,

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb 17, 2023) Will introduce Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors as the time-traveling Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (May 5, 2023) Not much is known about this film with the exception that the soundtrack will be fire.

Morbius (TBA)

Captain Marvel 2 (TBA) See The Marvels above.

Untitled X-Force film (TBA)

Untitled Gambit film (TBA)

Untitled Deadpool 3 film (TBA)

Untitled Laura Kinney/X-23 film (TBA)

Untitled Alpha Flight film (TBA)

Untitled Exiles film (TBA)

Hellfire Club (currently unproduced but part of the X-men film series universe)

Marvel’s 616 (TBA Disney+ series)

Marvel’s Hero Project (TBA Disney+ series)

X-Men Movies Wiki: Timeline

Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers Timeline

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Cinematic_Universe_films

List of films based on Marvel Comics

Marvel Entertainment

Marvel Television

Marvel.com: All Marvel Movies

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