VARIANT ARCHIVE

READING & VIEWING GUIDES

Choose a route through movies, series, comics or reference books.

Movies

MCU films in theatrical release order. Start with Phase One and continue through the phases. Released titles through October 2, 2026.

Phase OneMCU · release order
  1. Iron Man (2008)
  2. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
  3. Iron Man 2 (2010)
  4. Thor (2011)
  5. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
  6. The Avengers (2012)
Phase TwoMCU · release order
  1. Iron Man 3 (2013)
  2. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
  3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  4. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
  5. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  6. Ant-Man (2015)
Phase ThreeMCU · release order
  1. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
  2. Doctor Strange (2016)
  3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
  4. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
  5. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
  6. Black Panther (2018)
  7. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  8. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
  9. Captain Marvel (2019)
  10. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
  11. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Phase FourMCU · release order
  1. Black Widow (2021)
  2. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
  3. Eternals (2021)
  4. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
  5. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
  6. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
  7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Phase FiveMCU · release order
  1. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
  2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
  3. The Marvels (2023)
  4. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
  5. Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
  6. Thunderbolts* (2025)
Phase Six — released filmsMCU · release order through October 2, 2026
  1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
  2. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)
Marvel movie catalogue

Series & specials

Selected viewing routes. MCU live action, animation, specials and earlier series stay in separate lists. These are title lists, not a combined episode timeline.

Marvel Studios / Television — live actionTitle entry order by first season · watch seasons in their own order
  1. WandaVision (2021)
  2. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
  3. Loki (2021–2023)
  4. Hawkeye (2021)
  5. Moon Knight (2022)
  6. Ms. Marvel (2022)
  7. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
  8. Secret Invasion (2023)
  9. Echo (2024)
  10. Agatha All Along (2024)
  11. Daredevil: Born Again (2025–2026)
  12. Ironheart (2025)
  13. Wonder Man (2026)
AnimationSeparate worlds and anthology branches · title entry order
  1. What If…? (2021–2024)
  2. X-Men ’97 (2024)
  3. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025)
  4. Eyes of Wakanda (2025)
  5. Marvel Zombies (2025)
Special presentationsMCU · release order
  1. Werewolf by Night (2022)
  2. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
  3. The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)
Earlier live-action seriesOptional companion titles · different production eras and continuities
  1. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020)
  2. Agent Carter (2015–2016)
  3. Daredevil (2015–2018)
  4. Jessica Jones (2015–2019)
  5. Luke Cage (2016–2018)
  6. Iron Fist (2017–2018)
  7. The Defenders (2017)
  8. Inhumans (2017)
  9. The Punisher (2017–2019)
  10. Runaways (2017–2019)
  11. Cloak & Dagger (2018–2019)
Marvel television catalogue

Comics

Selected routes for the Comics World Tree. The MCU and comics tell different stories. Check the linked official lists for interleaved issues and tie-ins.

Cosmic eventsSelected publication sequence · core stories, not every tie-in
  1. The Infinity Gauntlet (1991) #1–6
  2. The Infinity War (1992) #1–6
  3. The Infinity Crusade (1993) #1–6
  4. Annihilation (2006) #1–6
  5. Annihilation: Conquest (2007) #1–6
  6. War of Kings (2009) #1–6
  7. The Thanos Imperative (2010) #1–6
Earth’s major eventsSelected publication sequence · core stories
  1. Avengers Disassembled — Avengers (1998) #500–503
  2. House of M (2005) #1–8
  3. Civil War (2006) #1–7
  4. Secret Invasion (2008) #1–8
  5. Siege (2010) #1–4
  6. Avengers vs. X-Men (2012) #1–12
Incursions and Secret WarsCollected-edition route · read Avengers and New Avengers alongside each other
  1. Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 1
  2. Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 2
  3. Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 3
  4. Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 4
  5. Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 5
  6. Secret Wars (2015) #1–9
The original Secret WarsSeparate earlier event
  1. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #1–12
  2. Secret Wars II (1985) #1–9
House of X / Powers of XOfficial interleaved issue order
  1. House of X (2019) #1
  2. Powers of X (2019) #1
  3. House of X (2019) #2
  4. Powers of X (2019) #2
  5. Powers of X (2019) #3
  6. House of X (2019) #3
  7. House of X (2019) #4
  8. Powers of X (2019) #4
  9. House of X (2019) #5
  10. Powers of X (2019) #5
  11. House of X (2019) #6
  12. Powers of X (2019) #6
Krakoa — major era checkpointsSelected collections · includes parallel titles and event tie-ins
  1. House of X / Powers of X
  2. Dawn of X
  3. X of Swords
  4. Reign of X
  5. X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2021)
  6. Inferno (2021) #1–4
  7. Destiny of X
  8. A.X.E.: Judgment Day (2022) #1–6
  9. Sins of Sinister (2023)
  10. X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2023) #1
  11. Fall of X
  12. Fall of the House of X (2024) #1–5
  13. Rise of the Powers of X (2024) #1–5
  14. X-Men (2021) #35 / Uncanny X-Men #700
Marvel event reading lists · House of X / Powers of X issue order · Secret Wars reading list · Cosmic event routes · The Krakoan Era Finale reading list

Reference books

Companion books for the Archive, Vault, Atlas and World Tree. Titles only; no covers or artwork.

MCU reference and production booksCompanion references · not a story sequence
  • Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline
  • The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
  • Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary
Comics reference booksCompanion references · separate from MCU continuity
  • Marvel Encyclopedia: New Edition
  • The Marvel Book
  • Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History — New Edition
DK Marvel reference books · Official MCU Timeline · The Story of Marvel Studios