This is a great timeline break down. It definitely goes along way in explaining the evolution of what the general public would know and understand. It lays out a great argument as to why the general public would evolve their thinking from admiration of super powered people (heroes) to fearing to eventually hating these same super powered people when mutants arrive in full force.
The MCU timeline I've always been really fascinated by is Tony Goldmark's true chronological order which sorts every SCENE in chronological order. You start by watching a couple of minutes of Eternals, then a couple of minutes of Thor: The Dark World, then some more Eternals and so on. Actually lining all that up is intimidating, but it sounds like an insane watch!
Oh wow. Now that would be cool. I've considered trying to lay out a timeline like that, but it is indeed intimidating. I also wonder if skipping between so many different movies due to the scene by scene order would be confusing. Perhaps not, and perhaps it would instead be even more impactful. Definitely sounds cool. Thanks so much for watching the video and sharing your thoughts.
Then after that, someone will upload a 100 hour long "Entire MCU in true chronological order" video that goes viral and gets taken down in 2 days by Disney.
All of it gets even crazier if you include the prelude comics.. For example, in the comics there's an adventure where Black Panther (T'challa) meets Okoye before Tony Stark reveals he's Iron Man, so you can read that right after Iron Man 1. There's also "Nick Fury's Big Week" that takes place between phase 1 movies and we get to see the aftermatch of each one, like the Black Widow fighting The Leader after he transform with the Hulk's blood
Excellent point. In fact, I am very anxious for the Leader to return in Captain America 4 so we can learn what happened after SHIELD took him into captivity in the tie-in comic. I suspect he got away when SHIELD fell, but still would be nice to get that connection. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@Robin-be1zm Anyone from Marvel Studios said they're not? Because i can't remember any big plot that happens in the preludes that makes them not cannon, they're usually just some extra stuff like the Winter Soldier running from the police or showing how Nebula lost her arm
In my opinion, timeline order is the best way to rewatch the MCU, however, if you’re a first-time viewer I think release order is better since it’s technically the way Marvel intended us to watch it. If you’ve already seen all the movies and shows you have nothing to worry about in terms of spoilers so it doesn’t matter really and then timeline order would probably be better
Yeah, for first time viewers it's a harder choice. I still might recommend at least watching some of the prequels in the right order (Captain Marvel and Black Widow...with the end credits being skipped until the right time) and watching the back to back movies in close proximity. But there is a valid case for watching it in release order the first time around. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@AbitofEverything4U yeah, a curated order (mix of timeline and release as you say) by a fan could get the best of both worlds, but for the first time viewer, unless they have a friend on hand for a guide, release order should be the way to go
@@AlienIOIandroktone Yeah, the end credit scenes make it impossible for someone to watch in timeline order w/o knowing which things to avoid. So you indeed need assistance to watch it in timeline order the first time through.
Thanks. I really found it fascinating the more I thought about those points as well. I do truly feel people should choose whatever order they enjoy the most, but I really think at least incorporating some of those points into someone's viewing order can really enhance things. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
I'm glad you mentioned the end credit scenes. When I watched all the MCU movies, I was REALLY glad I watched Ant-Man and The Wasp *after* Infinity War because of that end credits scene. I am forever grateful to the website that gave me that timeline.
Yes, I totally agree. Timeline order is great, but for a few key movies, those end credits scenes are total spoilers. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I just have to say, I found this channel recently and i love it its the perfect combination of nerd and chill no fancy editing, filler content or any extra BS, minimal editing, very digestible & straight to the point just a guy talking about marvel stuff. Its like a mini podcast
I love the idea of being nerd and chill. That's a great description. Really appreciate the positive feedback. Now, as long as I don't get so chill that people use the videos to fall asleep at night, then I'll be doing okay.
I have been watching the Marvel movies in timeline order including all the one-shots and have so far gotten to phase 2 Captain America TWS. It has so far been a fun experience and being a marvel fan myself ive noticed subtle continuity details that I before havent seen when watching them in individually. However, one thing I have noticed is that certain films don't neccesarily meld well in terms of the feel of them in where they are placed in the timeline, for example Captain marvel, which takes place between Captain America and Iron Man (being set in the 90s of course) but it doesn't really fit the overall tone set in Phase 1, and you can tell it feels like a modern Disney Marvel movie beacause of all it's jokes, aesthetic and structure of it which has been set in a time with Marvel that took themselves more seriously, being distributed by Paramount, and did not have that Disnified tone Captain Marvel carries. Also, because the film was made late in the game but set during Phase 1 it also introduces some plotholes, which all felt jarring to me. I don't know if that made sense, and if not do feel free to scrutinise me, but thats my 2 and a half cents on this topic. Oh and also don't take this as me bashing on Captain Marvel - the film was alright, in my opinion.
Very interesting observation. Yes, Phase 1 was definitely a more serious tone and I can see you point about Captain Marvel not fitting in as well in that regard. I do think the Phase 1 movies had bits of humor (Iron Man especially), but you are right that it is more muted than the later films which took a more "Disney-esqe" tone. Thanks for sharing that observation. It makes alot of sense!
My opinion is that the 1st time you watch it you should watch it in release order, because post credit scenes have spoilers, and post credit scenes are important to the experience of watching the MCU for the first time, but when rewatching it, you should do it in time line order
Yeah, I can definitely see that reasoning. I have seen alot of people echo your thoughts and suggest to use release order for the first viewing and then timeline order for future viewings. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on it!
*Before watching the video:* I personally prefer to watch the MCU in release order, especially if it's the first viewing (that's how I introduced my sister to it, for example). When I was introduced to the MCU I was strongly suggested the timeline order, but I couldn't understand some key passages, because the concepts which they were based on had already been introduced in movies already released but placed later chronologically, but when I switched to the release order it was much easier to follow because that's the order in which the movies were intended to be watched in the first place. In order to follow the timeline order you need to already have at least some prior knowledge of the universe, otherwise some things just won't make sense. BUT, that said, I do understand why people like the timeline order and I respect that. Plus, knowing and researching the timeline of the MCU is always useful, especially if you're already a fan, because it gives you a guide to better appreciate the worldbuilding and the plotlines. I'd be lying if I said that I don't often wonder about when certain events happen on the timeline as well, so I totally get it. Now onto the video to see what your opinion is. *After watching the video (sorry in advance for the length):* I understand your points, but I'd still defend the release order, especially for the first viewing. While I do agree that some plotlines that you mention are much clearer and streamlined in the timeline order, it also takes away some of the mystery of it: yes, the story of the Tesseract is much clearer in timeline order, but to me it was awesome to first see this weird object introduced quickly in Iron Man 2, explained in Thor, and then used as a major plot element in Captain America The First Avenger; yes, it's true that if you watch Captain America The First Avenger first, you clearly understand the reference to the super soldier serum in The Incredible Hulk, but again, I personally prefer to have the "tease" first, and the pay-off later, that "oooh!" moment that you get when you put 2 and 2 together and realize the connection. With the Agent Coulson argument, I'm on the fence, because while it's true that you get to know his story much better in timeline order and it doesn't feel weird when he randomly shows up in Captain Marvel 20 movies later, it's also true that you've now just moved the problem from Coulson to Carol Danvers: you get introduced to her at the very beginning, then you forget about her for 20 movies and then she randomly shows up in Endgame out of nowhere (yes, Fury calls her at the end of Infinity War, before Endgame, but by that point you only see her symbol on the communicator, which you've likely forgotten after so many movies anyway, so you might just as well get the tease for the symbol in Ant-Man 2 first, then the full explanation of her origins in Captain Marvel and finally see her in action in Endgame, all back to back). Also, and this is an important argument to me, I would argue that the release order works better thematically. One big example that I always use when discussing this topic is the introduction of magic in the MCU in Phase 1. When you watch in release order, you start with Iron Man, which is obviously a very tech-heavy movie, and it makes you believe that, with enough resources and with a genius mind like Tony's, the Iron Man suit could realistically happen in real life. Then you get The Incredible Hulk, which is also more on the "scientific" side A bit leaning into the fantastic, yes, with the whole green raging monster thing, but it's still got the "science gone wrong" vibe, there's no magic involved. Then again you get a tech-heavy movie in Iron Man 2, until finally you reach Thor, which is the first movie that truly introduces magic into this world, but it still does it in a very cautious way: remember in particular the scene in which Thor goes out of his way to explain to Jane that magic is just "science that you haven't understood yet". Also, it gives you the full backstory to the Tesseract when Odin recalls the battle against the Frost Giants, that he won specifically thanks to this power. With this in mind, then you're better equipped to also understand the whole mess with the Tesseract in Captain America the First Avenger and you're not surprised when at the end Red Skull touches it and it just randomly opens a portal to who knows where: it's a mystical, powerful object, after all, and, as Thor said to Jane in the previous movie, it might also be another instance of "science that you don't understand yet", so you're intrigued and want to learn more (and this promise is paid off later when it's revealed that the Tesseract is in fact the container for the Space Stone). And finally, you reach the Avengers, in which you see magic and science collide with Loki being the antagonist and literally using mind control to make people do what he wants. By the time you reach Phase 2 and 3, with stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange, you've already had a much more gradual introduction to the possibility of magic in this world and you accept it more easily as part of the universe. On the other hand, if you go with the timeline order you start with Captain America right off the bat and you follow Steve and Peggy fighting for this weird blue cube that for some reason does... "stuff", then you jump to space, of all places, to follow Captain Marvel fighting shapeshifting aliens, and then you go back to Earth and get introduced to a genius inventor who uses science to build an iron suit. Sure, chronologically it makes sense, but thematically it's all over the place. I also believe that this example about magic is important because it gives an out of universe explanation to why Marvel released Phase 1 in the order that they did, and how it managed to get so popular in the first place: back in 2008, no one believed that superhero movies could be successful, and especially not at this scale. If you want your wacky comic book superhero movies to be accepted and taken seriously by audiences and critics alike, you can't immediately jump into things like Doctor Strange or Thanos. You need to start by making people comfortable in a world that mostly resembles our own, and then you start gradually introducing magical elements until people are invested enough to really start the wild ride with magic, cosmic level threats and parallel realities. For comic books, this has been the norm for decades (also helped by the fact that comic books have always been associated primarily with a younger audience), but for movies it was a novelty, and the few movies that before the MCU had tried to embrace the full force of comics right from the start where deemed too childish and weren't taken seriously. That's how the MCU gained the trust of so many people, and that's why I believe the release order is the best way to introduce new people to the universe, especially those that have no prior knowledge of the comics and of superheroes in general.
Very well summarized. I think your perspective makes alot of sense. As you will hear me mention in the video, the best way to watch the MCU is however you get the most enjoyment out of it, and that varies from person to person. Hopefully you will find the video interesting and helpful and I'd love your feedback. But I really appreciate your perspective and wanted to thank you for taking the time to share it!
@@AbitofEverything4U Hi! Thanks for the reply! I edited my original comment with my updated perspective after finishing the video. It took me so long to write that, but I love geeking out about Marvel, so time just flew by haha! Keep up the good work, I just recently discovered your channel and it's amazing!
@@Merione Wow, that was fantastic. Thanks for sharing that perspective. I can definitely understand your points. It really does go to my point that the best order to watch the MCU is whatever gives you the most enjoyment. For me, I really don't like things out of place, so while I enjoy the concept of a prequel like Captain Marvel and Black Widow, my mind wants it in the right order the first time. So I don't mind the tonal shifts here and there if I get the story in the chronological order. I was so confused by the tesseract story and even thought it was the casket of winters at first in Thor. So I was taken out of the story because it was so out of order. And I don't like waiting 8 movies to see what happened to Spidey in Far From Home. But not everyone's brain works like that and that's why both orders make sense in different ways. Thanks so much for watching and for sharing all your thoughts. I agree, I love to geek out on the MCU and so I really enjoyed reading all of your reasoning for your favorite way to watch. It was great!
I personally see the post credits scenes as being a separate watch from the movie, especially the notable ones u mentioned in the video. I keep track of those kinds of post scenes in a movie, TV show, and post credits scene watch order. Other notable post credits scenes would be Gotg vol 2 Groot mid credits scene and Thor Ragnarok post credits scene occuring between Ant-Man and the Wasp and Infinity War
Yeah, I like that strategy, too. And I agree on both GotG Vol 2 and Ragnarok end credits scenes. Those make more sense watching in the correct order. Great feedback!
As someone who watches Agents of Shield, its really satisfying to hear murmurs of "Theta Protocol" in the show for it to be revealed that it was Fury's helicarrier in Age of Ultron the whole time. Made that movie a little better!
Yeah, I loved that tie in with Age of Ultron. That was really the last major tie in between the AoS show and movies, but what a cool way to bring it all together between the storylines. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Huh, I've seen the full MCU but I've never looked at it in this perspective. Thanks for sharing, also you are a super underrated channel. I'm definetly subbing.
Man, I'm full of school work to do but until the end of the month I wanna watch the movies in timeline order, I just watched it in release order and rewatched a couple of movies that I really like, but seeing who you talked about the connection made me get in the mood to watch it, and hey maybe I can get some enjoyment for movies that is dislike in the MCU.
Cool! Yeah, that's what I've enjoyed about re-watches is that movies I didn't really like that well at first now have more meaning and I enjoy them alot more. Have fun on the re-watch!
I love the Google Doc! Very detailed! Just one criticism though... You have Black Panther released in 2017, when it was actually released in February of 2018. Thank you
Ah, great catch! I fixed that and re-uploaded. Thanks so much for noticing that. I added in the release year as I thought it was interesting to see the difference between when a movie was released and when it took place in the MCU. There are some big differences in certain cases. Really appreciate you watching the video and providing feedback!
Me and my sister are watching the MCU through Age of Ultron is next. I generally think release order is best, but I've decided we will watch black widow in its timeline spot, and will watch its end credits for endgame. I think black widow is the only one thats significantly better to watch in order rather than as a post-endgame prequel. I do think you make some good points around phase 1 though
How cool. Hope you enjoy re-watching the MCU. I did it recently all the way through. Took abit over a month as I spaced things out, but it was alot of fun. I might recommend the back to back movies being watching together, but I agree, otherwise it doesn't matter too much the order. Take good notes in case you find some new easter eggs. Have fun!
At the end of the day, I don't really think it's worth it to fuss over the timeline. I mean it is clear that there are timeline inconcistancies & mistakes. Like the fact that in Iron Man, it shows the year is 2008 even though technically the film should take place in 2010. It's best to either come up with a head canon to help it make sense or ignore the mistakes completely. For example. Iron Man 2 supposedly takes place 10 months after Iron Man. What if in actuality, in the negining of the film when Ivan & Anton are watching that News recording of Tony Stark, what if in actuality, Anton/Ivan recorded the news report & played the recording on loop because of their obsession/hatred of the Stark family and they kept playing it on loop for months or even a few years until Anton died & then Ivan spends the next few months building his Electric Whips
Yes, I definitely agree that enjoyment of the MCU trumps timeline discussions for sure. But the timelines do give us an indication of when each movie or show is occurring and in a connected universe like the MCU, there has to be some care and concern regarding the overall timeline. It can't ever trump producing a good movie and so if retconning is necessary (and boy, does the MCU like to retcon!) then its fine as long as the story is better as a result of the retcon. As for IM 2, the reason I think it needs to be in close proximity to the first IM movie is that the government wouldn't wait too long to go after a private citizen flying around in a WMD. So I do like there being a short period of time (i.e. the 9 months) between those two movies. Anyway, totally agree that the timeline isn't the most important part of the MCU, but it is a piece of the overall puzzle that needs to be maintained with at least some integrity as things move along. Thanks so much for watching the vid and sharing your thoughts. Really appreciate it!
@@AbitofEverything4U Do you own the MCU films on 4K, Blu-Ray and or do you just watch the Digital Copies? I own the MCU films on 4K UHD. The discs. I own them all except for Black Panther Wakanda Forever.
@@alexslusher16 Once Disney+ came out, I stopped buying the Marvel movies on Blu-Ray, but if I ever drop D+, I'll definitely buy physical copies at that point. It's just so convenient to pull them up on D+ in digital form so I stopped buying them for now. But I agree, it's always nice to have a physical copy or at least own a unique digital code.
The 2024 section is the hardest to watch in timeline order 01. Far From Home and No Way Home are back to back movies but the fact that Shang-Chi and Eternals main event happened before No Way Home main event made it trickier 02. I don't think i wanna watch Shang-Chi and Eternals after Far From Home and delaying No Way Home 03. Multiverse of Madness happened after No Way Home final battle but before the ending. But when you watch No Way Home, you clearly saw Peter swinging during Christmas time and then you watch MOM it's not Christmas then you watch Hawkeye it's Christmas again. Option 1: Watch No Way Home opening scene then Shang-Chi and Eternals then go back to No Way Home then Multiverse of Madness then No Way Home ending then Hawkeye Option 2: Far From Home - No Way Home - Shang-Chi - Eternals - Multiverse of Madness - Hawkeye Option 3: Far From Home - Shang-Chi - Eternals - No Way Home - Multiverse of Madness - Hawkeye Option 4: Shang-Chi - Far From Home - No Way Home - Eternals - Multiverse of Madness - Hawkeye
Yes, that particular part of the timeline is the trickiest. No Way home'a runtime overlaps 3 other movies (Shang-Chi, Eternals, MoM). I think I would opt for Option 2, but I could also see going with Option 1 working as well. Either way, watching FFH and NWH back to back is awesome. It's just such a huge cliff hanger after FFH that at least watching some of NWH is best, it seems. Anyway, yes, that is the craziest part of the timeline. Release order doesn't make it much better either. There's just no good solution. Sigh.
I usually watch things in chronological order based on where the movie ended. That's why I watch No Way Home at the end right before Hawkeye. It also lets that cliffhanger sit for a while before its resolved.
Wow the mcu wiki timeline is so thorough it's insane. Funny that the latest point in the timeline we've seen according to it is Jack and Ted on that log, that special and that moment really felt fresh and ripe for future story telling so it kinda works that phase 4 effectively left us on that note time line wise. Very excited to potentially see them again for next year's special.
Yeah, that wiki is amazing. I refer to it all the time when memory fails on a certain point. And I learned there is a whole team devoted to it and they vote on timeline placements before they put them on the wiki. So it is a very deliberate and thought out process. So cool! And yes, I loved the WbN Special and can't wait to see more Jack and Ted in the future!
I came to the conclusion that watching it in timeline order but not specifying years or dates makes it flow a lot better... Trying to get specific dates makes it sloppy while not thinking about it makes you fo nuts. For example i know Ragnarok is between civil war and infinity war but thats a 2 year window... In ragnarok thor says ultron was 2 years ago so it places ragnarok in 2016 but this would mean they were on that ship headding to earth for 2 years before Thanos intercepted them... Y... But just viewing it as these events take place after this but before this is just simpler... {Edit... Ultron was 2015 so 1 year in spave travel} Another example is the iron man 1 and attack of new york debacle... 2008 and 2010 or 2010 and 2012... Just watching them in timeline order with out bringing it up causes no issues with casual viewers imo. With the exception of going 20 movies without acknowledging skrulls or cap marvel or any of that... But thats a rant for later.
I really like that approach to the timeline. I think you have a terrific attitude and just having the overall order but not getting into the weeds of the months and years is a smart move. I like to go more granular, but I can honestly admit it isn't always worth the effort. So your approach makes loads of sense. And yeah, they better explain what the Skrulls have been up to all this time when Secret Invasion comes out. I suspect there is a reason we haven't heard anything about them, but we need the reason for sure!
@@AbitofEverything4U im the same i like to over think. My origionall idea for Cap Marvel 2 was to set it in 2012 and have it deal with her Helping end the kree skrull war and showing where how Ronin went from 1995 to 2014 in guardians... End of movie she gets a beep from fury and post credit she arrives and fury tells her they handled it and starts to explane to her the Avengers. What are youre thoughts on Kevin and Charley specifying that Dardevil Born Again is not a season 4 and us a fresh start with a diffeent tobe and feel... Im leaning more towards either a very very soft reboot or just a hard reboot with netflix being a diffrent universe they will play with in secret wars... I also predict obe of the 2 projects between kang dynasty and secret wars will deal with the lower level D+ charactes and incursions and meeting other varients... The netflix universe could clash with the D+ there
@@Michael-Phantom Yes! I was also thinking Cap Marvel 2 would be another gap filler and give us more history of what was happening between 1995 and present day with Carol. I think The Marvels will be good, but I still think your idea would have been great as well. As for the big news that DD: Born Again is a new take on DD and not a Netflix S4, I still suspect they will bring back alot of the characters and they will assume alot of what happened in the Netflix series also happened in the MCU due to the similarities with how Kingpin was introduced (same suit, same building, same cufflinks, etc). But I also think anything they want to jettison (goodbye Iron Fist) is gone. So there will be vague references to past events, but mostly staring over fresh. I really like your idea that characters that don't get pulled forward from the pre-D+ shows are instead included in Secret Wars. That would be really cool. So many possibilities there. Can't wait for Secret Wars. I hope they are really planning something big!
I just rewatched 'No Way Home' and realized that only the first 16 minutes of the movie happens in July... all the rest happens in November, do you think that Disney would really place it after Far From Home? Or where the main events of the movie happens? (Before MoM). I mean... is hard to say because of this: Disney decided to place 'The Incredible Hulk' where the main events happened (2011) and not where the movie really started (2000 something I guess) Same situation with 'Doctor Strange'... but a different situation with 'The Dark World' which was placed when the movie literally started (2012)... and becomes even harder to solve this question when you realize that the movie connects both with FFH and MoM... so what do you do? You place it when it started or when the main events happened? You take in consideration that is a direct sequel to the end of the last movie or that the history fits more closer to the Multiverse? Man... what a hard puzzle.
Plus, we know that The Incredible Hulk, The Dark World and Doctor Strange where placed on those positions based on where the narratives fitted better (Fury's Big Week, knowing what happened to Loki after The Avengers and Doctor Strange to not cut the stories that were directed connected with Civil War - and place it side by side with Ragnarok) But that's exactly my point, on a narrative point of view No Way Home matches with both Far From Home and Multiverse of Madness, so what do we do?
Yeah, No Way Home is such a tricky movie. It covers 6 months (July - Dec) and during its runtime, three other movies occur (Shang-Chi, Eternals and MoM). Yikes. I do suspect they will place it using the Thor 2 strategy of what makes the most sense following up with the previous movie, but from a viewing standpoint, it almost seems it makes the most sense to watch FFH, beginning of NWH, Shang-Chi, Eternals, rest of NWH, MoM, Hawkeye.
I think phases are going to be more of a way to organize timelines now, like it won’t matter what order you watch a phase in, they are just a chunk of time that has no exact order to it
I've wondered if the Phases will be the key way to organize the MCU myself. However, several of the movies come out in one Phase but occur in a different one. Black Widow, Captain Marvel, GotG Vol 2, Far From Home, and I am Groot are a few key examples. But in general I think you are right. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@jacktheflash8478 Right, even if they are out of order from a Phase standpoint, there is still an overall timeline order to it. That's why I think organizing by phases is actually abit harder than going in timeline order. Just my take on it, though.
For now, I'll keep updating the same document as new movies/shows appear in the D+ timeline. I could give it a numbering scheme (vol 2, vol 3, etc), but I'm thinking it might also just be simpler to update the existing document. Thoughts?
I think you can watch the post-credit scenes in chronological order. Firstly, chronological order should only be for rewatches, so you wouldn’t be spoiled. Secondly, if someone did watch them like this on their first time only knows; Fury’s gone and Cap has friends, Natasha dies and Clint is involved with a new outfit, and the Pyms turn to dust. Without the proper context, these scenes are just massive cliffhangers to newcomers that they can go “ohhhhh” when they hit the point in the timeline where it all clicks into place.
Interesting points! Yeah, I think the key is that knowing what the chronological order is can be very helpful. Personally, I wish I had been able to see the MCU in chronological order the first time around, but I definitely agree it's alot of fun to experience it that way in a rewatch. Thanks so much checking out the vid and sharing your feedback. Really appreciate it!
imo if it’s your first time watching it watch it by order of release then watch it by timeline it’s just more rewarding to see it in timeline and more satisfying after you already saw what happened and give you a new perspective
Yup, there is a very good argument for watching first in release order and then in timeline order. I just think for me, due to how many people complained that Black Widow should have come out before her death, then if you watch BW after Civil War it is better that way for a first viewing as well as rewatches. I also think the Phase 1 story of the Tesseract makes so much more sense when watched in timeline order, including Captain Marvel in the right place. I was totally lost on the tesseract when I watched the movies the first time around but it made so much more sense when I watched it in the right order. But that's just me. I can definitely appreciate your perspective on it as well. Really appreciate you watching the video and sharing your feedback. Thx so much!
"The best way to watch the MCU is in whatever order you get the most enjoyment out of it." Totally agree. I have my own order that I suggest to people, and I think it works really well as a kind of mix between Release and Timeline, but I think all 3 are unique experiences in regards to reveals, archs, and overall understanding of the big picture, so I think any way you want to watch is perfectly "correct".
That's a great way to watch it. I have seen a few other comments that also focus on the overall arches and reveals as a guide to watching the MCU. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your preferred order!
I was wondering, what's your opinion on the Geekritique's timeline V7 on his RUclips channel. It throws the Disney+ timeline away in favour of a more detailed deep dive. I actually prefer it since it has a much better spot for Thor L&T and Shang Chi.
I just watched it and left a detailed answer. I'll see what he thinks about it. Here is what suggested: - I'm not sure that it's true that the breakup must occur before Civil War. The only thing Civil War establishes is that during the course of that movie, Thor is off world with no way to reach him. It doesn't, however, mean he never returned to earth after that point. So the breakup could have been in the March/April timeframe of 2017 which is where the Disney+ timeline would land it. - The Groot observation is interesting. I don't know that James Gunn's comments concern me, as he seems to be very picky about any usage of his characters outside of the Guardians movies, as seen by the twitter spat he has had with Marvel about whether I am Groot is canon or not. But the bottom line is that Groot's growth patterns are ultimately a total mystery. I mean the dude grew back from a twig planted in dirt. So we just don't know how long he spends in any given growth cycle and graphing it out is tough when then entire concept of a talking tree regrowing into another talking tree is confusing enough. So I don't feel his lack of growth in the one scene is that enough to say the movie has to occur back in 2024 rather than 2025 where Disney+ has it. - The 6 months statement from Jane can actually be taken two ways. I thought she was saying it was six months prior to the current point in the movie (i.e. their discussion on the boat). It isn't clear if it refers to when she first discovered cancer or when she took the test on 4/30 and headed off to New Asgard. She lumps it all in one long sentence: "six months ago I was just feeling tired and then they told me I had stage 4 and get my affairs in order and then I heard Mjolnir calling me so I thought if maybe if science isn't working then maybe Viking space magic" to which Thor responds "And that's why you came to New Asgard". So it could be taken that she came to New Asgard 6 months prior to the present. In that case, it places the movie back in late fall which works with the Disney+ placement. - The tourism boom seems very abrupt, as I can't imagine anyone really wanted to go to New Asgard during the blip, as no one was running Asgard because Thor was ignoring all his duties, drinking beer, and playing Fortnite. I suspect that during the 5 year blip it was a very depressing place. So I think the tourism then needed more than a few months to develop to the point that we see it in the movie and that a May, 2024 date would be tricky. - Thor's workout schedule might not allow him to get in shape that fast, but perhaps his Asgardian metabolism lets him drop weight pretty quickly. So that might not be an issue. - A placement of May 20th, 2024 means Jane discovered her cancer very soon after returning from the blip. But Darcy was tied up in Westview for a good part of the end of 2023. It could be that Jane didn't tell her for awhile, which could make that work, but it might also pose an issue to the May, 2024 date. I guess to me it seems the Disney+ placement of October, 2025 works about as well as May, 2024. They both have a few small issues, but either one could ultimately work. We may get a better feeling when the GotG Holiday Special comes out as to whether there is a specific reason Disney+ has placed it so late.
for me the best way to watch the MCU is first by release order (especially if you're a first time viewer and bc of some of the post credit scenes) and after that just use the timeline order, either the D+ one or the wiki fandom one, so that the events flow better from one to the other, ESPECIALLY for the back-to-back movies, but thats just me, everyone does their own thing
Yeah, I can definitely see that reasoning. I think you really nailed it that everyone has a different preference. But I have heard alot of people echo your thoughts and suggest to use release order for the first viewing and then timeline order for future viewings. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on it!
Too funny! Yeah, there are good reasons to go release order and good ones for timeline order. So either one works. But I have just found the timeline order to really enhance the story in some key locations. Thanks so much for watching and leaving your feedback!
Hah, yeah, I can see that. Hope that's a good thing. Kinda depends on whether you like charts or not. I try to mix things up abit, but I hope it isn't too boring. As long as people don't use my videos to fall asleep, then I guess I'm doing okay. : ) Thanks so much for watching and sharing your feedback!
It can be fun to watch the MCU projects in chronological order but it isn´t the best order to watch everything in I would say. I try to divide the MCU projects in terms of "build-up" and "aftermath". So for example, in phase 1 everything builds up to The Avengers movie so it doesn`t really make sense to watch Captain Marvel (who's not gonna become relevant until 20 movies later) as the second MCU movie. And in Phase 2 everything builds up to Avengers: Age of Ultron (an argument could also be made for Civil War since those two movies are tied together very closely, but anyways) it doesn´t really make sense then to watch the Guardians movies in the middle of the Age of Ultron/ Civil War build-up since they don´t become relevant until the build-up to Infinity War. I would also much rather prefer to see all the projects dealing with the aftermath of Endgame first before watching for example Loki, a show which introduces so many new ideas and concepts in a new unique way, and Shang-Chi and Eternals which introduces many new characters. So, based firstly on build-up and aftermath, and secondly on the MCU timeline, here´s my preferred MCU Watch-order: Build-Up to The Avengers- 1. Captain America: The First Avenger 2. Iron Man 3. The Incredible Hulk 4. Iron Man 2 5. Thor 6. The Avengers Aftermath to The Avengers/ Build-up to Avengers: Age of Ultron & Captain America: Civil War- 7. Thor: The Dark World 8. Iron Man 3 9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier 10. Avengers: Age of Ultron 11. Ant-Man 12. Captain America: Civil War Aftermath to Civil War- 13. Black Widow 14. Black Panther 15. Spider-Man: Homecoming 16. Ant-Man & The Wasp (is also build-up to Infinity War, could be watched after Dr.Strange) Build-up to Infinity War- 17. Captain Marvel 18. Guardians of the Galaxy 19. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 20. Dr. Strange 21. Thor: Ragnarök 22. Avengers: Infinity War 23. Avengers: Endgame Aftermath to Avengers: Endgame- 24. Falcon & The Winter Soldier 25. Hawkeye 26. Wandavision 27. Spider-Man: Far From Home (could also be watched after Endgame as a conclusion to the Infinity Saga) The Multiverse & Build-up to Secret Wars- 28. Loki 29. Spider-Man: No Way Home 30. Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness 31. Thor: Love & Thunder 32. Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings 33. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 34. Ms. Marvel 35. Eternals 36. Moon Knight
I like that. It's a very unique viewing order and I can definitely see the advantages to it. Thanks so much for watching the video and sharing your preferred order. I have really enjoyed learning how others like to watch the MCU!
I think a mix is best, for example I think Captain America and Marvel are best watched in release order, but Black Widow should be watched in timeline order
Good feedback. Yes, I think Black Widow is the most important one to place in timeline order. The other two likely don't matter as much which order, although I do like the Tesseract story being told in chronological order, myself. Anyway, thx so much for watching the vid and sharing your thoughts. Really appreciate it!
Yeah, his role isn't real big in Captain Marvel, but it was a nice call back to GotG Vol 1...or if you are watching in timeline order then GotG Vol 1 is a nice call back to Captain Marvel. Hah...all a matter of perspective it seems. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I remember i saw all these movies out of order from phase 1 all the way till about Civil war. In a way i was lost but it was also cool kinda watching them out of place and backwards in a way, I think the first one i saw was Homecoming and then i went to Civil war and the started going all over the place
I like it. You added a new viewing order. There is "release order" , "timeline order" and now there's "going all over the place order". : ) Seriously though, thanks for watching and sharing your story. It is kinda wild how everyone gets introduced to the MCU in such unique ways!
We are bothering with the timeline now, but it’s all going to be reset in secret wars when we go to battle world. Rolls will be refilled with new actors, so that we can get the wolverine hulk fight or wolverine with Captain America or Captain America with punisher! So that’s it this timeline exist through phase 6 when everything gets wiped clean anyway and all the characters are there for a re-launch!
I do think that a timeline reset could happen. But I could also see them using Secret Wars to simply bring in alot of multi-versal characters but not necessarily need to reboot everything. But I guess if they do end up with a full reboot, then tracking the timeline will still be important for viewing Phases 1-6. Will be interesting to see what happens with Secret Wars. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I always prefer release order because to me that is the order that the vectors wanted you to watch it. Obviously that is different now in the mcu as there are so many tv shows with different creative leads and all the story's cross over time lone wise but atleast for the infinity saga the release order is the way it should be lost. It's like the tv show lost. Because half the show is flashbacks it could be watched completely in order so you can see all the flashbacks before they actually reach the island but those flashbacks were implemented in the episodes they were used for plot and theme purposes.
Interesting observation. Yes, Lost is a great example of why flashbacks that should be watched during with the episode they were released in. Great point. I guess for the MCU, the lost example is more like the flashbacks in each specific movie. For instance, I don't think I would enjoy a full timeline view of the MCU, with each movie's flashback placed in timeline order, such as Winter Solider's hit of Stark's dad or Ant Man losing Janet in Ant Man no longer being viewed as part of the movie but instead being pulled out and placed in timeline order. The flashbacks in a movie should be viewed with the movie, just like with Lost. But I do think the prequel movies (Black Widow, Captain Marvel, even I am Groot) were not made to intentionally be out of order but instead were ideas Marvel came up with after the fact. So watching them in timeline order doesn't mess up the original intent of the creative teams and fills in some missing holes in the original storyline. But that said, I do like your points and I think it illustrates that the best order to watch the MCU is the order that you get the most benefit out of it. Thanks so much for laying out your reasoning. I really enjoyed reading it!
I strongly disagree it makes sense to watch in release order cus post credit scenes will make sense that way. Cus the post credits lead to the next film. Make sense you show this to a new viewer in time line order they’ll be very confused how the post credits fit in.
I definitely agree that some of the post credits scenes will be spoilers. I mention three of them in the video, plus a 4th that could be considered a spoiler. But otherwise the end credits scenes work out just fine in timeline order. Or are them some I'm forgetting? Really appreciate you watching and sharing your feedback. These conversations help me understand different points of view, which is great!
some of the movies remind me of the old DBZ movies that retcon the main storyline and make no sense because of the time they are set in, its like everything is going bad and randomly we're having pitnick and doing a non canon side story before the actual story continues
Yeah, I am hoping things get better now that Marvel is using their Timeline Keeper more frequently. There is alot of content and they need someone who is helping keep it all going in the same direction rather that creating issues along the way.
Yeah, that would indeed be cool. I admit that I dodged the issue in my timeline document by just saying "watch all the sony spiderman before this point". But it might be interesting to view the sony movies within the overall MCU timeline. Great idea for future consideration. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@AbitofEverything4U its more of a personal theory of mine that spider-verse, and perhaps a certain x-men animated television show, is set within the MCU multiverse, but the SSU should definitely be added to any timeline because that is 100% confirmed, as is Raimi/Webb films. (side note: technically, spider-verse is as well, unless sony was just kidding with their "Meanwhile, in another universe..." post-credit scene.)
@@MediaLeft425 Yes! I am so hoping the X-men animated series is tied in to the multiverse and the spider-verse as well. And I agree, the Raimi/Webb movies are officially in the multiverse. The trick is figuring out exactly when they occur. Worst case we could use the date they were released, but I need to do more research and I suspect it would be possible to find exact placements for them. That said, I really enjoyed binge watching them before going to see No Way Home. So I kinda like the idea of not necessarily watching them throughout the timeline, but rather picking a point and watching them all in a row. Kinda like watching all the What If episodes in a row rather than breaking them out over the timeline. But that's just my take. I could see the value in a timeline order as well.
@@AbitofEverything4U ahh but now you’ve got me thinking about an mcu order with the what if episodes spread out lmao. Although actually, they all take place after the multiverse explosion so it doesn’t really matter because technically they are all after loki s1.
@@MediaLeft425 Right! And so I'm still wondering if somehow the Raimi/Webb movies are also a result of the Loki events. It just gets crazier and crazier, eh?
One of the questions that's been on my mind...not very long actually is "Is Minn-Erva a descendant of Sersi or does her Kree DNA make this theory very unlikely to be confirmed?"
I suspect Marvel won't tie the two characters together. Granted it is the same actress, but that likely wasn't meant to mean anything. Just my guess though.
Captain marvel is really the only one that mucks up the timeline order for someone new to the mcu. You’re gonna get introduced to her and then wonder where tf she went by the time you reach age of Ultron
Yeah, I definitely see that point. But it still is strange even in release order because you quickly realize after watching the movie we haven't seen her for 23 years when you do the math. So either way her disappearance is odd, I guess. Anyway, thanks so much for watching and sharing your feedback!
@@Robert-fr4it Yup...I just wish the timeline keeper would do their job. They aren't informing the creative teams of the timeline and instead letting them give misleading interviews by accident and creating lots of confusion (I made a few videos on that, in fact). But at least Thor: Love and Thunder was really well laid out from a timeline standpoint. So maybe things will improve. Fingers crossed!
Take a look on mine NWH, Shang-Chi and Eternals timeline schedules and share your thoughts! (Read it when you have time) (Events of TFATWS - April to June) (Events of FFH - June to July) Only the first 16 minutes of NWH happens in July (starts in July 7th). July 27th: Begging Shang-Chi. He wakes up in his San Francisco apartment, a normal job day with Katy. (Wenwu sends Ten Rings soldiers to retrieve the pendant). July 28th: The bus battle. July 29th: Shang and Katy prepares to go to China. July 30th: Flight to China. July 31th: They Arrive in Macau. Cage fight. Shang-Chi, Katy and Xialing are taken with Wenwu. August 1st: Shang-Chi, Katy, Xialing, Trevor and Morris scapes from The Ten Rings Headquarters. August 2nd: The heros arrives at Ta Lo. August 3rd: Battle of Ta Lo (3rd act) the Qingming Festival (on the MCU universe). August 4th: Funeral for those who lost their lives in the battle. August 10th: Xialing becomes the Leader of the Ten Rings. Wong analyzes the Rings with Shang, Katy, Carol and Bruce. August ?: At some point in late August Peter gets declined from the first University. September ?: At some point in mid September Peter gets declined from the second University. Sep 27th: Begging of Eternals. Kro attacks Sersi, Sprite, Dane and Ikaris saves them. The tree eternals decides to reunite with the other ones. Sep 28th: They found Ajak's Body. Sersi becomes the leader. Sep 29th: Reunite with Kingo, Gilgamesh and Thena. Sep 30th: Reunite with Druig. October 1st: Gilgamesh's funeral. Reunite with Phastos. October 2nd: Reunite with Makkari. October 3rd: Emergence happens. The 3rd act of the movie. (Ikaris killed Ajak on September 26th) October 17th: 2 weeks after the Emergence the Eternals watch the news talking about the appearance of Tiamut and then Makkari, Thena and Druig leaves earth. Back to UK, Tiamut takes Sersi, Kingo and Phastos from earth. In his house Dane tries to catch his family sword but is stopped by Blade. November 4th: Battle at the Bridge (Peter against Dr. Octopus). Capture of Lizard. November 5th: Capture of Electro and Sandman. May dies. November 6th: Battle at Liberty Island. Everyone forgets Peter. November 22nd: On the Domo, Makkari wonders why they have not heard from the other Eternals in weeks. Harry Styles appears and offers help. (Events of Multiverse of Madness) December 18th: Final scene of NWH. (Events of Hawkeye)
i hope i've contributed in the comments section to the very confusing timeline order. when you watch these movies over and over and over and over for 14 years you pick up on ALOT of details
You have indeed. I read all the comments and I use the feedback to improve future videos. Love to hear what people are thinking and the dialogue is always helpful!
I love timeliness order as well, however there is MASSIVE "I am your father" moment with Nick Fury. In Captain America & the Winter soldier, theres a scene where Fury reveals his bad eye and says last time he trusted someone he lost an eye. If watching Capyain marvel beforehand you would already know that a cat (flerkin?) cut his eye, that's it, a cat... Ruined that scene for Nick Fury IMO
Yeah, I was really bummed that a cat is the reason for his eye loss. Although I will say that if I had seen Captain Marvel before Winter Soldier, then I at least wouldn't have been anticipating something meaningful in Captain Marvel and I might have just laughed it off during Winter Soldier since we knew it was that darn cat. Watching Winter Solider and then Captain Marvel makes me hate that element of Captain Marvel. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Either way it's ruined by the cat scratch. If your a first time viewer you could atleast interpret that scene as "comedic" when you remember it was caused by a cat. I don't like it but I guess that's the best you could do with this situation.
i hate how the mcu is trying to move past all of its mistakes. all of the spiderman movies and everything after endgame is out of wack for whatever reason.
Yeah, phase 4 has been rough. I actually made a video on that, if you want to check it out: ruclips.net/video/lAC1j_IvTcU/видео.html. There are alot of reasons for it being abit out of whack, some of which are not Marvel's fault and some of which are self-inflicted. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Yeah, I love Loki. Fantastic series. And Ravonna is definitely coming back for S 2. Should be interesting to learn where she took off to at the end of S1. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Yeah, that movie wasn't the best by any means. But it is amazing what a huge impact it has had on the MCU. It brought us the Hulk, Ross, Abomination, and the Leader (returning in Captain America 4). That's just crazy for a movie that is near the bottom of everyone's list. Kinda like Thor 2 that wasn't that great but turned out to be critical to Endgame. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Yep... for many people that is indeed the answer. I still love working on the timelines, but I can imagine it isn't the cup of tea for many. Love your brevity. Thanks for watching!
Hi, me again, I don't know if it's against ToS but I can't find my original comment or the replies, maybe it's because I attached a link. Anyway, if anyone would like to watch/see my spreadsheet about fully in-order scene-by-scene MCU edits, you can contact me through this account. My edits are divided into Volumes, and it puts in order everything from flashblacks to post credit scenes.
Thanks for reposting. I'm not sure what happened to your other comment either, but thanks for sharing this. I think people will enjoy seeing that spreadsheet. Sounds like it was a ton of work, but will be a really valuable resource!
Here is the link to the Google Drive, if you want to download the Timeline Order: drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1R_PrexMkTjYpQAraxlhzs2U5EPJEPioc
THANK UUUUUUUU
will you update this with the new releases?
@@alfierowe6239 Yes, I'll upload a new copy as each release comes out. It's really helped me keep things straight!
@@AbitofEverything4U thank uuu
This is a great timeline break down. It definitely goes along way in explaining the evolution of what the general public would know and understand. It lays out a great argument as to why the general public would evolve their thinking from admiration of super powered people (heroes) to fearing to eventually hating these same super powered people when mutants arrive in full force.
The MCU timeline I've always been really fascinated by is Tony Goldmark's true chronological order which sorts every SCENE in chronological order. You start by watching a couple of minutes of Eternals, then a couple of minutes of Thor: The Dark World, then some more Eternals and so on.
Actually lining all that up is intimidating, but it sounds like an insane watch!
Oh wow. Now that would be cool. I've considered trying to lay out a timeline like that, but it is indeed intimidating. I also wonder if skipping between so many different movies due to the scene by scene order would be confusing. Perhaps not, and perhaps it would instead be even more impactful. Definitely sounds cool.
Thanks so much for watching the video and sharing your thoughts.
Then after that, someone will upload a 100 hour long "Entire MCU in true chronological order" video that goes viral and gets taken down in 2 days by Disney.
He did have a small problem during Fury's Big Week, but I had fun watching it, regardless.
@@crait Yeah, I definitely need to check it out!
Why would you watch Thor: The Dark World and Eternals when they take place at different times or, is that just a random example.
All of it gets even crazier if you include the prelude comics.. For example, in the comics there's an adventure where Black Panther (T'challa) meets Okoye before Tony Stark reveals he's Iron Man, so you can read that right after Iron Man 1. There's also "Nick Fury's Big Week" that takes place between phase 1 movies and we get to see the aftermatch of each one, like the Black Widow fighting The Leader after he transform with the Hulk's blood
Excellent point. In fact, I am very anxious for the Leader to return in Captain America 4 so we can learn what happened after SHIELD took him into captivity in the tie-in comic. I suspect he got away when SHIELD fell, but still would be nice to get that connection. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
This level of detail and enjoyment of the material is exactly what I came here for
They're not canon tho
@@Robin-be1zm Fury's Big Week is canon tho since the What If where Hank killed Avengers takes place during that event.
@@Robin-be1zm Anyone from Marvel Studios said they're not? Because i can't remember any big plot that happens in the preludes that makes them not cannon, they're usually just some extra stuff like the Winter Soldier running from the police or showing how Nebula lost her arm
In my opinion, timeline order is the best way to rewatch the MCU, however, if you’re a first-time viewer I think release order is better since it’s technically the way Marvel intended us to watch it. If you’ve already seen all the movies and shows you have nothing to worry about in terms of spoilers so it doesn’t matter really and then timeline order would probably be better
Yeah, for first time viewers it's a harder choice. I still might recommend at least watching some of the prequels in the right order (Captain Marvel and Black Widow...with the end credits being skipped until the right time) and watching the back to back movies in close proximity. But there is a valid case for watching it in release order the first time around.
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@AbitofEverything4U yeah, a curated order (mix of timeline and release as you say) by a fan could get the best of both worlds, but for the first time viewer, unless they have a friend on hand for a guide, release order should be the way to go
@@AlienIOIandroktone Yeah, the end credit scenes make it impossible for someone to watch in timeline order w/o knowing which things to avoid. So you indeed need assistance to watch it in timeline order the first time through.
These are all great points! I never thought of how some of this works better in timeline order
Thanks. I really found it fascinating the more I thought about those points as well. I do truly feel people should choose whatever order they enjoy the most, but I really think at least incorporating some of those points into someone's viewing order can really enhance things. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
I'm glad you mentioned the end credit scenes. When I watched all the MCU movies, I was REALLY glad I watched Ant-Man and The Wasp *after* Infinity War because of that end credits scene. I am forever grateful to the website that gave me that timeline.
Yes, I totally agree. Timeline order is great, but for a few key movies, those end credits scenes are total spoilers. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I just have to say, I found this channel recently and i love it
its the perfect combination of nerd and chill
no fancy editing, filler content or any extra BS,
minimal editing, very digestible & straight to the point
just a guy talking about marvel stuff. Its like a mini podcast
I love the idea of being nerd and chill. That's a great description. Really appreciate the positive feedback. Now, as long as I don't get so chill that people use the videos to fall asleep at night, then I'll be doing okay.
I have been watching the Marvel movies in timeline order including all the one-shots and have so far gotten to phase 2 Captain America TWS. It has so far been a fun experience and being a marvel fan myself ive noticed subtle continuity details that I before havent seen when watching them in individually. However, one thing I have noticed is that certain films don't neccesarily meld well in terms of the feel of them in where they are placed in the timeline, for example Captain marvel, which takes place between Captain America and Iron Man (being set in the 90s of course) but it doesn't really fit the overall tone set in Phase 1, and you can tell it feels like a modern Disney Marvel movie beacause of all it's jokes, aesthetic and structure of it which has been set in a time with Marvel that took themselves more seriously, being distributed by Paramount, and did not have that Disnified tone Captain Marvel carries. Also, because the film was made late in the game but set during Phase 1 it also introduces some plotholes, which all felt jarring to me.
I don't know if that made sense, and if not do feel free to scrutinise me, but thats my 2 and a half cents on this topic.
Oh and also don't take this as me bashing on Captain Marvel - the film was alright, in my opinion.
Very interesting observation. Yes, Phase 1 was definitely a more serious tone and I can see you point about Captain Marvel not fitting in as well in that regard. I do think the Phase 1 movies had bits of humor (Iron Man especially), but you are right that it is more muted than the later films which took a more "Disney-esqe" tone. Thanks for sharing that observation. It makes alot of sense!
90s?
@@gaminganimators7000 Correct... Captain Marvel was a 1995 movie setting, I believe.
They can make prequel films without introducing plot holes
@@jacktheflash8478 Right, that's the important thing. If you do a prequel, you have to do it carefully or it creates frustrating plotholes.
My opinion is that the 1st time you watch it you should watch it in release order, because post credit scenes have spoilers, and post credit scenes are important to the experience of watching the MCU for the first time, but when rewatching it, you should do it in time line order
Yeah, I can definitely see that reasoning. I have seen alot of people echo your thoughts and suggest to use release order for the first viewing and then timeline order for future viewings. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on it!
*Before watching the video:* I personally prefer to watch the MCU in release order, especially if it's the first viewing (that's how I introduced my sister to it, for example). When I was introduced to the MCU I was strongly suggested the timeline order, but I couldn't understand some key passages, because the concepts which they were based on had already been introduced in movies already released but placed later chronologically, but when I switched to the release order it was much easier to follow because that's the order in which the movies were intended to be watched in the first place. In order to follow the timeline order you need to already have at least some prior knowledge of the universe, otherwise some things just won't make sense. BUT, that said, I do understand why people like the timeline order and I respect that. Plus, knowing and researching the timeline of the MCU is always useful, especially if you're already a fan, because it gives you a guide to better appreciate the worldbuilding and the plotlines. I'd be lying if I said that I don't often wonder about when certain events happen on the timeline as well, so I totally get it. Now onto the video to see what your opinion is.
*After watching the video (sorry in advance for the length):* I understand your points, but I'd still defend the release order, especially for the first viewing. While I do agree that some plotlines that you mention are much clearer and streamlined in the timeline order, it also takes away some of the mystery of it: yes, the story of the Tesseract is much clearer in timeline order, but to me it was awesome to first see this weird object introduced quickly in Iron Man 2, explained in Thor, and then used as a major plot element in Captain America The First Avenger; yes, it's true that if you watch Captain America The First Avenger first, you clearly understand the reference to the super soldier serum in The Incredible Hulk, but again, I personally prefer to have the "tease" first, and the pay-off later, that "oooh!" moment that you get when you put 2 and 2 together and realize the connection.
With the Agent Coulson argument, I'm on the fence, because while it's true that you get to know his story much better in timeline order and it doesn't feel weird when he randomly shows up in Captain Marvel 20 movies later, it's also true that you've now just moved the problem from Coulson to Carol Danvers: you get introduced to her at the very beginning, then you forget about her for 20 movies and then she randomly shows up in Endgame out of nowhere (yes, Fury calls her at the end of Infinity War, before Endgame, but by that point you only see her symbol on the communicator, which you've likely forgotten after so many movies anyway, so you might just as well get the tease for the symbol in Ant-Man 2 first, then the full explanation of her origins in Captain Marvel and finally see her in action in Endgame, all back to back).
Also, and this is an important argument to me, I would argue that the release order works better thematically. One big example that I always use when discussing this topic is the introduction of magic in the MCU in Phase 1. When you watch in release order, you start with Iron Man, which is obviously a very tech-heavy movie, and it makes you believe that, with enough resources and with a genius mind like Tony's, the Iron Man suit could realistically happen in real life. Then you get The Incredible Hulk, which is also more on the "scientific" side A bit leaning into the fantastic, yes, with the whole green raging monster thing, but it's still got the "science gone wrong" vibe, there's no magic involved. Then again you get a tech-heavy movie in Iron Man 2, until finally you reach Thor, which is the first movie that truly introduces magic into this world, but it still does it in a very cautious way: remember in particular the scene in which Thor goes out of his way to explain to Jane that magic is just "science that you haven't understood yet". Also, it gives you the full backstory to the Tesseract when Odin recalls the battle against the Frost Giants, that he won specifically thanks to this power. With this in mind, then you're better equipped to also understand the whole mess with the Tesseract in Captain America the First Avenger and you're not surprised when at the end Red Skull touches it and it just randomly opens a portal to who knows where: it's a mystical, powerful object, after all, and, as Thor said to Jane in the previous movie, it might also be another instance of "science that you don't understand yet", so you're intrigued and want to learn more (and this promise is paid off later when it's revealed that the Tesseract is in fact the container for the Space Stone). And finally, you reach the Avengers, in which you see magic and science collide with Loki being the antagonist and literally using mind control to make people do what he wants. By the time you reach Phase 2 and 3, with stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange, you've already had a much more gradual introduction to the possibility of magic in this world and you accept it more easily as part of the universe. On the other hand, if you go with the timeline order you start with Captain America right off the bat and you follow Steve and Peggy fighting for this weird blue cube that for some reason does... "stuff", then you jump to space, of all places, to follow Captain Marvel fighting shapeshifting aliens, and then you go back to Earth and get introduced to a genius inventor who uses science to build an iron suit. Sure, chronologically it makes sense, but thematically it's all over the place.
I also believe that this example about magic is important because it gives an out of universe explanation to why Marvel released Phase 1 in the order that they did, and how it managed to get so popular in the first place: back in 2008, no one believed that superhero movies could be successful, and especially not at this scale. If you want your wacky comic book superhero movies to be accepted and taken seriously by audiences and critics alike, you can't immediately jump into things like Doctor Strange or Thanos. You need to start by making people comfortable in a world that mostly resembles our own, and then you start gradually introducing magical elements until people are invested enough to really start the wild ride with magic, cosmic level threats and parallel realities. For comic books, this has been the norm for decades (also helped by the fact that comic books have always been associated primarily with a younger audience), but for movies it was a novelty, and the few movies that before the MCU had tried to embrace the full force of comics right from the start where deemed too childish and weren't taken seriously. That's how the MCU gained the trust of so many people, and that's why I believe the release order is the best way to introduce new people to the universe, especially those that have no prior knowledge of the comics and of superheroes in general.
Very well summarized. I think your perspective makes alot of sense. As you will hear me mention in the video, the best way to watch the MCU is however you get the most enjoyment out of it, and that varies from person to person. Hopefully you will find the video interesting and helpful and I'd love your feedback. But I really appreciate your perspective and wanted to thank you for taking the time to share it!
@@AbitofEverything4U Hi! Thanks for the reply! I edited my original comment with my updated perspective after finishing the video. It took me so long to write that, but I love geeking out about Marvel, so time just flew by haha! Keep up the good work, I just recently discovered your channel and it's amazing!
@@Merione Wow, that was fantastic. Thanks for sharing that perspective. I can definitely understand your points. It really does go to my point that the best order to watch the MCU is whatever gives you the most enjoyment. For me, I really don't like things out of place, so while I enjoy the concept of a prequel like Captain Marvel and Black Widow, my mind wants it in the right order the first time. So I don't mind the tonal shifts here and there if I get the story in the chronological order. I was so confused by the tesseract story and even thought it was the casket of winters at first in Thor. So I was taken out of the story because it was so out of order. And I don't like waiting 8 movies to see what happened to Spidey in Far From Home. But not everyone's brain works like that and that's why both orders make sense in different ways.
Thanks so much for watching and for sharing all your thoughts. I agree, I love to geek out on the MCU and so I really enjoyed reading all of your reasoning for your favorite way to watch. It was great!
@AK Oops. Yes, my bad. Sorry, I'll edit it
I personally see the post credits scenes as being a separate watch from the movie, especially the notable ones u mentioned in the video. I keep track of those kinds of post scenes in a movie, TV show, and post credits scene watch order. Other notable post credits scenes would be Gotg vol 2 Groot mid credits scene and Thor Ragnarok post credits scene occuring between Ant-Man and the Wasp and Infinity War
Yeah, I like that strategy, too. And I agree on both GotG Vol 2 and Ragnarok end credits scenes. Those make more sense watching in the correct order. Great feedback!
As someone who watches Agents of Shield, its really satisfying to hear murmurs of "Theta Protocol" in the show for it to be revealed that it was Fury's helicarrier in Age of Ultron the whole time. Made that movie a little better!
Yeah, I loved that tie in with Age of Ultron. That was really the last major tie in between the AoS show and movies, but what a cool way to bring it all together between the storylines. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Huh, I've seen the full MCU but I've never looked at it in this perspective. Thanks for sharing, also you are a super underrated channel. I'm definetly subbing.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words. I really appreciate it. And I love your RUclips name. Very clever!
@@AbitofEverything4U Haha thanks :D
Man, I'm full of school work to do but until the end of the month I wanna watch the movies in timeline order, I just watched it in release order and rewatched a couple of movies that I really like, but seeing who you talked about the connection made me get in the mood to watch it, and hey maybe I can get some enjoyment for movies that is dislike in the MCU.
Cool! Yeah, that's what I've enjoyed about re-watches is that movies I didn't really like that well at first now have more meaning and I enjoy them alot more. Have fun on the re-watch!
I love the Google Doc! Very detailed! Just one criticism though... You have Black Panther released in 2017, when it was actually released in February of 2018. Thank you
Ah, great catch! I fixed that and re-uploaded. Thanks so much for noticing that. I added in the release year as I thought it was interesting to see the difference between when a movie was released and when it took place in the MCU. There are some big differences in certain cases. Really appreciate you watching the video and providing feedback!
Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Tobey timeline
Love it. Toby absolutely needs to come back again. Hoping for a Secret Wars team-up with Toby, Tom and Andrew together once again!
Me and my sister are watching the MCU through Age of Ultron is next. I generally think release order is best, but I've decided we will watch black widow in its timeline spot, and will watch its end credits for endgame.
I think black widow is the only one thats significantly better to watch in order rather than as a post-endgame prequel.
I do think you make some good points around phase 1 though
How cool. Hope you enjoy re-watching the MCU. I did it recently all the way through. Took abit over a month as I spaced things out, but it was alot of fun. I might recommend the back to back movies being watching together, but I agree, otherwise it doesn't matter too much the order. Take good notes in case you find some new easter eggs. Have fun!
At the end of the day, I don't really think it's worth it to fuss over the timeline. I mean it is clear that there are timeline inconcistancies & mistakes. Like the fact that in Iron Man, it shows the year is 2008 even though technically the film should take place in 2010.
It's best to either come up with a head canon to help it make sense or ignore the mistakes completely.
For example. Iron Man 2 supposedly takes place 10 months after Iron Man.
What if in actuality, in the negining of the film when Ivan & Anton are watching that News recording of Tony Stark, what if in actuality, Anton/Ivan recorded the news report & played the recording on loop because of their obsession/hatred of the Stark family and they kept playing it on loop for months or even a few years until Anton died & then Ivan spends the next few months building his Electric Whips
Yes, I definitely agree that enjoyment of the MCU trumps timeline discussions for sure. But the timelines do give us an indication of when each movie or show is occurring and in a connected universe like the MCU, there has to be some care and concern regarding the overall timeline. It can't ever trump producing a good movie and so if retconning is necessary (and boy, does the MCU like to retcon!) then its fine as long as the story is better as a result of the retcon.
As for IM 2, the reason I think it needs to be in close proximity to the first IM movie is that the government wouldn't wait too long to go after a private citizen flying around in a WMD. So I do like there being a short period of time (i.e. the 9 months) between those two movies. Anyway, totally agree that the timeline isn't the most important part of the MCU, but it is a piece of the overall puzzle that needs to be maintained with at least some integrity as things move along. Thanks so much for watching the vid and sharing your thoughts. Really appreciate it!
@@AbitofEverything4U Do you own the MCU films on 4K, Blu-Ray and or do you just watch the Digital Copies?
I own the MCU films on 4K UHD. The discs. I own them all except for Black Panther Wakanda Forever.
@@alexslusher16 Once Disney+ came out, I stopped buying the Marvel movies on Blu-Ray, but if I ever drop D+, I'll definitely buy physical copies at that point. It's just so convenient to pull them up on D+ in digital form so I stopped buying them for now. But I agree, it's always nice to have a physical copy or at least own a unique digital code.
The 2024 section is the hardest to watch in timeline order
01. Far From Home and No Way Home are back to back movies but the fact that Shang-Chi and Eternals main event happened before No Way Home main event made it trickier
02. I don't think i wanna watch Shang-Chi and Eternals after Far From Home and delaying No Way Home
03. Multiverse of Madness happened after No Way Home final battle but before the ending. But when you watch No Way Home, you clearly saw Peter swinging during Christmas time and then you watch MOM it's not Christmas then you watch Hawkeye it's Christmas again.
Option 1: Watch No Way Home opening scene then Shang-Chi and Eternals then go back to No Way Home then Multiverse of Madness then No Way Home ending then Hawkeye
Option 2: Far From Home - No Way Home - Shang-Chi - Eternals - Multiverse of Madness - Hawkeye
Option 3: Far From Home - Shang-Chi - Eternals - No Way Home - Multiverse of Madness - Hawkeye
Option 4: Shang-Chi - Far From Home - No Way Home - Eternals - Multiverse of Madness - Hawkeye
Yes, that particular part of the timeline is the trickiest. No Way home'a runtime overlaps 3 other movies (Shang-Chi, Eternals, MoM). I think I would opt for Option 2, but I could also see going with Option 1 working as well. Either way, watching FFH and NWH back to back is awesome. It's just such a huge cliff hanger after FFH that at least watching some of NWH is best, it seems.
Anyway, yes, that is the craziest part of the timeline. Release order doesn't make it much better either. There's just no good solution. Sigh.
I usually watch things in chronological order based on where the movie ended. That's why I watch No Way Home at the end right before Hawkeye. It also lets that cliffhanger sit for a while before its resolved.
Wow the mcu wiki timeline is so thorough it's insane. Funny that the latest point in the timeline we've seen according to it is Jack and Ted on that log, that special and that moment really felt fresh and ripe for future story telling so it kinda works that phase 4 effectively left us on that note time line wise. Very excited to potentially see them again for next year's special.
Yeah, that wiki is amazing. I refer to it all the time when memory fails on a certain point. And I learned there is a whole team devoted to it and they vote on timeline placements before they put them on the wiki. So it is a very deliberate and thought out process. So cool! And yes, I loved the WbN Special and can't wait to see more Jack and Ted in the future!
I came to the conclusion that watching it in timeline order but not specifying years or dates makes it flow a lot better... Trying to get specific dates makes it sloppy while not thinking about it makes you fo nuts.
For example i know Ragnarok is between civil war and infinity war but thats a 2 year window... In ragnarok thor says ultron was 2 years ago so it places ragnarok in 2016 but this would mean they were on that ship headding to earth for 2 years before Thanos intercepted them... Y... But just viewing it as these events take place after this but before this is just simpler... {Edit... Ultron was 2015 so 1 year in spave travel}
Another example is the iron man 1 and attack of new york debacle... 2008 and 2010 or 2010 and 2012... Just watching them in timeline order with out bringing it up causes no issues with casual viewers imo. With the exception of going 20 movies without acknowledging skrulls or cap marvel or any of that... But thats a rant for later.
I really like that approach to the timeline. I think you have a terrific attitude and just having the overall order but not getting into the weeds of the months and years is a smart move. I like to go more granular, but I can honestly admit it isn't always worth the effort. So your approach makes loads of sense.
And yeah, they better explain what the Skrulls have been up to all this time when Secret Invasion comes out. I suspect there is a reason we haven't heard anything about them, but we need the reason for sure!
@@AbitofEverything4U im the same i like to over think.
My origionall idea for Cap Marvel 2 was to set it in 2012 and have it deal with her Helping end the kree skrull war and showing where how Ronin went from 1995 to 2014 in guardians... End of movie she gets a beep from fury and post credit she arrives and fury tells her they handled it and starts to explane to her the Avengers.
What are youre thoughts on Kevin and Charley specifying that Dardevil Born Again is not a season 4 and us a fresh start with a diffeent tobe and feel... Im leaning more towards either a very very soft reboot or just a hard reboot with netflix being a diffrent universe they will play with in secret wars...
I also predict obe of the 2 projects between kang dynasty and secret wars will deal with the lower level D+ charactes and incursions and meeting other varients... The netflix universe could clash with the D+ there
@@Michael-Phantom Yes! I was also thinking Cap Marvel 2 would be another gap filler and give us more history of what was happening between 1995 and present day with Carol. I think The Marvels will be good, but I still think your idea would have been great as well.
As for the big news that DD: Born Again is a new take on DD and not a Netflix S4, I still suspect they will bring back alot of the characters and they will assume alot of what happened in the Netflix series also happened in the MCU due to the similarities with how Kingpin was introduced (same suit, same building, same cufflinks, etc). But I also think anything they want to jettison (goodbye Iron Fist) is gone. So there will be vague references to past events, but mostly staring over fresh.
I really like your idea that characters that don't get pulled forward from the pre-D+ shows are instead included in Secret Wars. That would be really cool. So many possibilities there. Can't wait for Secret Wars. I hope they are really planning something big!
Age of Ultron is in 2015.. Thor says it's been 2 years so late 2017, they stay on the ship for a few months before Thanos attacks
@@gbozzi05_ dang... That makes it flow better tho.
I just rewatched 'No Way Home' and realized that only the first 16 minutes of the movie happens in July... all the rest happens in November, do you think that Disney would really place it after Far From Home? Or where the main events of the movie happens? (Before MoM). I mean... is hard to say because of this:
Disney decided to place 'The Incredible Hulk' where the main events happened (2011) and not where the movie really started (2000 something I guess) Same situation with 'Doctor Strange'... but a different situation with 'The Dark World' which was placed when the movie literally started (2012)... and becomes even harder to solve this question when you realize that the movie connects both with FFH and MoM... so what do you do? You place it when it started or when the main events happened? You take in consideration that is a direct sequel to the end of the last movie or that the history fits more closer to the Multiverse?
Man... what a hard puzzle.
Plus, we know that The Incredible Hulk, The Dark World and Doctor Strange where placed on those positions based on where the narratives fitted better (Fury's Big Week, knowing what happened to Loki after The Avengers and Doctor Strange to not cut the stories that were directed connected with Civil War - and place it side by side with Ragnarok)
But that's exactly my point, on a narrative point of view No Way Home matches with both Far From Home and Multiverse of Madness, so what do we do?
Yeah, No Way Home is such a tricky movie. It covers 6 months (July - Dec) and during its runtime, three other movies occur (Shang-Chi, Eternals and MoM). Yikes. I do suspect they will place it using the Thor 2 strategy of what makes the most sense following up with the previous movie, but from a viewing standpoint, it almost seems it makes the most sense to watch FFH, beginning of NWH, Shang-Chi, Eternals, rest of NWH, MoM, Hawkeye.
I like to think that the post credit scenes of CM, BW, AMatW are like the nightmare visions of Batman in BvS and ZSJL
LOL. Great reference. Yes, that works perfectly. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I think phases are going to be more of a way to organize timelines now, like it won’t matter what order you watch a phase in, they are just a chunk of time that has no exact order to it
I've wondered if the Phases will be the key way to organize the MCU myself. However, several of the movies come out in one Phase but occur in a different one. Black Widow, Captain Marvel, GotG Vol 2, Far From Home, and I am Groot are a few key examples. But in general I think you are right. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
But they do have an order to it
@@jacktheflash8478 Right, even if they are out of order from a Phase standpoint, there is still an overall timeline order to it. That's why I think organizing by phases is actually abit harder than going in timeline order. Just my take on it, though.
Will the document be updated and if so where can we get it?
For now, I'll keep updating the same document as new movies/shows appear in the D+ timeline. I could give it a numbering scheme (vol 2, vol 3, etc), but I'm thinking it might also just be simpler to update the existing document. Thoughts?
I think you can watch the post-credit scenes in chronological order. Firstly, chronological order should only be for rewatches, so you wouldn’t be spoiled. Secondly, if someone did watch them like this on their first time only knows; Fury’s gone and Cap has friends, Natasha dies and Clint is involved with a new outfit, and the Pyms turn to dust. Without the proper context, these scenes are just massive cliffhangers to newcomers that they can go “ohhhhh” when they hit the point in the timeline where it all clicks into place.
Interesting points! Yeah, I think the key is that knowing what the chronological order is can be very helpful. Personally, I wish I had been able to see the MCU in chronological order the first time around, but I definitely agree it's alot of fun to experience it that way in a rewatch. Thanks so much checking out the vid and sharing your feedback. Really appreciate it!
imo if it’s your first time watching it watch it by order of release then watch it by timeline it’s just more rewarding to see it in timeline and more satisfying after you already saw what happened and give you a new perspective
Yup, there is a very good argument for watching first in release order and then in timeline order. I just think for me, due to how many people complained that Black Widow should have come out before her death, then if you watch BW after Civil War it is better that way for a first viewing as well as rewatches. I also think the Phase 1 story of the Tesseract makes so much more sense when watched in timeline order, including Captain Marvel in the right place. I was totally lost on the tesseract when I watched the movies the first time around but it made so much more sense when I watched it in the right order. But that's just me. I can definitely appreciate your perspective on it as well. Really appreciate you watching the video and sharing your feedback. Thx so much!
"The best way to watch the MCU is in whatever order you get the most enjoyment out of it." Totally agree.
I have my own order that I suggest to people, and I think it works really well as a kind of mix between Release and Timeline, but I think all 3 are unique experiences in regards to reveals, archs, and overall understanding of the big picture, so I think any way you want to watch is perfectly "correct".
That's a great way to watch it. I have seen a few other comments that also focus on the overall arches and reveals as a guide to watching the MCU. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your preferred order!
I was wondering, what's your opinion on the Geekritique's timeline V7 on his RUclips channel. It throws the Disney+ timeline away in favour of a more detailed deep dive. I actually prefer it since it has a much better spot for Thor L&T and Shang Chi.
I just watched it and left a detailed answer. I'll see what he thinks about it. Here is what suggested:
- I'm not sure that it's true that the breakup must occur before Civil War. The only thing Civil War establishes is that during the course of that movie, Thor is off world with no way to reach him. It doesn't, however, mean he never returned to earth after that point. So the breakup could have been in the March/April timeframe of 2017 which is where the Disney+ timeline would land it.
- The Groot observation is interesting. I don't know that James Gunn's comments concern me, as he seems to be very picky about any usage of his characters outside of the Guardians movies, as seen by the twitter spat he has had with Marvel about whether I am Groot is canon or not. But the bottom line is that Groot's growth patterns are ultimately a total mystery. I mean the dude grew back from a twig planted in dirt. So we just don't know how long he spends in any given growth cycle and graphing it out is tough when then entire concept of a talking tree regrowing into another talking tree is confusing enough. So I don't feel his lack of growth in the one scene is that enough to say the movie has to occur back in 2024 rather than 2025 where Disney+ has it.
- The 6 months statement from Jane can actually be taken two ways. I thought she was saying it was six months prior to the current point in the movie (i.e. their discussion on the boat). It isn't clear if it refers to when she first discovered cancer or when she took the test on 4/30 and headed off to New Asgard. She lumps it all in one long sentence: "six months ago I was just feeling tired and then they told me I had stage 4 and get my affairs in order and then I heard Mjolnir calling me so I thought if maybe if science isn't working then maybe Viking space magic" to which Thor responds "And that's why you came to New Asgard". So it could be taken that she came to New Asgard 6 months prior to the present. In that case, it places the movie back in late fall which works with the Disney+ placement.
- The tourism boom seems very abrupt, as I can't imagine anyone really wanted to go to New Asgard during the blip, as no one was running Asgard because Thor was ignoring all his duties, drinking beer, and playing Fortnite. I suspect that during the 5 year blip it was a very depressing place. So I think the tourism then needed more than a few months to develop to the point that we see it in the movie and that a May, 2024 date would be tricky.
- Thor's workout schedule might not allow him to get in shape that fast, but perhaps his Asgardian metabolism lets him drop weight pretty quickly. So that might not be an issue.
- A placement of May 20th, 2024 means Jane discovered her cancer very soon after returning from the blip. But Darcy was tied up in Westview for a good part of the end of 2023. It could be that Jane didn't tell her for awhile, which could make that work, but it might also pose an issue to the May, 2024 date.
I guess to me it seems the Disney+ placement of October, 2025 works about as well as May, 2024. They both have a few small issues, but either one could ultimately work. We may get a better feeling when the GotG Holiday Special comes out as to whether there is a specific reason Disney+ has placed it so late.
for me the best way to watch the MCU is first by release order (especially if you're a first time viewer and bc of some of the post credit scenes) and after that just use the timeline order, either the D+ one or the wiki fandom one, so that the events flow better from one to the other, ESPECIALLY for the back-to-back movies, but thats just me, everyone does their own thing
Yeah, I can definitely see that reasoning. I think you really nailed it that everyone has a different preference. But I have heard alot of people echo your thoughts and suggest to use release order for the first viewing and then timeline order for future viewings. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on it!
Did you just convert me? 🙃
I've been a release snob for years but dang it, you make some good points
Too funny! Yeah, there are good reasons to go release order and good ones for timeline order. So either one works. But I have just found the timeline order to really enhance the story in some key locations. Thanks so much for watching and leaving your feedback!
Your videos and voice remind me of Matt Baker from the Useful Charts RUclips channel!
Hah, yeah, I can see that. Hope that's a good thing. Kinda depends on whether you like charts or not. I try to mix things up abit, but I hope it isn't too boring. As long as people don't use my videos to fall asleep, then I guess I'm doing okay. : )
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your feedback!
It can be fun to watch the MCU projects in chronological order but it isn´t the best order to watch everything in I would say.
I try to divide the MCU projects in terms of "build-up" and "aftermath". So for example, in phase 1 everything builds up to The Avengers movie so it doesn`t really make sense to watch Captain Marvel (who's not gonna become relevant until 20 movies later) as the second MCU movie. And in Phase 2 everything builds up to Avengers: Age of Ultron (an argument could also be made for Civil War since those two movies are tied together very closely, but anyways) it doesn´t really make sense then to watch the Guardians movies in the middle of the Age of Ultron/ Civil War build-up since they don´t become relevant until the build-up to Infinity War.
I would also much rather prefer to see all the projects dealing with the aftermath of Endgame first before watching for example Loki, a show which introduces so many new ideas and concepts in a new unique way, and Shang-Chi and Eternals which introduces many new characters.
So, based firstly on build-up and aftermath, and secondly on the MCU timeline, here´s my preferred MCU Watch-order:
Build-Up to The Avengers-
1. Captain America: The First Avenger
2. Iron Man
3. The Incredible Hulk
4. Iron Man 2
5. Thor
6. The Avengers
Aftermath to The Avengers/
Build-up to Avengers: Age of Ultron & Captain America: Civil War-
7. Thor: The Dark World
8. Iron Man 3
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron
11. Ant-Man
12. Captain America: Civil War
Aftermath to Civil War-
13. Black Widow
14. Black Panther
15. Spider-Man: Homecoming
16. Ant-Man & The Wasp
(is also build-up to Infinity War, could be watched after Dr.Strange)
Build-up to Infinity War-
17. Captain Marvel
18. Guardians of the Galaxy
19. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
20. Dr. Strange
21. Thor: Ragnarök
22. Avengers: Infinity War
23. Avengers: Endgame
Aftermath to Avengers: Endgame-
24. Falcon & The Winter Soldier
25. Hawkeye
26. Wandavision
27. Spider-Man: Far From Home
(could also be watched after Endgame as a conclusion to the Infinity Saga)
The Multiverse & Build-up to Secret Wars-
28. Loki
29. Spider-Man: No Way Home
30. Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
31. Thor: Love & Thunder
32. Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings
33. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
34. Ms. Marvel
35. Eternals
36. Moon Knight
I like that. It's a very unique viewing order and I can definitely see the advantages to it. Thanks so much for watching the video and sharing your preferred order. I have really enjoyed learning how others like to watch the MCU!
I think a mix is best, for example I think Captain America and Marvel are best watched in release order, but Black Widow should be watched in timeline order
Good feedback. Yes, I think Black Widow is the most important one to place in timeline order. The other two likely don't matter as much which order, although I do like the Tesseract story being told in chronological order, myself. Anyway, thx so much for watching the vid and sharing your thoughts. Really appreciate it!
I watched MCU in timeline order and I completely forgot that ronan was in captain marvel
Yeah, his role isn't real big in Captain Marvel, but it was a nice call back to GotG Vol 1...or if you are watching in timeline order then GotG Vol 1 is a nice call back to Captain Marvel. Hah...all a matter of perspective it seems. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@AbitofEverything4U Well i thought gotg was the first chronological appearance of ronan since as you said his role wasn't very big in captain marvel
I remember i saw all these movies out of order from phase 1 all the way till about Civil war. In a way i was lost but it was also cool kinda watching them out of place and backwards in a way, I think the first one i saw was Homecoming and then i went to Civil war and the started going all over the place
I like it. You added a new viewing order. There is "release order" , "timeline order" and now there's "going all over the place order". : )
Seriously though, thanks for watching and sharing your story. It is kinda wild how everyone gets introduced to the MCU in such unique ways!
We are bothering with the timeline now, but it’s all going to be reset in secret wars when we go to battle world. Rolls will be refilled with new actors, so that we can get the wolverine hulk fight or wolverine with Captain America or Captain America with punisher! So that’s it this timeline exist through phase 6 when everything gets wiped clean anyway and all the characters are there for a re-launch!
I do think that a timeline reset could happen. But I could also see them using Secret Wars to simply bring in alot of multi-versal characters but not necessarily need to reboot everything.
But I guess if they do end up with a full reboot, then tracking the timeline will still be important for viewing Phases 1-6. Will be interesting to see what happens with Secret Wars. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I always prefer release order because to me that is the order that the vectors wanted you to watch it.
Obviously that is different now in the mcu as there are so many tv shows with different creative leads and all the story's cross over time lone wise but atleast for the infinity saga the release order is the way it should be lost.
It's like the tv show lost. Because half the show is flashbacks it could be watched completely in order so you can see all the flashbacks before they actually reach the island but those flashbacks were implemented in the episodes they were used for plot and theme purposes.
Interesting observation. Yes, Lost is a great example of why flashbacks that should be watched during with the episode they were released in. Great point. I guess for the MCU, the lost example is more like the flashbacks in each specific movie. For instance, I don't think I would enjoy a full timeline view of the MCU, with each movie's flashback placed in timeline order, such as Winter Solider's hit of Stark's dad or Ant Man losing Janet in Ant Man no longer being viewed as part of the movie but instead being pulled out and placed in timeline order. The flashbacks in a movie should be viewed with the movie, just like with Lost. But I do think the prequel movies (Black Widow, Captain Marvel, even I am Groot) were not made to intentionally be out of order but instead were ideas Marvel came up with after the fact. So watching them in timeline order doesn't mess up the original intent of the creative teams and fills in some missing holes in the original storyline.
But that said, I do like your points and I think it illustrates that the best order to watch the MCU is the order that you get the most benefit out of it. Thanks so much for laying out your reasoning. I really enjoyed reading it!
I strongly disagree it makes sense to watch in release order cus post credit scenes will make sense that way. Cus the post credits lead to the next film. Make sense you show this to a new viewer in time line order they’ll be very confused how the post credits fit in.
I definitely agree that some of the post credits scenes will be spoilers. I mention three of them in the video, plus a 4th that could be considered a spoiler. But otherwise the end credits scenes work out just fine in timeline order. Or are them some I'm forgetting? Really appreciate you watching and sharing your feedback. These conversations help me understand different points of view, which is great!
some of the movies remind me of the old DBZ movies that retcon the main storyline and make no sense because of the time they are set in, its like everything is going bad and randomly we're having pitnick and doing a non canon side story before the actual story continues
Yeah, I am hoping things get better now that Marvel is using their Timeline Keeper more frequently. There is alot of content and they need someone who is helping keep it all going in the same direction rather that creating issues along the way.
I just realized that the last 3 Thor movies all happens in November lol
Oh wild. You are right!
i wish there was an mcu timeline order but with multiversal movies (ssu, all spider man movies plus spiderverse)
Yeah, that would indeed be cool. I admit that I dodged the issue in my timeline document by just saying "watch all the sony spiderman before this point". But it might be interesting to view the sony movies within the overall MCU timeline. Great idea for future consideration. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
@@AbitofEverything4U its more of a personal theory of mine that spider-verse, and perhaps a certain x-men animated television show, is set within the MCU multiverse, but the SSU should definitely be added to any timeline because that is 100% confirmed, as is Raimi/Webb films. (side note: technically, spider-verse is as well, unless sony was just kidding with their "Meanwhile, in another universe..." post-credit scene.)
@@MediaLeft425 Yes! I am so hoping the X-men animated series is tied in to the multiverse and the spider-verse as well. And I agree, the Raimi/Webb movies are officially in the multiverse. The trick is figuring out exactly when they occur. Worst case we could use the date they were released, but I need to do more research and I suspect it would be possible to find exact placements for them.
That said, I really enjoyed binge watching them before going to see No Way Home. So I kinda like the idea of not necessarily watching them throughout the timeline, but rather picking a point and watching them all in a row. Kinda like watching all the What If episodes in a row rather than breaking them out over the timeline. But that's just my take. I could see the value in a timeline order as well.
@@AbitofEverything4U ahh but now you’ve got me thinking about an mcu order with the what if episodes spread out lmao. Although actually, they all take place after the multiverse explosion so it doesn’t really matter because technically they are all after loki s1.
@@MediaLeft425 Right! And so I'm still wondering if somehow the Raimi/Webb movies are also a result of the Loki events. It just gets crazier and crazier, eh?
One of the questions that's been on my mind...not very long actually is "Is Minn-Erva a descendant of Sersi or does her Kree DNA make this theory very unlikely to be confirmed?"
I suspect Marvel won't tie the two characters together. Granted it is the same actress, but that likely wasn't meant to mean anything. Just my guess though.
True. That'd be like saying Mahershala Ali's character he played on Luke Cage is related to Blade, which they're not.
@@sageturmelle Excellent point!
I'm still wondering how that 8 year continuity error made it into Homecoming.
I blame Sony. They are an easy target. But, yeah, it is still so hard to fathom.
Captain marvel is really the only one that mucks up the timeline order for someone new to the mcu. You’re gonna get introduced to her and then wonder where tf she went by the time you reach age of Ultron
Yeah, I definitely see that point. But it still is strange even in release order because you quickly realize after watching the movie we haven't seen her for 23 years when you do the math. So either way her disappearance is odd, I guess. Anyway, thanks so much for watching and sharing your feedback!
I’ll be very interesting If fegie comes out and he does his own timeline
Now that would be cool!
They have a guy that keeps track of the timeline
@@Robert-fr4it I know who you are talking about would be fascinating if someone was wrong and someone was closer than we think
@@Robert-fr4it Yup...I just wish the timeline keeper would do their job. They aren't informing the creative teams of the timeline and instead letting them give misleading interviews by accident and creating lots of confusion (I made a few videos on that, in fact). But at least Thor: Love and Thunder was really well laid out from a timeline standpoint. So maybe things will improve. Fingers crossed!
Take a look on mine NWH, Shang-Chi and Eternals timeline schedules and share your thoughts! (Read it when you have time)
(Events of TFATWS - April to June)
(Events of FFH - June to July)
Only the first 16 minutes of NWH happens in July (starts in July 7th).
July 27th: Begging Shang-Chi. He wakes up in his San Francisco apartment, a normal job day with Katy. (Wenwu sends Ten Rings soldiers to retrieve the pendant).
July 28th: The bus battle.
July 29th: Shang and Katy prepares to go to China.
July 30th: Flight to China.
July 31th: They Arrive in Macau. Cage fight. Shang-Chi, Katy and Xialing are taken with Wenwu.
August 1st: Shang-Chi, Katy, Xialing, Trevor and Morris scapes from The Ten Rings Headquarters.
August 2nd: The heros arrives at Ta Lo.
August 3rd: Battle of Ta Lo (3rd act) the Qingming Festival (on the MCU universe).
August 4th: Funeral for those who lost their lives in the battle.
August 10th: Xialing becomes the Leader of the Ten Rings. Wong analyzes the Rings with Shang, Katy, Carol and Bruce.
August ?: At some point in late August Peter gets declined from the first University.
September ?: At some point in mid September Peter gets declined from the second University.
Sep 27th: Begging of Eternals. Kro attacks Sersi, Sprite, Dane and Ikaris saves them. The tree eternals decides to reunite with the other ones.
Sep 28th: They found Ajak's Body. Sersi becomes the leader.
Sep 29th: Reunite with Kingo, Gilgamesh and Thena.
Sep 30th: Reunite with Druig.
October 1st: Gilgamesh's funeral. Reunite with Phastos.
October 2nd: Reunite with Makkari.
October 3rd: Emergence happens. The 3rd act of the movie.
(Ikaris killed Ajak on September 26th)
October 17th: 2 weeks after the Emergence the Eternals watch the news talking about the appearance of Tiamut and then Makkari, Thena and Druig leaves earth. Back to UK, Tiamut takes Sersi, Kingo and Phastos from earth. In his house Dane tries to catch his family sword but is stopped by Blade.
November 4th: Battle at the Bridge (Peter against Dr. Octopus). Capture of Lizard.
November 5th: Capture of Electro and Sandman. May dies.
November 6th: Battle at Liberty Island. Everyone forgets Peter.
November 22nd: On the Domo, Makkari wonders why they have not heard from the other Eternals in weeks. Harry Styles appears and offers help.
(Events of Multiverse of Madness)
December 18th: Final scene of NWH.
(Events of Hawkeye)
That's awesome. I think that works perfectly. Very nicely done!
i hope i've contributed in the comments section to the very confusing timeline order. when you watch these movies over and over and over and over for 14 years you pick up on ALOT of details
You have indeed. I read all the comments and I use the feedback to improve future videos. Love to hear what people are thinking and the dialogue is always helpful!
You missed out back to back iron man 1 and 2
Ah, good point!
I love timeliness order as well, however there is MASSIVE "I am your father" moment with Nick Fury.
In Captain America & the Winter soldier, theres a scene where Fury reveals his bad eye and says last time he trusted someone he lost an eye.
If watching Capyain marvel beforehand you would already know that a cat (flerkin?) cut his eye, that's it, a cat...
Ruined that scene for Nick Fury IMO
Yeah, I was really bummed that a cat is the reason for his eye loss. Although I will say that if I had seen Captain Marvel before Winter Soldier, then I at least wouldn't have been anticipating something meaningful in Captain Marvel and I might have just laughed it off during Winter Soldier since we knew it was that darn cat. Watching Winter Solider and then Captain Marvel makes me hate that element of Captain Marvel.
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Either way it's ruined by the cat scratch. If your a first time viewer you could atleast interpret that scene as "comedic" when you remember it was caused by a cat. I don't like it but I guess that's the best you could do with this situation.
Yup
Short and sweet. I love it!
i hate how the mcu is trying to move past all of its mistakes. all of the spiderman movies and everything after endgame is out of wack for whatever reason.
Yeah, phase 4 has been rough. I actually made a video on that, if you want to check it out: ruclips.net/video/lAC1j_IvTcU/видео.html. There are alot of reasons for it being abit out of whack, some of which are not Marvel's fault and some of which are self-inflicted. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I don't follow MCU, just watching again, LOKI. 1x06 Phoenix. Ravonna. I never hear about her. Ravonna
Yeah, I love Loki. Fantastic series. And Ravonna is definitely coming back for S 2. Should be interesting to learn where she took off to at the end of S1. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I watch them in chronological order except for the hulk. That film is horrible
Yeah, that movie wasn't the best by any means. But it is amazing what a huge impact it has had on the MCU. It brought us the Hulk, Ross, Abomination, and the Leader (returning in Captain America 4). That's just crazy for a movie that is near the bottom of everyone's list. Kinda like Thor 2 that wasn't that great but turned out to be critical to Endgame. Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Short answer: No
Yep... for many people that is indeed the answer. I still love working on the timelines, but I can imagine it isn't the cup of tea for many. Love your brevity. Thanks for watching!
Hi, me again, I don't know if it's against ToS but I can't find my original comment or the replies, maybe it's because I attached a link. Anyway, if anyone would like to watch/see my spreadsheet about fully in-order scene-by-scene MCU edits, you can contact me through this account.
My edits are divided into Volumes, and it puts in order everything from flashblacks to post credit scenes.
Thanks for reposting. I'm not sure what happened to your other comment either, but thanks for sharing this. I think people will enjoy seeing that spreadsheet. Sounds like it was a ton of work, but will be a really valuable resource!