Wondering where to start with the Marvel Cinematic Universe? We’ve got you

So, you’ve decided to get into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also known as the MCU. However, you might have NO clue where to start. X-Men, Deadpool, Captain America, Jessica Jones, Agent Carter… I can understand that you feel lost. But no need to worry. Here’s your guide on how to start watching the MCU.

If you are starting the MCU so you can understand what the hell was going on in the after-credit scene of Eternals, you need to start with all the movies. The thing is, where to start? You can opt to do three options, which are watching the movies in the release order, watching the movies in chronological order, and in spaghetti order (yes, that’s an actual thing).

If you start watching the movies in release order, everything will make sense, however you might get confused about the timeline. For example, Captain Marvel, which was released in 2019, takes place in 1995. However, the movie Avengers: Endgame, which is released just a month after Captain Marvel, takes place in the 2020s. The advantage of watching the MCU movies in release order, is that you can watch all the after-credit scenes without getting spoiled for upcoming movies. This method is preferred by loads of fans, so we could definitely recommend this if you don’t want to lose track. The order is: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Here, we take a break and we go to the chronological order to 3 popular Marvel series, which should be watched as the following: WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and ending with Loki, before continuing with the movies Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals.

However, if you are a first time watcher, I would totally recommend watching it in chronological order. Thus meaning that instead of starting with Iron Man, you start all the way at the beginning of the MCU timeline with Captain America: The First Avenger. The movies, in chronological timeline order, after Captain America, are: Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Solider, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and then hopping to tv show Loki, then WandaVision, and then The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, before diving into the movies again with Spider-Man: Far From Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and last but not least, Eternals.

Worth noting though, is that you need to watch Black Widow’s after-credits scene AFTER you’ve watched Avengers: Endgame, otherwise you will find out gigantic spoilers for both upcoming movies and tv shows, so avoid that one at all costs up until you’ve finished it.

If you want to make it even more complicated, you can watch on spaghetti order, which is watching the movies in order of the after-credit scenes, but I’d recommend doing that way down the line.

So, now we’ve touched down the most popular part of the MCU, and you might find yourself asking: “But… what about X-Men? Deadpool? Venom? The other TV-shows?”. All of these are still worth watching, but the stories do not overlap with each other, so you can watch those in order without getting spoiled about the aforementioned movies. You could even opt to mix the other tv shows in with the chronological MCU order if you want to make your movie marathon even bigger!

But – what about all of the other Spider-Man movies? The ones with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield? No worries! Even though Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is a part of the storyline of the MCU, these two previous Spider-Man‘s are not intertwined with it. However – if you are planning to go to the upcoming Spider-Man movie, definitely watch this, as rumors are flying that will only make sense to you if you’ve watched these Spider-Man movies as well…

Another thing to keep in mind when joining the MCU fandom, is that everything has a strict rule of NO SPOILING. Even the after-credit scenes, even all the unexpected cameos, and yes, even the jokes and amazing action scenes. Everything is kept secret so people can genuinely react and be amazed by this always expanding universe (although we can’t promise that the cast won’t spoil anything…. Looking at you, Tom Holland…).

So, sit back, relax, make some popcorn – and enjoy the ride that the MCU is!
P.S. Also, don’t forget your tissues – you might be needing them!