18 Years in, Marvel Totally Know the MCU Timeline Is Broken (But Here’s How To Fix It)

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Okay, let’s talk about the MCU’s timeline – it’s honestly become a real headache. The whole point of a shared universe is that things happen in a specific order, and we, as the audience, should be able to follow that order. But Marvel’s been stumbling lately trying to keep everything straight. They’ve even released an official timeline and a ‘timeline order’ on Disney+, which sounds great, but frankly, both of those attempts are… flawed. As a viewer who pays attention, it’s becoming clear that these timelines just don’t quite add up.

Recent Marvel Cinematic Universe releases have intentionally avoided clear references to when events take place. According to Wonder Man writer Andrew Guest, this is a conscious decision—characters won’t state the year, and the stories avoid specific details about past events or connections to other MCU films. This makes it seem like Marvel has abandoned a consistent timeline before the multiversal reboot in Avengers: Secret Wars, but we believe we’ve found a way to make the main timeline still work.

The Prelude Timeline (1260BC-2008)

The official Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline starts with several stories that take place long ago – sometimes thousands of years – before the main movies and shows. These include:

  • Eyes of Wakanda episode 1 (1260BC)
  • Eyes of Wakanda episode 2 (unclear, but within one character’s lifetime from the previous episode)
  • Eyes of Wakanda episode 3 (1400AD)
  • Eyes of Wakanda episode 4 (1896)
  • Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1945)
  • Agent Carter one-shot (1946)
  • Captain Marvel (1995)

We’ve left out the Agent Carter TV series from this list because Marvel hasn’t officially said it’s part of the main story timeline. However, there are some small clues in both Avengers: Endgame and Wonder Man that suggest it might be.

The MCU’s Phase One: Fury’s Big Week (2008-2012)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first phase officially established its timeline through a series of comics called “Fury’s Big Week,” which showed several events happening at the same time. However, setting the release of Iron Man in 2008—a key element for future storylines—creates confusion about when “Fury’s Big Week” actually took place. While the official timeline places it in 2010, some dialogue in The Avengers suggests it could have happened in 2011.

  • Iron Man (2008)
  • Concurrent: Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer, Thor (2010 or 2011)
  • The Consultant (2010 or 2011, based after Fury’s Big Week
  • The Avengers (2012)
  • Item 47 (2012)

Phase 2 of the Infinity Saga (2012-2015)

The second phase of the timeline generally works well because most movies take place in the year they came out. However, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 needs to be included because it’s only a few months after the first Guardians film. There’s some disagreement about when Iron Man 3 happens – some think it’s set in late 2012, but the official timeline places it in 2013, and recent movies like Wonder Man support that. If Agents of SHIELD is ever officially part of the main storyline again, the timeline will need to be adjusted, as the show’s first season doesn’t match up with the current order.

Disney+ now officially includes all of the Marvel shows that originally aired on Netflix as part of the main Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. The timeline starts with Season 1 of Daredevil, which takes place around when it was first released. However, the events in these shows unfold at a slower pace than the main MCU films, and they don’t quite reach the point of Avengers: Infinity War and Thanos’ actions.

  • Thor: The Dark World (2012 through to 2013)
  • Iron Man 3 (2013)
  • All Hail the King (2014)
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2014)
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  • Daredevil Season 1 (2015)
  • Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
  • Ant-Man (2015)
  • Daredevil Season 2 (2015)
  • Luke Cage Season 1 (2015)

The End of the Infinity Saga in Phase 3 (2016-2023)

There’s a well-known timeline mistake in Spider-Man: Homecoming – the date shown in the opening credits was later admitted to be wrong and can be disregarded. Figuring out where Thor: Ragnarok fits is a little complicated, but it clearly leads directly into Avengers: Infinity War. We can also roughly place the Marvel Netflix shows in time, as Season 1 of Iron Fist takes place around Chinese New Year. This timeline also includes the events of the Phase 4 movie Black Widow.

  • Iron Fist Season 1 (2016)
  • Defenders (2016)
  • Captain America: Civil War (2016)
  • Black Widow (2016)
  • Black Panther (2016)
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2016)
  • The Punisher Season 1 (2016)
  • Jessica Jones Season 2 (2017)
  • Luke Cage Season 2 (2017)
  • Doctor Strange (2016-2017)
  • Iron Fist Season 2 (2017)
  • Daredevil Season 3 (2017)
  • Punisher Season 2 (2018)
  • Jessica Jones Season 3 (2018)
  • Thor: Ragnarok (2018)
  • Ant-Man & the Wasp (2018)
  • Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  • Avengers: Endgame (2023)

Phase 4 and the Problems Begin (2023-2025)

Disney+’s arrival marked a big change for Marvel Studios, bringing more movies and TV shows than ever before. While this growth has perhaps weakened the brand a little, it’s definitely created a complicated timeline for viewers. The order of events on Disney+ usually follows the release date, which isn’t accurate, so you need to rearrange things to understand what happened when. Here’s our suggestion for a clear and logical timeline.

  • WandaVision (2023)
  • Eternals (2024)
  • Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings (2024, despite some continuity errors in the film)
  • Moon Knight (2024, dated persuasively by Geekritique)
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home (2024)
  • Thor: Love & Thunder (2024, dated by Groot’s growth)
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (2024)
  • Hawkeye (2024)
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2025)
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2025)
  • Echo (2025)
  • Werewolf By Night (2025, but highly arguable)
  • Echo (2025)
  • Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania (2025)
  • Ms. Marvel (2025, dated by Kamala Khan’s age)
  • She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2025, although complicated given this covers a significant time-period)

The MCU’s Phase 5 Timeline (2026-2027)

I’ve noticed the MCU timeline actually started making a lot more sense during Phase 5. It seems like Marvel slowed down how much content they were releasing and really focused on getting the dates and events to line up. While characters aren’t necessarily referencing each other’s adventures directly, the little details in shows like Wonder Man give you a pretty clear picture of when things are happening. That’s been true with most of Phase 5 so far, though Ironheart is a bit of an exception and its place in the timeline is still up for debate.

  • Ironheart (2026, dated by Wakanda Forever references)
  • Secret Invasion (2026)
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2026)
  • The Marvels (2026, dated by Kamala’s age)
  • Agatha All Along (2026)
  • Wonder Man (casting is stated as beginning in early 2026, and the film likely releases in 2027)
  • Captain America: Brave New World (2027)
  • Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 (2027)
  • Thunderbolts* (2027)

MCU Films & TV Shows Outside the Main MCU Timeline

The movies and series mentioned earlier take place within the central Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. However, the Multiverse Saga also includes several Marvel Studios projects that occur in alternate timelines, and those are listed below:

  • Loki seasons 1 and 2
  • Marvel’s What If..? seasons 1-3
  • Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
  • X-Men ’97
  • Marvel Zombies
  • Deadpool & Wolverine
  • Fantastic Four: First Steps

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2026-02-06 16:12