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I have watched all parts of the Avengers (including Civil War) and Hulk series. I am planning to watch rest of the movies of MCU.

I intend to get a fine experience of Marvel movies and most importantly correct understanding of the complete* storyline. For that purpose, is there any particular order in which one should watch the movies of MCU?

It would great if you can justify the order you suggest.

(*I know "complete" is nearly impossible if you are not reading the comics but still)

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3 Answers 3

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Except for maybe Guardians of the Galaxy, which stands alone from most of the movies, Captain America: The First Avenger which time skips at the end and the Defenders Netflix series which tend to be very separate from the cinematic features, the movies are very very event specific. It is best to view them in release order. There is little if any jumping around in the time line so you will miss things if you dont see it in that order.

That said, even GOTG should be seen in the timeline, as the Thanos reveal will be spoiled in the Avengers stinger. But it would help explain why the Tesseract is so important.

The Defenders series, SHIELD, and even Agent Carter can be seen in mostly any order, after seeing Avengers, the end of Phase 1. There are very minor chronological events in Daredevil Season 1 that are hinted at in Jessica Jones season 1. SHIELD can be ignored as the MCU mostly ignores it.

Captain America: The First Avenger can be seen before Avengers at any time.

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    Definitely this. There is an alternative viewing order floating around that shows you things "chronologically" but IMO it's a huge hassle and not as enjoyable as just watching them in the order they came out. For the TV/Netflix stuff, just watch it in the order it first aired as well and you'll be fine.
    – KutuluMike
    Sep 18, 2016 at 10:40
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    "SHIELD can be ignored as the MCU mostly ignores it." - well, the show does explain where that Helicarrier at the end of Age of Ultron comes from: Theta Protocol
    – Oliver_C
    Sep 18, 2016 at 19:07
  • Related: Agents of Shield: looking for clues for its impact.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Sep 18, 2016 at 21:18
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Watch them in the order they were released, that's how they were designed to be watched. enter image description here

Source: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/marvel-cinematic-universe-timeline-avengers/

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    +1 for diagram. I love diagrams. Although as of 2019-Mar-19, it is out-of-date, missing Avengers Endgame on Apr-26 and Spiderman Far from Home on Jul-05
    – enorl76
    Mar 15, 2019 at 19:54
  • The answer you write and the image you attached are not in line. You suggest watching the films in the order they were released, and I agree with that 100%. But the image you attached suggests watching them in a different order. Example: Iron Man was released first, not Captain America. However, the attached image is a useful reference for the overall story timelines.
    – NVZ
    Apr 25, 2019 at 13:07
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Updated answer.

This one addresses only the 22 MCU films and is the suggested watching order from Marvel Studios: The First 10 Years

enter image description here

The years, obviously, relate to the time at which the films were set and not release dates.

Article source - BBC

Technically the main events of Ant-Man and the Wasp happen before Infinity War, but we suggest you watch it afterward to fully appreciate the post-credits scenes, which takes place later.

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