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The Official Scene by Scene MCU Chronological Watching Order!

The Marvel Cinematic Universe obviously needs no introduction. For the last twelve years, it’s become something of a cultural miracle, captivating the world’s imagination by assembling some of the most dynamic characters and talented storytellers into an interconnected sprawling epic in which flying robots, Norse Gods, mystic wizards and talking raccoons all belong under one roof.

But what if you could watch it all chronologically? And not just by movie. By scene.

This was the question I posed myself shortly after the coronavirus quarantine began. Armed with a Disney+ subscription and a sudden surplus of free time, my goal was to list the exact order (or at least AN exact order) of when every scene from every movie takes place within the MCU chronology. I was mostly doing so for my own amusement and nerdy curiosity, but when I finally tweeted my results on Tuesday night May 26, it blew up.

As of this writing, the first tweet in that thread has over 2.6 thousand retweets and 9.2 thousand likes and counting. My notifications were suddenly flooded with responses like “this is insane” and “this is brilliant” and “this is insane and brilliant” and (my personal favorite) “Jesus f***ing Christ just do drugs kids, don’t be this guy.” Plus, countless requests for some brave lunatic to actually edit a 46+ hour supercut of this very timeline (YouTube personality Tim Leftwich has boldly taken up the challenge, though he’s expressed uncertainty on where to post the finished product without attracting those ever-delightful Disney copyright lawyers).

I had a few basic guidelines and caveats going into this. First off, to keep things relatively simple, this only covers all 23 MCU movies released so far. No ABC or Netflix shows, no blu-ray-exclusive shorts, no deleted scenes. Second, I granted the filmmakers a fair bit of creative editing license (for example, the sequence in Thor: The Dark World when it keeps cutting back-and-forth, heist movie-style, between Thor planning with the Warriors Three, and them executing that plan).

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Then there was the matter of flashback sequences: I determined on a case-by-case basis whether to put them in their proper place on the timeline, or kept them rooted in the “present.” In instances when they could be easily isolated from their respective film’s narrative – Gamora’s flashback to her first meeting with Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, for example – I moved them. Whenever it wasn’t so easy – say, the scene in Black Panther where Zuri tells T’Challa the truth about T’Chaka killing N’Jobu and abandoning N’Jadaka, and it cuts back-and-forth several times between 1992 and 2016 – it seemed more effective to leave it as one continuous sequence in that film’s version of the present.

And then of course, there are the infamous “Time Heist” sequences in Avengers: Endgame. When Tony and Steve travel back to 1970, does that sequence belong towards the beginning of this list or towards the end? Ultimately, the point of this kind of timeline is to follow the characters from Point A to Point Z, and as Smart Hulk says, “If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future.” So for the most part, the time heist sequences should be watched with the rest of Endgame…with the exceptions of a scant few scenes (that aren’t redundant with other movies) that are completely unaffected by the future Avengers’ time heist shenanigans (Hulk being forced to take the stairs, for example).

Now admittedly, a LOT of this order is just my own personal headcanon conjecture. I didn’t bother to try to seek out any sort of official word from Marvel about the order of all this, aside from all the clues dropped within the actual movies. And even some of those, I had to ignore altogether due to extreme contradictions. (Seriously, what was Sony smoking when they put that “Eight Years Later” title at the beginning of Spider-Man: Homecoming?) My goal here wasn’t so much to be 100% accurate, as to be as close as possible to 100% non-contradictory. When in doubt, I checked my work multiple times, and I feel confident that this viewing order, at the very least, COULD make sense.

Finally, I can’t stress enough that this list is for MCU SUPERFANS *ONLY!* If there are any MCU movies you haven’t seen yet, I most emphatically recommend ignoring my list entirely and deferring to how the filmmakers wanted you to see them. I’m in no way suggesting that this is an inherently preferable viewing order; the pacing is extremely odd and wonky, and it’s front-loaded with way too many prologues that you’re bound to forget entirely by the time they become relevant. This is strictly a nifty experiment for fans who’ve watched all these movies multiple times and are curious what they look like when you lay them all out in canonical order.

With all that said, happy binge-ing!

Marvel Cinematic Universe Scene By Scene Viewing Order!

  1. Prologue of THOR: THE DARK WORLD (stop at 3:45)
  2. Flashback sequence of THOR: RAGNAROK (start at 1:19:13, stop at 1:19:54)
  3. Second prologue of THOR (start at 3:20, stop at 7:34)
  4. First prologue of BLACK PANTHER (stop at 1:43)
  5. Flashback scene in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (start at 1:32:28, stop at 1:33:17)
  6. Most of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (start at 3:38, stop at 1:50:30)
  7. Prologue of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (end at 2:47)
  8. Most of the prologue of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (stop at 2:40)
  9. Prologue of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (stop at 3:40)
  10. Prologue of ANT-MAN (stop at 2:06)
  11. Flashback scene in CAPTAIN MARVEL (start at 1:06:20, end at 1:11:15)
  12. Flashback scene in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (start at 42:20, end at 44:23)
  13. Prologue of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (stop at 2:40)
  14. Some of the flashback from CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:12:54, end at 1:14:20)
  15. Second prologue of BLACK PANTHER (start at 1:43, stop at 6:22)
  16. First half of CAPTAIN MARVEL (stop at 1:06:20)
  17. Last act of CAPTAIN MARVEL (start at 1:11:15, stop at 1:54:55)
  18. Second post-credits scene of CAPTAIN MARVEL (start at 2:02:50)
  19. Flashback scene in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (start at 46:43, stop at 47:05)
  20. Most of the prologue of IRON MAN 3 (start at 0:25, stop at 4:51)
  21. Opening credits of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (stop at 3:03)
  22. Some of the first act of IRON MAN (start at 4:14, stop at 16:25)
  23. Prologue of IRON MAN (stop at 3:50)
  24. A bit more of IRON MAN (start at 16:25, stop at 22:05)
  25. A bit more of the prologue of IRON MAN (start at 3:50, stop at 4:14)
  26. Most of IRON MAN (start at 22:05, stop before post-credits scene)
  27. First prologue of IRON MAN 2 (stop at 2:39)
  28. Post-credits scene of IRON MAN
  29. Second prologue of IRON MAN 2 (start at 2:39, stop at 5:00)
  30. Most of the first act of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 3:03, stop at 31:58)
  31. Most of the first two acts of IRON MAN 2 (start at 5:12, end at 1:24:08)
  32. Most of the first act of THOR (start at 7:34, stop at 29:52)
  33. First prologue of THOR (stop at 3:20)
  34. Some more of THOR (start at 30:08, stop at 35:32)
  35. A bit more of IRON MAN 2 (start at 1:24:08, stop at 1:25:30)
  36. Some more of THOR (start at 35:32, stop at 36:14)
  37. Post-credits scene of IRON MAN 2
  38. About the middle half of THOR (start at 36:36, stop at 1:15:38)
  39. Some more of IRON MAN 2 (start at 1:25:30, stop at 1:30:29)
  40. Most of the last act of THOR (start at 1:15:38, stop at 1:42:15)
  41. Most of the last act of IRON MAN 2 (start at 1:30:29, stop at 1:54:12)
  42. Last couple scenes of THOR (start at 1:42:15, stop at credits)
  43. About a half hour of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 31:58, stop at 59:18)
  44. A brief scene later on in THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 1:04:31, stop at 1:04:59)
  45. The second-to-last scene of IRON MAN 2 (start at 1:54:12, stop at 1:56:05)
  46. A few more minutes of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 59:18, stop at 1:04:31)
  47. The last (pre-credits) scene of IRON MAN 2 (start at 1:56:05, stop at credits)
  48. Most of the second half of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 1:04:59, stop at 1:43:27)
  49. Last scene of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 1:44:20, stop at credits)
  50. Second-to-last scene of THE INCREDIBLE HULK (start at 1:43:27, stop at 1:44:20)
  51. Prologue of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (stop at 3:20)
  52. Epilogue of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (start at 1:50:30, stop before post-credits scene)
  53. Post-credits scene of THOR
  54. Most of THE AVENGERS (stop at 2:09:38)
  55. A brief scene from AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:17:46, stop at 1:18:00)
  56. Another brief scene from AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:19:19, stop at 1:19:25)
  57. Post-credits scene of THE AVENGERS
  58. End of THE AVENGERS (start at 2:09:38)
  59. Second scene of THOR: THE DARK WORLD (start at 3:45, stop at 6:12)
  60. First prologue of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (stop at 4:02)
  61. Second post-credits scene of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
  62. First act of IRON MAN 3 (start at 4:51, stop at 39:42)
  63. First shot of IRON MAN 3 (stop at 0:25)
  64. Most of IRON MAN 3 (start at 39:42)
  65. Most of THOR: THE DARK WORLD (start at 6:12)
  66. A brief scene from AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:13:29, stop at 1:15:14)
  67. Most of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (start at 3:40)
  68. Most of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (start at 2:51, stop at 2:14:00)
  69. Most of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (stop at 1:32:28)
  70. Most of the last act of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (start at 1:33:17)
  71. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (stop before post-credits scene)
  72. Most of ANT-MAN (start at 2:06, end before second post-credits scene)
  73. More of the prologue of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (start at 2:40, stop at 3:30)
  74. Some of the beginning of DOCTOR STRANGE (start at 4:32, stop at 13:40)
  75. Most of the first half of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 2:40, stop at 1:12:20)
  76. A bit more of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:14:20, stop at 1:22:26)
  77. A bit of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 5:33, stop at 6:21)
  78. A bit more of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:22:26, stop at 1:25:29)
  79. A bit more of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 6:21, stop at 7:10)
  80. A bit more of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:25:29, stop at 1:29:36)
  81. A bit more of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 7:10, stop at 7:20)
  82. Some more of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:29:36, stop at 1:39:13)
  83. A bit more of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 7:20, stop at 7:33)
  84. Some more of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:39:13, stop at 1:48:47)
  85. A bit more of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 7:33, stop at 7:48)
  86. Most of the last act of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 1:48:47, stop at 2:12:56)
  87. First post-credits scene of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 2:18:32)
  88. Some more of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 7:48, stop at 9:56)
  89. Second post-credits scene of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 2:26:26)
  90. The end of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (start at 2:12:56, stop at 2:18:32)
  91. Most of BLACK PANTHER (start at 6:22, stop at 2:00:33)
  92. Some more of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 4:05, stop at 5:33)
  93. Most of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (start at 9:56, stop before post-credits scenes)
  94. Epilogue and post-credits scenes of BLACK PANTHER (start at 2:00:33)
  95. First post-credits scene of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
  96. A bit of DOCTOR STRANGE (start at 13:40, stop at 18:30)
  97. Prologue of DOCTOR STRANGE (stop at 4:32)
  98. Most of DOCTOR STRANGE (start at 18:30, end before post-credits scenes)
  99. Most of the first half of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (start at 3:30, stop at 46:43)
  100. The second half of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (start at 47:05, stop before post-credits scenes)
  101. Second-to-last post-credits tag of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL
  102. Second post-credits scene of DOCTOR STRANGE
  103. Post-credits scene of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
  104. First two thirds of THOR: RAGNAROK (stop at 1:19:13)
  105. Last act of THOR: RAGNAROK (start at 1:19:54)
  106. First act of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (end at 42:20)
  107. Most of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (start at 44:23, stop at 2:16:01)
  108. Prologue of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (stop at 1:53)
  109. First post-credits scene of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (start at 1:49:00)
  110. Post-credits scene of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
  111. Last couple minutes of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (start at 2:16:01, end before post-credits scene)
  112. Second post-credit scene of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
  113. First post-credits scene of CAPTAIN MARVEL (start at 1:54:55, stop before second post-credits scene)
  114. The first hour or so of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:53, stop at 1:09:15)
  115. A few scenes of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:16:00, stop at 1:26:23; brief scenes from 1:17:46-1:18:00 and 1:19:19-1:19:25 are optional)
  116. A few more scenes of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:37:00, stop at 1:46:36)
  117. A bit more of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:09:15, stop at 1:11:54)
  118. A bit more of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:28:23, stop at 1:32:18)
  119. A bit more of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:11:54, stop at 1:16:00; the brief scene from 1:13:30-1:15:00 is optional)
  120. A bit more of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:26:23, stop at 1:28:23)
  121. A bit more of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:32:18, stop at 1:37:00)
  122. Most of the last half of AVENGERS: ENDGAME (start at 1:46:36)
  123. SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
  124. Final post-credits tag of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (start at 2:14:30)

________________________________

You can find more of Tony Goldmark’s work at the following places!

YouTube (including three seasons of my web series “Some Jerk With A Camera”): https://www.youtube.com/tonygoldmark

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonygoldmark

And archived episodes of my podcast about Disney+, Escape From Vault Disney, can be found at https://escapefromvaultdisney.libsyn.com
Tags: mcu
Tony Goldmark:

View Comments (63)

  • Hi there, hope all is well. I see that the list hasn't been updated since July 22. Are you going to keep updating this wonderful list?

    Thanks.

    • Nah, I don't think so. The She-Hulk finale broke me.

      But hey, if you wanna copy/paste what I've done so far and continue it, feel free!

      • That's too bad, the list is such a wonderful resource.

        Did you not like the show? Or is it a matter of trying to figure out where everything fits. Must be a challenge!

        • I liked the show just fine, but in the last episode it took a turn that was SO incredibly meta it basically rendered the whole concept of keeping a list like this obsolete.

          • I liked it too. You are making a fair point though. If you ever change your mind please let us know. I now much prefer to watch the MCU in the order you have listed. Take care!

  • Awesome list, thank you so much!!

    Quick question - wouldn't the bulk of Spider-Man: No Way Home go before Hawkeye since NWH is set in the fall, and Hawkeye is at Christmas? Or does a lot of time pass after the first act of NWH?

    • Y'know, I'm probably gonna change that next time I update the list. Originally I thought, well, I've been showing the TVA prune timelines this whole time, so there wouldn't be any alternate universes at all until after the events of Loki. But ultimately, I think it's less confusing overall if I just move the TVA flashbacks to later, with the rest of Loki. Time travel is complicated.

  • I am working on something very similar. I know of a way to create m3u files that will play specific portions of a video file from a start second to an end second. I am currently pulling your data to use in an application to build those m3u files for each specific section of video. Then I am going to make a play list (not sure if i can "embed" m3u's inside m3u's) so that it will play the entire MCU from beginning to end with a single play list file.

    Instead of "Most of the prologue of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (stop at 2:40)" could you list this using time stamps?

    So "Most of the prologue of ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (stop at 2:40)" becomes:
    ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, Start: 0, End: 2:40
    I can parse that data a little easier.

    Maybe we need to collaborate on this? :D

    I am a data guy. I have built all sorts of databases in the past. Using MS Access (cause it is what I know) to create my tool to build the m3u files.

    • I'd love to see what you've come up with. I've been trying to create something to control this with plex, But all I've been able to come up with so far is just listing the movies and tv shows in order with their full run time.

  • Hi, any idea of the timeline of when you will add Shang-Chi? Just asking as we would like to start watching the great work you have done over the holidays. Thanks!

    • Shortly after Hawkeye is finished, I plan to add both Shang-Chi and Hawkeye. Thank you for your patience!

    • Shortly after Hawkeye is finished, I intend to add both Shang-Chi and Hawkeye. Thank you very much for your patience.

  • Hi, my daughter and I just completed the MCU scene by scene. Thanks for all of your work, it was a great way to watch the MCU and we will do it again in the future when it is updated.

  • Any chance someone will actually put this together to watch? I would love to see how this would turn out.

  • Amazing work here. Disney+'s timeline order confirmed that Dark World takes place before Iron Man 3, are you still updating the list? If so, do you plan on updating this list with future projects (and what about the MCU proper shows like WandaVision, FATWS, etc?)

    • Dark World couldn't have taken place before IM3, because IM3 takes place at Christmas, specifically the Christmas following the events of The Avengers (which, according to Endgame, took place in 2012, so Christmas 2012) whereas Dark World (again, according to Endgame) took place in 2013.

      I'll definitely update this list to include WandaVision and the other Disney+ Marvel shows...EVENTUALLY. Gonna need some time to unpack WandaVision alone.

      • Here you go Tony. Hope this makes it easier for you

        1. Episode 8 01:21 - 05:43 (Placed in between 4. First prologue of BLACK PANTHER & 5. Flashback scene in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER)

        2. Episode 8 12:57 – 16:42 (Placed in between 19. Flashback scene in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP & 20. Most of the prologue of IRON MAN 3)

        3. Episode 8 18:37 – 21:16 (Sometime between Avengers 1 & Winter Solider)

        4. Episode 8 22:11 – 25:24 (Sometime between Age of Ultron and Civil War)

        5. Episode 4 00:44 – 02:57 (Placed Immediately after Hulk snap in Endgame but before Antman/Hawkeye (I think we did it / phone call scene)

        6 – 39 takes place 3 weeks after Endgame (before Spiderman 2)

        6. Episode 8 26:27 – 36.06
        7. Episode 1 00:37 – 21:45
        8. Episode 4 03:33 – 17:13
        9. Episode 2 01:11 - 03:02
        10. Episode 4 17:13 - 19:05
        11. Episode 2 03:52 – 09:30
        12. Episode 4 19:06 – 20:02
        13. Episode 2 09:30 - 11:36
        14. Episode 4 20:02 – 20:36
        15. Episode 2 11:36 - 14:51
        16. Episode 4 20:36 – 20:46
        17. Episode 2 14:55 - 15:26
        18. Episode 4 20:49 – 20:54
        19. Episode 2 15:26 – 16:30
        20. Episode 4 20:54 - 21:43
        21. Episode 2 16:58 – 26:30
        22. Episode 4 21:44 – 22:30
        23. Episode 2 26:30 – 29:13
        24. Episode 3 02:15 – 24:06
        25. Episode 4 22:55 – 26:17
        26. Episode 3 24:07 – 24:32
        27. Episode 4 26:18 – 26:37
        28. Episode 3 25:01 – 25:40
        29. Episode 4 26:38 – 28:16
        30. Episode 5 01:27 – 06:26
        31. Episode 5 07:59 – 33:53
        32. Episode 6 02:26 - 30:26
        33. Episode 7 01:37 – 04:01
        34. Episode 7 04:27 – 29:59
        35. Episode 7 end credit scene 31:44 – 32:09
        36. Episode 8 05:44 – 37:54
        37. Episode 8 end credit scene 39:40 – 40:50
        38. Episode 9 01:22 – 39:59
        39. Episode 9 first end credit scene 41:43 – 43:02

        40 Takes place after Spider-man 2

        40. Episode 9 second end credit scene 45:32 – 46:51

  • This is awesome & in depth. I have something similar that puts the tv shows in there as well. I would like to see the shows put in the sequence.

  • You had mentioned you won’t be adding the tv series, but will you be adding the new Disney plus ones, like Wandavision? Since they are definitely more interconnected. I know at this point, it would just simply bookend the end of your list, but as we get more and more, it could get a bit more complicated.

    Thanks for doing this!

  • I believe you forgot to include the post-credit scene in Captain America: The First Avenger. But ABSOLUTELY AMAZING list, man!

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