After two successful phases, the Marvel Cinematic Universe decided to truly expand with Phase 3. Unlike both prior phases which each contained six films, Phase 3 nearly doubled that with 11 films. Starting in 2017 the MCU output went from two films a year to three. With the build-up to the arrival of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Phase 3 introduced a batch of new heroes. Four major franchises based on Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel were launched, and superpowered supporting players like Valkyrie, Wasp, Shuri, Mantis, Korg, Wong, and more joined the universe in preparation for the event film years in the making.

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The MCU Phase 3 is one of the more confusing phases, as instead of playing out in order of release like Phase 2, Phase 3 features many stories overlapping with one another. It also features two films that, on the wider timeline, would take place in earlier phases. For anyone looking to make sense of the complicated timeline of the MCU Phase 3, here is how to watch the films in chronological order or, if you’d prefer, by order of release.

MCU Phase 3 Movies in Chronological Order

  • Captain Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Captain America: Civil War Black Panther Spider-Man: Homecoming Doctor Strange Thor: Ragnarök Ant-Man and the Wasp Avengers: Infinity War Avengers: Endgame Spider-Man: Far From Home

Captain Marvel

     Marvel StudiosDisney

Captain Marvel was one of the last Phase 3 films released, but chronologically in terms of the MCU, it takes place before every film except Captain America: The First Avenger. The majority of the movie takes place in 1995 as Carol Danvers uncovers the mysteries of her past in how she acquired her superpowers. She is also drawn into a conflict between two alien factions: The Kree Empire and the Skrulls, which will be important characters in the upcoming Secret Invasion.

Captain Marvel’s status as an MCU prequel means it can answer many questions about the universe. The film shows a young Nick Fury and even explains how he lost his eye. It also reveals that the Avenger’s Initiative is named after Carol Danvers as her call sign was “Avenger.” One interesting thing to note is Carol Danvers was given her powers and was believed to be missing in 1989, the same year Hank Pym quit S.H.I.E.L.D. With the Tesseract lost and Ant-Man quitting, it was a rough year for the spy organization.

Finally, the film’s mid-credit scene jumps forward to after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, with the pager Nick Fury summoning Captain Marvel to Earth, setting the stage for Avengers: Endgame.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

     Marvel Studios / Disney

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 takes place six months after the first film meaning it would technically be part of Phase 2’s timeline before Avengers: Age of Ultron. This short time jump between the first and second film allows the sequel to zero in on the idea of found family that is the heart of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. The team came together in the first movie, but maintaining the family unit is not always easy.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is important in setting up Nebula and Gamora’s childhood relationship under Thanos which is important for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. It also introduces Peter Quill’s father Ego who is a Celestial: a species first mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy and that becomes more important in the Phase 4 film Eternals. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has one mid-credit scene with a teenage Groot that takes place four years after the rest of the movie, indicating it is before Avengers: Infinity War.

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Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War was the first film released as part of Phase 3 and is a very important entry, with many of the following films spinning directly out of this conflict. The film has the superhero community divided about legislation that would dictate when and where they would be allowed to operate: with Iron Man leading one side in favor of registration while Captain America defies the rules to help his friend Bucky. The movie ends with an emotional climactic showdown between Captain America and Iron Man with the Avengers broken apart.

Important MCU dates include the fact that Tony Stark’s parents died in 1991 at the hands of the Winter Soldier, marking a turbulent time in the MCU. The other is that the film seems to take place one year after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron with the new Avengers team consisting of Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, and Vision has developed a strong team dynamic. It also introduces two new heroes to the MCU: Black Panther and Spider-Man, whose solo adventures will be the next entries on the list.

Black Panther

     Marvel Studios

Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming could theoretically take place right after Captain America: Civil War, but the three-month jump in Spider-Man: Homecoming hints that Black Panther may come first. The film sees T’Challa return to Wakanda following the death of his father and take his rightful place on the throne of Wakanda while also dealing with an invading threat.

The movie’s opening prologue is set in 1992, one year after Howard and Maria Stark were killed by the Winter Soldier. It also establishes that Ulysses Klaw first seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron had been holding on to the Vibranium for years before Ultron acquired it. The movie’s ending features T’Challa realizing that Wakanda can no longer hold on to its isolationist views and opens the borders of Wakanda to the rest of the world, setting the stage for major ramifications in the MCU.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

     Sony Pictures

Spider-Man: Homecoming caused a great deal of confusion for fans when it first was released. The movie’s prologue is set in 2012 directly after The Avengers, with Adrian Toomes cleaning up after the Battle of New York. Yet the movie’s title card says eight years later, but that math didn’t quite add up. Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige said this was just a simple error and for now is just ignored.

What is clear is that Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place three months after Captain America: Civil War, with Peter Parker trying to prove himself a superhero to Iron Man. The movie features plenty of fun world-building easter eggs for fans, including a Captain America PSA that was supposedly filmed after The Avengers based on his costume.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange does not specify exactly when it takes place, but some clues may hint at its exact placement. Seeing how the film spans a great deal of time with Stephen Strange’s accident and various surgeries before he even takes up learning sorcerer it is safe to say that Doctor Strange spans many months if not a whole year.

However, the primary action of the film, with Strange learning magic and saving the world likely takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War and therefore Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Doctor Strange is notable for introducing the final infinity stone in the form of the time stone. The movie’s mid-credit scene leads directly into the new film on the list, Thor: Ragnarök.

Thor: Ragnarök

Thor: Ragnarök specifies that it has been two years since the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron for both Thor and the Hulk. Thor: Ragnarök massively upends not only the Thor franchise but the MCU in major ways that will have long-lasting repercussions. Odin’s death leads to Thor’s long-lost sister Hela being unleashed, Asgard needing to be destroyed to stop her, and Thor and Loki finally making amends just before everything goes to hell.

The movie begins a character arc for Bruce Banner and the Hulk to eventually merge, introduces Valkyrie and Korg to the MCU, and also fittingly redefines Thor’s character arc as a man defined by loss which will be carried over into the next two films. The movie’s mid-credit scene features the Asgardian vessel being ambushed by Thanos’ ship.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

While Ant-Man and the Wasp was released after Avengers: Infinity War and the film’s mid-credit scene takes place during Avengers: Infinity War climax, the majority of the movie takes place before it. Like Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Ant-Man and the Wasp deals with the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, with Scott Lang about to be finished with his house arrest and needs to reconnect with his former mentor Hank Pym and romantic interest Hope Van Dyne to rescue Janett Van Dyne from the Quantum Realm.

While Ant-Man and the Wasp might have just seemed like a palette cleanser after Avengers: Infinity War, the movie has become one of the most important entries for the MCU. The Quantum Realm became the key plot device for undoing the snap in Avengers: Endgame. The Quantum Realm will be explored further in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which will properly introduce the new MCU big bad Kang the Conqueror. Ghost, the primary villain of Ant-Man and the Wasp, will next appear in Thunderbolts.

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War was a moment when superheroes needed to unite. Various characters like The Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are brought together to stop Thanos from wiping out half of all life in the universe. Yet because of the events of Captain America: Civil War, the heroes are not united and instead fight Thanos on three separate fronts.

The movie’s shocking ending of Thanos snapping his fingers and half of the universe, including many fan-favorite characters, getting dusted, was one of the biggest cliffhangers in film history, with audiences waiting a year to see how the heroes would make up for their loss.

Avengers: Endgame

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The opening moments of Avengers: Endgame takes place within the immediate aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War with about a month passing before the heroes take the fight to space to confront Thanos only to discover he destroyed the Infinity Stones and the Avengers have truly lost.

Then the movie makes the bold creative choice to jump forward in time five years to 2023. This showcases some major changes for the characters, including Tony Stark having a daughter, Bruce Banner and the Hulk merging into one being, and New Asgard having established itself. The movie is the big climactic showdown with all the MCU franchises at that point actually uniting to fight Thanos to save the universe. By the end, popular heroes like Iron Man, Black Widow, and Captain America are gone, but the future looks bright as a whole new host of heroes has stepped up to defend the world, with countless stories left to be told.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

     Sony Pictures 

While it would seem like Avengers: Endgame would be the final note to end Phase 3, it is Spider-Man: Far From Home that brings the Phase and the entire Infinity Saga to a close. This film picks up with the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, showcasing how the world is reacting to the sudden disappearance and reappearance of the world’s population. At the center is Peter Parker, who just wants to be a normal kid going on vacation but has the responsibility of the world looking to him as the new major superhero of the world.

The movie takes place in the summer following Avengers: Endgame in 2024, so there are many Phase 4 projects that will chronologically take place before it. The main villain Mysterio ties the film back not only to the first film of Phase 3 in Captain America: Civil War but also to the very first MCU movie Iron Man, making it a fitting final chapter. Spider-Man, Marvel’s most famous superhero, brings Phase 3 to a conclusion.

MCU Phase 3 Movies in Release Order

  • Captain America: Civil War - May 6, 2016 Doctor Strange - November 4, 2016 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - May 5, 2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming - July 7, 2017 Thor: Ragnarök - November 3, 2017 Black Panther - February 18, 2018 Avengers: Infinity War - April 27, 2018 Ant-Man and the Wasp - July 6, 2018 Captain Marvel - March 8, 2019 Avengers: Endgame - April 26, 2019 Spider-Man: Far From Home - July 2, 2019