Although the beginnings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were mostly straightforward, the franchise has since expanded in a number of directions. With storylines told in varying points of time, and even varying timelines, it can become difficult to keep track. Luckily, however, Disney has managed to keep a mostly cohesive timeline that’s told in chronological order. This Marvel timeline has also been featured on their Disney Plus streaming service, however up until recently it actually included a mistake.
This mistake occurred specifically because of how Disney Plus had ordered the films Black Panther and the more recently released Black Widow in their Marvel timeline. Interestingly, both films take place almost immediately after the events of Captain America: Civil War. As such, it can be difficult to determine which is supposed to come first. Especially because there’s no doubt some overlap between the events of the films. At first, Disney placed Black Panther first and then Black Widow. But as it turns out, they’re supposed to be arranged the other way around.
Now the films and Disney Plus shows are organized with Black Widow occurring first and then Black Panther, for a chronological timeline which is organized the following way:
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain Marvel
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Thor
The Avengers
Thor: The Dark World
Iron Man 3
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Black Widow
Black Panther
Doctor Strange
Thor: Ragnarok
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Loki
What If…?
WandaVision
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Eternals
Hawkeye
Of course, this timeline excludes the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk as well as the Spider-Man films Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the newly released Spider-Man: No Way Home. But that’s only due to rights issues with Universal and Sony. If they were to be included, then Spider-Man: No Way Home would actually be the latest film included at the bottom of the list after Hawkeye.
Obviously with the MCU consistently expanding and changing, there are going to be massive changes to the timeline. And, with these changes, will come the occasional mistake. But as long as Disney does their part to streamline things and keep it consistent for fans, then it will no doubt remain one of the most successful cinematic universes to date.