The Full Timeline

Before the MCU existed there was Fox's X-Men and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. They're here because Deadpool & Wolverine is built entirely on the X-Men films, and because several of those actors return in Avengers: Doomsday. Six hours that make later returns land.

The foundation. Six films that had no guarantee of working, plus the Marvel One-Shots — four-to-twelve-minute shorts Marvel put on Blu-rays. Iron Man's post-credits scene is the most consequential thirty seconds in the franchise.

The universe stops being about one team and starts being about a galaxy. This is also where the street-level Netflix track begins with Daredevil — made outside Marvel Studios and folded into canon later, which is why it's marked as optional context rather than core.

Everything the first two phases set up arrives. Twenty entries ending in Infinity War and Endgame. The Netflix shows peak here too, and Into the Spider-Verse quietly becomes the best-reviewed Spider-Man film ever made.

After Endgame, Marvel moves onto television and into the multiverse. WandaVision first, always — it's the emotional continuation of Endgame. Loki season 1 is the most consequential show in the MCU; the road to Doomsday starts there.

The saga keeps going, and the animated work starts outshining the films. X-Men '97 continues the 1992 series directly and is the best-reviewed thing Marvel has made in years. Deadpool & Wolverine closes the Fox era.

The new era, and the run-in to Doomsday. Everything here through Spider-Man: Brand New Day is already out. The Fantastic Four finally arrive, and their credits scene points straight at what's coming.

Announced but not yet released. Dates move — treat these as a rough shape rather than a schedule.