Whether you’re a new fan or a die-hard, now is the perfect time to do a start-to-finish (or start-to-what-is-most-recent) watch of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as the highly anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters on November 11.
This can be a daunting task, but we here at For The Win are going to help you by giving you all the info you need to consume all 98 hours or so of sweet MCU goodness.
In this guide we’ll go over the best way to watch, where to find all the movies and shows streaming, when to start and how to stay on track.
What order should I watch everything?
There are two general schools of thought when it comes to watching all of the MCU: Release Order and Story Order. They’re both pretty self-explanatory, but release goes by when they hit theaters and starts with Iron Man, while story follows the chronological journey, starting with Captain America: The First Avenger.
Story Order is excellent to keep the Infinity Saga flowing, especially when you can insert Black Widow in chronological order rather than watching it after the events of Endgame.
There is even a handy section within Disney+ that puts them all in order for you.
Where can I find all the movies and shows?
The good news is most of the titles are easily contained on the Disney+ app. All seven series are on Disney+, as well as 25 of the movies. You only have to venture outside the app to find the Spider-Man trilogy and The Incredible Hulk. You can check the full list here.
When should I start?
Umm, not to be dramatic, but now. As mentioned, there are 36 entries, and we are 36 days from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters (35 days if you’re going to an early screening). If you’ve done the math, that means you need to basically watch one thing per day. Not bad! But things get more complicated when considering there are now seven series, some of which have six, one hour episodes. That’s a lot for one day, so I’d recommend doubling up on weekend days.
There are roughly 98 hours of content to watch, meaning you need to get through about three hours a day. Math!
To give yourself time to get through Phase 4 (starting after Endgame), you should aim to have the Infinity War Saga wrapped up around October 23. It’s a Sunday, so it’s ideal to watch both Infinity War and Endgame in succession. It also gives you plenty of time to cry it out before going back to work on Monday.
The shortest movie(s) clock in at 112 minutes with The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World (mercifully short as they’re not the best the series has to offer), with the longest unsurprisingly being the 181 minute Avengers: Endgame.
Ok, but what if I don't have time for 98 hours?
Fair point. If you just want to take in the content that will prepare you for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, check out these movies/shows:
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Captain America: Civil War
- Black Panther
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
You keep talking about phases. What is all that?
Oh shoot, sorry. The MCU is broken up into phases, with the first three phases making up the Infinity Saga. This covers the journey of the Infinity Stones and features Thanos as the big bad guy. Spider-Man: Far From Home wraps up Phase 3, with Phase 4 being the current story we are in.
Phase 4 kicks off with Black Widow, even though the story takes place right after Captain America: Civil War in the Infinity Saga. All of the series are in Phase 4, and it will wrap with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
