How to watch the Marvel movies in the Spaghetti Order

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an unprecedented project, changing Hollywood with its pioneering multiyear storytelling and canny utilisation of the post-credits scene.

Besides fuelling speculation and excitement for future instalments, the post-credits scene also served as the basis for an MCU viewing method known as the 'Spaghetti Order'.

The ethos behind the technique, first floated by writer Jonathan Sim in 2018, was to be guided from chapter to chapter by these post-credits scenes, which was intended to provide a seamless viewing experience.

Of course, Sim could hardly have predicted how vast and difficult to follow the franchise would become over following years, which is perhaps why his page on the spaghetti method hasn't seen an update since Multiverse of Madness released in 2022.

In admiration of the idea, we here at RadioTimes.com have taken it upon ourselves to apply the Spaghetti Order to Marvel Phases 4 and 5, which proved to be a bigger undertaking than even we expected.

However, the outcome of this work is a suitably jumbled viewing order that we think makes about as much sense of the MCU's chaotic later stages as could possibly be achieved. Read on, true believers, for how it works.

How to watch the Marvel movies in order – Spaghetti Order

To recap, the Spaghetti order follows sound and simple reasoning: basically, if a post-credit scene alludes to another film, the thinking is that you should watch that film next, if possible. And that's it.

Here's how that looks in practice for the first three phases of the MCU.

Phase One

• Iron Man (2008)
• The Incredible Hulk (2008)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Thor (2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• The Avengers (2012)

In the case of Phase 1, nothing actually changes from the original release date order. That's because the first six MCU films fit fairly tightly together with their post-credit shenanigans.

In Iron Man’s post-credits scene, we see Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) learn about the Avengers Initiative.

The character then appears again in the closing moments of The Incredible Hulk, which thus leads into Iron Man 2. And at the end of that outing, Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), finds Thor's hammer, which ushers to screen – you guessed it – Thor.

At its finish, Thor alludes to the Tesseract, an object we learn more about in Captain America: The First Avenger. And at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger? There’s essentially a trailer for Avengers Assemble.

Later on, you'll miss this simplicity.

Phase Two

• Iron Man 3 (2013)
• Thor: The Dark World (2013)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)

As per Phase One, the second block of MCU movies follows a fairly clear structure, post-credit-wise. However, you've probably noticed one major outlier: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, a film that was originally part of Phase 3.

What gives? At first, it might not be clear why this is the case. After all, the post-credit scene of its predecessor primarily features a swaying sapling Groot and unlikely Howard the Duck cameo.

But, as Sim argues, a key twist in the sequel movie carries more emotional weight if the films are watched back-to-back – and notably, they do follow each other immediately on the MCU timeline.

Phase Three

• Captain America: Civil War (2016)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Black Panther (2018)
• Doctor Strange (2016)
• Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
• Captain Marvel (2019)
• Avengers: Endgame (2019)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Here's where it starts to get a tad more complicated. Although the last five films on this list remain in their original order, there’s a fair bit of jostling at the start.

The reasons are exactly what you'd expect. Due to an after-credits scene featuring Tom Holland's web-head, Captain America: Civil War should lead straight into Spider-Man: Homecoming, according to Spaghetti logic.

And, as Civil War also introduced viewers to Black Panther, the thinking is that you should then watch T'Challa's origin story (starring the late Chadwick Boseman as the King of Wakanda).

After that, you revert back to the MCU chronological order, meaning you watch Doctor Strange, followed by Thor: Ragnarok. All things considered, it's so easy that even Drax could manage it (sorry, Drax).

Marvel Phase Four and Five Spaghetti Order explained

From Phase Four, the MCU's once-meticulous planning went off the rails.

At the time of writing, several post-credits scenes are still waiting to be followed up on, rendering the original spaghetti method strategy impossible to honour in every instance – that means thematic links become more important.

To help us with this task, we've opted to lump Phases Four and Five into one mega-phase as there is essentially nothing to separate them plot-wise, but rather an awful lot of connective tissue.

Furthermore, the fragmentation of the MCU means that a single spaghetti strand (or 'spaghetto' according to Bon Appétit) doesn't really cut it anymore, so instead we have four strands to be consumed in order. Let's begin.

Part 1: Espionage (+Eternals) branch

• Black Widow (2021)
• Hawkeye (2021)
• Echo (2024)
• Daredevil: Born Again (2025)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
• Secret Invasion (2023)
• Eternals (2021)
• Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
• Thunderbolts* (2025)

The Phase 4 and 5 spaghetti order starts off rather neatly, with Black Widow teasing Yelena Belova's role in Hawkeye; Echo then spins out of that show, and sets up Kingpin for his new gig in Daredevil: Born Again. Lovely stuff.

Shifting gears slightly, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has a Wakandan subplot – including a guest appearance from Dora Milaje member Ayo (Florence Kasumba) – making Black Panther: Wakanda Forever a suitable follow-up.

If you have any sense, you'd skip Secret Invasion (it's awful), but any die-hard fans can head there next as it brings back James Rhodes and Everett Ross from the preceding two chapters, respectively.

At some point we have to shoe-horn Eternals into the mix, as the plot of Captain America: Brave New World spills out of its climactic finale. And Thunderbolts* sits neatly next in line.

Now let's get weird.

Part 2: Magic & Multiverse branch

• WandaVision (2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• What If...? season 1 (2021)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
• Agatha All Along (2024)
• Ironheart (2025)

It's time to put the 'multiverse' into Multiverse Saga. Unfortunately, this is a migraine-inducing nightmare, due to the significant overlap between this branch and the Kang & TVA branch (part 3, below).

Ultimately we've opted to keep them separate for two reasons.

Firstly, viewing like this gives you an in-depth examination of both Wanda Maximoff and Doctor Strange, plus a whistle-stop tour of sorcery in the wider MCU – ultimately leading to a long sought-after introduction.

Second, no matter how good Loki might be, the series and its associates are somewhat compromised by their connection to the aborted Kang the Conqueror storyline. So, let's consider them a detour to be taken later.

One final note: although What If...? season 1 dropped before No Way Home, we advise swapping them in the order (the animated series functions nicely as a Multiverse of Madness prologue, given that Doctor Strange and Captain Carter are prominent in both).

Part 3: Kang & TVA branch

• Loki season 1 (2021)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
• Loki season 2 (2023)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Besides the dropping of Kang as an overarching villain, Loki is also undercut by its season 1 finale going unacknowledged by Spider-Man: No Way Home, making it unclear which MCU entry can truly claim responsibility for sparking the multiverse.

Still, the Loki season 2 ending will probably be factored into the character's return in Avengers: Doomsday, and the establishment of the TVA is important context for Deadpool & Wolverine, so the series shouldn't be cut out entirely.

Part 4: Cosmic branch

• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
  • She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
• Ms Marvel (2022)
• The Marvels (2023)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
• Moon Knight (2022)
  • Werewolf by Night (2022)
• Marvel Zombies (2025)
• Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Shang-Chi kicks off this strand, with She-Hulk being an optional follow-up as it adds context to Abomination and Wong's fleeting cameo appearance. (No, Daredevil's She-Hulk role doesn't really make sense here, but I'm doing my best.)

Captain Marvel's Shang-Chi cameo launches us into her side of the MCU, which expands with Ms Marvel and The Marvels. Then we'll head over to Thor: Love and Thunder, which lightly re-establishes the Guardians in a slapstick opening sequence.

Moon Knight is pretty self-contained, but provides essential context for the Blade Knight alt-universe character in Marvel Zombies. Werewolf by Night is completely pointless, but feel free to sandwich it in-between for an offbeat supernatural trilogy.

Phase 6's The Fantastic Four: First Steps fits nicely here as a wholesome – but still firmly cosmic – palate cleanser after all that spooky stuff. It also shifts focus back to the main MCU narrative in time for the Doomsday crossover.

How to watch Marvel Phase Four and Five spaghetti method – in review

So, considering all the context above, here is our suggestion for an MCU Phase 4 and 5 spaghetti method. (It's not perfect, but it's the best we could do.)

• Black Widow (2021)
• Hawkeye (2021)
• Echo (2024)
• Daredevil: Born Again (2025)
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
• Secret Invasion (2023)
• Eternals (2021)
• Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
• Thunderbolts* (2025)
• WandaVision (2021)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• What If...? season 1 (2021)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
• Agatha All Along (2024)
• Ironheart (2025)
• Loki season 1 (2021)
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
• Loki season 2 (2023)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
• Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
  • She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)
• Ms Marvel (2022)
• The Marvels (2023)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
• Moon Knight (2022)
  • Werewolf by Night (2022)
• Marvel Zombies (2025)
• Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

(Note that What If...? seasons 2 and 3 and Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man have been omitted from this order because they don't really feed into the larger MCU narrative in any meaningful way.)

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