The Best Order to Watch Marvel Movies — The Pegasus Order

THE PROPER ORDER TO WATCH MARVEL MOVIES

What does “Pegasus Order” Mean?

“Pegasus Order” refers to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., an operation led by S.H.I.E.L.D. in conjunction with several other government agencies throughout the 1900s and early 2000s. The project aimed to harness the power of the Tesseract to create new technologies for use on Earth.

As such, the Tesseract is the first introduced and the most prominent of all the Infinity Stones. It debuted in Captain America: The First Avenger, then served a significant role in Captain Marvel, The Avengers, and Avengers: Endgame. The project is emblematic of the power of the Infinity Stones and the ongoing struggle to obtain them. Point is, it’s a crucial touchpoint for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

With that foundational knowledge, our Pegasus Order reorganizes the films to scaffold the importance of the Tesseract while trickling in the surrounding Infinity Stones and characters in memorable, sequential ways. Those curated details make this the best order to watch Marvel movies. And, the name sounds cool.

BEST ORDER TO WATCH MARVEL MOVIES

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

The MCU began with Iron Man — but in the Pegasus Order, we’re starting the first block with The First Avenger. It acts as a prologue to the whole of the Infinity Saga.

This establishes a few things upfront. We feature the Tesseract right away, declaring its importance and planting the Infinity Stones at the starting line of this saga.

Leading with the film that introduces Red Skull, Howard Stark, and Agent Carter also bookends their roles in Avengers: Endgame.

Lastly, by starting the story in the 1940s, rather than flashing back to it a few films in, it helps the events feel like a multi-generational epic.

We get right back on track with Iron Man. Tony Stark is the other driving protagonist so we couldn’t stagger his introduction for long.

There are a few benefits to viewing Captain America and Iron Man back to back like this. First, it establishes them as the two main characters of the Infinity Saga.

It also sets them up as foils to one other, Tony’s self-centered snark immediately offsetting the boy-scout heroism of Steve Rogers.

Iron Man 2 is an extension of the first film. 

It introduces Natasha Romanoff, alias Black Widow, and it showcases James Rhodes’ adaption to War Machine, but it doesn’t further the overall story very much. 

That's why it’s best viewed immediately after Iron Man, so we can double down on that character without distracting from the increasing stakes of Phase 1.

In the original release order, Thor precedes The First Avenger, and they both set up elements of The Avengers. We’re introduced to the villain of the film, Loki, and then the means of his villainy, the Tesseract.

As in standard viewing order, the Big 3 films culminate in the epic crossover, The Avengers. 

It’s the second time we’ve seen someone utilize the Tesseract for nefarious ends, but we’ve put some distance between Loki and Red Skull. The threat of the Tesseract’s power is more ever-present and less of a last-minute MacGuffin.

Block 2. This is the most radical rearrangement on this list. Why watch Captain Marvel here of all places?

It’s tough to pin it down in order of Marvel movies to watch. You shouldn’t watch it chronologically, after The First Avengers, since it doesn’t pay off for twenty more films. The information it introduces doesn’t matter for most of those films. It also doesn’t work well when viewed in release order as it splits up Infinity War and Endgame in a way that doesn’t add substance to any of them.

But, immediately following The Avengers, it’s a retrospective on what we just saw and a setup for the events yet to come — like how Lost or The Godfather Part II use flashbacks to inform their present narratives.

On the retrospective side, we see the origins of the Avengers Initiative after experiencing how it came together. Casual viewers will recognize Agent Coulson, who just died in The Avengers, returning here. And, of course, we restate the central importance of the Tesseract. It serves as a reminder that we’re not done with this thing yet.

Moving ahead, Captain Marvel sets up the Kree and Ronan the Accuser, who we’ll soon see as the villain in Guardians of the Galaxy. It also gives us more time with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury, so their respective collapse and fake-out death in the Winter Soldier will be more impactful.

There are a few solid reasons to see Thor: The Dark World next instead of the expected Iron Man 3.

Firstly, it covers the aftermath of Loki’s imprisonment. That’s some needed gratification after the Captain Marvel interlude. It also rounds out Loki’s villainous spree and lets him off the hook until he reappears in Thor: Ragnarok, way down the line. From there, we can transition safely back to Earth for Iron Man 3. 

Captain Marvel and Thor: The Dark World have hinted at cosmic forces, but it’s time to return to Earth. Now we know that there’s something bigger going on out there in the galaxy — and Tony Stark does too. His obsession with those forces are a recurring theme in this block of the MCU watch order.

Once again, we get a Captain America and an Iron Man film back to back. I like the way this order entwines the two characters, especially considering that they eventually come to blows in Civil War.

Age of Ultron is an Avengers film, so of course it’s an epic watch, but it’s mostly just transitionary. 

Vision is born using the Mind Stone, Tony retires, Wanda switches sides, Ulysses Klaue cameos, and Steve and Natasha form the New Avengers. All of it matters, but there’s not a lot of flexibility with the correct order to watch Marvel movies around here.

This is the natural conclusion to the second block.

Mixing things up now by placing Guardians after Age of Ultron. With that arc of the story closed, it’s a better time to return to the cosmos and see what existential threats might be approaching. We’ve already been introduced to the Collector, and Captain Marvel taught us about the Kree, so we’re all geared up for some space adventures.

Since Thanos’ foreboding message at the end of Age of Ultron doesn’t actually mean anything, it’s a fine way to cue up his minor role here.

Guardians, Vol. 2 follows the original movie chronologically, so we’ve maintained that for Pegasus Order. Like Iron Man 2, the sequel doesn’t add very much to the overarching narrative, but it is a fun ride, so the two work together as a double feature.

But, if you want to choose what order to watch Marvel movies in, you could always stagger these two films. That’s what they did in release order. You can reinsert Vol. 2 between Ant-Man and the Wasp and Doctor Strange later on, breaking up those two blocks.

It could be interesting to watch these films as dividers between the large story beats. In a logical succession, though, this is the best place for it.

As was the case with Age of Ultron, Ant-Man’s viewing order isn’t very malleable. In both chronological and release order, it’s sandwiched between Age of Ultron and Civil War, so it has to align with at least one of those films.

We bumped Guardians, but we have to come back to Ant-Man. Marvel Studios released this as the closer of Phase 2, but in this MCU watch order, it’s the opening act for fourth block, the Civil War story arc.

Ant-Man kicked off this block, but Civil War really gets it going. This story arc deals with the infighting between the heroes — so, we run a thread from this to Black Panther to Spider-Man to Ant-Man.

Each other them were involved in the eponymous war, so this order of Marvel movies to watch transitions viewers from the core heroes (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America) to them, the new generation.

Black Panther released two years after Civil War, despite the film covering the immediate aftershocks of it. T’Challa’s central conflict is the result of his father’s assassination, which took place in that movie.

This is one of those cases where chronological order is the best order to watch Marvel movies. Civil War created some serious story ripples and this is one of them.

They never interacted on screen, but both Black Panther and Spider-Man had their MCU debuts in Civil War. Following that storytelling logic, this is the correct order to watch Marvel movies starring them.

Ant-Man and the Wasp marks the end of the fourth viewing block; it’s fitting since we used Ant-Man to open it. The fifth block will carry right along into the climactic two-part Avengers finale.

In release order, this film popped up after Infinity War, but one of the goals of Pegasus Order is to keep the finale undivided. That could mean watching The Wasp right before Infinity War, but as you’ll see, there’s a different film that works better there.

Besides bookending the first installment, The Wasp works here because it picks up with Scott’s house arrest — just another one of those Civil War ripple effects that I mentioned. Doctor Strange and Thor: Ragnarok are unrelated to that film so we can hold off on them.

We’ve pushed Doctor Strange down quite a bit from its original release order. Just as we rearranged Captain Marvel to promote the synergy between it and The Avengers, so too did we move this one. The best order to watch Marvel movies plays up those common threads.

The doc’s cameo in Ragnarok creates some definite osmosis between his movie and that one, which is played up when you watch them back to back. I also like chaining appearances together as much as possible, so seeing Strange in four movies in a row solidifies him as late-stage part of the ensemble.

Thor has been absent since Civil War, supposedly hunting for Infinity Stones. That’s a long hiatus. Hopefully you’ve had the time to forget about The Dark World and don’t notice his radical character change.

The main inspiration for the delay is to allow Ragnarok to open for Infinity War. The reunion of Hulk and Thor, the cosmic setting, and the heightened stakes dovetail so well into it that it’d be a shame to keep the films apart.

Ragnarok even provides some levity before two very dour films.

The first few Thor films didn’t progress the character much, but his arc really shines across the coming installments. He puts all his stock in the preservation of his people, loses half of them at the hands of the Mad Titan, fails to stop him, then sinks into a depression only cured by the realization that his failures and physique do not define him.

It’s a great save for a character who was treading water for a while. Since that’s such a key part of this block, we’ve folded them all together.

Back in our first block, we coupled up Thor and The Avengers because Loki tied the films together. It’s poetic that the last block recreates that — particularly since Loki sees his end in this film.

With the reorganization of the Guardians movies, this will be the first reappearance of those characters in a hot second (unless you staggered Guardians 2). That delay seems like a disservice to them at first, but not in the context of their introduction here. 

They save Thor following the decimation of the Asgardian people. Unlike Captain Marvel, they aren’t summoned to help, so this is a chance encounter. There’s some added dramatic weight to that spontaneous arrival when you’ve already discounted the Guardians in your head.

Endgame is the endgame. All the rearranging we’ve done has been in the service of this film. To quote the late, great Stan Lee: ‘nuff said.

There’s only one correct place to end the Infinity Saga and it’s with Spider-Man: Far From Home. It’s the perfect epilogue to Avengers: Endgame and takes the first steps of closure for Iron Man and the Infinity Stones. 

HOW TO WATCH MARVEL MOVIES IN ORDER? — SKIP HULK

Where’s The Incredible Hulk?

You may have noticed that we skipped right over The Incredible Hulk. 

Yeah, it’s not in this viewing order. 

Just as the Machete Order chopped Star Wars: Episode I, we’ve omitted the Hulk. First of all, it’s not as accessible or important as the other films. Second, that character is reintroduced as Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers anyway, so it just spares some recasting confusion. 

Really, the only loss is the introduction of General Thunderbolt Ross, but that hardly matters in the long run given the way he’s reintroduced later.

Plus, if you’re watching this order with someone who’s completely green to the franchise (pun intended), it’ll be hilarious to see their reaction to Ruffalo hulking out for the first time.

ORDER OF MARVEL MOVIES TO WATCH IN PHASE 4

What about Phase 4?

With the Infinity Stones destroyed, it’s unclear what the best order to watch Marvel movies will be in Phase 4. Maybe we can preserve the “spirit” of the Pegasus Order, concentrating on some new MacGuffin or a similar theme.

Presumably, Black Widow will find a spot in the above sequence since its a prequel film. Even so, it’s still unclear whether that spot will be BEFORE Endgame to cater to the chronology or AFTER Endgame to eulogize the fallen hero.

Other films, such the Eternals, seem to take place across the macro MCU timeline, while entries like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are likely to be firmly rooted in their release order positions. We’ll have to see how those pan out too.

Whether this MCU watch order will stand the test of time remains to be seen, but as far as the Infinity Saga is concerned, this is the best order to watch Marvel movies.

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The depth and complexity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe cannot be understated. There is so much content to read, watch, analyze, theorize and we've collected it all here. If you want to know about all the upcoming Marvel releases or see the MCU in order of release date or in story order, look no further. Or perhaps you're curious about our idea for the best order to watch the MCU: The Pegasus Order.