Marvel Phase 5 Watch Order

By Elif Aras · Updated October 21, 2026

It mixes big-screen sequels, live-action series and animation. Only part of it drives the main Multiverse Saga plot, so knowing what to prioritize saves a lot of time.

MCU Phase 5 watch order at a glance

All 15 titles in our story order, with the format and how much each one matters if your goal is the main storyline:

What Phase 5 is trying to do

Phase 4 scattered characters across the map. Phase 5 starts gathering them again. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicks off the main story of the phase in the Quantum Realm, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 closes the Guardians trilogy, and later entries like Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* reshape who protects Earth now that the original Avengers are gone.

The list follows our story timeline, which is why some titles appear out of release sequence. Eyes of Wakanda, for example, premiered late in the phase but comes first here because its episodes are set in Wakanda's past, long before the modern MCU. X-Men '97, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and Marvel Zombies are listed at the end of our order because they take place outside the main timeline.

Live action, animation and the side universes

Phase 5 is the first phase with this much animation, and not all of it lives in the main continuity. X-Men '97 continues the classic nineties cartoon in its own world. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man retells Peter Parker's beginnings with a different spin. Marvel Zombies grows out of an idea from What If...?, and Eyes of Wakanda looks at Wakandan warriors across history.

These are worth watching on their own merits. You can skip them, though, if all you want is the thread that leads to the next Avengers films.

The short route

For the main storyline, keep these in this order:

• Quantumania
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• The Marvels
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Captain America: Brave New World
• Thunderbolts*

That is six films and no homework beyond what came before. Secret Invasion, Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart add depth to characters who matter, so slot them in when you have time.

Who the full route is for

Go through all 15 if you like following side characters. Echo picks up Maya Lopez from Hawkeye. Agatha All Along returns to the witch from WandaVision. Daredevil: Born Again brings Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk back in a series of their own, and Ironheart follows Riri Williams after Wakanda Forever. None of these is required, yet each makes later crossovers more satisfying.

The full route also helps if you plan to keep up with every new release. Once you are current, staying current is easy.

How long Phase 5 takes

The six films on the short route are a comfortable weekend, or a week of evenings at one film a night. The full list is a different commitment. Each live-action series is a short season, the animated shows add more on top, and together they push Phase 5 well past any movie-only phase. Plan in weeks, and treat the animated titles as something to dip into between bigger releases rather than part of one long binge.

What to watch from earlier phases first

Phase 5 assumes some homework, and a few older titles pay off here more than others:

• Loki, for the Time Variance Authority and the variants idea behind Quantumania and Deadpool & Wolverine
• WandaVision and Ms. Marvel, which introduce two of the three leads of The Marvels
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, for Sam Wilson's path to Brave New World
• Black Widow, which sets up Yelena Belova before Thunderbolts*

If you have all of those behind you, every Phase 5 film should make sense on its own terms.

Mistakes that waste time

Starting with the animated shows. They are good, but if you are short on time, they will eat your evenings without moving the main plot.

Watching The Marvels cold. It brings together Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan. Without Ms. Marvel and WandaVision from Phase 4, two of its three leads arrive with no setup.

Expecting Deadpool & Wolverine to explain the multiverse. It assumes you understand the basics from Loki. If not, watch Loki first.

Losing track of where you stopped. With this many formats, it is easy to forget. Mark each title as watched, or compare against the Marvel release order if you would rather follow premiere dates instead.

For the absolute minimum across all phases, the essential Marvel movies and shows list cuts things down further.

Where Phase 5 leads

Phase 6 begins with The Fantastic 4: First Steps and builds toward the next two Avengers films. Thunderbolts* is the Phase 5 film to have freshest in your mind when you get there, because its ending changes the line-up of heroes on Earth.