Marvel's Hit-Monkey watch order: what to watch first
The honest answer is nothing. Hit-Monkey premiered on Hulu in 2021 as one of Marvel's few animated shows made strictly for adults, and it is set in a separate universe, so the Avengers, the Blip and the multiverse never come up. Everything you need is in the first episode.
Within the show itself, order is straightforward: watch season 1 and then season 2, in episode order. The story is serialized, with each episode building on the last, so this is not a series to sample at random.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|
| Required viewing first | None |
| Universe | Separate from the main MCU |
| Seasons and episodes | 2 seasons, 20 episodes |
| Episode length | About 27 minutes |
| Where to stream in the US | Hulu |
Where it sits in our full Marvel order
We list Hit-Monkey at the end of our order, together with the other animated series that take place outside the main timeline. There it comes after Marvel's M.O.D.O.K., another Hulu animated comedy for grown-ups, and before Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, a bright, family-friendly show aimed at a much younger audience. Neither connects to Hit-Monkey in any way.
If you are watching every Marvel title, save it for after the main story and pair it with M.O.D.O.K. as a two-part detour into adult animation. If you are not, there is no reason to squeeze it into a marathon at all; it works just as well as a standalone binge on a free weekend.
What the show is about (no spoilers)
A political assassination in Tokyo goes badly wrong, and the hitman behind it is wounded. He hides out in the snowy mountains of Japan, where a troop of snow monkeys takes him in. When the people who hired him come looking, one of those monkeys survives and decides to take revenge.
What makes the show work is the second lead. The monkey is haunted, quite literally, by the ghost of that same hitman, an American named Bryce, a chatty and self-pitying man who becomes his reluctant mentor. Together they get tangled up in Japanese politics, organized crime and a rising candidate who might be the only honest person in the city. The second season moves the story to new territory and widens the cast.
Expect a lot of blood. Hit-Monkey is violent and foul-mouthed, closer to a crime thriller than a family cartoon, and it is clearly aimed at adults. The animation leans on stylish, fast-cut action and moody snowscapes, which gives it a look unlike most Marvel shows.
Is Hit-Monkey canon, and is it worth it?
It is not part of the main MCU continuity, and nothing in the films or Disney Plus shows refers to it. We rate it optional. Its appeal is entirely its own: sharp fight choreography, dark comedy and an odd but touching friendship between a silent monkey and a dead man who will not stop talking.
Watch it if you like adult animation, revenge stories or the kind of anti-hero who lets his fists do the talking. Skip it if you are only interested in the shared universe and its crossovers.
Voice cast and creators
Will Speck and Josh Gordon created the series. Fred Tatasciore voices the monkey through growls and screams, without a single word. Jason Sudeikis plays Bryce and brings most of the humor. Olivia Munn voices Akiko, the niece of the politician at the center of the plot, and George Takei plays Shinji, her uncle. Ally Maki voices Haruka, a determined police officer, and Nobi Nakanishi plays Ito.
Episodes, runtime and where to stream
There are 2 seasons and 20 episodes, each around 27 minutes. The full series takes roughly nine hours, which is about the length of three or four Marvel movies. In the US it streams on Hulu, not Disney Plus, so check your subscription first. Elsewhere, availability varies by country; the watch box on this page shows what is offered in your region.
To see it alongside every other Marvel series, live action and animated, check our Marvel TV shows in order guide. If you want to know how much time optional extras like this add to a full run, our marathon plan does the math. For the main saga, our Marvel chronological order guide follows the story by in-universe date, and the Marvel release order guide lists everything as it premiered.
