When it comes to epic live-action superhero crossover films, the gold standard is the Avengers movies. Bringing together MCU heroes and narratives for massive culminating stories, the four Avengers movies released thus far are among the most epic superhero movies to have ever been released (and even more are on the way).
The Avengers movies pay off the multiple phases of films that make up the MCU, whether that’s the initial Infinity Saga or the current Multiverse Saga. Each one brings together Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to take on some of the biggest threats the MCU has to offer. Here’s how to watch every Avengers movie in order (including Doomsday and Secret Wars).
All Avengers Movies In Order
Watching the Avengers movies in chronological order is the same as watching them in the order they were released (keeping things simple):
- The Avengers (2012)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
In terms of the canonical MCU timeline, the first three Avengers movies are set in the same year in which they were released. However, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame features a five-year time at the beginning of the movie, meaning the majority of the movie takes place in 2023, having initially begun in the immediate aftermath of 2018’s Infinity War.
Additionally, Avengers: Doomsday is set to release in 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for 2027.
The Avengers (2012)
The MCU’s very first crossover movie, 2012’s The Avengers brought the original Earth’s Mightiest Heroes together on-screen for the very first time, a historic moment in cinema history. Having been introduced to each hero in the previous MCU movies that made up its first phase, audiences were already familiar with Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye.
Assembled by SHIELD director Nick Fury, the first Avengers movie directed by Joss Whedon saw these heroes battling Thor’s brother Loki and his Chitauri army in New York City. The ending of 2012’s Avengers also set up Thanos, the overarching villain of what would become known as the interconnected 23-movie Infinity Saga.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Four movies later in the MCU’s second phase, 2015 saw the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, also directed by Whedon. Starring the previous core six Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest are also joined by Pietro and Wanda Maximoff’s Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, as well as The Vision.
Facing a rogue AI inadvertently created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, James Spader’s Ultron comes to believe that peace and humanity’s evolution can’t be achieved without the Avengers’ extinction, while also seeking to “reboot” the entire planet.
With the existence of powerful Infinity Stones having been set up throughout the MCU’s second phase, the second Avengers movie establishes that someone is seeking to collect them all (that person being Thanos). Age of Ultron was immediately followed by Ant-Man, which was released two months later in 2015 (the final film in Marvel’s Phase 2).
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Marvel’s third phase of MCU films is by far the biggest of the Infinity Saga, featuring 11 films which includes two Avengers movies to close out the saga, beginning with 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War directed by The Russo Brothers.
Thanks to the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were divided at the start of Infinity War as Thanos begins collecting the Infinity Stones in order to wife out half of all life in the universe.
On Earth, Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner, and War Machine are joined by Black Panther and the armies of Wakanda to defend The Vision’s Mind Stone from Thanos’ Black Order and army of Outriders.
In space, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to face Thanos on Titan, while Rocket and Groot joined Thor to forge Stormbreaker, a new weapon to replace his hammer in the hopes that it could kill Thanos.
Ultimately, Infinity War features the major cliffhanger where Thanos emerges victorious despite the Avengers and Guardians’ best efforts. By the movie’s end, Thanos snaps his fingers and half of all life is erased, including multiple heroes ahead of Avengers: Endgame, the final Avengers movie in the Infinity Saga.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
After 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel in 2019, the Russos’ Avengers: Endgame was released as the fourth and most recently released Avengers movie.
Largely taking place five years after the Avengers’ failure to stop Thanos, a plan is created to travel back in time to retrieve the Infinity Stone and undo “The Snap”. Planning a multi-layered “Time Heist”, the original six Avengers are joined by War Machine, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula, and Ant-Man and are successful in retrieving all six Infinity Stones.
Bringing back everyone they’d lost, the final act of Avengers: Endgame is a major battle against Thanos and his forces featuring every major hero in the MCU, resulting in key sacrifices and the retirement of longstanding heroes in its aftermath.
Serving as the epic and incredibly satisfying conclusion to the entire Infinity Saga, Endgame has been cited as one of the very best MCU movies of all time (though 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home is technically the Infinity Saga’s last movie as an epilogue-type film).
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
7 years, 13 movies, and over 20 shows and specials later, Avengers: Doomsday releases in 2026, the first Avengers movie in the current Multiverse Saga.
Said to culminate the various multiversal narratives we’ve seen since Endgame, it’s been confirmed that Robert Downey Jr will be returning not as Iron Man, but as the classic Marvel villain Doctor Doom. The Russo Brothers are also returning to direct.
We also know that multiple teams of heroes will assemble in Doomsday, including a new team of Avengers led by Sam Wilson’s Captain America, the New Avengers seen in 2025’s Thunderbolts*, as well as Shuri’s Black Panther and warriors from Wakanda.
There will also be teams from other realities, such as the new Fantastic Four from Earth-828, who just debuted this year in 2025. There’s also X-Men played by actors from Fox’s prior X-Men franchise: James Marsden’s Cyclops, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, Channing Tatum’s Gambit, Kelsey’s Grammer’s Beast, Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, and Sir Ian McKellan’s Magneto).
Marvel Studios has also confirmed that Avengers: Doomsday’s stacked cast will also feature other heroes, including Thor, Loki, Ant-Man, Namor, Shang-Chi, and Falcon.
Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)
A year later will see the release of Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027, also directed by the Russos. So far, all we really know is that Secret Wars will bring the Multiverse Saga to a close, and it’s expected that the crossover will feature an even bigger cast compared to Doomsday.
Based on the 2015 comic event of the same name, Doctor Doom saved a collapsing multiverse by creating “Battleworld”, a patchwork realm of various reality fragments he ruled over as God Emperor. Keeping that in mind, it’s quite possible that Doomsday will set up similar events in Secret Wars before the multiverse is restored as it was on the page.
Expectations are certainly high for Secret Wars, as well as for all the heroes MCU fans want to see on screen, like Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as their respective Spider-Men, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, and more.
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