My Week Binge Watching the Infinity Saga in Chronological Order
The Infinity Saga consists of 23 films with an approximately 64 hours run time in 5 days. Binge-watching it was totally worth it.
With the new Multiverse Saga announced, it’s a good time to look back at the monster piece of work that is The Infinity Saga. I started on Monday morning and just didn’t stop watching till there were none left – I did choose to sleep and eat and stuff. If you want to take this journey, I highly suggest chronological order over theatrical release dates. All of these are on Disney+ (unless noted), which makes this an easier proposition.
Here’s my logic behind the order I watched…
Captain America: The First Avenger
Introduces the SSR (what would become S.H.I.E.L.D.), and sets up HYDRA, one of the evils that will be a threat throughout the series. Plus one of its most beloved heroes and another character that becomes very important later. Its placement in WWII makes it the movie to start with.
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Set in the mid-1990s, it sets up the modern-day S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury is still figuring out just exactly what the organization should be doing. It also introduces the Kree, which will have an important part to play in another movie down the line. Captain Marvel fills gaps in the timeline and introduces a powerful superhero that places an important punch later. Just ignore the post-credits scene until you hit Thor: Ragnarock.
Iron Man
We know Howard Stark (introduced in The First Avenger), and now we get to know his son grows from a drunk playboy to a superhero. Along with bringing the other big hero of the Saga to the screen, this movie gives a first look at Agent Coulson, Black Widow, and fully developed S.H.I.E.L.D. as an entity – and from here out it’s a connecting thread.
Iron Man 2
Tony continues to figure out his purpose and perfect his suit, and we dive deeper into S.H.I.E.L.D. with Nick Fury in a bigger role. It also ties back to Howard Stark and his work with the SSR. And we get a permanent actor for Rhodey who is fantastic.
The Incredible Hulk (HBOMax)
Timeline wise this happens at the same time as Iron Man 2. It doesn’t factor into the big arc that much, but characters up in Phase 4 several times. It brings Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross into the MCU – he was in five movies after this. The end-credits scene does some more work to tie Tony Stark to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Thor
The trinity is complete. Thor 1 introduction of Asgard brings the idea of a wider universe – adding the Realm Eternal and another superhero. It also develops the story of S.H.I.E.L.D. further and introduces Hawkeye.
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Avengers Assemble
The Avengers
The first big team-up takes on a Chitauri invasion from beyond. It makes the existence of out-of-this-world threats and the heroes themselves known to the public. The introduction of the Tesseract starts the seed for what will become one of the big plot points of the big story arc. It also subtly shows that something is not quite right with S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership.
The game changes here, this is where The Infinity Saga really kicks into gear.
Thor: The Dark World
We venture into Marvel Space for a bit. Sibling rivalry and cosmic exploration continue (that will be very important later). Thor faces losses that will affect his character as his arc continues. The most important bit is the introduction of the Infinity Stones.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Unveils another Infinity Stone, as well as the return of The Collector from the post-credit scene in The Dark World. This is where the Infinity Stones really become important. We also see the Kree again.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Set a few months after the first GotG movie. It gets into the history of the Guardians and the weirdness that is Marvel Space. Plus more Thanos connections.
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Back to Earth and to a Tony Stark who is battling PTSD from the battle in The Avengers and life as a superhero. There’s a lot of character development for him here through his relationship with Rhodey.
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Possible this actually happens at the same time as Iron Man 3 as the two aren’t available to help each other with either villainous plot. Falcon is introduced, an old character comes back, and an even older enemy resurfaces in that place The Avengers hinted at. Cap’s boy scout sense of morality really comes out.
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Avengers: Age of Ultron
The movie opens with the Avengers going after Hydra again. Tony gets more depth, we learn a lot about his motives as he battles his own creation. Another Infinity Stone is found and aids in the creation of a new, powerful being. Thor has a vision of what is to come. You can feel the team splitting apart, which becomes a theme in the next several Infinity Saga movies.
Ant-Man
Introduces some important new concepts that take us from earth to inner space. It also gives Falcon some more screen time to move him from sidekick to primary character status.
Captain America: Civil War
Ideologies clash when the government wants to register and control heroes. It’s an Avengers-light movie under the Captain America banner. It provides a lot of plot points for the big arc including character and location introductions for the next 2 movies. Sam’s character arc plants him firmly in the story.
Black Widow
It came out during Phase 4, but it really belongs here. It gives Natasha a real backstory that’s redeeming and brings in her sister who will play in to the MCU later.
Black Panther
This is set about a week after Civil War. Wakanda is front and center (an important part of movies following this), and we see a familiar face from Ultron get more time in front of the camera. This movie is more important than any in this saga for reasons that don’t have to do with the saga.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
About 2 months after Civil War, this is Peter’s story with a little ‘Tony is feeling a bit better’ thrown in. It’s a great figuring-things-out-as-a-super-human-teenager movie and brings the focus down to a more human level while talking about the fallout of the attack on NYC.
Doctor Strange
Another Infinity Stone is revealed, and more information about the realms beyond our plane is shared. This is a thread to tie the Quantum Realm, Earth, and Marvel Space together.
Thor: Ragnarok
We’re back in space where the Hulk is found, and we pick up a new warrior. The ending directly ties into Infinity War, but we need to make one pitstop before we get there to pick up some information.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
This has a lot of big story arc filler in it that’s needed for things to make sense. It happens before Infinity War and it has some big plot ties to Endgame.
Avengers: Infinity War
Giant battle to save everything part one.
Avengers: End Game
Giant battle to save everything part two.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Peter is still trying to figure out what being a hero means and how he can do it without hurting people. It looks at life after the re-snap and gives us an idea of where the next big story is going in the next phase of movies. The multiverse is officially a thing and it’s not safe.
Watching the Infinity Saga
It’s a ride. If you’re a fan, I recommend doing this – one movie per night or totally binge like I did. You’ll see things you didn’t notice before, understand characters’ motivations more, and make links that weren’t obvious from one movie to the next in release order.
When you watch chronologically, there are some continuity issues (Fury’s ever-changing eye damage is a thing) due to it being made out of order by different directors and a cast of hundreds over 11+ years (not counting technology upgrades), but you can see the thread executive producer Kevin Feige and the core team used to tie them together through the whole 23 movie run.
Something like this had never been done before. The fact that it exists and makes sense is amazing.
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Here are a few more personal observations from my experience… I still hate Ultron and Iron Man 3 is still a mess. There are some needed to be there but forgettable entries (The Incredible Hulk and Dark World).
Standouts are Iron Man (that first jump was crucial, and it nails it), The Avengers (for the jump in scale both visually and tying together a bunch of huge characters and kick off the big arc), Winter Soldier (the Russo Brothers’ first entry with a tight story that loves its source material), Black Panther (for letting Ryan Coogler work), Homecoming (for bringing Peter Parker home, finally) and Infinity War and Endgame simply for the colossal feat of editing and tech.
I will always have a place for Captain Marvel, but that’s more about Carol than the movie as a whole.
