Marvel Studios is praying that love will be in the air once Captain America: Brave New World enters theaters on Valentine’s Day, but it seems many movie-goers are going to be jilting this date with an Avenger. 3o5p4w

It’s no secret that widespread interest in the MCU has decreased in recent years, but the studio’s decision to drop only a single film in 2024, in the form of Deadpool & Wolverine, was hoped to be the wave of the wand that would restore the franchise to its former, competition-crushing glory. With the Reynolds ‘n’ Jackman threequel taking home $1.3 billion at the end of the day, the stage was set for 2025’s typical trio of theatrical releases to bring in the big bucks like Robert Downey Jr. at the Avengers: Doomsday negotiating table.

As it happens, the first box office projections for February’s Captain America 4 are a little more modest than Marvel might’ve been banking on.

Brave New World box office projections are just a fraction of Deadpool 3 haul 45155q

A Brave New World is coming, but it’s same old, same old when it comes to Marvel’s middling box office performance. As per The Hollywood Reporter, Cap 4 is tracking for a domestic opening of over $90 million across the combined Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend. THR notes that this is a “promising” start for the Julius Onah-directed production — and it certain is in comparison to where the MCU was at before Deadpool & Wolverine. The Marvels, , only grossed just over double that sum across its entire theatrical run!

And yet $90 million doesn’t look quite so spiffy when you Deadpool 3 itself earned a staggering $211 million domestically in its own opening weekend. But, fine, you might consider that an unfair criticism considering DP3‘s summer tentpole placement and its phenomenal popularity. When stacked against its fellows in this mid-February release spot, then, BNW doesn’t shape up too badly, and yet it’s still on course to fall behind a true Marvel stinker.

With that $90 million projection, Cap 4 is looking to become the fifth highest President’s Day opening weekend, not adjusted for inflation, trailing Black Panther ($242 million), the OG Deadpool ($152 million), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($120 million) and Fifty Shades of Grey ($93 million). Landing a spot in this niche top five wouldn’t be too shabby, but it would be somewhat galling for a brand-new Captain America movie to have a softer launch than the most notorious MCU entry of them all. Not to mention something as tacky and notorious as Fifty Shades.

Marvel fans have been concerned about this one for a while, from the film’s arduous post-production process to its surprisingly short runtime — even if Anthony Mackie is doing his best to convince us it’s the second coming of The Winter Soldier. Still, MCU loyalists are at least thinking about the film to some degree, whereas it looks like Marvel may need more of the general audience to realize it’s about to unleash a sequel to one of its most beloved and successful trilogies.

Movies set inside the MCU unsurprisingly have had no shortage of characters with superpowers. However, one star who has appeared in several films is yet to get hers, but it’s not for a lack of trying.

There are more than 30 movies set in the MCU released to date, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Among these movies, there’s been plenty of hits and some misses. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is without a doubt one of those misses, however, that didn’t stop this MCU star from asking for her return.

During an interview with The Direct, Ant-Man star Judy Greer shared her desire to return to the franchise with the third Ant-Man movie and even mentioned the major upgrade she was hoping to see happen for her character, Maggie.

“I don’t know why I wasn’t in Quantumania, by the way, but I went to the movie theater and saw it. I don’t know why they didn’t put me in it, but I really wanted to be in it. It’s so much fun. 

I was begging for Peyton Reed for a superpower. I was like, ‘Please, please, can I, like, run into someone on the street and get a superpower? Please, please, please">Photo via Marvel Studios

In the grand scheme of things, perhaps Maggie not being a comic character is a good thing for Greer’s hopes of seeing her get superpowers. This means that the movie creatives have all the freedom they would even need to make changes to her character without upsetting comic book enthusiasts. However, it still isn’t very likely we’ll ever see her on the battlefield.

Furthermore, there’s a chance we might never see Maggie Lang again. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania did not perform as well as many had hoped, and so the chance of a fourth movie in the series seems less likely. Of course, with Scott Lang surviving the movie, there’s always an Avengers team-up looming down the line, and perhaps this could mean a brief appearance for Maggie, but we wouldn’t hold out too much hope.

If you’re still confused as to exactly who Maggie Lang is then you can always head to Disney Plus now and binge through the first two Ant-Man movies, which fortunately are the only ones really worth watching. Fingers crossed this isn’t the last we see of Greer in the MCU.

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The untimely demise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been greatly overstated.

When Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania first hit theaters, a lot of critics bemoaned how lackluster the latest installment of the MCU saga was. The movie made everyone at the studio reconsider how it lost so much goodwill in a short amount of time post-Thanos. The head honcho at Marvel, Kevin Feige, even stated that the failure of the film made him reconsider claims of superhero fatigue—an idea he had previously dismissed. He vowed that he learned from the lessons of mixed receptions to his latest movies and, from that point on, planned on releasing fewer movies each year.

The latest Ant-Man installment was set up to be the anchor of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it had the budget to match. According to a very detailed report by Forbes, the film cost $327M to produce. For context, Avengers: Infinity War reportedly cost $356M, and that is probably the most stacked cast in a Marvel movie ever. The movie, however, only made $476.07M, and considering the studio shares 50% of their earnings with the theaters that show the film all over the world, the studio was understood to have only made $238.05M back from the movie.

To add salt to the wound, the main purpose of the film was to set up Kang as the next main villain of the MCU. But the actor who plays Kang, Jonathan Majors, had run-ins with the law, where he was accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend. Marvel took their time and ultimately decided to go back to the drawing board, then opted to reintroduce Robert Downey Jr., this time as Doctor Doom going forward. Despite all this turmoil, thanks to some financial maneuvering, the studio reportedly managed to still eke out a modest profit of $88,000 from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

The U.K. government has a sweetheart deal for large movie productions whereby films that have at least 10% of production activities occurring in the United Kingdom get a 25.5% cash reimbursement. Through that, the excellent ants at Disney ensured they utilized these government initiatives so that they could turn its loss on paper to a profit in its year-end books. And listen, congrats to Disney for having found ways to ensure its loss does not greatly affect the business side of the company, but maybe next time try listening to fans instead of dismissing them and making it only possible for them to communicate with their dollars.

It’s not doubtful to us whether Marvel can still create fantastic movies and TV shows; it’s the greatest franchise of our time. But finding out they’ve safeguarded themselves at the back end makes it seem clear that when they do push out rushed and substandard content, it’s only the filmmakers and fans who get affected, which is disheartening. But on the bright side, Feige seemingly quickly responded to fans’ demands to slow down their output, and it’s clearly already translating, seeing how positively everyone is responding to Agatha All Along. It seems they’re finally back to putting in as much work in the writer’s room as they put in their ing offices.

Going forward, there are films that fans have huge expectations from, such as The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Avengers: Secret Wars, and the fourth Spider-Man. So let’s hope that they get the sixth phase right.

Let it first be established that the tweet you’re about to see should not be considered as grounded in reality, and in fact comes from a mostly carbless X whose findings are constructed from online anecdotes and whatever possibilities might get them views, and held together with the media literacy equivalent of Elmer’s Glue and a single paperclip. I’m entirely using the tweet as an in to talk about how insanely brainless Marvel‘s entire approach to and detachment from Kang was.

For the record, here’s the “source”:

Moving on, though, let’s pretend for a moment that the lack of hype surrounding Kang was the reason that the character was abandoned, rather than the untimely nosedive of Jonathan Majors‘ career. In either scenario, Marvel would have been prioritizing market-driven storytelling, which is precisely as dystopian as it sounds.

Look at the patterns that have cropped up since Spider-Man: No Way Home; a film that everyone lost their minds over because of Andrew Garfield’s and Tobey Maguire’s presence. Except, no one appreciated their presence because of the very palpable narrative heft they gave to a distinctly Spider-Man story, but instead because of some esoteric-yet-banal combination of nostalgia and brand recognition. What theatrical release happened next? Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, John Krasinski and all.

Enter Jonathan Majors, an absolute acting powerhouse whose range, gravitas, and then-popularity opened up astounding possibilities for a character like Kang. He debuts as a variant of the character in the first season of Loki in the summer of 2021, and less than a year later, we find out that The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have swapped release dates, putting Quantumania at Feb. 17 and The Marvels at July 28 (prior to the delay). And who’s the main villain of Quantumania? Kang the Conqueror.

Fast forward to the spring of 2023, and Majors becomes the center of a domestic violence scandal that harbors a death grip on the public’s attention. Is Majors’ tarnished image still the pillar that the Multiverse Saga wants to build itself upon? We don’t get a straight answers for months upon months upon months, and then we finally find out that Majors has been dropped by Marvel shortly after his guilty verdict comes through.

Marvel, for some reason, decides not to recast a character that has been so engrained in the identity of Majors for years at this point. Go figure. But without a Thanos-level threat to build up to, they’re now in even more narrative hot water than they already were. And by the time we got to Deadpool & Wolverine, it became clear that Marvel has been treating its films like brands rather than stories; the only difference now was that Marvel was consciously leaning into its brand, and seemingly abandoning stories altogether.

But there was still the problem of having no Thanos-level threat to build another Infinity Saga–Endgame event around, and with Marvel now fully committing to commodification, there was only one route that made sense; rope the one and only Robert Downey Jr. back into the franchise as Doctor Doom. Cue the deafening cheers from Hall H. Mission preemptively accomplished.

So maybe Marvel dropped Kang because of Majors’ arrest, or maybe it was because there wasn’t a lot of hype (which, let’s face it, is almost certainly nonsense), or maybe it was some other third thing. What’s beyond clear, however, is that Marvel’s failures entirely have to do with its films existing for brand recognition and commodification before they exist for themselves, and if 2025 doesn’t turn things around, then this aforementioned dystopia might only be in its early stages.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become the most in-depth and successful franchise of all time during its 16-year run at the box office. While it began with Iron Man in 2008, for fans following the narrative, that’s not where the story actually begins.

There are currently 34 movies in the MCU — soon to be 35 with Captain America: Brave New World — released in five phases. Phases One through Three, known as the Infinity Saga, collectively bring viewers closer to the arrival of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and its epic follow-up, Avengers: Endgame. Meanwhile, phases Four through Six, known as the Multiverse Saga, began in 2021 and will eventually bring viewers closer to Robert Downey Jr.’s ultimate MCU comeback as Doctor Doom in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday and its subsequent multiversal showdown in 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. : Kang is a thing of the past.

Phase Four began in 2021 with the Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and continued into 2022 with three major franchise sequels: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Phase Five began in 2023 and also included four franchise sequels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, and most recently Deadpool & Wolverine.

Following the success of Marvel’s Disney Plus streaming hits like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki, we’ve received fresh entries like Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Secret Invasion, Loki season 2, and soon Agatha All Along. They aim to continue the budding tradition of bringing focused character studies to the small screen, but in light of criticism over reduced quality, Marvel has scaled back these productions a bit. Nevertheless, these shows tie into the larger Marvel universe, which is actually more of a multiverse now. However, those shows won’t be mentioned on this list, as this list pertains to feature films only.

There are numerous ways to enjoy Marvel films, including the order in which they were released, or drawn out of a hat at random, although that last option isn’t recommended for first-time viewers. However, in this article, we’ll be breaking down the chronological timeline of all films in the MCU so you can watch them in the correct narrative order. An at-a-glance lineup of Phases One through Three can be found below:

Below is a breakdown of every MCU film in narrative-timeline order, all of which, save Deadpool & Wolverine, are available to stream now on Disney Plus. Thanks to Marvel’s official The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline, we now have a clearer picture of not only what is and isn’t MCU canon, but also whether the nuggets of information we’ve compiled over the years do, indeed, fit into the slots we’ve given them. Spoiler alert: they do.

Captain America: The First Avenger 1c2m2i

Taking place first in the timeline, Captain America: The First Avenger provides the origin story for one of Marvel’s most popular heroes, Steve Rogers, played by the dynamite Chris Evans. This film mostly takes place in 1942 and showcases Rogers’ journey from a scrawny infantry soldier to full-blown Captain America who faces off against Red Skull.

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Next up is Captain Marvel, which is set in 1995, much closer to modern times. This movie is the first in the timeline to explore space travel and intergalactic threats. As we are introduced to both Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and soon-to-be S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the pair gets involved in the conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls, with surprising results.

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The third film in the timeline was the very first Marvel film to be released: Iron Man. The billionaire philanthropist-turned-superhero Tony Stark has his origin story told in this fan-favorite film. Thanks to its box office success and fans’ adoration of Robert Downey Jr.’s performance, the film ultimately kicked off the entire MCU franchise.

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Picking up shortly after the events of the first Iron Man, Iron Man 2 continues the story of the suited superhero now with his identity known to the public. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a scientist who previously worked at Stark Industries, is back with a grudge and creates his own weaponry with the goal of taking revenge for his fallen father. The film also introduces a soon-to-be Avenger in Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

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While many fans may choose to forego 2008’s The Incredible Hulk in their MCU binge given that it features Ed Norton in the role instead of Mark Ruffalo (who later became the official Banner), it’s still technically a part of the MCU timeline. This movie gives fans a unique take on the Hulk’s origin story and hints at more things to come in the closing credits.

Thor 6o4m1s

Thor’s initial big-screen debut took place in 2011 and gave fans their first look at Asgard and other realms via the Bifrost. This one finds the titular god traveling to Earth to defend the world from Loki and a Frost Giant threat. For many moviegoers, this was their introduction to the beloved character, played by Chris Hemsworth, and for many it solidly delivered.

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The first crossover film in the timeline came with The Avengers, which was set at the conclusion of Marvel’s Phase One. The Avengers brought together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, the Hulk, and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to protect the Earth from Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the Chitauri invasion. The movie also played a key role in introducing the Tesseract as the first of the Infinity Stones. These stones were ultimately the key to all future plans in the MCU.

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The second Thor film in the MCU, Thor: The Dark World, gives us a closer look at Asgard, its inner workings, and the relationship between Thor, his brother Loki, and their father, Odin. The film also gives us insight into the second Infinity Stone, the Aether, which was wielded by the movie’s antagonists, the Dark Elves. Though it’s largely considered one of the less-impressive Marvel films, it serves its purpose and thankfully paves the way for a wonderful Thor threequel.

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In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark deals with anxiety after experiencing the intergalactic invasion of the Chitauri. After diving into full damage control mode and assembling an army of suits, he’s forced to choose between being Iron Man and protecting those he loves. Meanwhile, he must also deal with the looming threat of “The Mandarin.”

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Hailed as one of the best films in the entire MCU franchise, Captain America: The Winter Soldier introduces viewers to more of Captain America’s past and throws Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, back into the fray. The movie also reveals the hidden HYDRA threat still present among the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D that ultimately leads to its demise.

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When it was announced that Disney was going to bring the Guardians to the big screen, many were skeptical, but Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be one of the best space films ever, let alone one in the MCU. It introduced us to Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Groot (Vin Diesel), an unlikely team that attempts to stop the plot of Ronan the Acc (Lee Pace) from using the Power Stone to destroy Xandar.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 164t3i

Taking place shortly after the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 gives us a closer look at Peter Quill’s backstory and heritage while also introducing a new member to the squad in the form of Mantis (Pom Klementieff). The story also dives deeper into the sibling rivalry between Gamora and Nebula (Karen Gillan) and shines a light on their relationship with their adoptive father, Thanos, which would pay off in just a few short films.

Avengers: Age of Ultron 62l2p

Crossing over once again, the cast of the original Avengers film s forces to defend the Earth from the threat of Ultron (James Spader), a supercomputer developed to be a peacekeeping program by Tony Stark, which overrides its programming and now seeks to eliminate all mankind. In the latter half of the film, the Avengers get a few new additions in the form of Vision (Paul Bettany) and the Maximoff twins, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

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Ant-Man tells the story of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a thief who is recruited by Dr. Hank Pym to assist him with stopping the plot of his former protège, who cast him away from his own company. During the film, Lang becomes Ant-Man after being gifted a suit and trained to use Pym Particles to shrink his size, giving him superhuman strength and the ability to control ants.

Captain America: Civil War 1e6j2t

While not an Avengers film by name, Captain America: Civil War brings most of the superhero cast together for a face-off over a disagreement on the Sokovia Accords following the events of Age of Ultron. Civil War was also used to introduce a few new characters to the Avengers’ roster, including Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland).

Black Widow 6b4n1u

Finally getting her own origin film after being part of the MCU for over a decade, Natasha Romanoff heads back to her roots in Black Widow, which launched earlier this year. The film introduced us to Natasha’s sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), who fans got to see again in Hawkeye and who will undoubtedly be appearing again, possibly in a villainous team-up compliments of a certain character who appears in the post-credits scene.

Spider-Man: Homecoming 263e2z

Despite what the movie may have led you to believe, it does not take place eight years after The Avengers. Marvel finally addressed the snafu after years of sweeping it under the rug in the official Marvel Studios: The MCU — An Official Timeline book, confirming it was indeed only four years after the Battle of New York. Taking place right after the events of Civil War, Spider-Man’s MCU debut chose not to retell the hero’s origin story, instead giving us a coming-of-age film that finds Peter Parker juggling his duties as Spider-Man with the demands of high school. There are plenty of comic book Spidey villains teased throughout the film, but his biggest threat is the Vulture, menacingly played by Michael Keaton, who is apparently bad with math.

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Instead of an origin story, when we pick up in Black Panther, T’Challa has already taken on the mantle as the titular hero after the ing of his father in Civil War. This film gives viewers their first look at the inner workings of the afrofuturistic Wakanda, as well as an epic tale of personal and ideological rivalry between T’Challa and Killmonger (Michael B Jordan).

Doctor Strange 3m4m3a

The first time we are treated to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the MCU is in his self-titled film. The story explores the origins of Stephen Strange’s character and teases the ideas of multiple dimensions, cosmic beings, and time-traveling threats. As you’d expect, the Time Stone is also a crucial element of the film and only becomes more important from here on out. Other standout characters in the film include Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), Wong (Benedict Wong), Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton).

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Directed by Taika Waititi and taking on a different style and tone than the previous Thor films, Ragnarok has a more comical personality while maintaining high-quality action sequences. The film addresses many of the loose ends following Age of Ultron and follows Thor and Loki as they attempt to stop their half-sister, Hela (Cate Blanchett) from taking over Asgard. The ending of this film offers a jaw-dropping lead-in to what quickly becomes the beginning of the end of the Infinity Saga.

Avengers: Infinity War 4z65y

The first part of the epic culmination of all the previous MCU films, Avengers: Infinity War finally gives us our first major introduction to Thanos (Josh Brolin), who has been working behind the scenes to gather the Infinity Stones with the goal of wiping out half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. The movie takes place in 2018 and ultimately, leaves fans with a stunning cliffhanger that segues directly into Avengers: Endgame.

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The sequel to Ant-Man, this film takes place at the same time as the events of Infinity War in 2018 and does a great job of telling its own story within the Ant-Man comic book canon. This one digs deeper into the relationship between Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her mother (Michelle Pfeiffer), and also introduces a mysterious new villain, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). Just like Infinity War, the final moments of this film leave viewers breathless for answers in anticipation of the impending Endgame.

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The epic conclusion to over a decade of storytelling, Avengers: Endgame has everything fans could ever want in a Marvel film. It takes place in October 2023, five years after the events of Infinity War, and sees the remaining Avengers attempt to regain hope of defeating Thanos and restore what was lost after his infamous “Snap,” which was later renamed “The Blip.” In the closing act, Endgame boasts one of the most epic action sequences in all of cinema, blasting expectations wide open and forever changing the MCU as we know it.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 4w3h1g

Shang-Chi is one of the latest heroes to the MCU, and in this first film exploring his character’s origin, we learn more about his role amidst the greater events playing out within the franchise. Alongside his friend Katy (Awkwafina), Shang-Chi is drawn back into the life he used to know and must face the father (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) he thought he left behind. During the iconic bus fight scene between Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings operative Gao Lei, we’re shown the dates July 21 to 28 in a Jazz Blues Festival ment. Since Katy’s grandma also mentions the “Day of the Dead,” a festival resembling the Chinese Qingming Festival — which takes place in April — and the film itself spans two weeks, we can assume the movie takes place in April 2024. This would put it before Far From Home.

Spider-Man: Far From Home 1w6o5c

Picking up right after Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home addresses the events that took place during the previous film while also introducing some new faces and returning characters from the past. It takes place during the summer of 2024, eight months after The Blip. This is the perfect bridging point to close out Phase Three and enter Phase Four of the MCU — after watching Shang-Chi, of course.

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With its many flashbacks telling the story not only of the Eternals themselves but also the history of the universe, it can be difficult to give this film a true place in the MCU timeline. That said, its present-day moments take place around the same time as Far From Home in 2024, likely just afterward given that the events of the film were not mentioned in the Spider-Man sequel. Fans and critics were largely split on the film (to put it mildly), except in regard to that colorful cameo by Harry Styles in the post-credits scene. Whether Styles will actually return to the MCU is another matter entirely.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Logan took place in 2029, so Deadpool & Wolverine must also take place during or after that, meaning it should be at the bottom of this list. Well, no. The Merc with the Mouth’s first foray into the MCU actually occurs in 2024. We know this because after Happy Hogan rejects Wade’s request to the Avengers (on March 14, 2018, on Earth-616) the time stamp on the screen tells us we jump six years into the future — back on Earth-1005 — which would place the film in 2024. And because we see Wade celebrating his birthday and he’s said in the comics that he’s a Scorpio (on the cusp of a Libra, thank you very much) — and because Deadpool & Wolverine showcases a decent amount of fall foliage — we can safely assume the film occurs in October 2024. As for why Earth-10005’s Wolverine is already dead at the beginning of Deadpool & Wolverine when Logan’s death shouldn’t have occurred for another five years — well, it’s likely that Wade jumped forward in time using the TVA’s TemPad. That, or we’re just going to file the mistake away with all of Marvel’s other embarrassing timeline errors.

Spider-Man: No Way Home 162q41

Spider-Man: No Way Home takes place immediately after its predecessor, Far From Home around Nov. 2024. The film brings Peter Parker on the most mind-blowing adventure of his life ⏤ which, unfortunately, no one but he will . The film saw him grapple with everything from losing his Aunt May, to facing off against villains from completely different universes. It also led to Peter finding an unexpected brotherhood with alternate versions of himself, perfectly brought to life by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire in tear-inducing appearances that will stand the test of time.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 68k1a

Benedict Cumberbatch’s return as the title character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness picked up after the events of No Way Home. It saw Strange deal with the implications of multiversal travel while facing new friends and foes, some of whom created serious trouble for him (ahem – Wanda). Wanda’s future was thrown into flux after she was presumably killed off in the movie’s final moments, but she is rumored to return in a Disney Plus spin-off series, which may or may not happen since Marvel subtly announced that the Earth-616 version of the character is canonically dead. Strange, too, received a cliffhanger ending, something we hope will be addressed in the rumored Doctor Strange 3.

In the meantime, you can rest assured that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes place after Spider-Man: No Way Home, which takes place right around the events of Hawkeye, which takes place around Christmas 2024.

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Thanks to Disney Plus, we now know that — in the eyes of Marvel Studios — this film takes place after Doctor Strange 2. It also takes place after Ms. Marvel, which is believed to take place around Sept. 2025 because of the school’s homecoming dance. However, in Love and Thunder Jane Foster’s eppendorf vial’s tag includes the date April 30, suggesting it takes place in the beginning of 2025. Unfortunately, since we don’t know exactly when Thor and Jane broke up, the God of Thunder’s comments about their breakup happening 8 years 7 months and 6 days before the movie doesn’t exactly paint a clear picture either. Our best bet is to just assume Love and Thunder takes place in April 2025, especially when looking at the next MCU installments on the timeline.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 2d4b1l

According to Black Panther Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore, we have a place in the timeline to slot Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Moore says that this film takes place alongside the events of Thor: Love and Thunder, around the start of 2025, so for all rewatching purposes you should be able to enjoy either film first. This placement would make a lot of sense, since neither film directly affects the events of the other. Secret Invasion, on the other hand, almost had us questioning the timing of things when our favorite CIA from Wakanda Forever was revealed to be a Skrull (that was all put to rest in the season finale, though).

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 3482r

For those who are sticklers for dates, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania takes place during the start of 2025, like Wakanda Forever. How do we know this? A news clip in Wakanda Forever mentions Scott Lang’s book tour, and because book tours don’t last entire years, Quantumania definitely takes place before The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which occurs later that year during Christmastime, which also means it takes place before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. However, Disney Plus messed with the timeline when it decided to place Quantumania after The Guardians Holiday Special, which it most certainly is not, resulting in MODOK-sized canon headache, if you ask us. It wouldn’t be the first time Disney Plus goofed with the MCU’s timeline, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the time Quantumania was accidentally erased from Phase Five. (Don’t worry, it’s not).

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Ms. Marvel provides us with a pretty good guestimation where The Marvels takes place on the MCU timeline. Because the Disney Plus series is believed to take place around Sept. 2025 and Kamala Khan’s body-swapping problem doesn’t go unaddressed long, The Marvels likely takes place before 2026, which means it comes before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Carol Danvers’ intergalactic team-up with Captain Rambeau and Kamala to defeat the Kree general Dar-Benn in the highly-anticipated sequel to her billion-dollar predecessor, Captain Marvel, also happens to be the shortest movie in MCU history. Should any information in the movie, which will premiere in just a few short days, contradict this entry, we will revise it ASAP.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 47416a

It’s hard to give Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 an exact place on the MCU’s timeline since it is unaffected by previous films and has little effect on the overall MCU storyline. However, it’s safe to say that this intergalactic, twisty-turny threequel takes place in 2026 since it occurs after the events of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in Dec. 2025. As a rule of thumb, here’s every MCU movie you should watch before starting Vol. 3.

It’s been a rough few years for Marvel — the cinematic titan that once had people flocking to the theater has had a rather tepid response to most of its releases since Endgame, and now all hope is riding on Avengers 5 (and Deadpool 3 of course).

With all the Jonathan Majors drama from last year, the studio’s plan to feature Kang the Conqueror as its next big bad of the MCU seems to have been completely scuppered. However, there are rumors that Marvel has a plan for the fifth Avengers film, and if it manages to pull it off it could very well outdo Endgame.

The rumored plan for Avengers 5 p5e2y

So what is this supposed super plan that could save the MCU? Well, according to a rumor shared by @comicodigy on X (formerly Twitter) the next film will feature the masters of evil as the villainous group the heroes will have to face off against. Apparently, this squad of evil-doers will include quite a few well known villains from the comics including Baron Zemo, Agatha, and even Doctor Doom to name just a few.

At first glance this sounds like great news, and plenty of fans are already excited to see this come to fruition on the big screen. But let’s pause for just one second. Is this really the best plan Marvel could come up with? If you ask me there is a pretty glaring problem with this approach.

The Problem with Marvel’s plan 5hz1c

It’s been done before! We’ve seen multiple villain storylines done in the MCU a ton of times and with varying degrees of success. Sure, films like Spider-Man: No Way Home were great, but for every one of those there’s an Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, M.O.D.O.K. and the Kang variants really didn’t help that movie out and it could have been better with just one villain. It’s not just a Marvel problem – DC did it with Suicide Squad and, well, we don’t talk about Suicide Squad anymore.

All this is to say, it’s a formula that Marvel has already done and will likely do again before Avengers 5 comes out. Let’s not forget, we already have a super villain team up akin to Suicide Squad coming from Marvel next year. I just think Marvel hasn’t thought this through, are they not worried that audiences will grow tired of the formula before the next Avengers?

Crossovers are cool, but bigger is not always better, the more characters added, the more the film runs the risk of becoming a bloated mess. Some fans are already criticizing the line-up, some of the villains might be cool, but many of them are D-listers at best. If you ask me, Marvel should dial it back with the villains. Endgame is a great movie, but the studio can still make a movie that’s better without overcrowding on the villain front.

Phase Five has not been kind to Ant-Man and the Wasp. Marvel’s smallest superheroes were among the breakout stars of the Infinity Saga, spawning the highly popular Ant-Man (2015) and its 2018 sequel, but sadly the multidimensional disaster that was 2023’s Quantumania appeared to kill the franchise stone dead. And maybe it killed its characters’ MCU careers too.

It can’t be a total coincidence that Deadpool & Wolverine, the first Marvel movie to release in 2024, and therefore the first one to be made with the failure of the MCU’s 2023 in mind, features the giant lifeless skull of Scott Lang. If we’re being asked to laugh at Paul Rudd’s head getting turned into a villain HQ this doesn’t exactly bode well for Ant-Man’s continued status as a leading Avenger. Even if, canon-wise, this dead Ant-Man is clearly a variant and not the Earth-616 version.

Nonetheless, the Ant-Man family’s chances of survival have just been seriously decreased by one of their number deciding to walk away from Hollywood.

Evangeline Lilly leaving acting behind could squish Ant-Man’s legacy for good 3q715m

Hope Van Dyne herself Evangeline Lilly has officially announced that she is stepping away from Hollywood and is retiring from acting with immediate effect.

Considering that she was just in a major blockbuster a year ago — not to mention being a familiar face on our screens for decades, thanks to Lost and The Hobbit trilogy — this has left her fans in shock. Maybe it shouldn’t have, though, as Lilly has pointed out that she originally declared she was going to retire in 10 years when Lost ended in 2010, so she’s actually stuck around longer than expected.

Lilly also confirmed that she has no outstanding “contractual obligations” with Marvel, so it seems we can well and truly draw a line in Wasp’s time with the MCU. This doesn’t necessarily preclude Rudd from returning solo as Scott, but given that Ant-Man and the Wasp have become a package deal it doesn’t fill us with confidence. Especially after his symbolic death in Deadpool 3, the cancellation of Ant-Man 4, and the lack of rumors of a role in Avengers 5.

That leaves Ant-Man’s legacy resting squarely on the shoulders of Scott’s daughter, Cassie Lang, who was name-dropped in The Marvels as a future member of the Young Avengers. Kathryn Newton is absolutely having a moment right now, so Marvel would be wise to do more with her, but the disappointment of The Marvels unfortunately suggests any projects built around Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Ms. Marvel will be put on the back burner for now.

So, within just over a year since Quantumania heavily hinted at the full family’s return, we’re now at the point where the Ant-Man franchise might have been fully squished under Kevin Feige’s boot. Kang included. Marvel’s really putting the saga in Multiverse Saga, huh?

Ant-Man just can’t catch a break; even Scott Lang himself knows that as far as the Avengers go, he’s not exactly killing it on the popularity scale, and while perhaps that makes the sparse moments with true fans more special, he’s also the Avenger that spearheaded Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. We all know there’s no recovering from that.

But there is one thing that Ant-Man has going for him; he arguably boasts the most interesting powerset of the Avengers by quite a few orders of magnitude, and “interesting” doesn’t mean the flashiest or most exciting. No, if the great Brandon Sanderson has taught us anything about magic systems (and individual superpowers totally count as their own magic systems), it’s that drawbacks and limitations are always more interesting than the powers themselves.

And Ant-Man, with his size-shifting abilities, has plenty of restrictive nuances packed into those Pym Particles, most notably the severe physiological effects he must contend with if he stays giant for too long. But, when we say “giant,” what does that mean for Ant-Man specifically?

How tall can Ant-Man get? 3z6n10

At the moment, there’s no exact number for the limits of Ant-Man’s giant size; we know that, at one point, his limit was 65 feet, as was pointed out in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. In Avengers: Endgame, however, he quite noticeably eclipsed that height during the final confrontation with Thanos and his army. It’s entirely possible, however, that the unique adrenaline offered by the moment was what allowed Scott to go well beyond his limit (and yes, that is perfectly acceptable logic by comic book standards), so for now, we’ll call 65 feet the effective limit on Scott’s growing abilities.

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With these numbers, Ant-Man is therefore capable of growing between roughly 11 and 12 times his regular height, which is five feet and 10 inches tall. We know this because that is the height of Paul Rudd, who plays Scott Lang, and we profoundly doubt the MCU has had the time to fuss about such details as Scott Lang’s normal, unaffected height.

How tiny can Ant-Man get? 3si6v

As for Ant-Man’s limits in the opposite direction, those are quite literally unobservable, as he’s capable of getting smaller than quarks (quarks, for the less science-inclined, are basically particles of particles). In other words, we don’t really have any way to measure how small Ant-Man can get; the best and most correct answer we can give is “small enough.”

We got a brand new trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine today, teasing yet again the foul-mouthed crossover’s intentions to course-correct the MCU by any means necessary. Among the finest tidbits this time around were a Doctor Strange portal, a swath of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos that we didn’t see in the first trailer, and a decaying 20th Century Fox logo buried in an apocalyptic desert. Without question, Deadpool & Wolverine has come to play.

It also, however, made quite a show of putting a deceased Ant-Man front and center, with Scott Lang’s iconic, giant-sized costume — complete with an equally titanic skeleton — seemingly serving as a sort of headquarters for the film’s posse of Fox characters (among them Lady Deathstrike, Toad, and Pyro).

Now, the implications here are pretty out-of-control, seeing as Marvel almost certainly wouldn’t kill off Ant-Man so unceremoniously, and yet here we are, staring at his enormous corpse in all its dusty glory. We’ll save those questions for the end of July, but for now let’s hop on a different train of thought; specifically, have Kevin Feige and company been galaxy-braining their approach to the Multiverse Saga this whole time?

Is Ant-Man’s skull the most unprecedented wink to the audience in Marvel history? 6h6w3w

Hear us out; in no way, shape, form, or fashion should anyone be lost on the creative difficulties that the mainline MCU canon has had over the last year and change by now. Since the wet fart of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania back in February 2023, the MCU has been prone to disappointing more than succeeding, with the highs of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, What If…? season two, and Loki season two being pretty severely overshadowed by the likes of The Marvels, Secret Invasion, Echo, and the previously mentioned Quantumania.

Indeed, if Phase Four was only a slight decline, then the beginning of Phase Five has been an especially burdensome one, and more disappointing than Marvel’s failures on that front have been the snail’s pace at which they’ve allegedly been readjusting their priorities. But what if they had their priorities straight all along?

It’s well and truly difficult to imagine that the studio responsible for the Infinity Saga has also been responsible for the creative misfires we’ve seen in Phase Five especially; never measuring up to the old days is easily forgivable, but a nosedive of this magnitude is unthinkable. Is it possible, then, that Marvel Studios has dropped all the balls it has specifically to set up Deadpool & Wolverine—specifically its tomato-shaded protagonist — with the “Marvel Jesus” narrative, at once declaring/marketing Deadpool as the savior to a franchise they knowingly gutted in the first place? Why else would you call back to the protagonist of Phase Five’s foulest offender in this way if not to suggest that Marvel Studios was in on its failings right from the get-go?

Make no mistake; if by some turn of fate this was always the intent (and the journey Agatha has taken proves we shouldn’t rule it out), it was perhaps the single most profoundly stupid approach possible, and Marvel Studios should hang its head in shame for squandering what could have been great movies and shows if they weren’t sacrificed for some needless gimmick.

Still, that’s all in the past now, and if Deadpool & Wolverine proves to be the homerun it hopes to be and gets followed up by a swath of additional victories, I think we’ll all be able to find it in ours hearts to forgive the studio for their nonsense.

Deadpool & Wolverine slices and dices into theaters on July 26.

Paul Rudd, we love you, but it might be a stretch to say we loved your last two movies. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was so bad it cursed the entirety of 2023 for the previously unstoppable Marvel Studios, and now Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has left critics equally cold.

Even so, Paul, you could’ve tried a little harder while attending the Spanish premiere for Frozen Empire in Madrid this week. Rudd can pull off any look, of course, but it has to be said it seemed like he’d dressed in a hurry for this event, or else he had been dragged through the Quantum Realm backwards in order to get there. I must it, I do like the burgundy suit, but the mosaic-print shirt, especially with the plain white tee poking out underneath, just isn’t as sharp and stylish as some of his other looks on this Ghostbusters premiere world tour. Honestly, it’s giving Hawaiian shirt vibes.

Let’s not throw Rudd under the bus all on his own, though, as all the boys let the team down when it came to the Spanish premiere. Director Gil Kenan played it casual in a dark shirt-jacket while Finn Wolfhard donned a sleek black shirt that seemed to be a little poorly fitted. Only star McKenna Grace brought her A-game, with the Phoebe Spengler actress (and Rudd’s fellow MCU veteran, as Grace played the young Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel) going for an elegant white ensemble.

If Rudd and the guys looked a bit like they couldn’t be bothered to attend this Ghostbusters premiere, that seems to be how a lot of critics felt too. If you can believe it, Frozen Empire has opened to a lower critics score on Rotten Tomatoes than even Quantumania, the most mocked MCU movie of them all. Reviews have routinely pounded the sequel to 2021’s popular Afterlife for having an unfocused storyline that’s lacking a sense of fun and missing much of the charm of the original ’80s movie. It’s sitting at just 45% on the review-aggregate site at present, while Ant-Man 3 is just a smidge higher at 46%.

It’s worth stressing, though, that the audience score is currently at a much more robust 87% , which suggests this is one of those movies that’s made for cinema-goers rather than critics. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen how many will actually be haunting multiplexes to watch it, as box office predictions suggest it’ll come away with a $39 million opening weekend — which is less than the COVID-impacted Afterlife, which opened to $44 million. Maybe next time Rudd should opt to wear something a bit warmer as the reception to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has turned out to be much chillier than expected.

It’s been two months since Marvel dropped Jonathan Majors, although it already feels like much longer. You could say that the writing was on the walls long before the Marvel star was found guilty of misdemeanor assault, that Majors was a marked man, that his days were numbered. At least that’s how it felt, people were talking about his departure for months before it was all finally confirmed, so the question is, was Marvel already making plans to reduce Jonathan Majors’ involvement in the MCU and if so, why?

How much damage did Quantumania do? 4d3b1y

One year later and Quantumania haunts Marvel fans to this day. The third installment in the Ant-Man franchise was supposed to be an epic adventure that would launch the MCU into phase 5 as well as officially introduce the Multiverse Saga’s big bad. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very good, in fact, it was downright bad, and as such, Quantumania has gone down in history as marking the beginning of the worst year for Marvel so far.

This was pretty bad news for Majors, whose debut in the film was greatly anticipated. Whilst fans singled out his performance as being one of the few good things many thought that his character was misused. Many were expecting him to kill Ant-Man considering his power level, but he got beaten by an army of ants and this was supposed to be the next Avengers level threat!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel was making moves to minimize Majors’ role in future projects after the failure of Quantumania. Marvel is known to adapt and change course fast, it’s part of the reason the studio has thrived for so long, so this does make sense. But Jonathan Majors did well with what he had in that movie, can Marvel really pin the blame on him?

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There’s no doubt that the accusations against the star damaged his reputation. When the news of his arrest first broke it looked possible that Disney/Marvel would drop him there and then. But they stuck with him, after all, he was in line to be the studio’s next big villain, he was the proverbial golden goose. He was able to keep his role as Kang/Victor Timely in the second season of Loki but found himself being kicked to the curb a little over a month later. Whilst there’s no doubt his assault charge led to his dismissal, perhaps if Quantumania had delivered, and if Kang brought in the fans and the money then Majors just might have gotten a second chance. That said, perhaps for Disney an assault conviction is always going to be a step too far.

His debut hadn’t been a box office draw to begin with, and now, with his reputation in tatters, letting Majors go was the most obvious choice for Marvel and Disney.

On the one hand, Marvel Studios just managed to show its haters that it still has the legs to draw in big audiences, as one of its movies has managed to land a place among the most streamed films of 2023. Unfortunately, which movie it is doesn’t entirely bode well for how the MCU’s current phase is shaping up.

Nielsen has unveiled the top most-streamed films and TV shows of the year, combining data from Netflix, Disney Plus, and all the major platforms. Although no Marvel productions feature on the TV list — what? Like Secret Invasion was going to be on there? — one MCU movie did make its way into the top 10 films. While two Phase Five releases hit Disney Plus last year, neither Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania nor Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 managed a place on the list. Instead, 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever slipped in at number eight:

1. Moana
2. Encanto
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
4. Elemental
5. Minions: The Rise of Gru
6. Sing 2
7. Frozen
8. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
9. Avatar: The Way of Water
10. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

In addition to being the only superhero film on the list — commiseration to DC efforts Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle — Wakanda Forever is also the highest-rated live-action film in this top 10, coming ahead of Avatar: The Way of Water and Glass Onion. All in all, Marvel should be proud of how much streaming audiences took to this emotional sequel. If only it didn’t make us worry about where the franchise is headed.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever made Disney Plus history — can Deadpool 3 repeat the magic? 1u674b

Wakanda Forever‘s high placement on the year’s top 10 isn’t a surprise when you recall that it destroyed Disney Plus records upon its streaming premiere in Feb. 2023. The Letitia Wright-led follow-up to 2018’s phenomenally popular original earned the biggest-ever worldwide Disney Plus debut for a film. As per Nielsen, Black Panther 2 accrued a royal 6.4 billion minutes watched across the year. Imperius Rex, indeed.

This is an incredible achievement, for sure, but it is perhaps troubling that Wakanda Forever — the final entry in Marvel’s Phase Four — triumphed over its Phase Five successors with ease. While it’s no surprise that the universally panned Quantumania didn’t scratch the top 10, it’s disappointing that Guardians 3 didn’t. After all, the two films only had about $15 million difference between their respective box office grosses — Black Panther 2‘s $859.2 million vs. Guardians 3‘s $845.6 million.

Phase Five just isn’t delivering event movies like prior phases. It all rests on Deadpool 3, this year’s only Marvel Studios cinematic release, to see if it can break Wakanda Forever‘s record. Surely the combined popularity of Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine can do it, right? If not, then it’s up to Captain America 4 (unlikely, as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is not the most-streamed Marvel show), Thunderbolts (after Black Widow only did OK? Nah, move along), and Fantastic Four (it all depends on who’s in the cast).

So, congrats to Black Panther 2 but this might be the last major Marvel streaming win we’re able to celebrate for a while.