The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU for short, first kicked off in 2008 with the release of Iron Man. Since then, the MCU has exploded in both popularity and content spanning blockbuster movies, short films, television series, digital (streaming) series and more.
To date, there have been 32 movies released in the MCU. That's not including the various television and streaming series such as WandaVision, Loki, Ms. Marvel and more (just to name a few).
For a cinematic universe that consists of 30-plus projects that have spanned multiple decades, that's a lot to keep up with. To help make sense of it all, Marvel has attempted to clump many of its movies into "Phases."
The first three phases are collectively known as "The Infinity Saga." This began with 2008's Iron Man and ended with 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Then there was Phase Four, which kicked off "The Multiverse Saga" with 2021's Black Widow. "The Multiverse Saga" runs through Phase Six, concluding with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Right now, we're in Phase Five, which began with 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
As you can see, there's a lot to keep track of. Making things all the more confusing is that not every Marvel movie released takes place in chronological order. The movies and shows jump around in the MCU timeline, making it incredibly difficult to follow, especially if you haven't been following since the beginning of it all.
Thankfully, Marvel will soon be delivering a book that will help make sense of it all.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline is set to arrive on October 24, 2023, and will look to answer some of the biggest questions Marvel fans have: "what happened, when, where, and why."
Experience the MCU like never before. 📕 Preorder ‘Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline’ from @dkpublishing and @dkbooks today: https://t.co/Xkm9z70KRp pic.twitter.com/q9Ttvktfkk
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) August 28, 2023
Finally, we'll have an official compendium that outlines the entirety of the MCU timeline. We'll finally be able to follow the entire story of the MCU easily.
The book does more than just recap the timeline of the MCU. It provides additional story details even the biggest Marvel fans may not know, like how many times aliens have invaded Earth or the complete history of Captain America's shield.
If you're a Marvel fan, The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline is undoubtedly a book you'll want to add to your collection. It's set to arrive on October 24, 2023, and will cost $45 for the hardcover or $19.99 on Kindle.