Marvel has recently been expanding its small screen presence through several Disney+ original series, which are canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More Marvel TV series are on the way, including some, like Daredevil: Born Again, that tie into Marvel’s pre-Disney+ era. For those looking to catch up on every Marvel-based TV show, this guide will demonstrate where and how to watch all the series in order.
The Marvel shows canon to the MCU began with the Disney+ series WandaVision in 2021. However, there were several important Marvel series before 2021 — they just weren’t produced by Marvel Studios. Marvel’s live-action TV presence started with ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2013, which ran for seven seasons and achieved high critical acclaim. Although not considered canon to the MCU, it does center on Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who first appeared in Iron Man. MCU star Samuel L. Jackson also appears as Nick Fury in the series.
The success of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. led ABC to greenlight Agent Carter, another non-canon spinoff focused on the MCU character Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Despite receiving stellar reviews, Agent Carter was canceled after two seasons. Meanwhile, the third ABC series, Inhumans, also faced speedy cancellation after being critically panned.
Netflix also invested in several Marvel series from 2015 to 2019. The streamer created what is known as the Defenders saga, consisting of six interconnected series. Of the series, the most critically acclaimed were Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Charlie Cox’s performance as Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance as Kingpin were so beloved that Marvel decided to integrate the characters into the MCU, despite the Defenders series technically not being canon. Cox and D’Onofrio will soon star in the Daredevil reboot Daredevil: Born Again. Hulu, FX, Fox, and Freeform have also briefly dabbled in Marvel series, with shows like Runaways and Cloak & Dagger.
By 2021, the MCU decided to move to the small screen with the Emmy-winning WandaVision, which saw Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their roles as the Scarlet Witch and Vision, respectively. In total, the MCU has released ten original Disney+ series. Of those series, What If…? and the Tom Hiddleston-led Loki were popular enough to warrant season 2 renewals. Future series include Agatha, Ironheart, and Eyes of Wakanda.
It’s impossible to watch every Marvel series in chronological order, given that not all of them occur in the same universe. Hence, the best way to watch is in the order of release date. See below for where to watch every live-action or MCU canon Marvel TV show (and TV special) in release date order.