How to watch every Marvel property in the perfect order

You’ve probably seen most of Marvel’s films, but what about the TV shows?

If you’re like me, that is to say a continuity junkie, timelines are very important to you — but
timelines in the world of comics and movies
can be more than a little confusing. So to help you fill in the gaps before you see “
Avengers: Age of Ultron
,” watch all the shows for fun, or even just try to impress your friends, we’ve created a timeline of Marvel’s Phase 1 and 2 properties in the perfect viewing order.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it’s called, also sometimes includes connected properties such as comics or shorts. Here we’ve left out smaller properties and stuck to the big two: films on the left side, shows on the right.

Every film listed on the left is a single-character movie, meaning each film revolves around the title character. Some feature additional heroes (for example, Black Widow and Nick Fury appear in “Captain America: Winter Soldier”), but the movie doesn’t usually delve into those characters’ backgrounds too deeply.

You’ll also notice the Marvel “One-Shots” are missing from the graphic. These are brief videos initially created as standalone stories to provide backstory for characters or things seen in the movies; two of them would later become full-fledged shows.

There’s definitely some continuity strangeness when you have both movies and television show properties, and those listed on the graphic are no exception.

Season 1 of “
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
” saw the release of two Marvel movies, and had to contend with incorporating those plots. Airing after the release of “Thor: The Dark World,” episode 8 of “S.H.I.E.L.D.” definitely takes place directly after those events. Later in the same season, episode 16 aired the same weekend as the release of “Captain America: Winter Solider,” and in a neat bit of continuity, the events portrayed on “S.H.I.E.L.D.” take place at almost the same time as the film.

Netflix’s “Daredevil”
also has a wibbly-wobbly timeline. Early in the series, the Battle of New York is referenced as The Incident, and it’s said that it occurred about 2 years prior. Because of its lack of interaction with any other Marvel characters, it could be said to take place almost anywhere on the timeline between “Thor: A Dark World” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” In our timeline, we placed it concurrent with the second season of “S.H.I.E.L.D.” to stay closer to the time it was actually released.

As I mentioned before, the infographic above only represents Marvel’s first two phases of its Cinematic Universe. Last fall, Marvel announced that Phase 3 would introduce characters Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Captain Marvel; recently it was announced the universe will now also include
a new Spider-Man film
.

Here’s a list of currently announced Phase 3 films and their release dates:

• “Captain America: Civil War” May 6, 2016
• “
  Doctor Strange
  ” November 4, 2016
• “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” May 5, 2017
• “Spider-Man” July 28, 2017
• “Thor: Ragnarok” November 3, 2017
• “Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1” May 4, 2018
• “
  Black Panther
  ” July 6, 2018
• “
  Captain Marvel
  ” November 2, 2018
• “Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2” May 3, 2019
• “Inhumans” July 12, 2019

Look, up in the sky! Meet the lesser-known…
See full gallery

As for the small screen, Marvel seems to have just as many projects in the works. Just last week, it was announced that
“Daredevil” will be getting a second season
— a great sign for these other joint Marvel-Netflix properties coming soon:

• 
  “A.K.A Jessica Jones” (2015): Starring Krysten Ritter
  , David Tennant, Carrie-Anne Moss
• 
  “Luke Cage” (2016): Starring Mike Colter
  
• “Iron Fist” (TBA)
• “The Defenders” (TBA; mini-series)

Also on the small screen, while the future of “
Agent Carter
” remains in limbo, despite an official renewal notice a third season seems all but assured for “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” That’s because a “S.H.I.E.L.D.” spin-off has been cast with Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood starring as Bobbi Morse (aka Mockingbird) and Lance Hunter, respectively. The duo currently play these characters on “S.H.I.E.L.D.,” lending credence to the possibility that ABC will have at least two Marvel shows next season — especially since, according to EW, Marvel is currently developing yet another superhero property for the network.

The growth of the Marvel universe is extraordinary (har-har), and as the comics giant introduces new fans to new characters (like
upcoming “Ant-Man”
) and partners with cable television and Netflix to expand even further, we could seem some pretty epic pairings, teams and characters come out of the woodwork.

So be honest. Which characters would you want to see in Marvel’s not-yet-announced-but-certainly-inevitable Phase 4 on both the small and big screen?