Legacy: WWII & The 1940s · MCU timeline #2
Captain America: The First Avenger
- runtime with credits
- 2h 4m
- release date
- July 22, 2011
- #28 in release order
- #2 timeline
- Movie
- Essential
Why it is here
The chronologically first Marvel film, and the cleanest origin story the MCU ever made. Steve Rogers becomes Captain America in 1943, and the Tesseract introduced here is the first Infinity Stone the series ever shows you.
How to watch it
Stop before the credits. The post-credit scene is a teaser for The Avengers, and it plays better if you watch it right before that film instead.
What it sets up
Show spoilers for Captain America: The First Avenger
Steve crashes into the ice and wakes up 70 years later. The Tesseract is the Space Stone, the object Loki comes for in The Avengers. Peggy Carter starts here.
Position in the MCU timeline
2h of Marvel screen time comes before this. Another 13d 7h 20m follows it in this sequence. It sits inside Phase 1 - The Avengers Initiative, alongside everything else released in 2011.
Where to stream it
Currently on Disney+. Availability shifts by region; our data notes say when this was last checked.
Viewers rate it 7/10 across 22,972 votes on TMDB.
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Open the trackerCommon questions
Where does Captain America: The First Avenger fit in the Marvel timeline?
Position #2 in the MCU timeline, inside Legacy: WWII & The 1940s. It is #28 in factual release order.
Is Captain America: The First Avenger essential watching?
Yes. The main timeline does not work without it.
How long is Captain America: The First Avenger?
2h 4m including credits.