How to Watch Captain America Movies in Order

Envious of his friend Bucky Barnes being accepted into the U.S. Army, the physically weak Steve Rogers makes one more attempt to join the other soldiers and fight for his country. Steve catches the attention of Dr. Abraham Erskine, a scientist leading the Army's Super-Soldier project.

Enter the current Captain America, recipient of the Super-Soldier serum and hero of World War II. Steve Rogers fights for the American ideal and becomes one of the most powerful heroes in the world. Besides being Captain America, he also leads the Avengers in the MCU.

Is Captain America your favorite character? Or do you want to marathon-watch all his movies? Here's the order of Captain America films from first to last, specially curated by Showpoiler for you Steve Rogers fans.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

You might be familiar with Avengers members like Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and others, but do you know who the first Avenger was? It was Steve Rogers! His story unfolds in the film Captain America: The First Avenger. Here’s how it goes:

In New York City, Steve Rogers is rejected for World War II military recruitment due to various health issues and his weak physique. While attending a technology exhibition with his friend Bucky Barnes, who had already been accepted into the military, Steve tries to sign up by falsifying his information since he had been rejected many times.

Overhearing Steve and Bucky's conversation about Steve's sincere desire to help in the war, Dr. Abraham Erskine finally invites Steve and approves him to become a soldier.

Steve is then recruited into the Strategic Scientific Reserve as an experimental ‘super soldier’ under Dr. Erskine, Colonel Chester Phillips, and British agent Peggy Carter, who later becomes Steve's love interest.

Everyone doubts Dr. Erskine's choice, as Steve is physically weak. However, after seeing Steve perform a brave act of self-sacrifice when Peggy throws a fake grenade, everyone understands why he was chosen.

At that time, America is fighting Nazi Germany in World War II. The main villains are Schmidt and Dr. Arnim Zola, who harness the energy of the Tesseract (watch Thor to learn more about it). They plan to use the Tesseract’s power for Dr. Zola's invention, a weapon that will change the world.

During Steve’s transformation into a super-soldier, things go awry when Schmidt's undercover operatives steal the remaining serum and Dr. Erskine is killed.

With the rest of the super-soldier formula missing, Senator Brandt has Steve travel around the country in his iconic blue, white, and red costume as ‘Captain America’ to promote war bonds while scientists attempt to recreate the formula.

In 1943, while on tour in Italy, Steve hears that Sergeant Barnes' unit has disappeared during a battle against Schmidt's forces. Refusing to believe that his best friend is dead, Steve abandons his promotional duties and takes on his true role: fighting against evil, not just as an American icon.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Three years after the first Captain America solo film, another was released titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier. To better understand the storyline, here’s a quick recap of the MCU timeline:

• Captain America: The First Avenger took place during World War II.
• Captain Marvel was set in 1995.
• Iron Man happened in 2010.
• Iron Man 2 continued shortly after the first film.
• The Incredible Hulk's exact timeline was unknown, but it predated the formation of the Avengers.
• Thor had occurred before The Avengers, though its exact timing was unspecified.
• The Avengers took place in 2012.
• Iron Man 3 was set six months after The Avengers.
• Thor: The Dark World happened after The Avengers but before Age of Ultron.

Now, you can watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier! Set two years after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers is working with S.H.I.E.L.D. under Director Nick Fury.

Steve and Agent Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) are sent on a mission aboard a ship. Although they anticipate an easy victory, Natasha is preoccupied with a secret mission to extract data from the ship's computer for Nick Fury, a task Steve inadvertently discovers.

The central conflict in the second Captain America film revolves around Hydra. After Nick Fury is seemingly killed by a group of unknown soldiers, he manages to survive but pretends to be dead. He tasks Steve and Natasha with uncovering the source of the problem.

It becomes apparent that not only Fury is targeted, but Steve and Natasha as well. They survive a missile attack that appears to come from within S.H.I.E.L.D. Is there a Hydra spy infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D.? And who exactly is the Winter Soldier, the film’s mysterious subtitle character?

3. Captain America: Civil War

Two years after Winter Soldier, we have Captain America: Civil War. To understand the storyline fully, it’s important to watch the other MCU films in sequence:

• Guardians of the Galaxy (set in 2014)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (shortly after the first Guardians film)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• Ant-Man (2015)
• Captain America: Civil War (after Ultron, before Infinity War)

Why watch the other films first? Because all the events in the MCU are interconnected. If you've reached this film, you know who the Winter Soldier is: Bucky, Steve's best friend. A quick flashback: in 1991, brainwashed super soldier James Barnes was sent from a Hydra base in Siberia to intercept a car carrying a box of super-soldier serum.

Fast forward to the present, one year after Ultron's defeat in Sokovia. Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson (Falcon), and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) are fighting Brock Rumlow (a Hydra infiltrator posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent).

Rumlow attempts to steal a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos but is stopped by the Avengers. In a desperate move, Rumlow blows himself up, trying to kill Rogers. Wanda intervenes, redirecting the explosion upwards, but it accidentally hits a building, killing several Wakandan humanitarian workers (watch Black Panther after this film!).

As a result, the UN drafts the Sokovia Accords, placing the Avengers under government control. This divides the Avengers into two factions: those who agree with the UN, led by Tony Stark (Iron Man), and those who don't, led by Steve Rogers (Captain America).

Tony's team includes Natasha, Rhodey (War Machine), Vision, and Black Panther. Steve's team includes Sam, Wanda, Clint Barton (Hawkeye), and Bucky.

Tony's team supports the UN deal, while Steve's team opposes it, believing the Avengers should maintain their autonomy in fighting threats. Steve also wants to protect Bucky, who is considered an enemy because of his past as the Winter Soldier.

Bucky was brainwashed by Hydra and turned into a killing machine. His Winter Soldier persona can be reactivated using specific trigger words found in a special book: longing, rusted, furnace, daybreak, seventeen, benign, nine, homecoming, one, freight car. Helmut Zemo, a man hurt by the Avengers' actions in Sokovia, uses these words to activate Bucky's Winter Soldier mode.

Zemo is not a superhero, government official, or wealthy individual. He is an ordinary citizen who seeks revenge on the Avengers for the loss he suffered in Sokovia. Zemo's plan is to divide the Avengers, believing their motto "United we stand, divided we fall," and he succeeds.

So far, there are only three Captain America-centric films, but he appears in nearly all other MCU films and even has a cameo in the first Thor film. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely we will see more of him in future Marvel films because, (SPOILER ALERT), those who have watched Avengers: Endgame will understand why.