Along the chronological spine
Where the guide talks about them (17)
16 December 1991 — Long Island. Howard and Maria Stark are murdered on a country road. It is reported as a car accident. It is not: HYDRA sent the Winter Soldier — the brainwashed, cybernetically-armed Bucky Barnes — to retrieve super-soldier serum from their car. Tony Stark does not learn this for twenty-five years.
Tony Stark — genius, arms manufacturer, heir to Stark Industries — is ambushed in Afghanistan by terrorists armed with his own weapons. Shrapnel lodges near his heart. A fellow captive, Ho Yinsen, builds an electromagnet to keep it out; Stark builds a miniaturised arc reactor, then a suit of armour, and escapes. Yinsen dies covering him.
Then he does the thing that starts everything: at a press conference, instead of reading the cover story, he says "I am Iron Man." No secret identity. The modern superhero era begins with a public admission.
Concurrent with Iron Man. Bruce Banner has been on the run for five years since a gamma experiment — commissioned by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, ostensibly a radiation-resistance study, actually a super-soldier programme — turned him into the Hulk.
- The Incredible Hulk (film, 2008) — commissions the experiment that creates the Hulk, hunts Banner, creates the Abomination via Blonsky
- Captain America: Civil War (film, 2016) — now Secretary of State; the man who presents the Sokovia Accords
- Avengers: Infinity War (film) — brief video appearance
- Avengers: Endgame (film) — attends Tony Stark's funeral
- Black Widow (film) — brief
- Captain America: Brave New World (film, 2025) — President of the United States, recast from William Hurt (who died in 2022) to Harrison Ford, and this is the only film where he becomes Red Hulk
Iron Man 2: The arc reactor is poisoning Stark. Ivan Vanko, son of a Stark Industries defector, attacks him; rival contractor Justin Hammer backs Vanko. Stark synthesises a new element from his father's old research, cures himself, and — crucially — is assessed by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff and judged unsuitable for the Avengers. He's recommended as a consultant only.
So: Iron Man 3's villain is a con man impersonating a man who was alive, powerful, and extremely annoyed about it.
Peter Parker, fifteen, in Queens, mentored remotely and badly by Tony Stark via Happy Hogan. He's desperate to be an Avenger.
Tony Stark takes the Stones and snaps Thanos and his entire army out of existence, and it kills him. His funeral closes the Infinity Saga.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (FILM, 2022) — Written around Chadwick Boseman's death. T'Challa dies of an undisclosed illness. A vibranium detector triggers conflict between the surface world and Talokan; Namor tries to force Wakanda into alliance against everyone else; Queen Ramonda is killed. Shuri takes the heart-shaped herb, becomes Black Panther, and ends the war by refusing to kill Namor. Introduces Riri Williams, an MIT student who built a working Iron Man suit.
He befriends Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) — the fake Mandarin from Iron Man 3, now out after a decade imprisoned for impersonating a terrorist leader, and trying to be rediscovered. Their friendship is the show.
| Character | Premiered | Appeared in | Status now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Stark / Iron Man | Iron Man (2008) | IM 1–3, Avengers, Ultron, Civil War, Homecoming, Infinity War, Endgame | Dead — used the Stones to erase Thanos, 2023 |
| Steve Rogers / Captain America | The First Avenger (2011) | First Avenger, Avengers, Winter Soldier, Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame | Lived a full life in the past; returned aged and handed over the shield. D — how, unexplained |
| Thor | Thor (2011) | Thor 1–4, Avengers, Ultron, Infinity War, Endgame, Guardians 3 | Alive, raising Gorr's daughter Love. D |
| Bruce Banner / Hulk | The Incredible Hulk (2008) | Avengers, Ultron, Ragnarok, Infinity War, Endgame, She-Hulk, Brand New Day | Alive as Smart Hulk — Banner's mind, Hulk's body. Has a son, Skaar, on Sakaar |
| Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow | Iron Man 2 (2010) | IM2, Avengers, Winter Soldier, Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, Black Widow | Dead — sacrificed herself on Vormir for the Soul Stone |
| Clint Barton / Hawkeye | Thor (2011, cameo) | Avengers, Ultron, Civil War, Endgame, Hawkeye | Alive, retired to the farm, mentoring Kate Bishop |
| Nick Fury | Iron Man (2008, post-credits) | Most of Phases 1–3, Captain Marvel, Secret Invasion, The Marvels | Alive, aboard the SABER space station |
| Character | Premiered | Appeared in | Status now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Wilson / Captain America | The Winter Soldier (2014) | Winter Soldier, Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, FATWS, Brave New World | Alive — Captain America, rebuilding his own Avengers. D |
| Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier | The First Avenger (2011) | First Avenger, Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, FATWS, Thunderbolts | Alive — congressman and New Avenger. Conditioning removed. D |
| James Rhodes / War Machine | Iron Man (2008) | IM 1–3, Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, Secret Invasion | Alive — though he was replaced by a Skrull for an unspecified period |
| Vision | Age of Ultron (2015) | Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, WandaVision | Dead. His rebuilt body, White Vision, is active and the subject of VisionQuest |
| Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch | Winter Soldier (2014, post-credits) | Ultron, Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, WandaVision, Multiverse of Madness | Presumed dead under Mount Wundagore. No body shown. Not in Doomsday |
| Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver | Winter Soldier (2014, post-credits) | Age of Ultron | Dead, 2015. The WandaVision Pietro is a fake — Ralph Bohner, an impostor Agatha cast as a joke |
| Peggy Carter | The First Avenger (2011) | First Avenger, Agent Carter, Winter Soldier, Endgame | Dead of old age. Founded S.H.I.E.L.D. |
| Sharon Carter | The Winter Soldier (2014) | Winter Soldier, Civil War, FATWS | Alive — secretly the Power Broker, and reinstated at the CIA with full access |
| Helmut Zemo | Civil War (2016) | Civil War, FATWS | Alive, imprisoned on the Raft |
| Isaiah Bradley | FATWS (2021) | FATWS, Brave New World | Alive and freed after decades of wrongful imprisonment |
| Joaquín Torres / Falcon | FATWS (2021) | FATWS, Brave New World | Alive — the new Falcon, on Sam's team. D |
| Pepper Potts | Iron Man (2008) | IM 1–3, Homecoming, Infinity War, Endgame | Alive, raising Morgan Stark |
| Happy Hogan | Iron Man (2008) | IM 1–3, Homecoming, Far From Home, No Way Home | Alive — and no longer remembers Peter Parker |
The most-repeated fan theory is that Doom is a variant of Tony Stark, given the casting. Marvel has not confirmed this and it may be a red herring.
Tier 5 — not required FILMS: Iron Man 1–3 · Thor 1–3 · First Avenger · Guardians 1–3 · Ant-Man 1–2 · Captain Marvel · Eternals SERIES: Ms. Marvel · She-Hulk · Secret Invasion · Echo · Ironheart · Moon Knight · Wonder Man
Phase One (2008–2012): Iron Man · The Incredible Hulk · Iron Man 2 · Thor · Captain America: The First Avenger · The Avengers
Phase Two (2013–2015): Iron Man 3 · Thor: The Dark World · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · Guardians of the Galaxy · Avengers: Age of Ultron · Ant-Man