Every Marvel Movie to Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday

Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18, 2026, and it arrives carrying more than a decade of Marvel history. Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, are back behind the camera, Robert Downey Jr. returns to the franchise as Victor von Doom, and the cast stretches across the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Fox-era X-Men and the newer Thunderbolts. With roughly five weeks to go, the practical question for any fan is simple: which movies are worth watching first?

This guide answers it with 16 films, arranged in story order rather than release order, with a short explanation of why each one matters going into Doomsday. Plot details are kept at a high level, and the final stretch of each film is only touched on where Doomsday is likely to build on it. If time is short, a six-film shortcut and a five-week viewing plan appear near the end.

What Avengers: Doomsday Is Building On

Doomsday is the first Avengers film since Endgame in 2019, and it is the first of two back-to-back team-ups. Avengers: Secret Wars follows on December 17, 2027, which Every Movie Plug covered in its guide to the Most Anticipated Movies of 2027. That structure matters for viewing, because Doomsday is not a standalone adventure. It is the opening act of a larger story about a multiverse that has been slowly coming apart since Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and about a villain whose arrival Marvel has been promising for years.

The casting has done much of the marketing. Downey, who played Tony Stark for eleven years and died on screen in Endgame, now plays Doom, a choice that gives the old films a strange new charge. Chris Evans has been revealed as returning as Steve Rogers, and the Russos have been explaining why they brought him back. Every Movie Plug has tracked the rollout step by step, including the roughly minute of new footage shown during the World Series in Marvel Reveals New Avengers: Doomsday Footage in a World Series Commercial, and the latest guessing game around Anthony Mackie’s apparent hint that Vision is returning. Marvel has not confirmed Vision, so that remains a rumor rather than a fact.

There is also a human side to the build-up. Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Professor X in the Fox films and returned for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, died on October 28 at the age of 86, and Marvel Studios was among those paying tribute in Hollywood Remembers Sir Patrick Stewart. Rewatching the films that feature him is one of the more meaningful ways to prepare.

How to Use This Watch Guide

The guide is split into six parts. The first three parts follow the original Avengers story from Tony Stark’s first suit to the end of the Thanos saga. The fourth covers the multiverse, which is where Doomsday is most likely to pick up. The fifth covers the newer heroes who share the poster, and the sixth covers the Fox-era X-Men and the film that brought them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Every film has a reason to be here, but they are not equally essential, and the entries are written so that you can skip any film without losing the thread.

The Watch List at a Glance

Part One: The Avengers Take Shape

1. Iron Man (2008)

Everything starts here. Jon Favreau’s Iron Man introduced Tony Stark, a weapons manufacturer who builds a suit to escape captivity and then decides to change what his company stands for. The film is small by later standards, but it established the tone that Marvel kept for years: confident, funny and quick on its feet. It also ended with Nick Fury’s mention of the Avengers Initiative, which planted the seed for everything that followed. Because Downey now steps into Doom’s armor, his first Marvel performance reads differently today. The glib genius who learned responsibility the hard way is about to be replaced by a villain defined by pride and ambition, and seeing where the actor began makes that contrast sharper.

2. The Avengers (2012)

Joss Whedon’s team-up film is still the clearest blueprint for how to make a crowded superhero movie work. Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, brings a Chitauri army to New York, and Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye must learn to fight together. The film grossed about $1.5 billion worldwide and turned a shared universe from an experiment into a business model. For Doomsday it matters because it defines what an Avengers movie feels like: banter, big set pieces and a team that argues before it wins. It is also the origin of the Tesseract and the Infinity Stones story that powered the next seven years.

3. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Ultron is not the most beloved Marvel villain, but this sequel quietly introduces several threads that still matter. It brings Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff into the team, creates Vision from an Infinity Stone and an artificial mind, and shows Tony Stark’s fear that the world needs a defense he cannot build alone. That last idea is the root of the conflict in Civil War. Vision, played by Paul Bettany, is the reason this film is on the list: the character has been at the center of recent speculation, and the new VisionQuest series has kept him in the conversation. Every Movie Plug looked at Marvel’s teasers around that series in Marvel Studios Posts a Cryptic Binary Message on X Before the VisionQuest Finale.

Part Two: The Team Fractures

4. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The Russos’ first big ensemble film is also the one that explains why the Avengers were scattered when Thanos arrived. After a mission goes wrong, governments demand oversight of the team, and Tony Stark and Steve Rogers end up on opposite sides. The film introduces Black Panther and the modern Spider-Man, and it tests whether the Russos can handle a dozen heroes in one frame. Their answer is why they were handed Infinity War and are now directing Doomsday. It is also the best film in the series for understanding the friendship between Stark and Rogers, which makes Downey’s villain role and Evans’s return more interesting.

5. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Taika Waititi’s Ragnarok changed Thor from a serious Shakespearean prince into the funniest member of the team, and it did so without losing the stakes. Hela destroys Asgard, Thor loses his hammer and his home, and the Hulk finds himself on a gladiator planet. Chris Hemsworth is listed among the stars of Doomsday, so this film explains the version of Thor you are likely to see: a king without a kingdom, still carrying the weight of his people. It also contains the origin of the Thor and Hulk friendship, a thread that carries straight into Infinity War.

6. Black Panther (2018)

Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is both a landmark cultural event and one of Marvel’s best-constructed films. T’Challa returns home to become king of Wakanda, only to face Killmonger, a challenger who forces the country to question its isolation. The film earned about $1.3 billion and a Best Picture nomination, and it gave the franchise a setting that is distinctive and fully realized. For Doomsday, Wakanda’s technology, politics and place in the larger world are central to the way Marvel’s recent films handle global threats, so it is worth knowing the history before the next chapter begins.

Part Three: The Thanos Saga

7. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Thanos had been a background figure for years, and Infinity War finally makes him the main character. The Russos pull together dozens of heroes across multiple fronts, and the film dares to let its villain win. It earned roughly $2 billion and showed that a mega-crossover could carry real emotional weight. Watching it before Doomsday is useful for one reason above all: it is the template for the kind of threat the Avengers face when they are outmatched. Doom is a very different kind of enemy, but the Russos clearly know how to build dread, and this is their most successful attempt.

8. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Endgame is the film Doomsday answers. It closes the Infinity Saga with a time-travel heist, a final battle and a pair of goodbyes that still land: Tony Stark’s sacrifice and Steve Rogers’s choice to live a different life in the past. The film grossed about $2.8 billion worldwide and ended an era. Because Doomsday brings back Downey and Evans in new roles and circumstances, this is the one film on the list that should not be skipped. Everything Marvel says about legacy, loss and starting over in the next two movies is a reply to what happens here.

Part Four: The Multiverse Opens

9. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Jon Watts’s third Spider-Man film is the clearest demonstration of what happens when the multiverse leaks into the main timeline. A spell meant to make the world forget Peter Parker’s identity goes wrong, and villains from other universes arrive, followed by two earlier Spider-Men. It earned about $1.9 billion and proved audiences would embrace a story built on shared memory across films. For Doomsday, the lesson is that Marvel is willing to bring back actors, characters and ideas from outside the main series. Every Movie Plug covered Marvel’s more recent Spider-Man chapter in The Renaissance of the Web-Slinger, which describes how that film broke opening-weekend records.

10. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Sam Raimi’s horror-tinged sequel explains more about how the multiverse works, including the concept of incursions, which occur when two universes collide and one is destroyed. It also gives Wanda Maximoff a dark turn, and it introduces an Illuminati that includes Patrick Stewart’s Professor X. Of everything on this list, it is the closest preview of the stakes that a Secret Wars storyline implies. Its cameo of Stewart also carries more weight now, which is why Every Movie Plug’s tribute coverage in Sir Patrick Stewart, Star of Star Trek and X-Men, Dies at 86 is a worthwhile companion read.

11. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

After Chadwick Boseman’s death in 2020, Coogler rewrote the sequel around the loss rather than recasting T’Challa. The result is a grieving, patient film that introduces Namor and the underwater kingdom of Talokan while making Shuri the new Black Panther. It earned about $859 million and received widespread praise for the way it treated mourning. Its place in the build-up is twofold: it pushes Wakanda into a new generation of leadership, and it demonstrates how Marvel can handle a real-world absence within a fictional world. Every Movie Plug explored the film’s craft in Seven Ways Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Honors Chadwick Boseman.

Part Five: The New Generation

12. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Matt Shakman’s film introduces Marvel’s first family in a retro-futuristic world of its own. Pedro Pascal plays Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby is Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn is Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach is Ben Grimm, and the story has them protect Earth from the planet-eating Galactus. The film works as a self-contained adventure, but its closing moments point toward Doom, which is why it is on this list. With Pascal also listed in the Doomsday cast, this is where you meet the people who will stand beside the Avengers. It is the shortest film in the guide and one of the easiest to enjoy.

13. Thunderbolts* (2025)

Jake Schreier’s film gathers a mismatched team of antiheroes: Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost and Lewis Pullman as Bob. It is a character study as much as an action film, and it ends with the group being recast as a kind of new Avengers. That makes it the most direct bridge between the old team and the new. Sebastian Stan has also been teasing what is at stake in the sequel, which Every Movie Plug covered in Sebastian Stan Teases High Stakes in Avengers: Doomsday.

14. Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Julius Onah’s film is the first full-length adventure for Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as Captain America, and it puts him in political territory alongside Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross. It earned about $415 million and received a more mixed reception than most films on this list, but it is still the most relevant place to see how Sam carries the shield. Mackie has said that he is preparing to share scenes with Downey in Doomsday, and the character’s arc is expected to matter, so this film is a useful short watch for anyone following his story.

Part Six: The X-Men and Deadpool

15. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Fox’s best X-Men film is also the best preparation for the legacy cast Marvel has promised to bring back. Bryan Singer unites the original team with the younger cast of First Class, using time travel to prevent a future in which mutants are hunted. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen share scenes with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine anchors the story. Because Doomsday is expected to feature actors from the Fox films, this is the film that shows why they matter. Every Movie Plug detailed where Marvel’s next X-Men chapter stands in Marvel’s X-Men Cast Is Official.

16. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Shawn Levy’s film is the first R-rated entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it is the clearest signal that the Fox characters have a place in the shared world. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman team up across the Time Variance Authority and the Void, and the film earned about $1.3 billion worldwide. It is loud, self-aware and full of nostalgia, but it also demonstrates how Marvel plans to blend two universes without erasing either. Fans curious about who might eventually inherit the claws can read Every Movie Plug’s report on Jeremy Allen White and the X-Men reboot, which notes that Marvel has not confirmed a Wolverine casting.

The Six-Film Shortcut

Not everyone has 37 hours. If you can only watch six films, choose The Avengers for the team dynamic, Captain America: Civil War for the friendship and the split, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame for the main saga, Spider-Man: No Way Home for the multiverse and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for the rules of that multiverse. Those six cover nearly everything Doomsday is expected to lean on, and you can add the newer films as time allows. If you have room for two more, make them The Fantastic Four: First Steps and *Thunderbolts**, since stars from both teams are part of the Doomsday cast.

A Five-Week Viewing Plan

From mid-November to opening night there are about 35 days, which works out to just over an hour of viewing per day. A relaxed plan looks like this:

• Week one: Iron Man, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War
• Week two: Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
• Week three: Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Week four: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, *Thunderbolts** and Captain America: Brave New World
• Week five: X-Men: Days of Future Past and Deadpool & Wolverine, then a rest before opening night

Streaming availability changes by country and by month, so check Every Movie Plug’s movie pages for where each film can be watched in your region.

Series Worth Adding

The Disney+ series are optional, but two are worth a mention. Loki is the clearest explanation of how the multiverse began, and VisionQuest, whose finale streamed on November 10, follows a rebuilt White Vision and is the last Marvel release before Doomsday. Neither is required, and Marvel has not said that either one connects directly to the film, but both add context for viewers who enjoy the connective tissue.

What to Read Before Opening Night

Opening night is also the date of Dune: Part Three, so planning matters. Every Movie Plug’s Dunesday Survival Guide covers runtimes, premium formats and which film to see first. For the wider context of how Marvel built a connected universe and why rivals struggled to match it, read Behind the Cape: Why DC Struggled to Match Marvel’s Cinematic Empire. Readers who want to see where the franchise is heading can also follow Marvel casting and release coverage in the Film News section, including the latest on Chris Pratt’s comments about Star-Lord’s return.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to watch every Marvel movie before Avengers: Doomsday?

No. The six-film shortcut above covers the essentials, and the remaining films add context rather than required plot. The Avengers films from The Avengers to Endgame carry the most weight, followed by the multiverse films.

Do I need to watch Marvel’s Disney+ series?

Not for the main story. Loki and VisionQuest provide extra background, but Marvel has not said that Doomsday depends on them.

When does Avengers: Doomsday come out?

The film opens in theaters on December 18, 2026. It is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, and Robert Downey Jr. plays Victor von Doom.

Who is the villain in Avengers: Doomsday?

Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., is the central villain. Marvel revealed the casting during its live stream in March 2025.

Is there a sequel to Avengers: Doomsday?

Yes. Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for December 17, 2027, and is expected to continue the story that Doomsday begins.

What should I watch if I have only a weekend?

Choose Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Those three give you the end of the main saga and the best introduction to the multiverse.

Image Credits

Film poster images are supplied by The Movie Database (TMDB) and belong to their respective studios and distributors, as credited beneath each image. This article uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.