Marvel has finally given fans something they have been asking for: a clear roadmap for what to watch before Avengers: Doomsday. Instead of asking audiences to revisit dozens of Marvel movies and television shows, Marvel has highlighted a much smaller group of projects that it considers important preparation for the upcoming Avengers event. The selection is especially interesting because it reaches far beyond the Marvel Cinematic Universe and includes the original Fox X Men films.
The official list includes X Men, X2, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Loki, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider Man: No Way Home, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Captain America: Brave New World, Deadpool and Wolverine, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Recent reporting confirms that Marvel has presented this collection as an essential preparation guide for Doomsday.
What makes this list fascinating is that it is not simply a collection of the biggest Marvel movies. Each title appears to provide a specific piece of information about the characters, worlds, relationships or larger multiverse that could become important when Doctor Doom brings different corners of Marvel together.
X Men Establishes the Mutant World
The inclusion of X Men is arguably one of the biggest clues about Avengers: Doomsday.
Released in 2000, X Men introduced audiences to Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey and several other mutants. It established a world where people with extraordinary abilities were born with powers and were treated with fear and suspicion.
That matters because the original X Men universe is no longer simply an old superhero franchise sitting outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel has increasingly connected its multiverse story to characters from previous Marvel movie universes. Deadpool and Wolverine made that connection especially important by bringing several legacy characters into the modern Marvel story.
The original X Men movie therefore gives viewers an understanding of who these characters are and why their relationships matter. If Doomsday brings the original X Men into a much larger conflict, audiences will have a stronger emotional connection to them if they understand their history.
X2 Shows the Emotional Foundation of the X Men
X2 takes the ideas introduced in X Men and develops them considerably further.
The movie explores the complicated relationship between humans and mutants while giving greater importance to Professor Xavier, Magneto, Wolverine and the wider X Men team. It also demonstrates how quickly mutants can become targets when governments and powerful individuals decide that they are dangerous.
The importance of X2 for Doomsday is therefore not simply about remembering old characters. It helps establish the emotional history behind the original X Men group.
Marvel appears to expect audiences to recognize these characters as established heroes rather than treating them as completely new introductions. Watching X2 makes their return potentially much more meaningful.
The inclusion of both X Men and X2 is also significant because Marvel could have selected only one Fox X Men movie if it wanted to provide a basic introduction. Choosing both suggests that the studio wants viewers to understand the foundation of this particular version of the mutant world.
Captain America: The First Avenger Connects Marvel’s Past to Its Present
Captain America: The First Avenger might initially seem like an unusual choice for a movie centered on Doctor Doom and the multiverse.
Its importance comes from Steve Rogers and the foundation of the Avengers story.
The film introduces Steve as a young man who becomes Captain America during World War II. It establishes his relationship with Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter and the larger history surrounding the super soldier program.
More importantly, Captain America becomes one of the central emotional figures of the original Avengers story.
The film also establishes the Tesseract, one of the most important objects in the early MCU. The Tesseract later becomes connected to the Space Stone and plays a major role in the Infinity Saga.
For Doomsday, this history matters because Marvel is bringing together different generations of its storytelling. Understanding where Captain America came from helps audiences appreciate the significance of the characters and legacy surrounding the Avengers.
The Avengers Shows How the Heroes Became a Team
The Avengers is one of the most important entries on the list because it establishes the basic idea of Marvel’s greatest heroes standing together.
Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye are forced to overcome their differences and fight as one team.
That concept became the foundation of the entire Avengers franchise.
Doomsday is expected to involve a huge collection of characters from different Marvel worlds. The original Avengers movie explains why assembling heroes is such an important part of Marvel storytelling.
It also introduces audiences to the scale and personality of an Avengers team. The heroes are not simply powerful individuals. They have different personalities, philosophies and methods.
That becomes particularly important when a new generation of heroes has to confront an enemy as powerful as Doctor Doom.
Avengers: Infinity War Explains the Scale of the Threat
Infinity War is essential because it establishes what happens when Marvel’s heroes face an enemy who is operating on a completely different level.
Thanos spends the movie collecting the Infinity Stones and ultimately succeeds in wiping out half of all life in the universe.
The movie demonstrates that the Avengers can lose.
That lesson is crucial for Doomsday.
Doctor Doom is not being positioned as another ordinary villain who can simply be defeated in a final battle. The scale of the story suggests that entire worlds and realities could be at risk.
Infinity War teaches audiences how Marvel handles a crisis that affects the entire universe. It also introduces the idea that characters from completely different corners of the MCU can become part of one enormous story.
Avengers: Endgame Provides the Emotional History
If Infinity War establishes the disaster, Endgame shows the consequences.
The movie brings together the surviving heroes and concludes the original Avengers story. Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner and Clint Barton all face the consequences of what happened during Infinity War.
Endgame is therefore essential because it explains the enormous legacy hanging over the current MCU.
Tony Stark’s sacrifice, Steve Rogers passing his shield to Sam Wilson and the transformation of the Avengers all changed Marvel’s direction.
Doomsday is arriving after this enormous transition. A new group of heroes must now deal with threats created by a universe that has changed dramatically since Endgame.
Loki Explains Why the Multiverse Matters
Among all the projects on Marvel’s list, Loki may be the single most important television series to watch.
The series dramatically expands Marvel’s understanding of time, alternate realities and branching timelines. Loki becomes connected to the TVA and eventually discovers that the survival of countless timelines depends on his actions.
By the conclusion of Loki, the character’s role has changed completely. He becomes responsible for holding together the growing network of timelines.
This makes Loki extremely important to the larger story surrounding Doomsday.
Without understanding Loki, viewers may struggle to understand why different universes can exist, why timelines matter and why events in one reality can potentially affect another.
Marvel’s decision to include Loki while leaving most other Disney Plus series off the essential list strongly suggests that the show’s multiverse story is directly relevant to what comes next.
Shang Chi Introduces Another Powerful Piece of the Puzzle
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings introduces one of the MCU’s most mysterious sets of powerful objects.
Shang Chi initially appears to be a relatively self contained martial arts story, but the Ten Rings themselves raise much larger questions.
The film ends with the heroes investigating the strange signal associated with the rings.
That unresolved mystery gives the Ten Rings potential importance beyond Shang Chi’s first movie.
The inclusion of Shang Chi on Marvel’s Doomsday watchlist therefore suggests that the character or the Ten Rings could have a larger role in the upcoming story.
It also introduces Shang Chi himself as one of the newer heroes who could become increasingly important to the Avengers.
Spider Man: No Way Home Makes the Multiverse Personal
No Way Home is arguably the clearest demonstration of how Marvel can bring characters from different realities together.
Peter Parker’s attempt to make everyone forget his identity goes wrong when the multiverse begins opening up.
The movie eventually brings together different versions of Spider Man, along with villains from previous Spider Man films.
This is important preparation for Doomsday because it teaches audiences that alternate versions of familiar characters can exist simultaneously.
It also establishes the emotional consequences of such encounters.
The multiverse is not simply a science fiction concept. Meeting another version of someone can force a character to confront different possibilities of their own life.
That emotional idea could become extremely important when Marvel’s heroes encounter characters from other universes.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Expands the MCU’s World
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is included because it establishes the current state of Wakanda after the death of T’Challa.
The movie also introduces Namor and the underwater civilization of Talokan.
Shuri eventually accepts the responsibility of becoming Black Panther, while Wakanda’s relationship with the outside world becomes increasingly complicated.
The importance of this film becomes even clearer when considering the enormous number of characters that could be involved in Doomsday.
Wakanda is one of the most powerful nations in the MCU. Its technology, resources and military strength could become extremely important during a conflict involving multiple worlds.
The film also gives audiences the emotional context for Shuri, making her potential involvement in another Avengers level crisis much more meaningful.
Captain America: Brave New World Establishes Sam Wilson’s Era
Brave New World is important because it confirms that Sam Wilson is operating as Captain America in the post Steve Rogers era.
That transition has been building for years, but this movie establishes Sam in a major position within the MCU.
The story also develops President Ross and introduces a major transformation for the character.
For Doomsday, this matters because the Avengers no longer have Steve Rogers as their central Captain America.
Sam represents a new generation.
His presence also demonstrates how Marvel’s older heroes have gradually been replaced, transformed or joined by newer characters. Understanding that transition helps explain the current Avengers landscape.
Deadpool and Wolverine Connects the Old Marvel Universes
Deadpool and Wolverine may be the most obvious bridge between the old Fox universe and Marvel Studios.
The movie brings Deadpool into the larger Marvel multiverse while making Wolverine the emotional center of the story.
It also features numerous characters and references connected to Marvel’s previous film history.
Most importantly, the movie treats those older worlds as part of a much larger reality.
That makes Deadpool and Wolverine particularly important before Doomsday.
The original X Men movies establish the characters. Deadpool and Wolverine demonstrates how those characters and their universe can interact with the modern MCU.
This is the bridge between Marvel’s past and its future.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Makes Alternate Worlds Real
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness takes the concept of the multiverse even further.
Doctor Strange travels between realities and encounters different versions of familiar characters.
The film demonstrates that alternate universes can have radically different versions of the same people.
It also introduces the idea that crossing between universes can have devastating consequences.
This is essential knowledge before Doomsday because the upcoming Avengers story appears to be built around the collision of different Marvel worlds.
Without Multiverse of Madness, the idea of multiple versions of characters and alternate realities may feel abstract. This movie makes the concept much easier to understand.
Thunderbolts Shows the New Generation of Marvel Heroes
Thunderbolts is important because it represents another stage in Marvel’s transition toward a new generation of teams.
The movie brings together characters who are very different from the traditional Avengers.
Instead of presenting a team made up entirely of classic heroes, Thunderbolts explores damaged, complicated and morally uncertain characters working together.
That makes the film important preparation for Doomsday because Marvel’s next major conflict is unlikely to be solved by the original Avengers alone.
The world has changed.
New heroes and new teams now have to step into positions previously occupied by characters such as Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow.
Thunderbolts helps establish that changing landscape.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Introduces Another Universe
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is perhaps the biggest direct clue about Doomsday.
The Fantastic Four occupy a unique position in Marvel’s multiverse story because their world is presented as a distinct reality rather than simply another corner of the familiar MCU.
The movie introduces Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm while establishing their world and its history.
That is important because the Fantastic Four are closely connected to Doctor Doom in Marvel Comics.
Doom is one of their greatest enemies, particularly because of his intellectual rivalry with Reed Richards.
Watching First Steps therefore gives audiences the necessary context for understanding why Doctor Doom’s arrival could be particularly personal for the Fantastic Four.
Why Marvel Chose These Projects
The most interesting thing about the watchlist is what it tells us about Doomsday itself.
Marvel is not asking audiences to watch every MCU movie.
Instead, the studio has selected stories that appear to represent four major pieces of the upcoming movie: the original Avengers legacy, the multiverse, the Fox X Men universe and the Fantastic Four.
The selection also suggests that Doomsday is designed as a meeting point between Marvel’s past and future.
The original X Men films represent the superhero era that existed before the MCU became dominant. The Avengers movies represent the foundation of Marvel Studios. Loki and Doctor Strange explain the multiverse. Deadpool and Wolverine connects Marvel’s older franchises to its current storytelling. The Fantastic Four represents another major universe entering the picture.
That is why the list feels unusual but carefully constructed.
Avengers: Doomsday Is More Than Another Avengers Movie
The biggest lesson from Marvel’s watchlist is that Avengers: Doomsday is being positioned as a story about convergence.
Characters who previously belonged to separate franchises can now exist within the same larger Marvel reality.
The original X Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Deadpool, Wolverine, Sam Wilson, Shuri and other heroes represent different eras of Marvel storytelling.
Doctor Doom stands at the center of this collision.
The essential viewing list therefore serves a larger purpose than simply helping audiences remember characters. It prepares viewers emotionally for a movie that could bring together decades of Marvel history.
If Marvel’s selection is any indication, Doomsday is not simply about what happens next.
It is also about what happens when Marvel’s cinematic past finally collides with its future.
Final Thoughts
Marvel’s official preparation list for Avengers: Doomsday is surprisingly revealing.
X Men and X2 establish the mutant world. Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers establish the foundation of the Avengers. Infinity War and Endgame explain the enormous legacy of the original saga. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness establish the rules of alternate realities. Shang Chi introduces another mysterious power. No Way Home demonstrates how different realities can collide. Wakanda Forever and Brave New World establish important members of the newer generation. Deadpool and Wolverine connects the Fox era to Marvel Studios. Thunderbolts introduces another generation of heroes, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps brings an entirely different Marvel universe into the picture.
Together, these projects create a surprisingly coherent preparation guide.
The real question is no longer simply which heroes will appear in Avengers: Doomsday.
The bigger question is what happens when Marvel’s different cinematic generations are finally forced to share the same battlefield.
And that is exactly why this watchlist matters.