15 MCU Films to Watch Before ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

With Marvel’s new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, the hype is reaching astronomical heights. In preparation for the movie’s release on the 18 December, Disney+ has created a new playlist on its service, dubbed ‘Countdown To Doomsday’, showing various titles that might just be worth watching before heading to the cinema to watch what promises to be the cinematic event of the Australian summer.

If you’re new to Marvel and the MCU, looking at Disney’s extensive library can be overwhelming. If you’re new, getting back on the bandwagon or want a refresher, these movies should help you understand where Marvel is at the moment and more importantly, to make sure FOMO won’t consume you in December when everyone will be talking about it.

Of course, you can always watch the entire MCU in chronological order, but if you just don’t have that much time on your hands, allow us to guide you through exactly which films you need to watch in order to make sure you’re all caught up – we’ve even gone a bit beyond Disney’s advice, with a few recommendations of our own thrown in.

15 Movies You Should Watch Before ‘Avengers Doomsday’

1. X-Men 

• Released: 2000
• Runtime: 104 minutes
• Director: Bryan Singer
• Stars: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian Mckellen

X-Men is, of course, the pivotal 2000s introduction to the titular mutants and the origin story of Rogue’s white streak. She discovers she is a mutant, mid-first kiss, and runs away in fear of her new powers. In her journey, she bumps into Wolverine and becomes an object of interest for both Charles Xavier’s X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants. The rest is history.

2. X2

The direct sequel to X-Men, X2 kicks off after a mutant tries to assassinate the President of the United States. Mutants, more than ever, have become a target for discrimination and prejudice. William Stryker, an anti-mutant supremacist, hatches a plan to eradicate mutant-kind by kidnapping Professor Xavier.

Related: Everything We Know About the X-Men MCU Reboot

3. Captain America: The First Avenger

Steve Rogers’ origin story to becoming America’s Boy Scout. After being rejected by the military, Steve volunteers to be a subject in America’s attempt to create a super soldier. This, of course, leads to him becoming Captain America, and a key milestone in forming the MCU’s Avengers.

4. The Avengers 

The first major crossover movie in Kevin Feige’s MCU. A chance for fans to see their beloved animated, comic book superheroes on the big screen, creating a comensurate cultural phenomenon, and here we are now still talking about it. Anyway, long story short, the team unites against Loki, wreaking havoc across unlucky New York.

5. Avengers: Infinity War 

The beginning of the end. In Infinity War, Thanos comes to Earth to obtain the Infinity Stones and, spoiler, succeeds before famously, wiping out half of the population of the universe with a simple snap of his fingers.

6. Avengers: Endgame 

Endgame, the climactic finale to Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga, focuses on the aftermath of ‘the Blip’, five years has passed since Thanos snapped. The Avengers go back in time to undo the incident and (spoiler alert for the three people alive that haven’t seen this film) they succeed. But, of course, victory comes at a price.

Related: Who Will Die in ‘Avengers Doomsday’? Ranking 15 Major Characters’ Survival Chances

7. Loki (Seasons 1 – 2)

This Disney+ exclusive series sits outside chronological time but is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Loki, our beloved God of Mischief goes on a side quest alongside the Time Variance Authority to stop the multiverse and time streams from collapsing on themselves, thus soft launching Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga.

8. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 

In one way or another, the past catches up. Shang Chi, the son of the ‘Ten Rings’ terrorist organisation leader, Wenwu, rebels against his father and defends the mythical village of Ta Lo. Here, he discovers his mother has been locked away and a battle ensues in which he obtains the Ten Rings and fights alongside a dragon.

9. Spider-Man: No Way Home 

Nothing is ever easy for Peter Parker. When his identity is revealed to the world, he turns to Doctor Strange for help to conceal it once more. Instead, the multiverse is torn open and iconic villains (and, famously, other Spider-Men) enter our version of Earth.

10. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 

In Wanda Maximoff’s obsession to reunite with her children by any means necessary, she searches across the multiverse to become the mother (as shown in WandaVision). However, when her methods become violent, Doctor Strange intervenes and fights for the safety of the multiverse.

Who wouldn’t tear apart the multiverse, commit murder and steal interdimensional power just to be reunited with their children?

11. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever follows the death of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther with Shuri taking the mantle. Wakanda, in a state of unrest due to internal politics and other countries attempting to steal their resources, faces off against a new race of Mer-people.

12. Deadpool & Wolverine 

Our titular heroes travel across different timelines and multiverses to save Deadpool’s universe from collapsing. Serious, grumpy Wolverine and unserious, verbose Deadpool work together alongside long-forgotten Marvel characters in one of Marvel’s more recent success stories.

13. Captain America: Brave New World 

Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson has fully taken up the mantle of Captain America following the events of Endgame, and is involved in uncovering a plot that involves the President of the United States. Who else?

14. Thunderbolts* 

Between the intersection of superheroes and politics, Thunderbolts* enter the scene after Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is discovered to be doing illegal human experiments to create a state-controlled supersoldiers, and, through it all, the band of misfits, Yelena, the Winter Soldier, Red Guardian, John Walker and Ghost, unintentionally become the New Avengers.

15. The Fantastic Four: First Steps 

Set in a retro-futuristic New York, the Fantastic Four are faced with intergalactic danger: Galactus and his enigmatic herald, the Silver Surfer. Under the existential threat of world destruction and the team’s interpersonal and familial struggles, they’re forced to stay strong together so they can stay strong for the rest of us.

Man of Many’s Verdict

As fans of the franchise, the Disney+ list is solid, but we think there are some other movies and TV shows that could be equally as important to watch. If you want the challenge, watch these to get a fuller understanding of the timeline and to capture the scale of what to anticipate in preparation for Avengers: Doomsday.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

In a world where Sentinels are the cause for mutants’ near extinction, the X-men and Magneto team up to rewrite the inciting incident that made mutants something to be feared. Will Wolverine and the team successfully shift perceptions of mutants? Probably.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Firstly, it’s an amazing movie that sowed the seeds for many crucial MCU moments in movies that followed, but it’s also the introduction to Wanda Maximoff and Vision, showcasing how they entered the MCU, of which they would become key players and fan favourites.

WandaVision

This limited series provides crucial context as to why and how Wanda Maximoff came to embody the title of the Scarlet Witch. Not only was it a revolutionary show for its exploration and homage to classic American sitcoms, it also explains where her children came from. Additionally, the show arguably lays major groundwork for mutant kind within the MCU, which promises to be a huge part of Doomsday.

The Marvels

The Marvels sheds more light into Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau as they team up with Captain Marvel to defeat Zawe Ashton’s Dar-Benn. Additionally, a post-credit scene shows a quick snippet of Kelsey Grammer’s Dr. Hank McCoy, who will be reprising his role in Doomsday. The post-credit scene became the official scene that hints towards the X-men and mutants playing a major role in future MCU projects.

FAQs About ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and the MCU