What to Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday

Captain America: The First Avenger

The origin of Steve Rogers and the first Infinity Stone (Tesseract). Sets the moral compass the Avengers are built around.

X-Men: First Class

Xavier and Magneto's origin — their friendship, split, and divergent ideologies. Both confirmed for Doomsday with the original actors.

X-Men

The original X-Men film — Xavier's school, Magneto's Brotherhood, and the first clash. Introduces the full Fox cast confirmed returning for Doomsday.

X2: X-Men United

The best of the original trilogy. Stryker's war on mutants unites X-Men and Brotherhood. Jean Grey's sacrifice at the end sets up The Last Stand.

X-Men: The Last Stand

Jean Grey returns as the Phoenix. Xavier is killed. Magneto loses his powers. The entire Fox cast confirmed returning for Doomsday — Days of Future Past retcons this timeline.

Thor

Thor's origin and Loki's discovery that he's adopted. Their rivalry defines a decade of MCU storytelling — Loki's journey from villain here ends at his sacrifice in Loki S2. Thor confirmed for Doomsday.

The Avengers

The original team assembles to stop Loki and the Tesseract. The template all future team-up films follow. Mid-credits: Thanos is revealed for the first time.

Iron Man 3

Tony's PTSD after the Battle of New York. He destroys all his suits to prove he doesn't need the armor — only to rebuild bigger in Age of Ultron.

Thor: The Dark World

The Reality Stone (Aether) is introduced and recovered. Loki fakes his death and secretly takes Odin's throne — directly setting up Ragnarok.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

S.H.I.E.L.D. has been HYDRA since its founding. Bucky Barnes is alive as the Winter Soldier. Steve's world is shattered — this is where the Avengers fracture begins. Bucky and Sam both confirmed for Doomsday.

Guardians of the Galaxy

The Power Stone and the wider cosmic MCU. Peter, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, Drax — the team whose sacrifices in Infinity War are among the most devastating.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Ego (a Celestial) is Peter's father and the villain. Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter. Emotionally the strongest Guardians film — but the team has disbanded with no confirmed Doomsday payoff.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Tony creates Ultron from the Mind Stone — an act of hubris that creates Vision and triggers the Sokovia Accords. The Avengers fracture begins here.

Ant-Man

Scott Lang becomes Ant-Man. Introduces the Quantum Realm, which becomes the key to time travel in Endgame. Scott confirmed for Doomsday.

Captain America: Civil War

The Avengers split over the Sokovia Accords. Tony learns Bucky killed his parents. Steve and Tony's friendship fractures permanently. Spider-Man and Black Panther debut. Bucky, Sam, and Steve all confirmed for Doomsday.

Black Widow

Natasha dismantles the Red Room and frees all the Widows. Yelena Belova is introduced — she's the POV character of Thunderbolts*, which directly feeds Doomsday.

Black Panther

T'Challa becomes king and opens Wakanda to the world. Shuri and Namor both confirmed for Doomsday.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Peter's first MCU solo film. Tony mentors him, then steps back. The foundation for who Peter is when No Way Home breaks him.

Doctor Strange

Stephen Strange becomes Sorcerer Supreme. Introduces the Time Stone and the magic system. Strange's spellwork underpins No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, and feeds Doomsday.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Wolverine rewrites the X-Men timeline — erasing the dark future and restoring all the characters who died. Critical for understanding which version of the X-Men exists going into Doomsday.

Deadpool

Wade Wilson's origin as Deadpool. Deadpool & Wolverine (Doomsday-essential) is the direct payoff — you'll appreciate it far more having seen this.

Deadpool 2

Vanessa is killed at the start. Cable arrives from the future. Deadpool forms X-Force (most die immediately). Sets up the found-family theme that carries into Deadpool & Wolverine.

Thor: Ragnarok

Hela destroys Mjolnir and Asgard itself. Thor loses his eye. 'Asgard is not a place — it's a people.' The Asgardian refugees on their escape ship are who Thanos ambushes in the opening of Infinity War. Thor confirmed for Doomsday.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Janet van Dyne is rescued from the Quantum Realm. Ghost (confirmed for Doomsday) is introduced and partially healed. The post-credits shows the snap happening in real time.

Avengers: Infinity War

Thanos collects all six Infinity Stones and snaps away half of all life. Doctor Strange gives the Time Stone intentionally — 'We're in the endgame now.' This is the pivot everything before leads to and everything after responds to.

Ant-Man & The Wasp (All Credits)

Hope, Hank and Janet are snapped mid-sentence. Scott is alone in the Quantum Realm — the exact moment that makes him the key to Endgame's time heist.

Logan

Set in 2029 — almost all mutants are gone. Logan dies protecting the next generation. His failure and sacrifice are the emotional core of Deadpool & Wolverine.

Avengers: Endgame

Five years after the snap, the surviving Avengers execute a time heist to undo it. Tony snaps Thanos away and dies. Steve stays in the past with Peggy — passing the shield to Sam. The MCU's defining film.

WandaVision (Season 1)

Wanda's grief unconsciously traps an entire town in a sitcom reality. She becomes the Scarlet Witch and takes the Darkhold. White Vision is restored. The foundation of everything Multiverse of Madness builds on.

WandaVision (Ep 9 Mid-Credit Scene)

The Scarlet Witch, studying the Darkhold in astral form, hears her children's voices — she'll chase that hope to devastating ends in Multiverse of Madness.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Season 1)

Sam Wilson becomes Captain America. The shield passes from Steve to Sam — the arc Brave New World continues. Sam confirmed for Doomsday.

Loki (Season 1)

The TVA exists to maintain a single Sacred Timeline. He Who Remains (a Kang variant) is behind it all. Sylvie kills him — releasing every Kang variant into the multiverse. This act makes Doomsday possible.

What If...? (Season 1)

Anthology of alternate universes. Ultron gets all six Stones in one universe and goes multiverse-conquering — a preview of the multiversal chaos Doomsday brings.

Hawkeye (Season 1)

Kate Bishop becomes Hawkeye. Kingpin (Wilson Fisk) returns as the crime boss behind it all — directly setting up his Born Again arc as Mayor of New York.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi earns the Ten Rings and defeats the Dweller-in-Darkness. A mysterious unexplained beacon is sent out — Shang-Chi confirmed for Doomsday, and the beacon is still unanswered.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Peter asks Strange to make the world forget he's Spider-Man — the spell goes wrong and pulls in multiverse villains and both Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men. Aunt May dies. All three Peters cure the villains. Strange wipes everyone's memory of Peter — he starts completely alone.

Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness

Wanda (Scarlet Witch) is the villain — she dreamwalks universes to find her children, destroying the Illuminati including Professor X. Incursions (universe-collisions) are introduced as the multiverse's great danger. Strange confirmed for Doomsday.

Ms. Marvel (Season 1)

Kamala Khan — the first character explicitly called a mutant in the MCU. Her bangle connects to the Noor Dimension. Kamala confirmed for Doomsday.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Jane Foster wields Mjolnir as the Mighty Thor — and dies of cancer after the final battle. Thor adopts Gorr's daughter Love. Love appears in Doomsday trailers. Thor confirmed for Doomsday.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

T'Challa has died. Shuri becomes the new Black Panther. Namor and Talokan are introduced. Shuri and Namor both confirmed for Doomsday.

Ironheart (Season 1)

Riri Williams builds her Iron Heart suit in Chicago. She's confirmed for Doomsday — likely filling the 'genius inventor' role Tony left behind.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Scott and Cassie fight Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm. Kang is defeated — and the post-credits shows the Council of Kangs alarmed that he was killed by ants. The Kang threat is fully unleashed.

The Marvels

Carol, Kamala and Monica's powers become entangled — they swap places when using them. Monica enters a hole in space and ends up in an alternate universe. Carol and Kamala both confirmed for Doomsday.

Loki (Season 2)

Loki sacrifices himself — becoming the new Yggdrasil (World Tree), holding all branching timelines together with his own power. His sacrifice is the reason the multiverse is stable enough for Doomsday to happen at all.

What If...? (Season 3)

Peggy Carter's story is finally concluded. Tony appears across realities. The Watcher's role in the multiverse war grows. The last anthology chapter — directly precedes Doomsday.

Deadpool & Wolverine

The TVA is erasing the Fox universe. Wade and Logan must save it. They defeat Cassandra Nova and save the Fox timeline — which is why the entire original X-Men cast can appear in Doomsday. This film is the bridge.

Daredevil: Born Again (Season 1)

Fisk is Mayor of New York. Matt is openly Daredevil. This is the culmination of the entire Netflix Daredevil run — and Matt Murdock is confirmed for Doomsday.

Captain America: Brave New World

Sam Wilson as Captain America defeats Red Hulk (Thaddeus Ross). The Leader is the hidden manipulator. Sam's arc from FATWS completes here — he's confirmed as a major Doomsday character.

Thunderbolts*

Yelena Belova leads a team of anti-heroes against the Void (Bob Reynolds / Sentry's shadow). They emerge as the New Avengers. This is the team going into Doomsday.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Peter fights crime full-time as Spider-Man in a world that no longer remembers him, and the strain of watching his friends move on sparks a transformation he can barely control. A shocking new threat forces him to fight for the city and everyone he loves. The last MCU film before Doomsday. Jon Bernthal appears as Frank Castle / the Punisher.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Doctor Doom makes his MCU debut — set in an alternate 1960s. Galactus and the Silver Surfer appear. Post-credits: Doom crosses into the main MCU timeline. The direct setup for Doomsday.