15 Marvel Movies and Shows Disney+ Wants You to Watch Before ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

With ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ set to bring together heroes from the MCU, the Fox X-Men universe, and beyond when it hits theaters December 18, Disney+ has put together an official watchlist to help fans catch up before Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom takes the stage. Here’s every title on the list, and why it matters heading into Marvel’s biggest crossover event yet.

1. ‘X-Men’ (2000)

The film that launched Fox’s mutant franchise, introducing Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Cyclops, and the rest of the original team. With several of these actors confirmed to return for ‘Doomsday,’ this is where their story begins.

2. ‘X2’ (2003)

Widely considered one of the strongest entries in the original X-Men trilogy, ‘X2’ deepens the conflict between mutants and humanity while introducing Nightcrawler, another character tied to the classic Fox lineup returning for ‘Doomsday.’

3. ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (2011)

Steve Rogers’ origin story lays the groundwork for the entire Avengers saga, transforming a scrawny kid from Brooklyn into a supersoldier and setting up his decades-spanning journey through the MCU.

4. ‘The Avengers’ (2012)

The film that proved a shared cinematic universe could actually work, bringing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye together for the first time against Loki’s invasion of New York.

5. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)

Thanos’s quest for the Infinity Stones reshaped the entire MCU, ending in one of the most devastating cliffhangers in blockbuster history and setting the stage for everything that followed.

6. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)

The emotional culmination of the Infinity Saga, ‘Endgame’ resolves the Snap through a time-heist that introduces branching timelines into MCU canon, laying essential groundwork for the multiverse storytelling ‘Doomsday’ will lean on heavily.

7. ‘Loki’ (2021)

Following Loki’s escape with the Tesseract during Endgame’s time heist, this Disney+ series dives deep into the multiverse and the Time Variance Authority, making it one of the most important pieces of setup for understanding why alternate realities now exist within the MCU.

8. ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ (2021)

This film introduces Shang-Chi, son of the true Mandarin, as he’s pulled back into his father’s world after years in hiding. Shang-Chi is expected to factor into the Avengers’ ranks going forward.

9. ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)

Bringing together three live-action Spider-Man actors across the multiverse, this film demonstrates how variants and legacy characters can coexist on screen, a storytelling approach central to what ‘Doomsday’ aims to pull off on a much larger scale.

10. ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (2022)

Wakanda’s story continues in the aftermath of T’Challa’s death, introducing new threats and expanding the world of Wakanda ahead of its continued role in the MCU’s future.

11. ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ (2025)

Sam Wilson’s first outing as the new Captain America builds directly on his journey from ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ introducing new allies and enemies who are expected to return alongside him in ‘Doomsday.’

12. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (2024)

This film reintroduced Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine to the MCU proper and pulled multiple Fox-era X-Men characters into the fold, directly bridging the gap between the old mutant universe and Marvel Studios’ current storytelling.

13. ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ (2022)

The MCU’s biggest live-action multiverse story to date, this film sends Doctor Strange traversing different realities, introducing alternate versions of familiar heroes and the concept of universe-threatening incursions that return in ‘Doomsday.’

14. ‘Thunderbolts*’ (2025)

A team of morally gray antiheroes is forced to work together, expanding the roster of characters now available to Marvel Studios and setting up dynamics that carry forward into the larger ensemble of ‘Doomsday.’

15. ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ (2025)

Marvel’s newest first family makes their MCU debut, introducing characters whose story is expected to collide directly with the larger multiversal threat posed by Doctor Doom.

With this list covering nearly the entire scope of the MCU’s multiverse saga plus key entries from the Fox X-Men era, Disney+ has made it clear just how expansive ‘Doomsday’ is shaping up to be.

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