Doomsday Homework – What 10 Marvel Titles Are Worth Watching Before Avengers: Doomsday?
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ will bring together characters from three universes, including the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and returning characters from Fox’s X-Men films. Marvel has confirmed Hayley Atwell’s return as Peggy Carter.
So older MCU and X-Men stories will be useful preparation.
Want to make sure you’re prepared, but don’t want to watch all 62 Marvel films listed on one popular guide? (Yes, sixty-two! 151 hours of film.) If you’re just looking to understand the main characters, relationships and timelines that ‘Doomsday’ may draw upon – and maybe enjoy a few more Easter eggs than others might – these 10 titles will provide the background without requiring an endless Marvel marathon before you head into Doomsday.
Note: there are some spoilers below. If you want only the list of films, read the titles only!
‘Captain America: The First Avenger’
Steve Rogers transforms from a rejected recruit into the Allies’ super-soldier, battling Hydra and encountering the Tesseract. The film establishes Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), making it an indisputable – or as close as “indisputable” as anything can be among Marvel fans – starting point for Peggy’s MCU history.
If you’re traveling this fall and can’t access your usual subscriptions during a Marvel catch-up, a VPN will let you connect privately to servers in other countries. You can test a VPN for free before you subscribe.
Hayley Atwell’s return as Peggy Carter makes the film particularly relevant to a Doomsday catch-up. In July’s Avengers: Doomsday panel with Robert Downey Jr. and over a dozen cast members, Marvel confirmed Atwell’s involvement – although the precise nature of Peggy’s role has not been disclosed.
Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter
This 15-minute short follows Peggy as she takes on an SSR mission involving the mysterious Zodiac while her male colleagues underestimate her abilities. It picks up after Captain America: The First Avenger and expands Peggy’s role within the post-war SSR.
‘The One-Shot’ was released on the Iron Man 3 home-media release in 2013 and later became the basis for Agent Carter, which premiered in 2015.
‘Agent Carter’ (Season 1)
Set in 1946, the first season follows Peggy as she investigates a conspiracy connected to the secret organisation Leviathan. She also works with Stark and meets Edwin Jarvis, Stark’s butler and future father of Tony Stark’s AI assistant.
The series develops the SSR and gives Peggy a larger role in the early history of the MCU’s intelligence agencies.
Edwin Jarvis was the inspiration for J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony Stark’s artificial intelligence. James D’Arcy reprised the role in ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
‘Agent Carter’ (Season 2)
The second season moves Peggy to LA in 1947, where she investigates a new case involving Zero Matter, a mysterious substance connected to another dimension. Stark and Jarvis return. The story introduces Ana Jarvis and scientist Jason Wilkes.
The season expands the supernatural side of Peggy’s world and connects the SSR to events involving dimensional energy.
Visually, the series was inspired by classic film noir and 1940s Hollywood. It was the final season of the series before ABC cancelled it in 2016.
‘X-Men: First Class’
Set in the 1960s, ‘First Class’ tells the early story of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr before they become Professor X and Magneto. They assemble a group of young mutants during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
James McAvoy plays Xavier, Michael Fassbender plays Magneto and Jennifer Lawrence plays Mystique. The film also introduces Nicholas Hoult as Beast and sets up the younger generation of the Fox X-Men timeline.
Lawrence was only 20 when First Class was released. She went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook, released just a year later.
‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’
This prequel follows Logan from his childhood through his time as a soldier and his involvement with the Weapon X programme. It introduces his complicated relationship with Victor Creed, played by Liev Schreiber.
The film features early versions of several characters, including Gambit and Deadpool, with Taylor Kitsch and Ryan Reynolds in those roles.
Reynolds later returned to the role in Deadpool (2016), which he also produced.
‘X-Men (2000)’
Bryan Singer’s X-Men introduces the original Fox film team, including Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Rogue. The story centres on the conflict between Xavier’s X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants.
The film’s characters and relationships built the groundwork for the trilogy and later X-Men films.
X-Men was Hugh Jackman’s debut as Wolverine. He was only cast three weeks into filming after Dougray Scott, the original choice, became unavailable. Jackman won the Saturn Award for Best Actor for the performance.
‘X2: X-Men United’
Two years after the first film, X2 finds the X-Men facing Colonel William Stryker, whose campaign against mutants leads to an attack on Xavier’s school. The crisis forces the X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood into an alliance. Wolverine has a bigger role in the story.
‘X2’ won the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film.
‘X-Men: The Last Stand’
The original trilogy concludes with the threat of the emerging Phoenix personality within Jean Grey and a government programme that promises a supposed cure for the mutant gene.
The trilogy’s cast is joined by Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut.
Grammer’s Beast was the first live-action version of the character. Nicholas Hoult later played a younger version of Beast in ‘X-Men: First Class’ and subsequent films.
‘The Wolverine’
Set after ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, this film takes Logan to Japan after he’s summoned by an old acquaintance. He’s then caught between rival factions and tries to deal with his immortality.
Jackman returns as Wolverine, with the cast including Hiroyuki Sanada and Rila Fukushima.
‘The Wolverine’ was directed by James Mangold, who later reunited with Jackman for ‘Logan’ (2017).
