Every MCU movie you need before Doomsday
There are 59 titles before Avengers: Doomsday on the Road, and Doomsday comes right after them. That's a lot of watching, and honestly, not every movie pulls the same weight. This guide covers the movies, sorted by how much they matter for walking into Doomsday with your bearings. The shows get their own guide.
Before we start, here's how we sort what we say:
- Confirmed: things Marvel has announced, like the Doomsday cast Marvel revealed in its own livestream.
- Reported: things trade outlets have said. We flag them, and we don't build on them here.
- Opinion: our take on what's worth your time. Everything labeled "our take" is opinion, plain and simple.
We won't guess at Doomsday's plot. Nobody outside Marvel knows it, and pretending otherwise doesn't help you plan a watch.
What we actually know about Doomsday
Here's the confirmed part. Marvel announced a big cast for Avengers: Doomsday, including:
- Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.
- Avengers-era heroes: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejía and Danny Ramirez.
- Thunderbolts* actors: Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman.
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps actors: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
- Several Fox X-Men actors: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden, plus Kelsey Grammer and Channing Tatum.
That list is basically a map. If an actor is on it, the movies that built their character jump up our priority list. That's the logic behind every pick below.
Tier 1: Don't skip these
These are the movies we'd tell a friend not to skip. Each one either sets up a big piece of the current Marvel world or introduces someone Marvel has announced for Doomsday.
The Avengers
Our take: Worth it, even if you've seen the clips a hundred times. It's the first time the team actually works as a team, and it introduces Loki as a real threat.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Tom Hiddleston is back, and his Loki has traveled a long way since this one. Seeing where he started makes the later version land harder.
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
Our take: Treat these two as one long movie. Watch them close together if you can.
Why it matters before Doomsday: They're the last time the MCU tried something this big, and they reset the board for almost everything after. Downey's history in these films is also part of why his casting as Doom got so much attention. Watching them, you'll feel the weight of who's gone and who's still standing.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Our take: A heavier, slower movie than most MCU entries, and that's a strength. Go in ready for a grief story first and a superhero movie second.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It carries a lot of confirmed Doomsday names at once: Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Tenoch Huerta Mejía. It also introduces Namor and his kingdom. If you only watch one Wakanda movie, our opinion is this one, though the first Black Panther makes it hit harder.
Thunderbolts*
Our take: This is the one we'd put at the top of a short list. It's a team movie built from leftover pieces of other movies, and it's smarter about its characters than you might expect.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Five of its actors are in Marvel's announced Doomsday cast. You'll meet Lewis Pullman's Sentry here and see where Yelena, Bucky, Red Guardian, U.S. Agent and Ghost stand going in.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Our take: Essential. It's its own thing in tone and look, so don't expect it to feel like the rest.
Why it matters before Doomsday: All four of its leads are in the Doomsday cast. It introduces Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben, and this is the family you'll need to know.
Deadpool & Wolverine
Our take: Worth it if you're fine with crude jokes. It's the loudest, rudest movie on this list, and it's also the clearest bridge between the Fox mutant movies and the MCU.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Channing Tatum, who's in the Doomsday cast, shows up here. It also plays with the multiverse idea and old Fox characters.
Tier 2: Strongly recommended
These aren't strictly required, but each one gives you context that makes Doomsday's cast mean more.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Our take: One of the best-built movies Marvel has made. If you watch only one Cap movie, make it this one.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It introduces Bucky as the Winter Soldier and gives Sam Wilson his first real spotlight. Both actors are back for Doomsday, and Sam carries the shield now.
Captain America: Brave New World
Our take: Mixed, honestly. It's not a top-tier entry, but it's the clearest look at Sam as Captain America.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It brings in Danny Ramirez as the new Falcon. Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez are both in the announced cast, so this is where you see that partnership working.
Black Widow
Our take: Watch it mainly for Florence Pugh and David Harbour. The family scenes are the best part.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It introduces Yelena and Red Guardian, both on the Thunderbolts* roster and both in the Doomsday cast. It makes Thunderbolts* hit harder.
Thor: Ragnarok
Our take: The funniest Thor movie, and the one that made Thor feel like a person instead of a statue.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Chris Hemsworth is back, and Ragnarok is where his current personality really starts. It's also a strong Loki movie, which doubles its value.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Our take: Great fight choreography and a family story that's better than it needed to be.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Simu Liu is in the announced cast. This is his only solo film so far, so it's the cleanest way to get to know him.
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Our take: Light and fun. Not a heavyweight, but a breezy palate cleanser between big ones.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It introduces Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen, who comes back in Thunderbolts* and is in the Doomsday cast. Paul Rudd's Scott Lang is in the cast too.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Our take: The weakest of the three Ant-Man movies, in our opinion. Still, it does real setup work.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It leans hard into the bigger multiverse story. Watch it for context rather than for the fun.
Tier 3: Context if you've got time
These are good to have, not need to have. If you're short on time, this is the tier to trim.
Iron Man
Our take: Still a blast. It's where the whole thing began, and Downey owns every scene.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Downey plays a new role in Doomsday. Seeing his first MCU turn gives the casting news its full punch. That's an emotional reason, not a plot one.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Our take: Weird, horror-flavored and uneven. Worth it if you like Sam Raimi's style.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It plays with alternate realities, which is useful background for a Doomsday cast that mixes characters from different eras of Marvel movies.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Our take: A crowd-pleaser that works best if you know older Spider-Man movies.
Why it matters before Doomsday: It shows the MCU pulling in characters from other film series. That's context for the X-Men casting, not a direct link. Tom Holland isn't on Marvel's announced Doomsday cast list, so treat this as background.
The Marvels
Our take: Short, scrappy and underrated, in our opinion. The team chemistry is fun.
Why it matters before Doomsday: Its post-credits scene features Kelsey Grammer as Beast, and Grammer is in the announced cast. That one scene is the main reason it's on this list.
What we'd trim if you're in a hurry
If you need a short version, here's our opinion on the leanest useful route through the movies:
- The Avengers
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Black Widow
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Captain America: Brave New World
- Thunderbolts*
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps
That's eleven movies instead of the full Road. You'll miss texture, but you'll know who's who. Add Loki from the shows guide if you can. Hiddleston's arc there matters a lot.
The Fox X-Men question
Several Fox X-Men actors are in Marvel's announced cast: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden. Those older Fox movies were made outside Marvel Studios, and we're not going to tell you they're required.
Our take: If you've got the time and the itch, the first two Fox X-Men films give you the clearest sense of who these characters were. Stewart and McKellen's back-and-forth is the core of it. If you don't, our guess is you'll still be fine. That's opinion, not a promise about the movie.
How to actually get through this
A few practical tips, all opinion:
- Pair them up. Infinity War and Endgame belong together. So do Black Widow and Thunderbolts*.
- Don't binge the heavy ones back to back. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever right after Endgame is a lot of grief in one weekend.
- Keep a running note. McuWatch keeps your next title in one place, so you don't have to remember where you stopped. Save My Place handles that, and Tonight Mode lets you watch and save progress without hunting around.
The bottom line
You don't need all 59 titles on the Road before Doomsday. But the more of the confirmed cast you know, the more each entrance will mean. Start with Thunderbolts* and First Steps, then work backward through the Avengers movies. Fill in the rest as time allows.
McuWatch is fan-made. Not affiliated with Marvel, Disney, or Sony.