What to Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday (Official List + 5-Movie Shortcut)

Verdict: Disney+’s official “Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday” list has 15 titles and runs more than 40 hours. If you only have a weekend, watch these five: Avengers: Endgame, X2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Together they introduce every team in Doomsday in about 11 and a half hours.

Updated October 12, 2026 · Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters December 18, 2026

Who this is for: You want to be caught up before December 18 but don’t have time to rewatch the whole MCU, or you’re bringing someone who has never seen an X-Men movie.

Do you need to watch anything before Avengers: Doomsday?

Not strictly. Director Joe Russo told an audience at SXSW London in June that Doomsday takes the MCU “back to phase zero,” adding, “We want to make sure everybody feels like this isn’t leaning on anything from the past.”

That said, Doomsday brings together heroes from three universes: the main MCU, the Fantastic Four’s Earth and the world of Fox’s original X-Men films. Knowing who these people are will make the first hour much easier to follow. You don’t need all 15 titles for that. You need to have met each team once.

What’s on the official Disney+ watch list?

Disney+ has a “Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday” collection with 14 movies and one series, Loki. It also includes a companion podcast hosted by Frank Alvarez and Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel). Here’s the list in Disney’s order, with the reason each title matters for Doomsday.

The 14 movies run about 31 and a half hours. Loki adds two seasons of six episodes each, which takes the full list past 40 hours.

What’s the shortest way to catch up?

Watch one movie per team. Doomsday’s cast comes from five groups: the Avengers, Wakanda and Talokan, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Our shortlist covers them in about 11 and a half hours:

1. Avengers: Endgame (3 hours 1 minute). Thor, Ant-Man and Steve Rogers’s ending with Peggy all come from here, and Doomsday is the first Avengers movie since.
2. X2. It brings together five of Doomsday’s X-Men: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn and Alan Cumming. Kelsey Grammer’s Beast arrived later, in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
3. Deadpool & Wolverine. This is how the Fox universe and the MCU connect. It’s also where Channing Tatum finally played Gambit.
4. Thunderbolts*. Its team ends the movie as the New Avengers, and its post-credits scene jumps 14 months ahead to the Fantastic Four’s ship arriving.
5. The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This is Marvel’s newest family, from a different Earth, and its mid-credits scene teases Doctor Doom.

Add Loki season 2 (six episodes) if you have more time. Its finale shows who is keeping the multiverse from falling apart, and Doomsday’s story starts with the multiverse collapsing.

What should you watch for each Doomsday team?

The Avengers

Endgame is the one that matters. Steve Rogers goes back in time to live with Peggy Carter and hands his shield to Sam Wilson. Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell are both in Doomsday, so expect that ending to come up. Sam’s own story continues in Captain America: Brave New World, which ends with him deciding to rebuild the Avengers. Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez, the new Falcon, are both in the cast.

The New Avengers (Thunderbolts*)

Thunderbolts*, now listed by Marvel as The New Avengers. Image: Marvel Studios.

Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, U.S. Agent, Ghost and Bob, also called the Sentry, start Thunderbolts* as disposable assets and finish it rebranded as the New Avengers. All six actors return in Doomsday. Marvel’s own site now lists the film as The New Avengers, so you may see both names.

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Image: Marvel Studios.

First Steps takes place on its own Earth, separate from the main MCU. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) face Galactus while Sue is pregnant with their son, Franklin. Stay for the mid-credits scene. It’s the MCU’s first glimpse of Doctor Doom, the role Robert Downey Jr. plays in Doomsday.

Wakanda and Talokan

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever covers Shuri becoming the new Black Panther and introduces Namor’s underwater kingdom, Talokan. Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta Mejía and Mabel Cadena are all confirmed for Doomsday.

The X-Men

Doomsday’s X-Men are the actors from Fox’s first films, not new recasts. X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003) set up Professor X and Magneto’s friendship and rivalry. That’s the relationship most likely to matter when they meet the MCU’s heroes. If you only watch one, make it X2.

The multiverse

Loki season 2. Image: Marvel Studios.

Three titles explain how universes can collide. Loki introduces the Time Variance Authority and ends with Loki holding the timelines together. Spider-Man: No Way Home shows what happens when the multiverse leaks. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness explains incursions, when two universes crash into each other and at least one is destroyed. These are optional, but they’re the best preparation for a story about the multiverse collapsing.

What can you skip?

• The Iron Man trilogy. Robert Downey Jr. returns as Victor von Doom, not Tony Stark. Marvel hasn’t said how the two are connected, if at all.
• Most of the Disney+ shows. Loki is the only series on Marvel’s list. WandaVision and Agatha All Along are fun, but their stars aren’t in the confirmed cast so far.
• The X-Men prequels. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender’s younger versions aren’t in the confirmed cast.

One optional extra: the post-credits scene of The Marvels (2023) shows Kelsey Grammer’s Beast in the X-Men’s universe. It’s a short scene and the clearest hint Marvel had given that the Fox world was on its way.

Where can you watch everything?

Disney+. All 15 titles are in the Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday collection. If you’d rather own copies, the Fox X-Men films, Deadpool & Wolverine, Thunderbolts* and First Steps are all on Blu-ray, listed at the end of this guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I watch before Avengers: Doomsday?
Marvel’s official list is 15 titles on Disney+. The short version is Avengers: Endgame, X2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Do I need to watch the old X-Men movies?
It helps. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Alan Cumming, Kelsey Grammer and Channing Tatum are all in Doomsday. X2 covers the most of them.

Is Loki required for Avengers: Doomsday?
It’s the only series on Marvel’s official list, and season 2’s ending is about holding the multiverse together. It’s useful but not required.

How long is the official watch list?
About 31 and a half hours of movies plus two seasons of Loki, so more than 40 hours in total.

Do I need to watch Thunderbolts* before Doomsday?
Yes, if you watch only a few. Its team returns as the New Avengers, and its post-credits scene leads straight into Doomsday’s crossover.

Next step: pick the five-movie shortlist, then read our Avengers: Doomsday release date, cast and trailer guide for the full cast. For more, see Doctor Doom’s powers explained, every Marvel movie in order and our most powerful MCU characters.

The rest of the shortlist: Thunderbolts* Blu-ray ($22.96) · The Fantastic Four: First Steps Blu-ray + Digital ($22.96). Prices checked October 12, 2026.

Sources: the Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday title list as reported by What’s On Disney Plus, October 7, 2026. Joe Russo’s SXSW London comments as reported by The Playlist, June 2026. Cast from Marvel Studios announcements. Runtime totals are our estimate. Blu-ray prices checked on Amazon (US) on October 12, 2026; every disc listed is sold and shipped by Amazon. Images: Marvel Studios, via Marvel.com.