Avengers: Doomsday is the most important MCU release coming this year, and Disney hopes it will turn the brand’s success back around again, but there are some movies and TV shows fans need to watch before this film. One complaint about the MCU is that some fans feel it is homework watching all the movies and TV shows to keep caught up. However, there are some complaints that are clearly over-inflated because it isn’t hard to catch up with each movie while watching nothing beforehand most times. The movies are almost always self-contained, and anything from the past gets explained in the movies.
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However, watching past movies will catch some people up and prepare fans for the new movies. For Avengers: Doomsday, there is only one Disney show that fans should watch ahead of time, and nine other movies have the seeds that led to this movie. While none have to be watched, here are the MCU projects that tie into the upcoming movie in December.
10) Spider-Man: No Way Home
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Spider-Man: No Way Home really opened up the idea of the multiverse for Avengers: Doomsday. That there are heroes on different Earths in the multiverse that are often drastically different from the MCU plays out in No Way Home. This is the movie that shows the Sony Spider-Man heroes and villains can cross over with the MCU, and that opens up the idea for other familiar heroes to also cross over. This is where the idea that the X-Men could show up played out. This was also where Doctor Strange revealed that opening these doors is extremely dangerous, which will lead to incursions.
9) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
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Marvel introduced incursions themselves in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This movie actually showed Strange traveling throughout the multiverse to stop the Scarlet Witch, as she attacked heroes on other Earths, attempting to steal the life of one of her variants. This showed the Illuminati on one Earth, and they explained the idea of incursions destroying worlds in the multiverse when things changed too much, thanks to people traveling throughout the multiverse. This is what should happen at the end of Avengers: Doomsday. While this movie is not part of the upcoming movie’s story, it helps explain the idea of what is coming.
8) Thor: Love and Thunder
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The first Avengers: Doomsday trailers show four different batches of heroes, and one of them shows Thor and his adopted daughter, Love. For anyone who hasn’t seen Thor: Love and Thunder, this might seem very confusing. While the actual story from Thor: Love and Thunder has nothing to do with Avengers: Doomsday, this is the movie where fans will see how Thor ended up with a daughter. Love is Gorr the God Butcher’s daughter, whom the villain died to save at the end of the movie, with Thor promising to watch after her. With the idea that Doctor Doom might go after the hero’s children, it is important to know why she is so important to Thor.
7) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
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Just like in Thor: Love and Thunder, there are two reasons to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever before Avengers: Doomsday that have nothing to do with the movie’s plot. This was the first Black Panther movie after Chadwick Boseman’s death, and this film explains why Shuri is the new Black Panther, as well as why M’Baku is the new active King of Wakanda. Secondly, this film introduced Namor to the MCU. Shuri, M’Baku, and Namor are all important parts of Avengers: Doomsday, and this movie explains their importance in the MCU.
6) Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was supposed to be the most important movie leading into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. However, while the MCU pivoted to Doctor Doom instead of Kang, this film still has minor significance. This was where Kang was planning a giant takeover event with variants of the Conqueror from all different worlds. While it isn’t Kang anymore, this was where the story was supposed to start, so it is a good movie to watch to understand at least the events from Loki, which is much more important for Avengers: Doomsday.
5) The Marvels
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The Marvels has only one moment that is important for the plot of Avengers: Doomsday. While the movie is a great release and deserves more praise than it gets, The Marvels’ biggest contribution to the upcoming MCU event movie comes in the post-credit scene. A rift opened in the movie that Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan had to close. It was Monica who sacrificed herself to fix it by going to the other side. This landed her in a world with the X-Men. This is where Beast (Kelsey Grammer) showed up, and the Fox-MCU crossover began.
4) Loki Season 1 & 2
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Possibly the most important thing to watch before Avengers: Doomsday is Loki, and this is even with the changes removing Kang and replacing him with Doctor Doom. In this series, Loki returns to life thanks to the time travel in Avengers: Endgame, but he becomes a target for the Time Variance Authority. The TVA banished Loki to the end of time, where he met a Kang variant (He Who Remains) who was holding the sacred timeline together. If it severs, the incursions will destroy everything. When this Kang died, Loki had to take up the task. The idea of the incursions destroying everything was set up here, and this is what Doomsday will show happening. The end of time also appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine, but it is more important in Loki.
3) Thunderbolts*
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There is one thing from Thunderbolts* that is very important for Avengers: Doomsday, and one that might play a big part depending on the story. The biggest thing is that the Fantastic Four are on their way to Earth in the post-credits of the film. The FF and X-Men arriving on Earth and battling the Avengers, Thunderbolts, and more, was set up in this post-credit scene. However, there is one other thing to note. Thunderbolts* introduced Sentry, and he could end up playing a considerable role in Avengers: Secret Wars , and it’s important to see how powerful he is in Thunderbolts*.
2) The Fantastic Four: First Steps
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the most important movie to watch heading into Avengers: Doomsday because it is where Doctor Doom makes his MCU debut. It is also where Reed Richards shows he knows how to travel the multiverse, and it sets up the FF to become some of the top heroes in the MCU in the future. This movie shows Doom with Franklin Richards, and it shows how powerful Franklin likely is, so this is where the idea for Doom gaining the power to win starts.
1) Spider-Man: Brand New Day
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There is no telling what Spider-Man: Brand New Day will offer to the story in Avengers: Doomsday. However, this is the last movie that will come out before the huge event film arrives in December. Since Spider-Man was where the road to Avengers: Doomsday began, with him toying with the multiverse, it makes sense his movie would be the last one before Doomsday changes everything. Expect Spider-Man: Brand New Day to be the only 2026 release that offers a hint at what is coming in the biggest MCU release of 2026.
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