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What to watch and read before Avengers: Doomsday

Disney's official homework, a five-film short path if you are pressed for time, and the three comics that explain why Doctor Doom is the villain for an event this size.

By the editors of The Iron Mask Files · Published October 13, 2026 · Updated October 18, 2026 · 4 min read

Avengers: Doomsday, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo with Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, opens December 18, 2026, and it brings together characters from nearly thirty years of Marvel films. In August 2026 Disney posted an official list of 15 movies and series to watch first. Here it is, with why each one matters, a shorter path if you only have a weekend, and the comics that explain the man in the mask.

This guide was written before the film's release and covers what leads into it, not its plot, so it is safe to read before or after you see it. For the release date, cast and runtime, see our Avengers: Doomsday hub.

If you only have a weekend

The five-film short pathWatch The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), whose mid-credits scene is the MCU's first tease of Doom; Avengers: Endgame (2019), the Russos' last Avengers film and Downey's farewell as Tony Stark; Thunderbolts* (2025); Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), which introduced Namor; and X-Men (2000), where the original X-Men film cast began. That covers most of the announced cast.

Disney's official watchlist

Disney posted this list on Disney+ in August 2026 (as reported by SlashFilm). The titles are in Disney's order; the notes are ours.

#TitleYearWhy it matters
1X-Men2000Where Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden, all announced for Doomsday, first played their X-Men roles.
2X22003Adds Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler.
3Captain America: The First Avenger2011Chris Evans's Steve Rogers and Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter, both confirmed for Doomsday.
4The Avengers2012The original team, Loki included.
5Avengers: Infinity War2018The Russos' first Avengers film, and Thanos at his height.
6Avengers: Endgame2019Downey's farewell as Tony Stark, the role he left before returning as Doom.
7Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings2021Simu Liu's Shang-Chi, on the announced cast.
8Spider-Man: No Way Home2021The multiverse breaks open.
9Black Panther: Wakanda Forever2022Introduces Tenoch Huerta Mejía's Namor, with Shuri and M'Baku.
10Captain America: Brave New World2025Anthony Mackie's first film as Captain America, with Danny Ramirez as Falcon.
11Deadpool & Wolverine2024Channing Tatum's Gambit, on the Doomsday cast.
12Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness2022Incursions, the universe-colliding idea at the heart of the Secret Wars comics.
13Thunderbolts*2025Florence Pugh's Yelena, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman's Sentry.
14The Fantastic Four: First Steps2025The Fantastic Four of Earth-828, all four announced for Doomsday, and the mid-credits tease of Doom.
15Loki (series)2021–23Tom Hiddleston's Loki and the machinery of the multiverse.

Two more worth a look if you have time: the mid-credits scene of The Marvels (2023), which brings back Kelsey Grammer's Beast, and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), where Grammer first played him.

The comics to read

Marvel has not said which comics the film adapts. These three stories best explain why Doom is the villain for an event this size.

  1. The origin

    Fantastic Four Annual #2 · 1964 · Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

    Who Doom is and why he hates Reed Richards, in twenty minutes.

    Collected in Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2. Find it: Amazon · Bookshop.org

  2. The first Secret Wars

    Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1–12 · 1984–85 · Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck

    Doom steals the power of the being who brought Earth's heroes to an alien world to fight.

    Find it: Amazon · Bookshop.org

  3. Secret Wars

    Secret Wars #1–9 · 2015–16 · Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić

    With the multiverse destroyed, Doom builds a new world from its pieces and rules it as God Emperor.

    Find it: Amazon · Bookshop.org

Our list of ten Doom comics to read before Doomsday goes further, Secret Wars explained sums up both events, and the full reading order covers sixty years. (Store links are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate and a Bookshop.org affiliate, this site earns from qualifying purchases.)

The Fantastic Four of Earth-828 against Doom

This site rates every version of the Fantastic Four against every version of Doom, including the First Steps family. We do not rate the film's Doom, because nobody has seen him fight yet, so here is how the Earth-828 Four do against the comics' classic Doom at his everyday peak:

  • Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal's version): classic Doom wins 70%. Full matchup
  • The Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby's version): classic Doom wins 52%. Full matchup
  • The Human Torch (Joseph Quinn's version): classic Doom wins 76%. Full matchup
  • The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach's version): classic Doom wins 65%. Full matchup

Against the Avengers in the cast, the comics' classic Doom wins 55% against Iron Man, 78% against Captain America and 28% against Thor. Try any lineup in the team calculator.

What comes next

Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for December 17, 2027. Our Secret Wars hub tracks what is confirmed, and Battleworld explained covers the patchwork world at the heart of the comics.

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Written for The Iron Mask Files, an unofficial fan site. Comic issue numbers are given so you can check every claim; no artwork or dialogue from the comics is reproduced. Spot a mistake? Tell us. Our editorial standards.