Marvel Reveals Official Watchlist for Avengers: Doomsday — With One Surprising Absence
Overview & Key Takeaways
Marvel and Disney have unveiled a list of key films fans need to watch to prepare for Doomsday, with one surprising omission.
Back in June, directors Joe and Anthony Russo said in an interview promoting Avengers: Doomsday that the upcoming film would be "starting over from scratch" and that everyone would feel the latest Marvel blockbuster isn't "leaning on anything from the past." To sum it up: after Doomsday, the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be back to "phase zero." All in all, no homework required.
That statement seemed disingenuous from the start, with several characters from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe confirmed to appear, including Captain America (Chris Evans) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), as well as X-Men icons Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen). As it turns out, we were right to be skeptical: Marvel has just revealed an official watchlist for Doomsday over on Disney Plus.
We've laid out the full list below.
- X-Men
- X2
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- The Avengers
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Loki
- Shang-Chi
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Captain America: Brave New World
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Thunderbolts
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps
With 18 years of Marvel history under Disney's belt, it always seemed wishful thinking to assume you could watch Doomsday without seeing any previous MCU films. Evans returning as Captain America after going back in time to be with his old flame, Peggy Carter, is a significant reveal that only makes sense if you understand Rogers' journey throughout the MCU.
At first glance, the list makes a lot of sense. Movies with confirmed characters involved, such as Loki, Shang-Chi, and The Fantastic Four, are included. However, there are some glaring absences from the list. For example, X-Men: Days of Future Past is the perfect movie to acknowledge that plenty of time-traveling and alternate-universe shenanigans are happening within the X-Men's timeline.
Image: Marvel Studios
A more comical (and understandable) absence is the Iron Man films, which feature Robert Downey Jr. as the titular playboy millionaire superhero. With Downey Jr. returning as Doctor Doom, the main villain for Doomsday, the absence of the Iron Man films seems to be a rather obvious way for Marvel to avoid questions about why Doom looks so much like Tony Stark. That is, if Doomsday even addresses that question at all.
Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday releases on Dec. 18 — plenty of time for any Marvel fan, new or returning, to catch up on these selected movies and go into the cinema knowing what to expect.
