My fellow Marvel fans, in sixteen months, Avengers: Doomsday hits the big screen, and Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU after SEVEN LONG YEARS. With this being slated as the biggest film of 2026 and the biggest film of the MCU next to Avengers: Endgame, everyone must prepare, and this guide can help. Here's everything you need to watch before Doomsday.

1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Currently in Theaters)

There are two important clues in the movie, one that possibly leads to Doomsday and one that definitely does.

Number one: the Latveria chair at Sue Storm’s Future Foundation conference. When Sue Storm was giving her speech, there was an empty Latveria space, topped with a green flag. Doctor Doom is the ruler of Latveria and originates from the country. Doom’s absence at the conference could be a huge connection to Doomsday.

Number two: in the mid-credit scene of First Steps, Doctor Doom is seen facing Franklin Richards without his face being shown. However, his mask and green cloak are shown. One possibility is that Franklin Richards is healing Doom’s face since he is reaching his left arm towards his face. In the comics, Doom’s face was permanently disfigured due to a science experiment that went wrong.

Doom's first appearance in the MCU is him being seen with Franklin Richards, which could mean he could be going after Reed Richards (his archenemy) or Franklin Richards himself (since he is a beyond Omega mutant who has cosmic-level powers that go beyond the powers of the X-Men) to advance his goal.

All four cast members which are Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Human Torch/Johnny Storm), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing) are slated to return in not only Avengers: Doomsday, but also in the movie’s sibling, Avengers: Secret Wars.

Take the Quiz: What’s Your Secret Superpower? This Quiz Will Reveal Which Singer Icon You Resemble

This fun quiz will unveil your unique qualities and reveal which music icon you resemble the most.

2. Thunderbolts

When we watched Thunderbolts, we thought the post-credit scene led to Fantastic Four: First Steps because of the F4 ship being shown. However, the post-credit scene was actually a prelude to the events of Doomsday and the scene was filmed on the Doomsday set a month before the film’s release.

What might have happened is that Doom took Franklin Richards and the Fantastic Four could be looking for Franklin Richards OR they could be going to the New Avengers to warn them about Doom.

Aside from F4, this is also the film that sets up the storyline of the new team, the New Avengers. They will be a huge part of Doomsday and will interact with individuals from their own universe and different universes.

All members of the New Avengers which are Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/US Agent), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost/Ava Starr), David Harbour (Red Guardian/Alexei Shostakov), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes, and Lewis Pullman (Sentry/Void/Bob) are slated to return in Avengers: Doomsday.

3. The Original X-Men trilogy

You forget to watch the original X-Men trilogy, and you walk into the theater ready to see Avengers: Doomsday all excited, but the second you see the X-Men, you’re going to be confused out your mind.

The six members from the original X-Men trilogy who will appear in Doomsday are Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier/Professor X), Ian McKellen (Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto), Kelsey Grammer (Hank McCoy/Beast), James Marsden (Scott Summers/Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Raven Darkhölme/Mystique), and Alan C. (Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler)

Patrick Stewart made his first-ever MCU debut as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; Kelsey Grammer made his debut in The Marvels as a cameo in the post-credit scene.

The X-Men mutant Remy LeBeau/Gambit was introduced in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Deadpool and Wolverine and will return in Avengers: Doomsday, but instead of Taylor Kitsch playing the role, it will be Channing Tatum, who played the character in Deadpool and Wolverine.

4. Captain America: Brave New World

This film sets up the central part that Sam Wilson/Captain America will play in Avengers: Doomsday. It also focuses on the storyline and challenges that Sam Wilson faces as the new Captain America. He will also be the leader of his new Avengers team and will lead them to fight against Doctor Doom in Doomsday (even though they might be a little dead weight, no offense).

Aside from that, in the post-credit scene of the film, this quote…

It's coming. I've seen it in the probabilities, seen it plain as day,

All you heroes, protecting this world—do you think you're the only ones? Do you think this is the only world? We'll see what happens when you have to protect this place from the others.

…is a threat of a multiversal war and a threat that establishes Captain America's role in Doomsday. This quote was said by Samuel Sterns/The Leader, the film's antagonist. While it's obvious to some that he's talking about Doctor Doom, we don't know who are the “others.” He could mean Doctor Doom's supervillain team, evil variants of the heroes, etc.

Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America) and Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres/Falcon) will return in Avengers: Doomsday.

5. The Entire Infinity Saga from Iron Man to Spider-Man: Far From Home

What better way to pay tribute to RDJ and Chris Hemsworth returning in the same Avengers movie than with watching the past four Avengers films and their solo films?

The whole saga is not a direct lead to Avengers: Doomsday, but the 23 movies can help you understand what the MCU is and are very easy to follow along with, as almost every movie is connected to another. If you're a new MCU fan, start with Iron Man and end with Spider-Man: Far From Home.

If you're a longtime MCU fan just simply preparing for Doomsday, I recommend watching the Iron Man trilogy (to learn more about RDJ's past role), the four Avengers movies (specifically Infinity War and Endgame), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (to learn more about Bucky Barnes' powers origin), and the two Spider-Man films (just to be sure and safe).

6. WandaVision

It’s not a direct cause of Avengers: Doomsday like how First Steps is, but it does mention the multiverse. WandaVision is the first ever MCU content of the Multiverse Saga, and this series hints at nexus beings via an ad about medication called Nexus. Nexus beings are individuals with powers that can drastically manipulate multiple universes or realities, and they are a key element of the stability of the multiverse.

Avengers: Doomsday will be a multiversal event due to the merging of multiple universes into one universe to defeat Doctor Doom. With this information, we might see some Nexus Beings.

7. Loki Seasons 1 & 2

This show which centers around the trickster anti-hero Loki should not be underestimated as the events in both seasons contribute to Doomsday.

For season 1, it sets up the multiverse and the TVA (Time Variance Authority), an organization that maintains the security of the Sacred Timeline. However, Sylvie Laufeydottir, who is a variant of Loki, killed He Who Remains (the creator of the TVA), which caused the TVA to lose control of the Sacred Timeline, ultimately causing the multiverse to break free and leading to the possibility of a multiversal war. Considering Doctor Doom's ability to teleport between universes and his potential goal to take over the entire multiverse, we could see that possibility play out in Doomsday.

For season 2, Loki becomes the He Who Remains, which means that he is now responsible for maintaining the multiverse. To hold the timelines together require great power and strength. Instead of prioritizing himself, he takes on the helm and becomes a cosmic entity to control the multiverse. In Doomsday, if Doctor Doom wants to take over the entire multiverse, he would have to battle Loki, which could either lead to his death or Doom harnessing his power.

Tom Hiddleston (Loki Laufeyson) will return in Avengers: Doomsday.

8. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

No direct leads, but this movie introduces incursions, which are one of the key components in a multiversal war in Avengers: Doomsday.

Incursions are when universes collide with each other, and when incursions are poorly handled, they could lead to the destruction of the multiverse, causing a multiversal war. This is what Multiverse of Madness was all about, and two examples include the Illuminati revealing that Earth-838's Doctor Strange caused an incursion by using the Darkhold to dreamwalk into another universe, inadvertently destroying it.

This could also suggest that dreamwalking is one of the reasons for incursions. The Scarlet Witch has also used the Darkhold to dreamwalk, but did not cause an incursion like 838 Strange did.

Another example of incursions is when, in the mid-credit scene of Multiverse of Madness, Doctor Strange is approached by Clea, who is the spouse of Strange and the niece of Dormammu in the comics. She tells Strange that he caused an incursion and that he needs to fix it with her. With his poorly edited third eye, he joins her.

A possibility related to incursions is that with the power of teleportation between universes, Doctor Doom could cause universes to start conflicts with each other, causing more incursions.

Please note that the Charles Xavier who was killed by 838 Wanda was not the primary Charles Xavier, but rather a variant. The main Charles Xavier will appear in Avengers: Doomsday.

9. Shang Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings

If I made a “Top 10 Best MCU Movies of the Multiverse Saga” article, I would put this in my top 5. If you saw this film, you would too.

This movie is an origin story about the iconic Chinese superhero Shang-Chi, which means that it introduces his background, powers, and the Ten Rings organization, which may be mentioned in Doomsday. By watching this movie, you will fully understand the character's background and skills, which will also be shown in the 2026 Avengers film.

Simu Liu, who plays Shang-Chi, will return in Avengers: Doomsday, and it will be his second MCU appearance after the 2021 film.

10. Spider-Man: No Way Home

Remember that Doctor Strange spell that was intended to erase everyone's memory of Peter's identity but ended up garnering villains from other universes? Yeah, that could be a huge contributing factor to Avengers: Doomsday, as the film features concepts of the multiverse and the consequences of opening up the multiverse and incursions.

11. Deadpool and Wolverine

Loki isn't the only MCU project to feature the TVA and concepts of the multiverse. While both Deadpool and Wolverine aren't speculated to be in Doomsday, they could possibly be in Secret Wars, though it's just a rumor.

This movie also mentions something that no other MCU project has done before—anchor beings.

Anchor beings refer to individuals who maintain the stability of their universe just by existing. If they die, their universe degrades, leading to destruction. For example, in the X-Men universe of Earth-10005, Wolverine is the anchor being of that universe, and when he died in the movie Logan, it caused that universe to degrade.

Doomsday could have a slight or huge mention of anchor beings. Not to mention, the TVA will play a huge role in that film.

Ryan Reynolds posted on Instagram a photo of the Avengers logo covered with a red “A”, teasing his appearance in the upcoming Avengers film. After speculation, he is confirmed to be appearing in Avengers: Doomsday as Deadpool.

12. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

After Shuri's brother T'Challa died from an illness and her mother Ramonda died from water suffocation after being attacked by Namor, she takes the herb to become the Black Panther and fights Namor herself. However, instead of killing him and avenging her mother's death, she spares him, and they reach a truce together. Now the Black Panther, she will lead herself and the Wakandan army, alongside M'Baku and the Jabari to face against Doctor Doom, with Namor more likely to join Wakanda.

Letitia Wright (Shuri/Black Panther), Tenoch Huerta Meija (Namor), and Winston Duke (M'Baku) will appear in Avengers: Doomsday.

13. Thor: Love and Thunder

This is part of the author's (my) recommendations. If you really want to see this film, wash your eyes out afterward.

When Gorr died, his daughter Love became a cosmic entity, giving her a connection to Eternity due to a wish he made for his daughter to be resurrected back to life. Thor adopts his daughter, and they become hero partners. Eternity is another cosmic entity that can personify all time and matter.

There could be a possibility that Love alerts Thor about an upcoming incursion or cosmic threat caused by Doctor Doom, sending Thor into the fight against Doom. This is not a confirmation, just a rumor.

Chris Hemsworth will play his character again in Avengers: Doomsday.

Conclusion

Everyone’s scared of Doctor Doom, including me. But you know what else you should be scared of? Not knowing anything before the movie.

I’m not saying you should watch all these films in one big marathon, but watch them at your own timing and pace. Doom ain’t going anywhere.