The MCU Rewatchlist: What to Watch & Read Before Avengers: Doomsday
Like most MCU fans, I enjoy occasionally going back and rewatching some of my favorite projects from the franchise. However, for some, major blockbuster events such as Avengers: Doomsday call for a rewatch of the entire franchise. Today, I would like to present my personal “Rewatchlist”, starting at Phase One.
The list is designed to organize all essential MCU films in an easily digestible format (while coinciding with the releases of Endgame Encore and Doomsday). The schedule is, for the most part, chronological, with other projects added in that will tie into Doomsday. I will also leave personal notes explaining some inclusions/omissions at the bottom of the list.
Additionally, I have also prepared a companion comic schedule if you enjoy some additional reading material. While that schedule does not follow a rigid format like the Rewatchlist, it will likely enrich your time in the Marvel Universe as Doomsday approaches.
MOVIE REWATCHLIST
Phases One-Three:
- Week 1: Iron Man & Iron Man 2
- Week 2: Captain America: The First Avenger & The Avengers
- Week 3: Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Week 4: Captain America: Civil War & Black Widow
- Week 5: Black Panther & Doctor Strange
- Week 6: Thor: Ragnarok & Avengers: Infinity War
- Week 7: Avengers: Endgame & X-Men (2000)
Phases Four-Six:
- Week 8: X2: X-Men United & Wandavision
- Week 9: Spider-Man & Spider-Man 2
- Week 10: Loki Season 1 and X-Men: The Last Stand
- Week 11: Spider-Man: No Way Home & Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness
- Week 12: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Week 13: Days of Future Past & Logan
- Week 14: Loki Season 2 & Deadpool & Wolverine
- Week 15: Falcon and the Winter Soldier & Thunderbolts*
- Week 16: Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Week 17: Doomsday Premiere!
REVISIONS
- I decided to omit Iron Man 3 due to it generally being a self-contained film about Tony’s trauma after The Avengers.
- The Thor movies (bar Ragnarok) were not included because they are inessential for Doomsday, even if Thor and Dark World set up Loki’s character.
- The Ant-Man trilogy was omitted due to its (current) lack of relevance to the overarching MCU/Doomsday.
- While the Guardians trilogy was omitted from the list, Peter Quill still has a chance to play an important role in Doomsday. I highly recommend watching/rewatching the trilogy if you have additional time.
- Black Widow and Hawkeye were both included to better introduce Yelena’s character prior to Thunderbolts.
- The Fox X-Men movies were added due to the team’s inclusion in Doomsday. Logan was specifically added as a setup to Deadpool & Wolverine.
- Loki and WandaVision were the only MCU shows included for separate reasons. Based on current trailers, Loki and his TVA arc will be directly tied to Doomsday. As for WandaVision, it was included primarily as setup to VisionQuest, which releases in October. However, there is also a chance that the characters from WandaVision appear in Doomsday.
COMPANION COMIC SCHEDULE
- Weeks 1-2: Doctor Doom: Books of Doom
- Weeks 3-4: Emperor Doom (1987)
- Week 5: World War Hulk
- Weeks 6-7: Avengers Assemble Volumes 1, 2, 3, and Avengers Forever
- Weeks 8-10: Fantastic Four / FF by Jonathan Hickman Complete Collection Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4
- Weeks 11-12: Avengers / New Avengers (Time Runs Out) by Jonathan Hickman:
- Avengers Vol 1: Avengers World
- New Avengers Vol 1: Everything Dies
- Avengers Vol 2: The Last White Event
- Avengers Vol 3: Prelude to Infinity
- Infinity TBP (Contains Avengers Vol 4 + New Avengers Vol 2)
- New Avengers Vol 3: Other Worlds
- Avengers Vol 5: Adapt or Die
- Avengers Vol 6: Infinite Avengers
- New Avengers Vol 4: A Perfect World
- Avengers Time Runs Out
- Weeks 13-14: Secret Wars (2015)
- Week 15: Infamous Iron Man – Vol 1: Infamous and Vol 2: The Absolution Of Doom
- Weeks 16-17: Thunderbolts Epic Collection 1-3 and Thunderbolts: Faith In Monsters + Caged Angels
As stated before, these stories do not follow a rigid structure/schedule. They instead serve as additional reading material tangentially related to the events of Doomsday, exploring the comic mythos of essential MCU characters. World War Hulk was specifically included due to rumors that the Illuminati will return in Doomsday.
Most of these volumes should be publicly accessible via local libraries or online resources (such as Hoopla). However, in the case that a specific book is out of print, I have included a YouTube video summarizing that specific story/arc.
Admittedly, the Hickman section of this schedule is long and may prove difficult for some to commit to in just two weeks. However, I still recommend reading as much of Hickman’s work as possible before reading Secret Wars (2015).
Finally, if you enjoy these schedules and plan to use them before Doomsday releases, let me know in the comments!
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