Marvel's Official Doomsday Watchlist Is Out, and One Missing Spider-Man Movie Says a Lot

Marvel has officially released, straight from Disney Plus, the full list of movies you need to watch before Avengers Doomsday. Some picks are exactly what you'd expect, but there are a few surprises in here, and one entry that I think offers a pretty big confirmation about who's going to appear in the movie. There's also only one show on the entire list.

This matters because the list is coming straight from Marvel Studios itself, so what's included and what's left off is a genuine hint at what the Russo brothers are building toward, not just fan speculation.

X-Men and X2 Are Required, But X-Men: The Last Stand Is Not

The old Fox X-Men are returning, and the list starts with the original X-Men and X2. It stops there. X-Men: The Last Stand is not on the list, and I believe that's because it's essentially a different universe. Cyclops dies in The Last Stand, and he's very much alive in Avengers Doomsday, so this looks like a timeline that started the same way but branched off, similar to how Loki is still the same character up until the point the TVA picks him up in the Loki series, then his story changes.

Captain America: The First Avenger Sets Up Steve Rogers Giving Up the Shield

Steve Rogers is returning, wielding Mjolnir rather than the shield, since Sam Wilson is Captain America now. I don't really think he's Captain America in this movie. He's Steve Rogers. I think when the two eventually meet, Steve tells Sam to keep the shield rather than take it back. The First Avenger also matters because of Peggy Carter, since Steve and Peggy are married in Avengers Doomsday after he goes back in time at the end of Endgame to stay with her. They have a kid, and Loki reportedly picks them up and moves them to a different universe because the one Steve stayed behind in was set to be pruned by the TVA for not being supposed to exist. Their presence in that new universe is reportedly connected to why the Fantastic Four's universe is headed for an incursion, tied in with Doctor Doom.

Avengers and Infinity War and Endgame Matter, But Age of Ultron Does Not

Of the Avengers movies, you need The Avengers, Infinity War, and Endgame. Age of Ultron is left off. The first Avengers is important just to see everyone come together, but Infinity War and Endgame specifically are among the most important entries on the whole list, because based on what the Russo brothers have said, Doomsday is picking up where Endgame left off, especially regarding Steve Rogers and likely Tony Stark's connection to Doctor Doom. New footage tied to this era is also coming with the Avengers Endgame re-release.

Loki Seasons One and Two Set Up His Throne, and Maybe Sylvie's Role

Loki is the one show on the list, and I'd say both seasons matter, since Avengers Doomsday finds Loki on his throne, essentially serving as Yggdrasil, the tree of life holding all the timeline branches together. The show also explains a lot about how the multiverse works. I think Sylvie could be a decent player in Doomsday too, possibly following Doctor Doom or appearing as one of the witches in green from the trailers, though that's still a wait and see.

Shang-Chi Confirms His Role, and the Ten Rings Might Connect to Doctor Doom

Shang-Chi is already confirmed for Avengers Doomsday from both trailers. Beyond that, I think the ten rings themselves might come into play. They were originally going to be linked to Kang, and it's unclear whether Marvel will now connect them to Doctor Doom instead. I really hope they do. I think it would be great.

Spider-Man No Way Home's Inclusion Hints at Tobey Maguire in Doomsday and Andrew Garfield in Secret Wars

No Way Home is on the list, and this one is going to spark theories. The film's entire premise, Doctor Strange's spell tearing open the multiverse and pulling in villains and Spider-Men from other realities, is exactly the kind of universe entanglement that Multiverse of Madness later shows destabilizes reality and causes incursions. What stands out to me is that no other Spider-Man film besides this one made the list, not the Sam Raimi or Andrew Garfield movies, even though both of those Spider-Men appear in No Way Home. I think Tobey Maguire's in Doomsday, but we don't get Andrew and probably Tom Holland Spider-Man until Secret Wars.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Covers Shuri, Namor, and Talokan

Wakanda Forever is the key entry for Shuri as Black Panther, M'Baku, Namor, and the underwater nation of Talokan. You can get acquainted with most of what you need just from the second film, though watching the original Black Panther first is still worthwhile if you haven't. We've already seen what looks like Talokan in the trailers, including Namor appearing to open up the sea, though it's not yet clear exactly what's happening there.

Captain America: Brave New World Establishes Sam Wilson's Own Avengers Team

Brave New World matters mostly to confirm that Sam Wilson is now Captain America heading into Doomsday, where he leads his own team including Ant-Man and War Machine, based on trailer footage. That team is set up against the Thunderbolts' New Avengers, including a running joke about the two groups fighting over the copyright to the Avengers name.

Deadpool and Wolverine's Presence on the List All But Confirms Their Doomsday Cameo

Deadpool and Wolverine have not been officially confirmed for Avengers Doomsday, but putting this movie on the required watchlist is, in my view, effectively a confirmation, especially after Ryan Reynolds joked at SDCC about there being no more room in the cast and Hugh Jackman and Reynolds did a skit at D23 hinting at it. It's said they appear in the opening scene. Beyond the cameo, the film's multiversal stakes matter too. Cassandra Nova threatens to destroy every universe until nothing is left but the void, which I think points toward the ending of Doomsday. I don't think Battleworld itself becomes the void, but I do think some survivors, possibly saved by Deadpool, Wolverine, Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, or Loki, end up hidden there rather than absorbed into Battleworld, meaning they'd keep their free will.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Sets Up Clea and a Doom Who Sees Himself as the Hero

Multiverse of Madness explains a lot about how the multiverse works and features Doctor Strange causing serious multiversal damage. The post credit scene has Clea telling Strange that he's created incursions that need fixing, unless he's scared. I think Clea is working for Doctor Doom, or at least that Strange runs into Doom, and ultimately Strange joins him because he believes Doom is genuinely trying to save the multiverse. In Doctor Doom's eyes, that's probably true. That's probably how he sees himself, since the Avengers have caused plenty of the multiverse's problems already, making them the antagonists from Doom's perspective. This film may also be many viewers' only introduction to Wanda as the Scarlet Witch, since neither WandaVision nor Age of Ultron made the list, which means her first impression for newcomers would be her villainous turn.

Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four: First Steps Round Out the List With Doom's Arrival

Thunderbolts introduces the team by name before their prominent role in Doomsday, and its post credit scene brings the Fantastic Four's ship into our universe. Fantastic Four: First Steps itself takes place in another universe that Doom is believed to be from, something the newest trailer seems to confirm since Reed Richards and Sue Storm clearly already know him. The film's post credit scene shows Doom arriving at the Baxter Building while Franklin touches his face, which suggests to me that Franklin recognizes him, possibly because Doom was a friend to the Fantastic Four before revealing himself as a villain, based on what Sue says in the trailer.

Taken together, if you started now you could realistically get through the X-Men films, the entire Infinity Saga, and the Multiverse Saga along with the Spider-Man films before Avengers Doomsday arrives, depending on how often you watch. It's not impossible, and these are the core titles Marvel itself says matter most.

Which entry on this list are you most surprised by, Spider-Man No Way Home or Deadpool and Wolverine?