Less than two months before “Avengers: Doomsday” hits theaters, Marvel fans are cramming. Ticket presales have surged past $50 million, and Disney has quietly dropped a 15‑title “essential viewing” list — an egregious study guide for the studio’s most ambitious crossover yet.
David Alfonso, a hardcore Marvel fan, has reached over 10.6 million views on his TikTok video captioned, “POV: ‘Avengers Doomsday’ is in 4 months and 14 days but you’re only 1 movie in,” since posting it on Aug. 3, 2026.
Alfonso is just one of many “prepping” for the upcoming release, but it begs the question: How much do fans actually need to know before watching “Doomsday?”
Marvel thinks it has an answer. In September, Disney quietly released a 15-title “essential viewing” watchlist, out of the 56 in the MCU, designed to help audiences prepare for the studio’s biggest crossover event since “Avengers: Endgame.”
Eduardo Arias, a former Paramount and Sony executive and current media professor at the University of Miami, said the curated watchlist serves two purposes: helping audiences follow an increasingly complex story and keeping fans engaged with the franchise before the film’s release.
“There’s too much Marvel content now,” Arias said. “A curated list helps fans focus on the stories that are relevant and makes the commitment feel more manageable.”
According to Arias, Marvel is preparing audiences for a crossover event that pulls together characters and storylines from multiple corners of the franchise. Rather than asking viewers to revisit every MCU project, the company is directing attention to the relationships, conflicts and major events that are expected to matter most.
“When you understand what these characters have lost, accomplished and gone through together, the major moments in ‘Doomsday’ will have a much bigger payoff,” Arias said.
For anyone who’s lost track somewhere between “Endgame” and the multiverse cracking open like an overworked glow stick, Marvel’s new watchlist is basically a study guide for the chaos ahead.
Ana Francois, former director of TV distribution for MGM and Universal Studios and a media management professor at UM, said the watchlist may be as much a marketing strategy as a storytelling tool.
“I believe it’s more about marketing, but in entertainment industries, you cannot truly separate marketing efforts from storylines, they’re intertwined,” Francois said.
Francois said the curated approach gives casual viewers a manageable entry point while helping Marvel combat what many fans describe as “Marvel fatigue.”
The “Official” List
- X-Men (2000)
- X2: X‑Men United (2003)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Loki (2023)
- Spider‑Man: No Way Home (2021)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
- Shang‑Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
- Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
- Thunderbolts (2025)
- Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
But Why These?
These selections fall into three major categories: the original X-Men films, multiverse-focused projects and the MCU’s newest team-building stories.
The inclusion of “X-Men” and “X2: X-Men United” shows Marvel’s growing integration of mutant characters into the MCU. Movies like “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Loki” help explain the multiverse mechanics expected to play a major role in “Doomsday.”
The final group, including “Thunderbolts,” “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” introduces many of the characters expected to be central to the fight against Doctor Doom.
These selections are made to bridge Marvel’s past and future. The watchlist revisits foundational Avengers stories while introducing newer characters and teams expected to play major roles in “Doomsday.” The result is a condensed roadmap through the franchise’s most important ongoing storylines, from mutants to multiverse conflicts and the arrival of Doctor Doom.
The Bottom Line
Together, Arias and Francóis agree on one thing: Marvel’s watchlist is designed to make “Doomsday” feel less overwhelming. Whether the goal is to help audiences follow a complicated story or to drive engagement across Disney’s platforms, the “list” offers a shortcut through a franchise that now spans dozens of films and series.
For fans like Alfonso, that shortcut may not be necessary. Plenty of viewers are still embracing the challenge of full-on “‘Doomsday’ prepping,” turning marathon watch sessions into a social media trend of their own.
But for everyone else, Marvel’s official list suggests that catching up doesn’t require all 56 movies. As “Doomsday” approaches, Marvel is betting that 15 key titles are enough to bring audiences back into the universe it spent nearly two decades building.