What to Watch Before Avengers: Secret Wars
Updated
Avengers: Secret Wars (December 17, 2027) closes the Multiverse Saga and is a direct sequel to Avengers: Doomsday, with the Russo brothers directing both. In the 2015 comic it takes its name from, colliding universes wipe each other out and Doctor Doom stitches the survivors into a single patchwork planet, Battleworld, which he rules as a god. The film’s plot is still under wraps, so this list sticks to what is certain: the stories that explain incursions and the multiverse, the teams Doomsday brings together, and Doomsday itself. It is ten titles, in release order, and if you already prepped for Doomsday you have seen all but the last one.
10 titles · about 27h 58m · in the order we’d watch them
Pick a pace to see if you’ll make it.
Catch up before you watch Avengers: Secret Wars
- Released
- December 17, 2027
- Where to watch
- In theaters, then on Disney+ a few months later
- This catch-up list
- 10 titles · about 28h
Want a day-by-day schedule? The marathon planner builds one, and the tracker keeps your place.
The 10 titles to watch, in order
- 1
Avengers: Infinity War
Why it mattersThe first half of the last saga-ending two-parter, and the model Doomsday and Secret Wars are built on: a villain who wins the first round.
- 2
Avengers: Endgame
Why it mattersThe end of the Infinity Saga. It decides where Steve, Sam and Thor stand afterward, and its time-travel heist sets up Loki.
- 3
Loki: Season 1
Why it mattersIntroduces the TVA, variants and the Sacred Timeline, and explains where the MCU’s multiverse comes from.
- 4
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Why it mattersStrange’s botched spell pulls in villains from other universes, the first real sign that the walls between realities are failing.
- 5
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Why it mattersNames and explains incursions, where two universes touch and one or both are destroyed. In the comics, that is the disaster that sets off the 2015 Secret Wars.
- 6
Loki: Season 2
Why it mattersSeason 2 deals with what an endlessly branching multiverse does to the TVA. Tom Hiddleston is in the Doomsday cast, so where it leaves Loki should matter.
- 7
Deadpool & Wolverine
Why it mattersThe TVA, a dying Fox universe and the idea of anchor beings. It is also the bridge that brought Fox’s mutants into the MCU before Doomsday.
- 8
Thunderbolts*
Why it mattersYelena’s team-up, and an end-credit scene that points straight at the Fantastic Four and Doomsday.
- 9
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Why it mattersReed, Sue, Johnny and Ben of Earth-828, plus a mid-credit scene that teases Doom. Reed Richards is central to the comic’s version of Secret Wars.
- 10
Avengers: Doomsday
Why it mattersPart one of the two-film finale and the one essential title here. Watch it last, as close to Secret Wars as you can.
Track your prep with the MCU tracker or schedule it with the marathon planner.
Avengers: Secret Wars prep FAQ
Do I need to watch Doomsday before Secret Wars?
Yes. Secret Wars is the direct sequel to Avengers: Doomsday and concludes the Multiverse Saga. If you only watch one film before Secret Wars, make it Doomsday.
When is Avengers: Secret Wars released?
Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for December 17, 2027, a year after Doomsday.
Is Secret Wars based on the comics?
It shares a title with two comic events: the 1984 limited series, where the Beyonder abducts heroes and villains to a battle planet, and the 2015 event by Jonathan Hickman, where Doctor Doom builds Battleworld from the wreckage of dying universes. The film’s plot has not been revealed.
Should I rewatch the Doomsday prep list as well?
If you have time, yes. Everything on our Avengers: Doomsday list still applies, and this guide is the shorter multiverse-focused version of it.