Prepare for Doom
By Ariana Molina and Genevieve Ezmirly
Staff Writers
Marvel fans are getting ready for a new superhero movie called Avengers: Doomsday. On July 20th, Marvel released a surprise trailer for Doomsday, giving fans a first look at their newest soon-to-be hit. The movie will be released on December 18th.
But Avengers: Doomsday is more than just another superhero movie. Doomsday brings together characters and teams from across the MCU, and possibly even beyond! Since many of these characters have their own stories and backgrounds, understanding their various histories can help consumers understand Doomsday better. With the Doomsday Deadline approaching, true Marvel fans need to be fully prepared for its release. To get caught up on the timeline, countless watch lists have been created, featuring over seventy Marvel movies. That’s almost 160 hours of watch time! This means that, in order to be entirely informed, viewers must watch one Marvel movie every single day beginning on the first day of October. Anyways, enough with the statistics - which movies do you actually need to watch?
Well, Avengers: Doomsday features the collision of countless Marvel groups, including, of course, The Avengers, as well as The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Thunderbolts, and the Wakandan warriors. Because of this immense crossover between franchises, you can imagine how long the watch list is.
The first movies on the official Doomsday preparation list, created by MCU Watchlist, feature the following: Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, and Agent Carter, seasons 1-2. These productions feature the beginnings of Marvel’s very first heroes, Captain America and (arguably) Agent Carter. These movies and series begin the famous Marvel franchise, starting viewers off strong.
The next set of movies on the official Doomsday watch list are the X-Men movies, eight films that explore the second major group featured in Avengers: Doomsday. Going through countless characters’ backgrounds and stories, the X-Men movies explore the lives of characters such as Wolverine, Dr. Charles Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, and countless more. Though typically not considered essential picks for the Doomsday watch list, the X-Men movies are highly recommended for these reasons.
As the Doomsday preparation list continues, countless movies are featured, such as the Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, and Spider-Man films. Each film dives deeper into the backstories of individual MCU Superheroes, further building characters we know to be vital to the Doomsday premise. As well as this, productions such as Thunderbolts, The Fantastic Four films, and further X-Men movies are listed, furthering readers' knowledge of various characters and superhero groups. With a long watch list, some students don't think watching every Marvel movie is necessary.
There are over seventy movies on some watch lists, which can make catching up seem like a lot of work. “I don't think people need to watch all the Marvel movies before watching Avengers: Doomsday. It's a lot of movies to catch up on, and I don't think you need to watch every movie to enjoy the movie,” said Ferrah Lupper. For fans who haven't seen every Marvel movie, watching them all before the release will take a lot of time.
Other students are looking forward to seeing what happens when so many Marvel characters come together. With familiar heroes returning, fans are already wondering what will happen to their favorite characters. “I'm excited and ready to have my emotions messed with, but if Spider-Man dies again I'm suing Marvel," said Andrew Martinez.
Overall, though extensive, the Doomsday preparation films feature countless classic productions, helping readers understand Doomsday’s plot, superhero groups, and character arcs. But how much of this long, long list will you watch?
