Congratulations. You’ve decided to prepare for Avengers: Doomsday. Unfortunately, you’ve also signed up for what is essentially a second full-time job.
A viral Instagram post claims you need around 300 hours to watch every Marvel movie before Avengers: Doomsday hits theatres this December. At first glance, it sounds like classic internet fearmongering. But wait, it’s… kind of true.
That number isn’t just the MCU, buddy.
If you’re only talking about Marvel Studios movies, from Iron Man (2008) to the latest releases, you’ll clock in at roughly 75-80 hours. Add the Disney+ shows like Loki, WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and you’re already crossing the 150-hour mark. Now throw in the Netflix Defenders saga, Fox’s X-Men films, Tobey and Andrew’s Spider-Man movies, Deadpool, Fantastic Four, and every other multiverse-adjacent project Marvel has suddenly decided counts, and congratulations, you’ve unlocked the mythical 300-350 hour watchlist.
Kevin Feige really looked at everyone’s “Continue Watching” row and said, “Not enough.”
Do You Actually Need To Watch All Of It?
Short answer? No.
Long answer? Also no, unless you’re the kind of person who pauses every trailer to identify which Earth a background character is from.
The internet’s collective Marvel brain has more or less agreed that you don’t need every single title to understand Doomsday. Marvel has always made its movies accessible enough that casual viewers can follow the main plot. Watching everything simply means you’ll catch every callback, variant, post-credit tease and emotionally devastating reunion that sends Reddit into a 2,000-comment meltdown.
If You’re Going To Prioritise, Watch These
If there’s one project nearly every fan agrees belongs at the top of the homework list, it’s Loki. The show basically becomes the owner’s manual for the multiverse, introducing the TVA, branching timelines, variants and why reality now resembles a bowl of multiversal spaghetti.
Then comes Spider-Man: No Way Home, because that’s where Marvel casually tears open the multiverse and invites everyone from previous Spider-Man franchises to the party.
Deadpool & Wolverine is another BIG AHH one, thanks to its heavy TVA connections and the return of Fox-era Marvel characters. It’s less “optional viewing” and more “this will probably explain why Wolverine is suddenly standing next to the Avengers.”
And with The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Spider-Man: Brand New Day releasing before Doomsday, they’re expected to feed directly into the film’s story.
About Those Shows Everyone Keeps Telling You To Skip…
If you’ve wandered into Marvel Reddit recently, you’ve probably seen comments like:
“Just watch Loki and No Way Home.”
“You can skip Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk.”
“They didn’t even include Secret Invasion.”
And wait, the internet isn’t entirely wrong.
Secret Invasion had world-changing implications on paper, but very little of it has carried over into later projects so far. Meanwhile, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight and Echo are generally considered lower-priority viewing for Doomsday specifically. They’re fun if you’re in completionist mode, but they’re not required reading before the exam.
The Real Marvel Experience
Let’s be honest. Half the fun of watching Marvel isn’t the movies, it’s opening social media afterwards and watching fans argue over whether a blurry green pixel in the trailer is actually Doctor Doom’s left elbow from Earth-838.
So no, you don’t need to binge 300 hours of Marvel unless your life goal is achieving “chronically online Marvel lore expert” status. But if you’ve got the time, the snacks and an unhealthy relationship with post-credit scenes, the full watchlist might just be your greatest cinematic endurance test yet.