5 More Marvel Movies to Watch Before Avengers Doomsday

It’s a little over six months until the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other heroes crossover on the big screen in Avengers Doomsday. In the last year I’ve done two blog posts about preparing for this epic story: Infinity Saga movies and Disney Plus series. Now it’s time for Multiverse movies (and some extra credit) to watch before December.  

Spider-Man

The inclusion of Tobey McGuire’s Spidey is mostly based on rumor. No confirmation yet that he’ll appear, but you never know since he’s already reprised his roll once. Plus it kind of shows what the multiverse is made of outside of our major players in Doomsday.

Extra Credit - The Amazing Spider-Man

Unlike Tobey, I haven’t seen any rumors about Andrew Garfield returning. That being said, we are heading into a multiverse movie and this would round off the variants of Spider-Man. I’m not saying I expect him to appear necessarily, but it would give him a chance to fight an alien. Or at least encounter one.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

It wasn’t the best received movie of post-Endgame MCU, but characters from this movie are confirmed for Doomsday and will likely play a major role. We are set to see Shuri, M’Baku, and Namor. I wouldn’t be surprised if we also see some of the Dora Milaje.

Extra Credit - Spider-Man No Way Home

I didn't originally intend for there to be so many Spidey movies, but that's just how it played out. In some ways, this one may be the most crucial Spider-Man movie before Doomsday, simply because it portrays multiversal heroes and villains. I’m not sure any project featuring the multiverse had been as epic as this one (except maybe Loki).

Thor: Love and Thunder

Like Black Panther, this movie wasn’t received as well we might’ve hoped. However, this movie shows what Thor had been up to since Endgame. Besides leaving the Guardians and getting in shape, he recovered Mjolnir and became an adoptive father. In addition, there are rumors of Doomsday’s trailer featuring Thor in battle. Maybe it’ll just turn out to be rumor, but we’ll see. 

Extra Credit - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Seeing as none of the Guardians have been announced as cast, but we know Star Lord will return at some point and that he’s on Earth (last we know). There’s no reason to think he couldn’t play a part in this battle. Plus, this was possibly the best received movie of the Multiverse Saga. Always worth a watch.

Thunderbolts*

This was the biggest crossover of the Multiverse Saga. Obviously, that's about to change with Doomsday. With these New Avengers headed into the multiverse, it'll be interesting to see how this band of misfits handles the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the other heroes of Earth-616. All I can say is that Bob better be okay by the end of Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Extra Credit - Spider-Man: Brand New Day 

As this movie hasn’t been released yet, we don’t know if/how it’ll play into Doomsday. After all, Tom Holland hasn’t been confirmed as part of the Avengers cast this time. Rumor has it that the ramifications of Doomsday will impact this movie or vice versa. All the same, it’s the last Marvel project to release before Doomsday. If any Spidey movie will directly affect the Avengers and company, it’ll be this movie. 

Fantastic Four: First Steps

We finally got the Fantastic Four into the MCU and they did not disappoint! Though in another corner of the multiverse, this movie hit home. I wrote before about the impact this movie had on me and I'm excited to see how this family fights with or alongside the Avengers. The credit scene broke the heart of every parent watching. We have Doctor Doom and the family is on the line.

Extra Credit - Deadpool & Wolverine

Many of our readers probably skipped this movie due to its R rating, but it changed things for the X-Men franchise. Instead of a hard reboot of Fox Marvel movies, Deadpool brought the mutants into the existing multiverse in an emotional and crazy way that only Deadpool could. Now the mutants from the original X-Men movies are headed into Doomsday, all because of Deadpool.

You have your homework now. Ten movies and five series to watch before Doomsday (plus fifteen extra credit movies). The clock is ticking and I'm anxious to see what chaos RDJ will bring as Doctor Doom. 

More Content You Might Like:

• "Thunderbolts: What About Bob?" by Spencer
• "Mr. Fantastic Knows Nothing… Welcome to Parenting" by Spencer
• "Deadpool & Wolverine - What You're Missing" by Joe

Spencer's Doomsday Prep Lists:

• "5 Marvel Movies to Watch Before Avengers Doomsday"
  
• X-Men
• Iron Man
• Captain America: Winter Soldier
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Avengers: Endgame
• "5 Marvel Shows to Watch Before Avengers Doomsday"
• WandaVision
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 
• Loki
• Hawkeye
• What If...?
• "5 More Marvel Movies to Watch Before Avengers Doomsday"
• Spider-Man
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Thor: Love and Thunder
• Thunderbolts*
• Fantastic Four: First Steps

Best MCU Beards for No-Shave November

Each year when No-Shave November comes around, I think to test my genetics and see if I can grow a beard than last year. My genes are such that it took me into my thirties to test myself long enough to get the goatee that I currently have. But November isn’t just about the face fuzz, but about men’s health. Physical and mental. So while I'm having a bit of fun with the Marvel-lous men (they seriously give me beard envy) men's health is serious. Many of us internalized the message to not ask for help. Don’t forget to check in on your mental and physical health. And don’t isolate yourself in the world of men; find your team of Avengers.

Though in no particular order, naturally I had to start here. Because iconic.

Maybe similar to Tony's, but it showed his transition from doctor to sorcerer.

Probably the closest to the beard I'm able to grow (but I lack sideburns).

Fitz started as a baby-faced nerd, but became a tough stubbly spy.

Without Hydra programming, Bucky needed something to keep looking tough.

Maybe Matt got tired of paying someone else to shave him?

Very polished and regal. A beard fit for a king.

Sometimes you can't care to shave (and sometimes you want to see your capabilities).

I think we all had beard envy for Cap's temporary on-the-run beard.

Fury was trying to look homeless. A beard helps, I guess?

I don’t know that I ever want chops like Hugh Jackman, but it’s iconic now. 

I had to finish off with The Thing’s bolder-y beard. Love it!

Secret Invasion Binge List

As Secret Invasion approaches on Disney Plus, I’m excited to see what Marvel will make of this intriguing storyline. My brother had told me about this plot from the comics years ago and then I saw it play out in cartoon form in Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Now we get to see it in live-action. I can only hope that Daisy Johnson (aka Quake) will return, as she was part of Fury’s team in the comics and cartoon. But since Agents of SHIELD is kind of semi-canon… we’ll see. There are two aspects of this show we know though: it will contain Nick Fury and the Skrulls. So let’s review Director Fury and his experience with these shapeshifters.

Captain Marvel

This prequel movie was Fury’s first encounter with the Skrulls, as well as ours. As a misunderstood faction of the shapeshifters infiltrated Earth, they sought only for the discovery and safety of their families. Along the way becoming allies with Carol, Fury, and Maria, they fought off the Kree before fleeing into space with Captain Marvel as their protector. We wouldn’t see the Skrulls again (knowingly at least) for many years yet.

Iron Man and Iron Man 2

This was our first present-day appearance of Director Fury. In the credits scene of Iron Man, he approached Tony Stark about the Avengers Initiative. Six months later, he set Black Widow undercover in Stark’s company to evaluate him. After helping Tony Stark save himself, Fury left as quickly as he’d arrived.

Thor

In the credit scene for Thor’s inaugural movie, we see Selvig in the aftermath of New Mexico, teaming up with SHIELD and Fury, leading directly into the events of The Avengers. Unfortunately, it’s obvious to the viewer that Loki is along for the ride with Selvig.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Again, Fury only makes a short appearance (he’s good at those). This time he appears in Times Square, welcoming Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) to the 21st Century. Defrosted after nearly 70 years, it understandably takes Steve a few minutes to acclimatize. 

The Avengers

A major player in this movie, Fury is the one who gets the Avengers together. It was his pet project after all, as we learned in Captain Marvel. First he was sending Widow to recruit Banner and then he was bringing Cap in himself. After Coulson’s death, Fury rallied them together and gave them someone to avenge (Coulson, of course) in the Battle of New York. He also helped them give the World Security Council the slip after the battle. 

Agents of SHIELD

Season 1, Episode 2

After assigning Coulson and his new team to the Bus, they got it wrecked leaving South America. So naturally Fury showed up to tell Coulson off, in a semi-humorous ending to the episode. Fury made a note to warn Coulson about his recruit, Skye. Things turned out okay in the end, so maybe that means Fury will recruit her as Quake to help in Secret Invasion (I’m going to keep dreaming).

Season 1, Episode 22

This episode takes place after Winter Soldier, but I’ll talk about it here while I’m already under the SHIELD heading. On his way to Europe after the events of Winter Soldier, Fury catches the signal of a stranded FitzSimmons. After rescuing them, it's off to help Coulson beat Garrett. And he does. And Fury goes off to do Fury-type stuff (starting to form his Secret Invasion team maybe?).

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I loved this team up of Falcon, Cap, and Widow. This movie is largely considered one of the best MCU movies and it’s not hard to see why. In a way, this movie probably set in motion Fury recruiting his private team for Secret Invasion. With the fall of SHIELD and Fury’s supposed death, it creates a power vacuum and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Skrulls used this vacuum to begin advancing their invasion. It was also nice to see Fury in more of a major role, instead of making an appearance that lasted maybe five minutes like many MCU movies.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

So after the Avengers get their butts and minds kicked by Wanda, they take a little respite at the Barton Homestead. And it’s there that Fury shows up to give the Avengers the needed pep talk (and some intel about where to go next to fight Ultron). With the Avengers on the mission, Fury goes to pick up Coulson’s fleet of helicarriers (per the Theta Protocol in Agents of SHIELD). And with Ultron defeated and the New Avengers Facility up and running, Fury slips back into the shadows. 

Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame

While the Avengers are off fighting Thanos and the SHIELD team is off fighting Graviton, Fury and Hill are in Atlanta doing who-knows-what. Just as things are heating up, they start dusting into the air. But not before Fury can use his pager to call Captain Marvel. The next time we see Fury, it’s at Tony’s funeral. Or maybe it was never Fury… you’d never know if a Skrull got dusted instead of him. Peter Parker certainly didn’t know… but we’ll get to that in the next section.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

We’re led to believe that Fury is featured throughout this movie (only to find out in the credits scene that he’s off-world and Talos is covering for him). However, that doesn’t mean the appearance of “Nick Fury” with Spider-Man is meaningless. Fury obviously trusted Talos enough to leave him in charge and to play him. And this Skrull does a pretty good job (though I’d say he doesn’t have Fury’s instincts, or else he wouldn’t have trusted Mysterio). 

WandaVision

Season 1, Episode 9

After Monica Rambeau became super-powered during the events of WandaVision, a Skrull messenger was sent to touch base with her. This takes place during the mid-credits scene, so hopefully you didn’t miss it. It’s likely that she was recruited to help Fury. Only makes sense I suppose.

In addition to what I've already noted for Fury and Talos, we've also been told that Rhodey and Agent Ross will be appearing. If you want to watch Rhodey's story, I'd say to check out the Iron Man movies (all 3) and the Avengers movies (2-4). For Everett Ross, check out Civil War and both Black Panther movies.

So now we wait. Who’s a Skrull? Who’s human? And who’s a Skrull we can trust? And will we finally get to see Quake in the proper MCU? Come on and make Agents of SHIELD fully canon! But that could be a pipe dream. Only time will tell who’s in Fury’s inner circle.

Marvel Dad Jokes: Cosmic Edition

Ready for some marvelously, out-of-this-world humor? You’ve come to the right place! Enjoy jokes featuring Guardians of the Galaxy, and some of their cosmic Marvel cousins.

Guardians of the Galaxy Binge List

I missed seeing Ant-Man 3 in theaters because of a new baby, but hopfeully I’m back in the game for Guardians 3. It promises to be an epic end for the Guardians of the Galaxy (at least a few of them–though no one is completely off limits when it comes to cameos). If it’s been a while since you watched the Guardians in action, here’s your highlight list of what to watch before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes out.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2 hours 2 min)

Starting out as a bunch of not-so-lovable misfits, these mismatched outlaws get pushed together by circumstance (and greed). But when push comes to shove, people show their true colors. In this case, this team of criminals teams up with Xandarian authorities to prevent a massacre with the Power Stone. And they’re off again.

I Am Groot (5 shorts)

Obviously these shorts don’t necessarily add much to the overall plot and storyline of the Guardians, but who can say no to five fun videos about the Marvel superhero even cuter than Baby Yoda/Grogu?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2 hours 17 min)

Enter a family drama worthy of a telenovela. After retrieving Nebula from the Sovereign, the Guardians encountered Peter’s father. But he wasn’t the magnanimous Celestial he claimed to be. Instead, he eventually revealed himself to essentially assimilate countless others worlds, so the Guardians had to defeat him. And we lost Yondu along the way. At least we got Mantis out of it.

Avengers: Infinity War (2 hours 29 min)

The Guardians enter this war against Thanos as they chance upon Thor, adrift in space. So while Rocket and Groot go with Thor to get a new weapon (RIP Meow-meow), the rest of the Guardians try to head off Thanos at Knowhere. It’s there that Thanos kidnaps Gamora (and subsequently trades her life for the Soul Stone). Nebula ends up calling Mantis and the other Guardians to Titan, where they team up with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange to fight Thanos. Meanwhile, with Stormbreaker in hand, Thor, Rocket, and Groot enter the Battle of Wakanda. But then, after Thor fails to kill Thanos, the Guardians get dusted in the Snap. Only ones left were Nebula and Rocket.

Avengers: Endgame (3 hours 2 min)

Without the other Guardians, Nebula and Rocket help the Avengers with their Time Heist, retrieving the Infinity Stones from the past to bring everyone back. Nebula heads to Morag with War Machine and Rocket heads to Asgard with Thor. They’re both successful at retrieving a Stone… but then 2016-Nebula trades places with her to make way for 2016-Thanos and company (including a new Gamora) to come to 2023. Not before Hulk snaps everyone back into existence. And with the sacrifice of Tony Stark, Thanos’s army disintegrates. Except maybe Gamora? They weren’t clear on that but she is in the Vol. 3 trailer. And so the Guardians of the Galaxy leave earth with Thor.

Thor: Love and Thunder (1 hour 59 min)

Off on more adventures, the Guardians don’t appear in this movie very long. So the majority of this movie would be optional for your preparations. Just long enough to demonstrate Thor’s current mental state after being depressed and intoxicated for five years. And then they’re off again to who knows where.

Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas (42 min)

Merry Christmas antics! I know it’s April and it’s frowned upon to watch Christmas music at this time of year, but sue me. I love a little extra joy. And this little misadventure with Mantis and Drax, all in the hopes of bringing a little joy to Mantis’s brother. Oh and we learn Mantis and Peter are siblings. So happy holidays!

Now it’s time to wait with anticipation for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3… too bad it has to be our last adventure with them. Or at least that’s what the trailer makes it sound like. But maybe their team will just evolve and change like the Avengers? I can hope. 

The Problem with Love and Thunder

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

When I went to see Thor: Love and Thunder, I didn't really know what to expect. We’ve known for three years that Jane Foster would return wielding Mjolnir. Other than that, I mostly went in blind (even with seeing the trailers beforehand). Like many movies and shows nowadays, Love and Thunder came under criticism right from the start (always gotta complain about something). But overall I actually enjoyed it. Before I get to that though, let’s start with the problem….

Like I said before, I didn’t know what to expect going into Love and Thunder. For that reason, I was pleasantly surprised. I think it all comes down to expectations. If you go in expecting a serious superhero movie about Thor’s life after Endgame, you’ll be disappointed. If you go in realizing it’s a superhero rom-com, it’s much more enjoyable. It’s just what Marvel has been doing, trying their hands at other genres: superhero kung fu (Shang Chi), superhero horror (Multiverse of Madness), and superhero comedy (upcoming She-Hulk). It’s a gamble, but they have the money to take some risks. So if a superhero romantic comedy (with a sprinkling of tragedy) isn’t your thing, you won’t like Love and Thunder. And that’s okay. We all have different tastes.

As far as actual problems with the movie, I had a hard time jumping around. Sure, that’s the nature of the Bifrost, but we went from planet to planet repeatedly through the movie. Not really spending much time in any particular place. It was a bit jarring to go from New Asgard to the shadows to the god council. Just a lot going on.

Speaking of lots going on, there were so many moving parts, especially in regards to characters. We had the core four characters: Thor, Jane, Valkyrie, and Korg. But then we had the Guardians of the Galaxy, a number of Asgardians to keep track of, and the random gods when they went to see Zeus. A handful of Asgardians I can understand… but the gods were a bit underwhelming to me. I don’t feel like Zeus’s lightning really made much of an impact in the final battle (it was more about Mjolnir and Stormbreaker again)... so we ended up with screen time of random gods that we’ll never see again. In some ways I feel like the only point of introducing the gods was to reveal Hercules in the credit scene.

Now for the good stuff. First and foremost, Jane Foster. When Natalie Portman didn’t return to MCU after Dark World, we all assumed she was done. The throwaway line in Ragnarok about their breakup was all we were going to get. Only a couple months after her cameo in Endgame, we learned she’d be returning for this movie. Her story in this movie was probably my favorite part. It gave us some history on where she’s been, it gave us more Darcy (who I love), and it gave us a definitive ending… with Jane succumbing to her cancer and entering Valhalla, we have a happy, albeit tragic, end to her story. 

The music for this movie was great too. The soundtrack has a Guardians of the Galaxy feel, as it used classic rock (including four popular songs by Guns N’ Roses) and a good handful of others, underscoring the epic moments of the movie. I grew up in the wrong decade to regularly familiarize myself with Guns N’ Roses, but this movie sold me on some of their songs. 

I also loved the villain. Gorr was so devious, but he wasn't meant to be evil, per se. Just hurt. A grieving father who had spent time worshipping gods who didn't care. I mean, how many of us have prayed and had those prayers seemingly go unanswered? It's easy to get discouraged and doubting... especially if the god in question tells you (Gorr) that you don't matter to him. Tragic and heartbreaking. And then to get his daughter back, only to die from the curse. It was awful.

In the end, the movie was cute. Not every Marvel movie is going to be a mind-blowing blockbuster. If each Marvel movie and each Thor movie is just trying to outdo the last, it’s not sustainable. And like I mentioned before, Marvel is trying some new stuff. Some of it is working (like Shang Chi) and some of it isn’t. In the end, I maintain that this is a romantic comedy and I recommend you into it with the appropriate expectations.