Avengers: Doomsday Marathon Plan: Hours, Schedules and How to Finish by 18 December
Avengers: Doomsday opens in US theaters on 18 December 2026. If you want to arrive up to date, you need two things: a list and a schedule. Marvel has supplied the list. This guide turns it into a plan that fits your week.
The official list in one paragraph
Marvel’s Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday watch guide, published on Marvel.com, has 14 films and one series. The films are X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Captain America: Brave New World, Deadpool & Wolverine, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The series is Loki, both seasons.
That is about 41 hours by our count: roughly 31.5 hours of film plus about 9.6 hours of Loki. WIRED and Digital Spy reported it as about 42 hours. Episode lengths explain the small difference.
You can see the full table, with a one-line reason for each title, on our what to watch before Avengers: Doomsday page.
How much time you actually have
Counting from Friday 16 October 2026, there are 63 days before Doomsday’s release day, which is 9 weeks. To finish the full official list by the night before, you need about 4.6 hours a week. That is roughly two films every weekend plus one Loki episode during the week.
| Your pace | Hours per week | Finish date (from 16 Oct) | Ready for 18 Dec? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend only | 3 | 19 January 2027 | No |
| Two films a weekend + one episode | 5 | 12 December | Yes, just |
| Steady | 6 | 2 December | Yes |
| Committed | 10 | 13 November | Yes |
| Binge | 20 | 30 October | Yes |
These are planning numbers. The tracker’s planner uses your real progress and your chosen route, so it updates the moment you tick a title.
Three schedules that work
Plan A: the full list in nine weekends
This plan follows Marvel’s published order, but it moves Loki to sit with the multiverse films where it makes the most sense.
- Weekend 1: X-Men, X2: X-Men United
- Weekend 2: Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers
- Weekend 3: Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame
- Weeknights 3–5: Loki season 1 (six episodes)
- Weekend 4: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Weekend 5: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- Weeknights 6–8: Loki season 2 (six episodes)
- Weekend 6: Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World
- Weekend 7: Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps
That leaves two spare weekends, which you will need for late nights, busy weeks and catching up.
Plan B: MCU only, about 37 hours
Skip the two Fox X-Men films. They are not MCU films, and Marvel does not say why they are on the list. WIRED suggests it is because actors from those films are rumoured to return in Doomsday. That saves about four hours. In the tracker this is the default, because the Fox titles are hidden until you switch on Fox in Advanced.
Plan C: the 13-hour emergency cut
If it is already December, watch these six and read summaries for the rest:
- The Avengers. The team, Loki and the Tesseract.
- Avengers: Endgame. How the Infinity Saga ended and who is left.
- Loki season 2, episodes 5–6. Why the multiverse looks the way it does.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home. The multiverse breaks open.
- Thunderbolts*. Stay for the post-credits scene.
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Stay for the post-credits scene.
That is about 13.5 hours, including two Loki episodes.
What to cut first if you fall behind
In order, from easiest to skip to hardest:
- X-Men and X2. Fun context, but they are not MCU films.
- Captain America: The First Avenger. Good background, but Endgame recaps what matters.
- Shang-Chi. Strong film, but a light link to the main thread.
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Important for Wakanda, but at 2 hours 41 minutes it is the second-longest film on the list.
Do not cut Loki, No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness or the last two films. They carry most of the multiverse story that Doomsday is expected to continue.
Don’t forget the post-credits scenes
Several films on the list end with scenes that point forward. Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are the two most often linked to Doomsday. Leave the credits running, and do not tick the title until the screen goes black.
Tracking it without a spreadsheet
Open the Marvel movies in order checklist, choose Road to Doomsday, and tick titles as you finish them. The progress bar shows hours left. Tap the Doomsday countdown at the top to open the planner, enter your hours per week, and it tells you your finish date and whether you will make it. Your progress stays in your browser, and Copy share link lets a friend start from the same place.
Doomsday is not the end. Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for 17 December 2027, so everything you watch now counts towards that too. See the upcoming Marvel releases for what comes next.