Eyeing Avengers: Doomsday? You’ll want Deadpool & Wolverine first — six reasons why

Right, Marvel has dropped its official watchlist for fans hoping to get up to speed before Avengers: Doomsday lands this December, and there's a bit of a curveball tucked in. Nestled alongside the predictable MCU mainstays is Deadpool & Wolverine — and, slightly more eyebrow-raising, a couple of the old Fox-era X-Men movies from the early noughties. If you haven’t kept up, I’ll walk you through why those last picks actually make a bit of sense, and what they might be signalling for Doomsday’s plot and its mutant guest list.

Disney's Avengers: Doomsday prep guide recommends watching 15 Marvel projects, including Deadpool & Wolverine and X-Men films from 2000 and 2003.

Deadpool & Wolverine: Not the Obvious Choice?

For long-time MCU followers, being told to revisit 2000’s X-Men and X2 isn't the shocker it first appears. The new Avengers installment is confirmed to be hauling several actors back from the Fox X-Men universe. Basically, if you want to get all the Easter eggs when they start popping up in Doomsday, a refresher on those films is a smart move.

But the real oddity is Deadpool & Wolverine’s inclusion, because, so far, neither Deadpool nor Wolverine has been officially announced as appearing in Doomsday. There’s hardly any crossover (on paper, at least), so on the surface it looks more like wishful thinking than a key recommendation. This is Marvel, though — twists and last-minute reveals are what they live for, and the online speculation is already running wild with potential reasons for this particular pick.

Yes, That Gambit Cameo Actually Means Something

If you caught the Doomsday trailers, you’ll have spotted Channing Tatum’s Gambit in the sprawling cast list. After years of development hell and the eventual death of his solo project, his long-delayed MCU debut came in Deadpool & Wolverine (albeit not in a lead role). Now he’s confirmed for Doomsday, and watching his brief turn in Deadpool & Wolverine will mean you aren’t totally in the dark when people start getting excited in the cinema over a character who, if we’re honest, never properly existed until now.

TVA All Over Everything

The Time Variance Authority, introduced in Loki, is basically multiverse admin. Loki’s the only TV show to feature on Marvel's recommended list, and that’s fair, since half the new Avengers movie will apparently be spent bouncing between universes. After two seasons, there were still loose threads about the TVA, and Deadpool & Wolverine picks up the slack and digs deeper into TVA lore, starting right from the jump thanks to Loki’s groundwork. And since Tom Hiddleston’s Loki (now rocking full TVA kit) is set for Doomsday, Disney is basically telling you: get your heads round the TVA, preferably via Deadpool & Wolverine, before the big multiverse showdown.

One Crying Thor, Zero Explanations (So Far)

This one's a bit bonkers: while wandering through a bank of multiversal TV screens in Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool glimpses Chris Hemsworth’s Thor having a weep over his mangled self. Out pops TVA bureaucrat Mr. Paradox, who panics and orders the feed cut. The film never tells you why Thor’s bawling or how Deadpool ended up in that state. Now, Thor’s slated for Doomsday (he’s gone for the short hair), but there's still nothing to confirm a Deadpool appearance. No surprise if this oddball flash gets revisited or explained when all of Doomsday's variants show up to play.

Could Wolverine and the X-Men Finally Team Up?

Let’s be honest, if Ryan Reynolds shows up, there’s a good chance Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will too — they're something of a double act at this point. In Deadpool & Wolverine, Jackman’s version hails from a reality where all his mutant mates have already been wiped out (and he’s not over the guilt). Doomsday might hand him a second chance: maybe saving James Marsden’s Cyclops and company, a bit like that surprise save-the-day twist Garfield’s Spider-Man got in No Way Home. Even if they don’t go that far with redemption arcs, it sets up a pretty irresistible reunion with the other X-Men.

The Generational Cameo Grab-Bag

Deadpool & Wolverine might’ve kicked off a new trend for the MCU: exploiting Disney’s Marvel-Fox merger by digging up every recognisable old face from nineties and noughties superhero flicks. Some of these cameos, like Jennifer Garner’s Elektra (Daredevil, 2003) and Wesley Snipes’ Blade, were kept under wraps until release. It’s anyone’s guess how many younger fans spotted these winks, or even clocked why they mattered. The prevailing theory is that Doomsday is prepping something similar for its multiverse bonanza, so if you watch Deadpool & Wolverine beforehand, you’ll at least follow the game even if you don’t get all the nostalgia hits.

RDJ’s Doctor Doom Double Game

If you’ve not been following the rumour mill, here’s the situation: Robert Downey Jr. is back for Doomsday, apparently as Doctor Doom of all people. Trailers are cagey — we haven’t seen Doom’s face. Will he spend most of the film as Doom, or is this just a swift bait-and-switch so he can play another version of Tony Stark? Some fans even suspect the villain is an alternate Tony himself. The upshot: expect some sort of canonical reason for double-casting the same mega-star.

Deadpool & Wolverine actually gives us a dry run for exactly this scenario. When Chris Evans pops up in the Void, you’re meant to think, for a split-second, it’s Steve Rogers all over again; Deadpool certainly does. But then, the real joke: Evans is actually back as Johnny Storm from the old Fantastic Four films, and no one tries to link it or justify it with MCU trickery. Everyone just nods and moves on, doubles and variants accepted. Odds are, Doomsday’s going to want us to do the same with RDJ’s face — and that, if anything, is probably why you ought to give Deadpool & Wolverine a go before December.

Main Cast (For Reference)

• Ryan Reynolds returns as Deadpool — his third go, but first under the official Marvel Studios umbrella since the Fox buyout.
• Hugh Jackman dons the claws once again as Wolverine.
• Channing Tatum (Gambit), Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Wesley Snipes (Blade), and Chris Evans (Johnny Storm) get their moment in the sun, even if fleeting.
• Matthew Macfadyen appears as TVA’s Mr. Paradox.
• Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor both pop up, linking the TVA thread and the larger Avengers narrative.
• Robert Downey Jr. is heavily rumoured for double duty as Doctor Doom and/or Tony Stark in the event film itself.