Avengers: Doomsday reaches British cinemas on 18 December 2026, which is why you are probably reading this. Nine weeks is not enough time for forty films, and anyone telling you otherwise has not done the arithmetic.
So this guide does three things. It gives you the complete list in both orders. It tells you which order is actually better, which is not the one most guides push. And it warns you about two gaps in the British catalogue that American lists never mention, one of which will stop a chronological watch dead at the third film.
The two gaps in the UK catalogue
Start here, because it saves a wasted evening.
The Incredible Hulk is not on Disney+ in Britain
The 2008 film with Edward Norton. Universal holds its distribution rights, not Disney, and no amount of Marvel branding changes that. In the UK it has been available to rent rather than to stream.
Practically speaking, you can skip it. It is the least connected film in the series, and everything you need from it gets restated elsewhere. But if you were planning a complete run, that is the wall you hit, and our guide to why titles sit where they do explains how one film ends up orphaned like this.
The Spider-Man films are there on loan
Five of Sony’s Spider-Man films have been streaming on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland. Good news, with a caveat worth understanding: Disney does not own them. Sony does, and licenses them out country by country on temporary deals.
They have come and gone elsewhere. So watch them while they are there rather than saving them for later, and if one is missing when you look, that is why. Our UK streaming availability guide covers how to check.
Which order should you watch in?
Nearly every guide pushes chronological order, because listing things by in-universe timeline sounds more authoritative than listing them by release date.
For a first watch, release order is better. Three reasons, and they are not small ones.
- The films were built to be watched that way. Reveals are placed to land in a particular sequence, and chronological order detonates several of them early.
- It spoils two films outright. Captain Marvel and Black Widow are both set earlier than they were released, and both are written assuming you already know things that chronological order has not told you yet.
- The jump in production quality is jarring. Cutting from a 2008 film straight into a 2021 one and back again is a strange experience. Release order lets the whole thing grow up as you watch.
Chronological order is a rewatch exercise, and an enjoyable one, for somebody who already knows the story. Both lists are below.
If you only have nine weeks
Honest answer: you cannot watch everything before Doomsday, so do not try. These are the ones that actually set it up.
- Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame — the template Doomsday is following
- Loki, both series — the multiverse groundwork, and the most important thing on this list
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — how crossing between universes works
- Spider-Man: No Way Home — the first time it happened properly
- Thunderbolts* — the immediate lead-in
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps — now on Disney+, and they are in Doomsday
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — the Wakandans are involved
That is about sixteen hours rather than ninety. If you have more time after that, add What If…? for the multiverse, and Captain America: Brave New World.
Everything in release order
The Infinity Saga, phase one
Iron Man · The Incredible Hulk (not on Disney+ UK) · Iron Man 2 · Thor · Captain America: The First Avenger · The Avengers
Phase two
Iron Man 3 · Thor: The Dark World · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · Guardians of the Galaxy · Avengers: Age of Ultron · Ant-Man
Phase three
Captain America: Civil War · Doctor Strange · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 · Spider-Man: Homecoming · Thor: Ragnarok · Black Panther · Avengers: Infinity War · Ant-Man and the Wasp · Captain Marvel · Avengers: Endgame · Spider-Man: Far From Home
The Multiverse Saga, phase four
WandaVision · The Falcon and the Winter Soldier · Loki series one · Black Widow · What If…? series one · Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings · Eternals · Hawkeye · Spider-Man: No Way Home · Moon Knight · Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness · Ms. Marvel · Thor: Love and Thunder · She-Hulk: Attorney at Law · Werewolf by Night · Black Panther: Wakanda Forever · The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Phase five
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 · Secret Invasion · Loki series two · What If…? series two · The Marvels · Echo · Deadpool & Wolverine · Agatha All Along · What If…? series three · Captain America: Brave New World · Daredevil: Born Again series one · Thunderbolts* · Ironheart · Eyes of Wakanda · The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Phase six, so far
Wonder Man · Daredevil: Born Again series two · Avengers: Doomsday, in cinemas 18 December 2026
Everything in chronological order
For the rewatch. We are giving the sequence rather than in-universe years, because the published timelines contradict each other and Marvel has quietly moved things more than once.
Before the modern era
Eyes of Wakanda (ancient Wakanda, across several periods) · Captain America: The First Avenger (the Second World War) · Agent Carter (just after it) · Captain Marvel (the 1990s)
The Avengers assemble
Iron Man · Iron Man 2 · The Incredible Hulk (not available in the UK) · Thor · The Avengers · Iron Man 3 · Thor: The Dark World · Captain America: The Winter Soldier · Guardians of the Galaxy · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 · Avengers: Age of Ultron · Ant-Man
Towards the snap
Captain America: Civil War · Black Widow · Doctor Strange · Black Panther · Spider-Man: Homecoming · Thor: Ragnarok · Ant-Man and the Wasp · Avengers: Infinity War · Avengers: Endgame
After the Blip
Loki (outside time, so watch it here) · What If…? (multiversal, same reasoning) · WandaVision · The Falcon and the Winter Soldier · Shang-Chi · Eternals · Spider-Man: Far From Home · Spider-Man: No Way Home · Hawkeye · Moon Knight · Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness · Ms. Marvel · Thor: Love and Thunder · She-Hulk · Werewolf by Night · Black Panther: Wakanda Forever · The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
The current run
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 · Secret Invasion · Echo · The Marvels · Deadpool & Wolverine · Agatha All Along · Ironheart · Captain America: Brave New World · Daredevil: Born Again · Thunderbolts* · The Fantastic Four: First Steps · Wonder Man
Three placements worth knowing
- Watch WandaVision before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The second film makes very little sense otherwise, and this is the mistake people most often make.
- Watch Loki series one before both No Way Home and Multiverse of Madness. It establishes the rules everything afterwards relies on.
- Loki and What If…? sit outside the timeline. Any placement is a judgement call; after Endgame is the most useful one.
The series most watch orders forget
The Marvel shows originally made for Netflix now sit on Disney+ under a mature rating: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and The Defenders.
They are darker and more violent than anything else under the Marvel banner, which is why they carry the rating. They are also the prerequisite for Daredevil: Born Again, where Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are picking up the same characters. If Born Again is where you want to end up, start with the three series of Daredevil.
Worth a word of caution for families: these appear in the same app as the Pixar films, and the age filtering only holds if the adult profiles are locked. We go through that in our guide to parental controls and in our comparison of the best streaming service for families in the UK.
What is still to come
Wonder Man arrived in January 2026, a miniseries with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a superpowered actor auditioning for a superhero role, created by Andrew Guest with Destin Daniel Cretton of Shang-Chi.
Daredevil: Born Again series two followed in March 2026.
Avengers: Doomsday opens in cinemas on 18 December 2026, with Robert Downey Jr returning as Victor von Doom, pulling together the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Wakandans across three universes.
That is a cinema release. Disney has not said when it reaches Disney+, and Marvel films have taken anywhere from two to six months to arrive there, as our guide to how long films take to reach streaming in the UK explains. We are not going to guess.
Common questions
Is every Marvel film on Disney+ UK?
Almost. The Incredible Hulk is not, because Universal holds the rights. The Sony Spider-Man films are there on a licence rather than permanently.
Should I watch Marvel in chronological or release order?
Release order for a first watch. Chronological spoils Captain Marvel and Black Widow and makes the production jumps jarring. Save it for a rewatch.
What do I need to watch before Avengers: Doomsday?
Infinity War, Endgame, both series of Loki, Multiverse of Madness, No Way Home, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. About sixteen hours.
Do I need to watch the Disney+ series?
Some of them. WandaVision and Loki genuinely matter. Several others are optional, though Loki is the one you cannot skip.
Where can I watch The Incredible Hulk in the UK?
As a rental rather than on Disney+. It is also the easiest film in the series to skip.
Are the Netflix Marvel series on Disney+?
Yes, under a mature rating. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and The Defenders. Start with Daredevil if you want to reach Born Again.
The short version
Watch in release order the first time. Skip The Incredible Hulk, because Britain does not have it. Watch the Spider-Man films while they are still licensed. If Doomsday on 18 December is the deadline, the sixteen-hour prep list above gets you there, and Loki is the part you cannot skip.
For everything else on the service, see our complete guide to Disney+ UK, and for how it compares with the rest, our guide to UK streaming services compared.
