ChatGPT just gave me the ultimate 'Avengers: Doomsday' cheat sheet — how to watch Marvel films and shows in the right order

(Image credit: Marvel/Disney) I’ve been a loyal Marvel Cinematic Universe fan ever since Tony Stark built his original Iron Man suit in a cave with a box of scraps.Since that pivotal moment in superhero/comic book movie history took place, I’ve plopped myself down in theaters far and wide to witness the formation of the original Avengers, see Black Panther & Spider-Man make their MCU debuts, get a glimpse of the destructive power Thanos wields, lay witness to his epic demise and follow all the vital post-Endgame happenings on the big & little screen. Avengers: Doomsday | Official Trailer | In Theaters December 18 - YouTube Watch On Like most diehard MCU followers, I’ll admit to being less than enthused with some of the movie and TV show follow-ups to “The Infinity Saga.” Films like Black Widow, Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were complete duds to me. And on the Disney+ exclusive series front, shows like Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Secret Invasion definitely dulled my excitement for the MCU.But as soon as that Avengers: Doomsday trailer came across my timeline, a large part of that enthusiasm came back tenfold. With that blockbuster event primed for December 18, I have plenty of time to prep myself for the next MCU epic. And I used ChatGPT to set me up with the ultimate watchlist to enjoy on Disney+.Splitting up the ultimate MCU recap by tiers of chronological importance (Image credit: Shutterstock)With this prompt, I gave ChatGPT its marching orders: “Give me the ultimate Marvel Cinematic Universe movie and Disney+ series playlist to watch that'll get me up to speed on everything I need to know before watching Avengers: Doomsday.”To start, the chatbot laid out a list of chronological tiers that included MCU films and shows regarded as essential viewing. Alongside each list of films was a list of reasons to watch them for the first time or rewatch them to refresh my memory of the major events leading up to Avengers: Doomsday. Here’s ChatGPT’s tier list of MCU projects worth watching before Doom terrorizes the heroes we all know and love:Tier 1 - Absolutely Essential (Start Here): Watch Iron Man, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. These movies highlight Tony Stark’s journey, Steve Rogers’ ideals, The Avengers splitting apart and the introductions of Spider-Man & Black Panther. Then watch Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame to understand “The Blip,” the multiversal consequences, and where every original Avenger ended up.Tier 2 - The Multiverse Story: Watch Loki (Season 1) because it explains “Variants,” timelines, the “TVA,” the “Sacred Timeline” and why the multiverse begins breaking apart. Follow that up by watching Spider-Man: No Way Home, as it introduces multiversal travel and reality-breaking consequences. Watching Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is critical because it introduces “incursions,” alternate universes, “Dreamwalking,” the “Illuminati” and incursions becoming universe-ending events. Then watch Loki (Season 2) to grasp how time now works, the TVA’s new purpose and Loki’s new role.Tier 3 - The New Avengers: Watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to see Wakanda’s Future, Shuri, Riri Williams and the world politics at the heart of the MCU. Then check out Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as it introduces one of the strongest future Avengers members and leaves behind one of the MCU’s biggest mysteries surrounding the Ten Rings’ origin. Watch The Marvels to see how Manica Rambeau ends up in another universe, how Kamala Khan begins assembling a new generation of heroes and how the ending directly teases multiversal crossovers. Then watch Thunderbolts*, since it effectively establishes another major superhero team and introduces key players expected to matter going forward.Tier 4 - Fantastic Four Preparation: Check out The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as it introduces Marvel’s “First Family” into the current MCU saga and lays the groundwork for Doctor Doom’s arrival.The ideal viewing orders for an extended monthly watchlist and a weekend binge session (Image credit: Marvel)ChatGPT also generated two lists that split its respective viewing orders across months' worth of MCU entertainment and a binge-worthy weekend session. Here are the 17 Disney+ Marvel films and shows it gave me for both lists (I’m definitely taking down the first one until December arrives!):Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.Ideal Viewing Order: Iron Man, The Avengers, Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, Loki (Season 1), Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki (Season 2), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.If you only have one weekend: Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, Loki (Season 1), Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Loki (Season 2), The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*.Bottom lineOf course I’m going to see all the craziness Peter Parker will get himself caught up in once Spider-Man: Brand New Day drops on July 30. The combination of Spidey, The Punisher and The Hulk all in the same movie has me in extreme hype mode!But after that, I’m going to dive deep into the ideal MCU recap viewing order ChatGPT generated to get me up to speed on everything I need to know before I watch Avengers: Doomsday on the biggest screen possible in the loudest theatre I can find.I can’t wait to watch the Avengers, Wakandans, New Avengers, Fantastic Four and the X-Men join forces from different universes to finally confront Dr. Doom (and probably get destroyed in the process before they make the ultimate comeback in Avengers: Secret Wars). Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.More from Tom’s GuideChatGPT Skills have arrived - here's how to enable them and 7 prompts everyone should try firstI asked ChatGPT to make my iPhone more private — it found 7 settings I wish I'd turned on years agoI put ChatGPT to the test after a new study revealed how AI tricks our brains Elton Jones covers AI for Tom’s Guide, and tests all the latest models, from ChatGPT to Gemini to Claude to see which tools perform best — and how they can improve everyday productivity.He is also an experienced tech writer who has covered video games, mobile devices, headsets, and now artificial intelligence for over a decade. Since 2011, his work has appeared in publications including The Christian Post, Complex, TechRadar, Heavy, and ONE37pm, with a focus on clear, practical analysis.Today, Elton focuses on making AI more accessible by breaking down complex topics into useful, easy-to-understand insights for a wide range of readers.