7 Marvel Post-Credits Scenes You Need To Rewatch Before ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
It’s wild to think that we’re on the precipice of another Avengers movie. Avengers: Doomsday (2026) is mere months away. Unlike Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), there has been far less build-up to all of these characters coming together. The Infinity Saga teased where it was going with Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) introduction in the mid-credits of The Avengers (2012). Gradually, the characters interacted and their stories intertwined to that two-part cinematic event that brought everyone together to defeat Thanos.
On the other hand, there is only one movie—Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)—between Victor von Doom’s (Robert Downey Jr.) introduction and the subsequent Avengers movie. Everything is a lot more condensed this time around. So, it may be helpful to revisit the most relevant post-credit scenes over the last few years. They are short, but they are full of information that may be vital for Avengers: Doomsday. You can watch them on Disney+, Hulu, and more!
In release order, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has the first relevant post-credits scene that Marvel fans need to revisit before Avengers: Doomsday. It’s the earliest inclination of what’s coming, but it’s also likely to change from its original intentions. In 2021, this scene seems to be set up for the MCU’s plans with Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Those plans would take better shape with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). Since then, though, the MCU has completely pivoted away from Kang and to Doom as the villain of this era.
So, when Wong (Benedict Wong), Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) tell Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) that the rings have “a beacon” inside of them that is sending a message, it’s possible that message could be to or about a cosmic entity like Doctor Doom from another planet. Since the scene establishes that the rings are much older than a thousand years old, Avengers: Doomsday may reveal that all of this has been set in motion for a very, very long time. Either way, I just hope that Shang-Chi has come to some solid answers in the five years since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The post-credits scene in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness comes next, and it fittingly coincides with the multiverse of it all. Charlize Theron is introduced to the MCU as an unnamed character who is very familiar with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch)—beyond knowing his name. She tells Stephen Strange, “You caused an incursion, and we’re going to fix it.” With its multiversal travel, this is the first movie that really goes out of its way to explain what incursions are in the cinematic universe’s context. Essentially, it’s a universe-ending event.
Then Theron’s character uses a cosmic sword to slice through reality, revealing a different dimension. She challenges Stephen by saying, “Unless you’re afraid.” Strange takes this character up on her offer and follows her to fix what he’s broken. That specific incursion could be all the travel in that movie, but it may also be the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Avengers: Doomsday may confirm or deny all of this, but it’s hard to know since Cumberbatch and Theron aren’t confirmed to be among its sprawling cast. Hopefully, that changes. It’d be helpful to get an on-screen confirmation that Theron is playing Clea.
Loki is essential viewing for any MCU fan, if you ask me, but that’s especially true ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. If you don’t have time to watch both seasons, then you really need to acquaint yourself with how it all ends with Loki (Tom Hiddleston). In 2023, this character, who has one of the MCU’s most storied histories, becomes the guardian of all the timelines. How did he get there? Well, that’s a long story that claws back to Avengers: Endgame.
The short(er) answer is that Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), a Loki variant, kills He Who Remains, a Kang variant, causing timeline chaos that overwhelms the Temporal Loom. If that machine breaks, all the timelines cease to exist. Loki heroically sacrifices himself to sit at the End of Time and hold it all together. That scene doesn’t occur in the post-credits, but at the end of the show. So, I’d bet that any version of Loki we’re seeing in Avengers: Doomsday is before this happens.
To get to The Marvels’ post-credit scene, you need to remember the set-up to it. Dar-Benn’s (Zawe Ashton) actions with the Quantum Bands cause a hole in space-time. Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) takes on Carol and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel’s (Iman Vellani)’s powers—along with her own—to seal the rift. In doing so, she gets trapped on the other side in another universe. Parris, who plays Monica’s grief over her mother so well, makes the post-credits scene so emotional. Monica comes face to face with someone who looks like her mother, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch). Here, Maria is Binary, suggesting she gained powers instead of Carol.
Monica also meets Beast (Kelsey Grammer), who first appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). He says to Monica that his theory is that she is in a parallel reality, “which, of course, is impossible.” He also mentions Charles (Patrick Stewart) wanting an update, which may mean that all of this happens before the incursion on their Earth, as seen at the beginning of the Avengers: Doomsday trailer. All of which may mean we could get the early 2000s X-Men, like Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) and Cyclops (James Marsden), back just to lose them.
The Captain America: Brave New World post-credits scene is somehow very specific and very vague. It’s certainly necessary before Avengers: Doomsday. Without it, I’m not sure that the MCU has made much of an effort to tie Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) into this story, which is odd since he’s Captain America. Regardless, this message about multiversal chaos comes from Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), which is also a bit odd since the character has been around since The Incredible Hulk (2008) but has been so far removed from anything else on-screen.
Samuel, from his cell on The Raft, says, “We share the same world, don’t we? This world you would die to save. It’s coming. I’ve seen it in the probabilities. Seen it plain as day. All you heroes protecting this world. Do you think you’re the only ones? Do you think this is the only world? We’ll see what happens when you have to protect this place from the others.” That’s right; Samuel’s superhuman intelligence conveniently reveals the information that Sam needs to know before Avengers: Doomsday. Presumably, it’s with that knowledge and his earlier intention to assemble a team that Sam starts the Avengers, which seems to include Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Joaquin Torres/Falcon (Danny Ramirez) in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer.
The Thunderbolts* post-credits scene takes place 14 months after the movie’s events. From the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, that scene will fold right into the new movie. I’d argue that this scene is the most essential to rewatch. It packs so much into it. On the one hand, the New Avengers and Bob/Sentry (Lewis Pullman) are still settling into the building, as well as their roles. Bucky/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) is arguing with Sam about who gets to be the Avengers. So much so, Sam has moved to copyright the name. I’m sure that’ll make for a lot of tension. But there may not be all that much time for it with everything else happening.
As Yelena (Florence Pugh) says, “Now there’s this huge space crisis, and no one’s telling us about it.” Not only does that suggest there is a lot more going on than meets the eye, but the New Avengers are still on the outside of it, despite the government backing them as the team to trust. Perhaps that means that Sam and his Avengers will arrive with more information. That’s to be discovered, but the scene teases the arrival of the Fantastic Four to the MCU’s Earth 616.
Later that year, the MCU properly introduced the Fantastic Four in The Fantastic 4: First Steps. It’s not surprising that this is the movie that teases Victor von Doom since the character is inherently tied to the Fantastic Four. It suggests that he’s meant to be present as Latveria’s representative at the United Nations. However, he’s not there, which is ominous. The post-credits scene maintains that energy when Doom appears on-screen for the first time.
The scene reveals him with Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Reed Richards’ (Pedro Pascal) son Franklin. Earlier in the movie, Franklin came into his powers by bringing Sue back to life after she stopped Galactus (Ralph Ineson) from consuming Franklin and their world. Needless to say, Doom seems to be interested in Franklin’s powers. It’s also unnerving that he has his mask off, which means he’s showing Franklin his face. We don’t get to see it then, but we know it’s Robert Downey Jr. since he was announced as Doom at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024. After about five years of set-up, we’ll actually see Downey Jr. in the part and know what Doom wants when Avengers: Doomsday releases in theaters on December 18, 2026.
