Avengers: Doomsday Reading Guide: Comics to Read First

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026, and the comics behind it are already on the shelf. Jonathan Hickman spent years building toward the end of the Marvel multiverse in Avengers and New Avengers, then paid it all off in Secret Wars. If you want to know where Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is headed, this is the run to read.

Below you'll find the full lead-up, the issues where the story turns, and a short path if you only have a few weeks.

New to Doom and the Fantastic Four? Start with the comics behind Avengers: Doomsday for their first appearances, then come back here.

What Marvel Has Said About the Story

Marvel Studios hasn't named a single comic as the source. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly after CinemaCon this spring, Kevin Feige said the film "is inspired by a very famous comic run in which universes are colliding and earths encounter one another and different timelines encounter one another."

That description points straight at Hickman's Avengers saga and the 2015 Secret Wars event it built to. The Russo brothers direct Doomsday, and the follow-up, Avengers: Secret Wars, is set for 2027.

Doctor Doom

Marvel Comics

Victor Von Doom

Doctor Doom is one of Marvel's greatest villains, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Fantastic Four #5 in 1962. Victor Von Doom is a brilliant scientist and a master of dark magic who hides his sc...

The Core Idea: Incursions

Hickman's run rests on one threat. An incursion happens when two Earths from different universes collide, and unless one of them is destroyed, both universes end.

In New Avengers, a secret group called the Illuminati (Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Namor and others) discovers the incursions and tries to stop them in secret. In Avengers, Captain America and Iron Man build the biggest Avengers roster ever assembled. The two books run side by side until they collide.

Jonathan Hickman

Creator

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer known for long-form storytelling and complex structures. His Marvel work includes runs on Fantastic Four and Avengers, the Secret Wars event, and Hous...

Part 1: The Lead-Up

These are the books to read before the movie. Hickman took over Avengers in December 2012 and launched New Avengers a month later. Both series run until the multiverse runs out of road.

Avengers (2012) #1-44

Avengers (2012)

Marvel Comics

46 issues

This Avengers series expands the team beyond Earth to confront threats on a global and cosmic scale. The roster grows diverse, blending familiar heroes with new allies to tackle challenges that span t...

The wide-screen half of the story. Start here for the expanded Avengers roster and the cosmic threats that set everything in motion.

#1

Avengers World

Marvel Comics

Avengers (2012)

Dec 05, 2012

Captain America recruits a larger Avengers team. A threat on Mars draws the heroes beyond Earth.

New Avengers (2013) #1-33

New Avengers (2013)

Marvel Comics

33 issues

This series centers on the Illuminati as they confront the threat of multiversal incursions. Led by Black Panther, the team includes powerful and intelligent figures like Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and...

The darker half, and the one most tied to Doomsday. This is where the Illuminati face the incursions and the choices that come with them.

#1

Memento Mori

Marvel Comics

New Avengers (2013)

Jan 02, 2013

Infinity (2013) #1-6

Infinity (2013)

Marvel Comics

Limited Series • 6 issues

A six-issue event that crosses directly through both Avengers books. Read it in the middle of the run, since its fallout shapes the second half of the saga.

#1

Infinity

Marvel Comics

Infinity (2013)

Aug 14, 2013

Part 2: Time Runs Out

The final stretch of the run is Time Runs Out: Avengers #35-44 and New Avengers #24-33. The story jumps ahead eight months, and from here the two series alternate issue by issue as one long crossover.

#35

The Three Avengers

Marvel Comics

Avengers (2012)

Sep 17, 2014

Time Runs Out begins eight months ahead. Jonathan Hickman's Avengers run enters its final extended arc.

#24

The Cabal

Marvel Comics

New Avengers (2013)

Sep 24, 2014

This is the arc where the Avengers and the Illuminati turn on each other while the last universes run out of time. If you read only one section before the movie, read this one.

#44

One Was Life, One Was Death

Marvel Comics

Avengers (2012)

Apr 29, 2015

The final incursion approaches in the series finale. The Avengers and Illuminati stand at the threshold of Secret Wars.

#33

In Latveria, the Flowers Die in Summer

Marvel Comics

New Avengers (2013)

Apr 29, 2015

Part 3: Secret Wars (2015) #1-9

Secret Wars (2015)

Marvel Comics

Limited Series • 9 issues

Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's nine-issue event brings the incursions to a head as the last two universes collide. Out of the wreckage comes Battleworld, one planet stitched from dead realities and...

Hickman and artist Esad Ribić close the saga in this nine-issue event, which ran from 2015 into early 2016. It is the comic most fans connect to both Doomsday and the 2027 Secret Wars film.

#1

The End Times

Marvel Comics

Secret Wars (2015)

May 06, 2015

The last two realities in the Marvel Multiverse, the Prime and Ultimate universes, hurtle toward a collision neither is meant to survive. Earth's greatest minds have run out of time and options.

#9

Beyond

Marvel Comics

Secret Wars (2015)

Jan 13, 2016

Everything comes down to a final clash between Victor von Doom and Reed Richards, each believing only he could have saved all. On the Multiverse's ruins, who deserves such power nears an answer.

Full Reading Order

All 92 issues are in our Avengers: Doomsday Reading Order list, issue by issue, so you can follow it, add the issues to your collection and check them off as you read.

Read the two series together, in this order:

1. New Avengers #1-3
2. Avengers #1-4
3. New Avengers #4
4. Avengers #5
5. New Avengers #5-6
6. Avengers #6-13
7. New Avengers #7
8. Avengers #14-17
9. New Avengers #8
10. Infinity #1-6, alternating with Avengers #18-23 and New Avengers #9-11
11. New Avengers #12-15
12. Avengers #24-28
13. New Avengers #16-17
14. Avengers #29-34
15. New Avengers #18-23
16. Time Runs Out: alternate one issue of each, starting with Avengers #35, through New Avengers #31-32, Avengers #43, New Avengers #33 and Avengers #44
17. Secret Wars #1-9

Short on Time?

You don't need all 90-plus issues before December 18. A faster path:

1. New Avengers #1-3 for the incursions and the Illuminati
2. Avengers #35-44 and New Avengers #24-33 (Time Runs Out)
3. Secret Wars #1-9

You'll miss some character beats, but the main thread holds together, and it's about 32 issues instead of 90-plus.

Start Your Doomsday Stack

Follow the reading order list, add Avengers, New Avengers and Secret Wars to your VerseDB collection, check off what you already own, and see which issues you still need to find before December 18. Which part of the run are you starting with? Tell us in the comments.