Marvel and Sony are gearing up for their next big release, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and it’s shaping up to be one of the most stacked MCU projects yet. If you haven’t kept up with the MCU lately, don’t worry here’s your full watch list to get caught up before the movie hits theaters.

Here’s why it matters: even though this movie is a street-level story, it’s huge because it will be connected to Avengers: Doomsday in a big way. Mark Ruffalo is returning as the Hulk, and Jon Bernthal is making his MCU movie debut as the Punisher.

1. Captain America: Civil War

The first movie you need to watch is Captain America: Civil War, because that is where Tom Holland’s Spidey made his debut in the MCU, recruited by RDJ to fight against Cap’s team. Since then, Tom’s character as Spider-Man has changed a lot. When the character debuted, he was playful, confused, but Tony was like a father figure to Tom’s Spider-Man.

2. Spider-Man: Homecoming

This is the first solo Spider-Man movie in the MCU — well, how this movie is different from the others is that it doesn’t show how he got his powers or what kind of spider bit him. In this movie, we have Tony Stark too, again as a mentor to Peter Parker, guiding him through his journey. And there’s one more important thing why you should watch the movie, and that is because of the Scorpion, where Mac Gargan is introduced in the post-credits scene, and after that, he’s finally coming back in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

3. Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame

These two movies are essential to understanding Peter’s character arc. They cover the biggest event in MCU history — Thanos snapping his fingers with the Infinity Stones and wiping out half the universe, Peter included. Watching him vanish in Infinity War, then return in Endgame after the Avengers bring everyone back, says a lot about how his character grows afterward. And Endgame doesn’t come without cost — there are real tragedies tied to this movie that shape the MCU going forward.

4. Spider-Man: Far From Home

Far From Home is the movie where Peter, as a character, loses his identity because at the end of the movie, Mysterio — who tricked Spider-Man throughout the movie, played by Jake Gyllenhaal — makes his life miserable again. This time, there is no Stark to support him. This time, he has to deal with his business alone, without his mentor.

5. Spider-Man: No Way Home

This is the single biggest Spider-Man movie of all time in terms of box office and cast. This is where we got Peter 1, Peter 2, and Peter 3 all together — Tom Holland’s Spidey, Tobey Maguire’s Spidey, and Andrew Garfield’s Spidey. And along with them, we also got the villains too — Doc Octopus, Green Goblin, Lizard, Sandman, and Electro, all together. Sony and Marvel made history by bringing them together on the screen.

Then to know how Bruce Banner is in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, you need to watch The Avengers, which released in 2012, then Thor: Ragnarok, and She-Hulk too — but not all the episodes, just the first and last episode.

Then, to know how Punisher got involved in the movie, you need to start with Daredevil Season 2, because that’s where Jon Bernthal first appears as the Punisher, and it’s still one of the best character introductions Marvel has ever done. After that, watch both seasons of The Punisher. Then move on to Daredevil: Born Again and The Punisher: One Last Kill, which lead directly to the events of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And by watching the Daredevil series, you can also understand how the Hand is in the movie, and some of the other street-level villains too.

Here is the synopsis for Spider-Man: Brand New Day

After Doctor Stranger’s spell at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the world has forgotten that Peter Parker exists. Four years later, Parker anonymously protects New York City as the hero Spider-Man and investigates a powerful new threat while his superpowers undergo a surprising and potentially dangerous evolution.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will swing in to the theaters and I MAX on July 31, 2026.