In 2026, the Avengers will return to the big screen with Avengers: Doomsday, reuniting the original MCU superhero team for the first time since Avengers: Endgame. While concrete story details are limited so far, the Russo Brothers’ return to the MCU with Avengers: Doomsday promises to be a crossover event of unprecedented magnitude, with potentially hundreds of extremely powerful villains facing off against the biggest hero line-up ever united in the MCU timeline within one project. There can be no doubt that blood will be spilled.
However, complications for Avengers: Doomsday arose based on Jonathan Majors’ legal matters, as Majors was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault on December 18, 2023. Shortly after, reports came in that the MCU had cut ties with the actor going forward, and that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty would henceforth be Avengers 5 for the time being, with its new title of Avengers: Doomsday being announced months later.
Avengers: Doomsday Latest News
Familiar Faces Return To Doomsday
Two major castings were recently announced for Avengers: Doomsday. The first is Chris Evans, who will be playing a currently unknown role in the upcoming film. Evans follows Robert Downey Jr. as an actor returning to the MCU despite having their original characters end their story in Avengers: Endgame. It’s possible that Evans could be playing a variant of Captain America in the film, but given the return of another character, that might not be the case.
Anthony Mackie was also recently confirmed to be reprising his role as Captain America in Avengers: Doomsday. It felt obvious that Sam Wilson would be coming back for the fifth Avengers film after taking up the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Doomsday. It will be interesting to see how the events of Captain America: Brave New World set up his character for his next appearance.
In an interview with Nerdbunker, Anthony Mackie jokingly talked about Robert Downey Jr. playing Doctor Doom and what that meant for whoever might be joining that film from previous MCU movies, sharing the following:
“Robert Downey Jr. has had his ass-kick coming for a long time, and I’m very proud to say he [is] going to get it!”
Additionally, the Russo brothers were confirmed as the directors for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which came shortly after reports that they were in talks about coming in for the next two Avengers installments. With the director duo having helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, this is a seriously exciting update, as this movie roster demonstrates a clear ability to create critically and financially acclaimed MCU releases. Given the collective box office of these movies is over $5 billion, this definitely puts Avengers 5 in a promising position.
Avengers: Doomsday Release Date
Getting Closer Every Year
While it was originally set for release on May 2, 2025, Marvel shifted the Avengers: Doomsday release date to May 1, 2026. Based on the story focusing on that of iconic Fantastic Four nemesis Doctor Doom, it seems the film will follow on directly from The Fantastic Four’s debut at the start of the MCU’s Phase 6, though it’s possible that another film could fill in the gap in late 2025, given that Blade was removed from Marvel Studios’ release schedule.
Avengers: Doomsday Cast Info
Promised To Be A Massive Cast
So far, Avengers: Doomsday has a major confirmed figure in the form of Doctor Doom, who at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con was announced to be part of the upcoming movie, hence its title. Doctor Doom’s casting was also announced, with the iconic MCU Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. set to return to the cinematic universe in this new role. Bringing in Doctor Doom is seemingly a great lead-in to the Secret Wars storyline, as he’s also been an antagonist in one of the comic iterations of this narrative.
Robert Downey Jr. appeared on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter Podcast talking about the upcoming role and how he was able to land the gig, including having him return as Iron Man was never in the discussion. He stated:
“So, probably a year ago…cause, you know, [Kevin] Feige and I have kept in touch. We’re pals. Favreau, Feige, and I have kept in touch. I’m close with the Russo Brothers; we have other business we’re doing. So, there’s this little group of fellow travellers and I had this instinct that I wanted to go to Bob Iger and I had an idea outside of the Cinematic Universe for how I could be of service to what’s going on in the Parks and all their location-based entertainment.
Susan and I were sitting down with Feige at one point and he said, ‘It just keeps occurring to me that if you were to come back…’ and Susan was like, ‘Wait, wait, come back as what?’ Then we both realized over time that it was another thing that just disproves any doubt anyone could ever have about that guy, a very sophisticated creative thinker, about how can we not go backwards, how can we not disappoint expectations, how we can continue to beat expectations? And he brought up Victor Von Doom. I looked up this character and I was like, ‘Wow.’ Later, Kevin goes, ‘Let’s get Victor Von Doom right. Let’s get that right.’
So then I said to Kevin, ‘Can I go talk to Bob Iger?’ He goes, ‘About?’ I go, ‘About everything. I’d gone to Bob’s house and I don’t know how to describe that experience. I’ve had a lot of really cool experiences, but I go to Iger’s pad, we sit down and he goes, ‘I like it.’ I was like, ‘He likes it.’ He said, ‘Come by the Imagineering Campus.’ Feige and I go to the Imagineering Campus and you want to talk about two guys that are not easy to have their minds blown, let alone at the same time…I can’t say too much, but what is going on there right now is so beyond my expectation of what was possible.”
The 2024 San Diego Comic-Con also saw announcements that The Fantastic Four will appear in the Avengers: Doomsday’s cast – which makes sense given they will debut shortly before Avengers 5, and given that The Fantastic Four appears to be the film where Doctor Doom will also debut. The Marvel panel also saw confirmation that the Thunderbolts* cast will be part of Avengers: Doomsday, adding Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes to the MCU movie roster, among others.
A June 2024 Deadline report brought news that the Avengers 5 cast could feature more than 60 characters, which would make it a story of truly epic proportions. While this could present some potential narrative issues in terms of ensuring the wide range of figures brought into the film are paid off over the course of its runtime, this considerable roster would help the next Avengers movie after Avengers: Endgame live up to its predecessor, and could well prove exactly what the franchise needed.
Given the power levels, it seems likely that Doctor Doom will be operating as the next major MCU antagonist. Avengers: Doomsday needs an Avengers team to match, and while the New Avengers line-up for Phase 6 is yet to be revealed, fans already have a good idea who will appear. The list of the most likely candidates that haven’t already been confirmed is pretty huge:
Possible Avengers That Could Be In Avengers: Doomsday
- Thor – Chris Hemsworth
- Spider-Man – Tom Holland
- Captain Marvel – Brie Larson
- Hulk – Mark Ruffalo
- Ant-Man – Paul Rudd
- Black Panther – Letitia Wright
- War Machine – Don Cheadle
- Wong – Benedict Wong
- Shang-Chi – Simu Liu
- Ms Marvel – Iman Vellani
- Monica Rambeau – Teyonah Parris
- She-Hulk – Tatiana Maslany
- Hawkeye – Hailee Steinfeld and/or Jeremy Renner
- Cassie Lang – Kathryn Newton
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is a strong bet given how Loki season 2 informs the multiverse story. Then there are supporting characters and other potential Young Avengers like Thor’s daughter Love (India Rose Hemsworth) and America Chavez – not to mention the prospect of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool or Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine appearing in these movies following the multiversal plot of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Also, don’t rule out Tenoch Huerta’s Namor or Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight. On top of them, it’s possible to see the return of Awkwafina’s Katy, and it’s possible Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky and Danny Ramirez’s new Falcon both reappear, while Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is presumably going to be back.
Fans might even see Harrison Ford’s President Ross again. Then there’s the entire supporting Wakandan cast, including Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, and Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart. Then again, Marvel may hold back some of the other heroes for Avengers: Secret Wars, which has the potential to be the biggest cast ever assembled.
Confirmed Characters For Avengers: Doomsday
| Avengers: Doomsday Character | Actor | |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor Doom | Robert Downey Jr. |
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| Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) | Pedro Pascal |
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| Invisible Woman (Susan Storm) | Vanessa Kirby |
 |
| The Human Torch (Johnny Storm) | Joseph Quinn |
 |
| The Thing (Ben Grimm) | Ebon Moss-Bachrach |
 |
| Bucky Barnes | Sebastian Stan |
 |
| Yelena Belova | Florence Pugh |
 |
| US Agent | Wyatt Russell |
 |
| Alexei Shostakov | David Harbour |
 |
| Ghost | Hannah John-Kamen |
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| Taskmaster | Olga Kurylenko |
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| Doctor Strange | Benedict Cumberbatch |
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| Captain America | Anthony Mackie |
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| Unknown Role | Chris Evans |
 |
Avengers: Doomsday Story Details
It Will Conclude The Multiverse Saga
Strictly speaking, Avengers: Doomsday should be the culmination of the Multiverse Saga, alongside Avengers: Secret Wars, bringing the threads established in various MCU multiverse storylines together for a huge showdown with Doctor Doom that can hopefully bring several factions of the MCU together based on the confirmed cast for the upcoming film. The announcement of Secret Wars – and the original comic book arc’s connection to the multiverse and incursions – should mean that Avengers 5 actually isn’t an ending, but rather an escalation that presumably sets up the villain (or villains) of Avengers 6.
Avengers 5’s prior plot set up – namely, that of the threat of the Council of Kangs set up in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’s mid-credits scene – looks now like it won’t be used as closely following the MCU cutting ties with Kang actor Jonathan Majors. However, much the framework of the Multiverse Saga still holds crucial weight for the franchise.
It’s been made clear that the fabric of the multiverse is easy to accidentally or intentionally harm, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home appear to show the beginnings of the main MCU world sustaining some damage. As such, it’s likely Doctor Doom’s threat will combine his own imposing presence and that of universe-ending Incursions – either setting up for Avengers: Secret Wars to fully capitalize on these concepts or using them to wreak havoc on the fabric of reality and thus force the MCU’s main heroes into conflict with Doctor Doom from there.
It’s also worth noting that the main set up for Avengers: Doomsday appears to be coming shortly with some of the MCU’s upcoming releases. The Fantastic Four is the most clear of these – seemingly being the prime place to introduce Doctor Doom or at least tease more information about him, and either way, bringing in a new hero team who will no doubt prove vital to the story. Similarly, with the main cast of Thunderbolts* confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, the plot of the impending installment is sure to also have its impact on the next Avengers movie.
While Deadpool & Wolverine sets up a hopeful precedent for any universal injury by suggesting that universes can heal from certain types of threats, since it’s not yet clear what type of danger Avengers: Doomsday will put the primary world in, it’s not clear what kind of risk is being posed to the roster of iconic heroes. However, what is clear is that whatever the team faces, it will pose new and truly deadly challenges for them.
How Avengers: Doomsday Fits Into The MCU
Beginning Of The End
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released just five years after the Multiverse Saga kicked off with WandaVision in 2021, which is about half the amount of time it took for the MCU’s Infinity Saga to build up to Avengers: Infinity War after releasing Iron Man in 2008. Much like Infinity War to Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Doomsday looks to be the first of a double-whammy of Avengers films, with the second part coming in 2027 with Avengers: Secret Wars.
The Multiverse Saga has seen its share of ups and downs throughout, but Doomsday and Secret Wars have the chance to close out the second major MCU Saga in spectacular fashion, really utilizing the multiverse concept to bring in the biggest cast of characters the MCU has ever seen, from decades of adaptations. While being the end of the Multiverse Saga, it’s likely that Avengers: Doomsday will help to start laying the groundwork for where the MCU goes after that.
Every MCU Release You’ll NEED To Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday
- Loki Seasons 1 and 2
- WandaVision
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness
- Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
- Deadpool & Wolverine
- Thunderbolts*
- The Fantastic Four
Assuming you don’t want to rewatch the entire MCU before Avengers: Doomsday, the good news is that Avengers 5 has (so far) the least homework of any MCU crossover movie, at least in terms of the story. Despite multiple promises, the MCU has never actually tied the multiverse into all of its releases in any really substantial way, with contradicting starting points and questionable pull-through in the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which didn’t really add anything to the overarching narrative.
That Spider-Man crossover works as a companion piece to the real Multiverse Saga (and so does Ms. Marvel), but skipping it seemingly wouldn’t change anything about the overarching story. Similarly, Robert Downey Jr’s casting as Doctor Doom may make watching the Iron Man movies again pertinent for Avengers: Doomsday given his prior casting as Tony Stark, but since this story seemingly won’t continue directly on from Iron Man’s own, this doesn’t appear to be a strictly necessary act for those wanting to be up-to-date as quickly as possibly.
On the other hand, the sheer number of potential characters in Avengers: Doomsday and the entirely new Avengers team might make you enthusiastic about watching every individual set-up release to see each Avenger’s journey to the team. That would require considerably more of an MCU rewatch, depending on what the eventual full confirmed Avengers: Doomsday cast looks like.
