Two newAvengers films,The Kang Dynasty andSecret Wars, were announced in July 2022 as the conclusion of the MCU'sPhase Six and "The Multiverse Saga".Destin Daniel Cretton was hired to directThe Kang Dynasty andJonathan Majors was set to reprise his MCU role as the villainKang the Conqueror.Jeff Loveness joined the film as writer that September. In November 2023, Cretton departed, Waldron replaced Loveness as writer, and Marvel was considering moving away from the Kang storyline, in part due toMajors's legal issues; Majors was fired the following month. The return of the Russo brothers as directors and McFeely as co-writer, the casting of Downey as new villain Doctor Doom, and the new subtitleDoomsday were all announced in July 2024. Filming began in April 2025 atPinewood Studios in England, with a large cast consisting mainly of actors from previous MCU media and20th Century Fox'sX-Men film series, andwrapped in September. Location filming took place in England andBahrain.
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 18, 2026, as part of Phase Six of the MCU. The sequel,Avengers: Secret Wars, is set to be released on December 17, 2027.
Paul Rudd asScott Lang / Ant-Man: An Avenger and former petty criminal witha suit that allows him to shrink or grow in scale while increasing in strength[3]
Tenoch Huerta Mejía asNamor: The king ofTalokan and a powerfulmutant with pointed ears and wings on his ankles who is capable of breathing both on land and underwater[3]
Simu Liu asXu Shang-Chi: A highly skilled martial artist and the wielder of the mysticalTen Rings who was trained to be an assassin by his criminal fatherXu Wenwu.[3] Liu said Shang-Chi is older, more self-assured, and "a little more lived in with who he is and his responsibilities" compared to his introduction in the filmShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).[6]
Kelsey Grammer asHank McCoy / Beast: A mutant and member of theX-Men with animalistic physical characteristics, including blue fur, pointed ears, fangs, and claws[3]
Lewis Pullman asBob Reynolds / Sentry: A superpowered member of the New Avengers who is believed to be stronger than all of the Avengers combined[3]
Alan Cumming asKurt Wagner / Nightcrawler: A blue-skinned, demonic-looking mutant who canteleport.[3] Cumming said the make-up process was reduced to an hour-and-a-half forDoomsday from the four-and-a-half to five hours it took on the20th Century Fox filmX2 (2003), in large part because the character's tattoos were no longer applied individually by hand.[8] He found working onDoomsday to be "healing" following his miserable experience working onX2.[9]
Pedro Pascal asReed Richards / Mister Fantastic: Sue's husband, Grimm's best friend, and a highly intelligent scientist who is the leader of the Fantastic Four and can stretch any part of his body to great lengths[4]
Chris Evans asSteve Rogers: The former leader of the Avengers, aWorld War II veteran, and the first person to carry the Captain America mantle. He returned to the 1940s at the end of the filmAvengers: Endgame (2019) to live with Peggy Carter.[14]
FollowingMajors's arrest in March 2023 and subsequent assault allegations, reports and speculation emerged about his future in the MCU.[37][38] Loveness was no longer involved in the film by the start of the2023 Writers Guild of America strike in May,[39] reportedly because he was closely associated with the Kang storyline and Marvel was "moving away" from that.[40][41] In June, the release dates forThe Kang Dynasty andSecret Wars were pushed back to May 1, 2026, and May 7, 2027, respectively,[42] in part due to the scripts not being ready before the strike.[43] Cretton stepped down as director ofThe Kang Dynasty in November 2023,[44] partially due to schedule delays,[45] and Waldron was set to rewrite the film.[46] The next month, Majors was fired by Disney and Marvel Studios after he was found guilty of harassment and reckless assault in the third degree. The studio had started referring toThe Kang Dynasty internally asAvengers 5 by then.[47][48] By February 2024, bothAvengers 5 andSecret Wars were being rewritten to minimize Kang's role or remove him entirely following Majors's firing.[49]
Shawn Levy became the studio's top choice to directAvengers 5 by mid-March 2024, after he directed the MCU filmDeadpool & Wolverine (2024), but there were potential scheduling issues with his other projects.[50][51] By that May, Marvel Studios had approachedRobert Downey Jr.—who starred asTony Stark / Iron Man in "The Infinity Saga", covering the MCU'sPhases One,Two, andThree—about returning to the MCU to take on the new character ofVictor von Doom / Doctor Doom. Downey said he would only return if the Russo brothers also returned as directors.[52][53][54] After McFeely approached the Russos with an idea for the films that excited them,[12] they entered early talks to direct bothAvengers 5 andSecret Wars by mid-July.[55] At SDCC at the end of the month, the Russos were confirmed to be directing the two films.[11] They revealed thatAvengers 5 was now titledAvengers: Doomsday, and both films would feature Downey as Doctor Doom.[56] The Russos were producing the films through their production companyAGBO, and McFeely had joined as writer for both films,[11][57] working with Waldron.[58] In March 2025, Marvel announced 26 cast members for the film alongside Downey. Many of those actors returned from previous MCU media, while some were reprising their roles from20th Century Fox'sX-Men film series.[3][59] Downey, Marvel Studios, and Feige teased that there were more cast members to reveal.[60][1] Feige saidDoomsday would focus on theAvengers,Wakandans,Fantastic Four,Thunderbolts—revealed inThunderbolts* (2025) to be the government-sanctionedNew Avengers—and the "original"X-Men teaming up to face Doom.[1][2]Chris Evans was confirmed to be returning asSteve Rogers in December, when the Russos called him "the character that changed our lives... it was always going to come back" to his story.[61][62] They added that they could not imagine telling this story without Rogers having a central role as he did in previous MCU films.[63]
In April 2024,Alan Silvestri indicated that he could be composing the music for an upcoming MCU project after previously doing so forInfinity War,Endgame, and other MCU films.[77] That July, he was confirmed to be returning as the composer for bothDoomsday andSecret Wars.[78]
Marketing
TheDoomsday subtitle, the return of the Russo brothers, and the casting of Downey as Doctor Doom were all announced at Marvel Studios' SDCC panel in July 2024. The announcement involved multiple people dressed as Doom appearing on stage, including Downey, who unmasked himself to reveal his casting to the audience.[11] Kat Bailey atIGN described the casting announcement as "one of the most dramatic reveals in recent Marvel history" and reported on mixed responses from fans, with some praising Downey's return while others thought it was a desperate move from Marvel Studios following the creative reshuffling caused by Majors's firing.[79] Other commentators also discussed the casting and mixed responses to it,[80][81][82] includingCollider's Collier Jennings who criticized the casting of a non-Romani actor considering the character's comic book heritage.[83]
Coinciding with the start of production in March 2025, Marvel aired a nearly five-and-a-half-hour-longlivestream showing a line ofdirector's chairs with cast member names on them. A new chair was revealed approximately every 12 minutes, accompanied by music from a relevant previous Marvel project. After revealing 26 cast members, the livestream ended with an appearance by Downey and a rendition of Silvestri'sAvengers theme.[3][60] The livestream saw around 100,000 concurrent viewers onYouTube,[84] and an hour-over-hour audience growth, to become the most viewed cross-platform livestream stunt. It became the second-most trending video on YouTube with 275 million views in its first 24 hours, surpassing past livestreams for Marvel'sred carpet premieres. The livestream also accumulated 3.1 million mentions across social media, which is five times higher than the "social volume" of the first trailer forDeadpool & Wolverine. It garnered 55 distinct trending terms onX (formerly Twitter) and thehashtag "AvengersDoomsday" was the top trending topic on the site for over seven hours.[60] NumerousInternet memes were generated with each cast announcement.[84][60] Anthony D'Alessandro ofDeadline Hollywood described the stunt as a "pop cultural event".[60]Variety's Jordan Moreau and Brent Lang called the livestream a "slow-burn" and likened it to the release date reveal for theseventh season ofGame of Thrones in 2017, which saw a block of ice melt to reveal the date; both stunts were "mocked for their pace".[84] Austen Goslin ofPolygon, who was concerned about the large size of the announced cast, described the livestream as "agonizingly slow [but] exceedingly fun". He enjoyed checking the stream for each new reveal and seeing responses on social media.[85] James Whitbrook ofGizmodo said the livestream's viewership spoke to Marvel's "ability to maintain much of that grip it's had on pop culture over the past almost 20 years".[86]
The Russo brothers andScott Lang / Ant-Man starPaul Rudd introduced footage from the film atDestination D23 in August 2025.[87] Disney's Merchandise Expo in China the following month featured concept art of Doom from the film;[88] a light show centered on Doom, featuring logos for the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four; and a recreation of a panel from the 2015Secret Wars comic series in which Doom rips the skeleton out ofThanos's body.[89] In December,Doomsday was featured at Disney's Giornate Di Cinema Sorrento presentation in Italy. The announced cast was grouped by their teams: the Fantastic Four; the X-Men; the New Avengers;Sam Wilson / Captain America's "Heroic Avengers" team, which includedThor,Xu Shang-Chi,Joaquin Torres / Falcon, Ant-Man, andLoki; and the "Wakandan Warriors", which includedShuri / Black Panther,M'Baku, andNamor.[90][91]
On December 18, 2025, the Russo brothers released a short teaser of a 12-month countdown clock to mark a year until the film's scheduled release.[92] Different short teasers were shown during each of the first four weeks of screenings for the Disney filmAvatar: Fire and Ash, starting with its release on December 19:[93][94] the first revealed the return of Evans as Rogers and shows him holding a baby;[14][95] the second features Thor praying to his fatherOdin for the strength to return to his adopted daughterLove after the coming battle;[16][96] the third focuses on the X-Men charactersCharles Xavier / Professor X,Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, andScott Summers / Cyclops, and shows a ruinedXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters;[97] and the fourth is centered on the Wakandans andTalokanil, with Shuri and M'Baku meeting the Fantastic Four memberBen Grimm / The Thing.[7] The teasers were released online on December 23,[98] December 30,[99] January 6,[97] and January 13, respectively.[100] Each teaser ends with the countdown clock.[101] They were all noted for their similar "serious and somber" tone,[7] and for a focus on children, continuing from the post-credits scene of the filmThe Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) which focuses onFranklin Richards.[16][102][103][104] Jesse Schedeen atIGN appreciated the return to a more serious tone for Thor following the more comedic approach taken under directorTaika Waititi with the filmsThor: Ragnarok (2017) andThor: Love and Thunder (2022).[96]Gizmodo's James Whitbrook enjoyed the first look at a Fantastic Four member interacting with other MCU characters in the fourth teaser,[100] which includes characters that debuted in, or are closely associated with, theFantastic Four comic books.[105][106] Doom's absence from the teasers was noted by commentators,[100][107] with Marco Vito Oddo atComicBook.com calling it a smart move to build anticipation for the character. He believed Doom would be revealed in a full trailer targeted at a global audience.[103]
All four teasers were leaked ahead of their online releases.[108] Germain Lussier atGizmodo expressed frustration with the rollout, feeling it was fumbled by Marvel due to the leaks.[109] He was underwhelmed by the initial countdown teaser that was released after news of the Evans teaser already leaked,[110] said the leaks undermined the studio's plans to get a "big, exciting, in-theater [fan] reaction" to Evans's return,[111] and added that Marvel fans were "not used to major news being confirmed via bootlegged clips, wrapped in uncertainty of where and how to see things".[110]The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit and Aaron Couch described the teaser approach as a "unique rollout" that was attempting to get "diehard" Marvel fans to seeFire and Ash multiple times in theaters.[94] Jeremy Mathai at/Film also described the rollout as unique and said it had driven online discussion, but some of this was about how "un-hyped" some were feeling about the sombre teasers.[102] After the X-Men teaser was released,ComicBook.com's Chris Agar said it was the best so far and there was an escalation from showing Rogers at peace, to Thor preparing for battle, to Cyclops "firing an optic blast into the sky in rage".[107] Kyle Anderson ofNerdist also believed there was an increase in quality and excitement with each of the four teasers,[106] and/Film's Sandy Schaefer said the Wakanda teaser was Marvel saving the best for last.[112] Whitbrook felt the fourth teaser was "muted" compared to the previous three and their focus on "familiar heavy hitters".[100] Schedeen believed the focus on past lead actors over new characters who were introduced sinceEndgame indicated that Marvel was pivoting to reinvigorate casual fans who "checked out of the MCU once Evans and Downey did".[113]
The four teasers had collectively accumulated 1.02 billion online views within three days of the fourth being released. Couch said this was a "massive sum" considering they were not tied to a promotional broadcast. Together the teasers had more views than any single Marvel trailer onInstagram (505 million) andTikTok (103 million), each teaser had on average a 188 percent higher "social volume" than most Marvel trailers, and the rollout generated 16 distinct trending terms on X. Couch said Marvel was aware the teasers would leak once they were in theaters, and the studio saw the rollout approach—which required collaboration with theaters around the world—as a continuation of the cast reveal livestream. Based on the viewership, Couch believed the leaks had not impacted fan enthusiasm and said "the experiment paid off in a big way". The Russo brothers said the teasers each gave narrative information,[108] and described them as "stories" and "clues" rather than teasers or trailers.[109] Despite responding negatively to the teaser rollout and the Russos' "cryptic" comments, Lussier conceded that the approach was working since people were talking about the film 11 months before its release.[109] There was speculation about whether Marvel continued practices from previous films of using footage shot specifically for marketing,[114][115] or altering footage to hide certain characters or details.[116] Anderson believed the Wakanda teaser was the only one of the four to feature actual scenes fromDoomsday.[106] That teaser debuted online through a livestream on Marvel's YouTube account that transitioned to be a livestream of the countdown clock,[101] continuing the "tradition" established with the cast reveal livestream.[108] Commentators questioned whether the countdown livestream would be used to reveal additional information about the film leading up to its release.[117][118] Lussier felt the livestream was unnecessary since the countdown was included at the end of each teaser.[109]
Release
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 18, 2026.[70] The film is expected to be released inIMAX.[119][needs update] It was originally scheduled for release on May 2, 2025,[29] but was delayed to May 1, 2026, in part due to the2023 Writers Guild of America strike,[43][56] followed by another delay to the December 2026 release to allow more time for production to be completed.[70] It will be part of Phase Six of the MCU.[29]
A sequel, titledAvengers: Secret Wars, is scheduled to be released on December 17, 2027.[70] It is also being written by Waldron and McFeely,[58] and directed by the Russo brothers.[56] The film will conclude Phase Six of the MCU.[29]
^abCouch, Aaron; Kit, Borys (December 12, 2025)."Heat Vision".Heat Vision (newsletter).Archived from the original on December 13, 2025. RetrievedDecember 12, 2025.
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