In 2026, the Avengers will return to the big screen with 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.
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Avengers: Doomsday Latest News
Marvel Studios Announces The Cast Of Doomsday
Marvel Studios has officially announced the cast of Avengers: Doomsday and, like everyone thought, it features a massive list of characters, with a number of pleasant surprises thrown in for good measure. Included in the frankly absurdly large cast are various of The Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, Avengers, and even Fox's original X-Men characters.
Of course, other major MCU characters that are typically not associated with a team will be in the film as well. Some of those names announced include Shang-Chi, Shuri, Loki, Thor, and more.
Avengers: Doomsday was always thought to be a significant number of characters, but some of the ones announced were incredibly surprising, as it felt like Avengers: Secret Wars would be the one to really bring together characters from the entirety of Marvel's cinematic history. Doctor Doom is going to have his hands full.
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
Doctor Doom
Avengers: Doomsday will revolve around Doctor Doom, who at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con was announced to be part of the 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.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have begun to talk about Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, as recent interviews highlight some major points regarding Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom, a decision that has massive implications. In a recent interview with Omelete, Joe Russo talked about Kevin Feige's idea to bring back Robert Downey Jr., stating,
"That was Kevin [Feige], and interesting enough about that was, that conversation was had a while ago. And then Robert tried to talk us into doing it, and we said 'no,' weirdly because we said we wouldn't come back."
The Fantastic Four
All four of The Fantastic Four will reprise their roles in Avengers: Doomsday. This includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing. Given how closely tied the group is with Doctor Doom, they will likely have some of the most significant roles in the entire film.
The Thunderbolts
Nearly all the Thunderbolts will be coming back for Avengers: Doomsday, which includes Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Lewis Pullman as Sentry. Unfortunately, Taskmaster didn't make the cut, indicating her time in Thunderbolts* will likely be cut short.
The Avengers
Despite the Avengers breaking up over the course of the MCU, Sam Wilson was determined to assemble a new team following Captain America: Brave New World, and he seems to be doing just that. Alongside Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Paul Rudd as Ant-Man.
Other Major MCU Characters
Alongside the various MCU teams, like Thunderbolts and Avengers, there are a significant number of characters returning in Avengers: Doomsday that have played a significant role in the MCU as a whole. These characters include Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, and Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor.
The X-Men
In one of the more shocking reveals from the Marvel Studios casting announcement, many of the original X-Men characters from Fox are back, with the original reprising their roles. This includes Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Rebecca Romijn as Mystique. Along with the original X-Men cast, Channing Tatum returns as Gambit after appearing in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Avengers: Doomsday Character |
Actor |
|
|---|---|---|
Doctor Doom |
Robert Downey Jr. |
|
Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) |
Pedro Pascal |
|
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 |
|
Sentry |
Lewis Pullman |
|
Captain America |
Anthony Mackie |
|
Thor |
Chris Hemsworth |
|
Ant-Man |
Paul Rudd |
|
Loki |
Tom Hiddleston |
|
Shang-Chi |
Simu Liu |
|
Falcon |
Danny Ramirez |
Image via Marvel Studios |
Black Panther |
Letitia Wright |
|
M'Baku |
Winston Duke |
|
Namor |
Tenoch Huerta Mejia |
|
Professor Charles Xavier |
Patrick Stewart |
|
Magneto |
Ian McKellen |
|
Cyclops |
James Marsden |
|
Beast |
Kelsey Grammer |
|
Nightcrawler |
Alan Cumming |
|
Mystique |
Rebecca Romijn |
|
Gambit |
Channing Tatum |
|
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 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.
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.
Benedict Cumberbatch recently said that Doctor Strange wouldn't be in Avengers: Doomsday due to the MCU shifting away from Jonathan Majors and Kang. While he has since walked back those statements and clarified that he will be in it, it's still unclear exactly how much of the story was changed by going for Doctor Doom as the villain instead of Kang the Conqueror. With Doctor Strange officially in the movie, it seems highly likely that the movie will have a heavy focus on the mulitverse.
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.
It's also worth noting that the main setup for Avengers: Doomsday appears to be coming shortly with some of the MCU's releases. The Fantastic Four: First Steps 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 it is 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.
In an Omelete interview, Joe Russo talked about how Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars differ from Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame in of the MCU overall and their impact on it. Most notable is how these next Avengers films seem to be a new beginning rather than an end like they were with the Infinity Saga. His statement reads:
"The greatest thing that ever happened is we got to, you know, get immersed in you know a 20 movie arc and and see an ending to that arc. What's compelling about these two new Avengers movies is they're a beginning. It's a new beginning. We told an ending story, now we're going to tell a beginning story. And then who knows where we'll go from there. Maybe it'll be another 5 years but I think we just needed that time and perspective to figure out where it needed to go next, and the only thing that brought us back was the right story."
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 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 characters in Avengers: Doomsday might make you enthusiastic about watching every individual set-up release to see how it all led up to the end of the Multiverse Saga. That would require considerably more of an MCU rewatch, prior to Avengers: Doomsday, which also includes franchises outside the MCU, like Fox's X-Men.
Avengers: Doomsday
Cast
Thor
Vanessa KirbySue Storm / Invisible Woman
Johnny Storm / Human Torch
Ebon Moss-BachrachBen Grimm / The Thing
Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom - played by the returning Robert Downey Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.
- Main Genre
- Superhero
