TAGGED AS: marvel cinematic universe, movies, Superheroes
Since 2021, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have known another Avengers film was on the horizon. Of course, thanks to various shifts in Marvel Studios’ planning, cast upheavals, and industry strikes, the exact nature of that film was tougher to ascertain.
That changed, of course, in the summer of 2024 when the studio took to the Hall H stage at Comic-Con International: San Diego to reveal a new plan, a new antagonist, and a new name: Avengers: Doomsday. The announcement came with the surprise reappearance of Robert Downey Jr., who will play the titular Doctor Doom as he, presumably, sets his sights on the Marvel Multiverse.
But other details remained vague until March 26, 2025. That morning, the studio launched a live feed on its social media accounts to unveil a surprising number of actors joining Downey and celebrate the beginning of filming. Of course, some details still elude those who sift through all the rumors, conjecture, and possible leaks, but the confirmation of the cast — with more potentially on the way — we thought it was the perfect time to assemble everything we know about Doomsday so far. Join us as we put together a Time Variance Authority dossier and, maybe, glean just what Doom will do as the Secret Wars approach.
While story details are very much under wraps, we do have a few bits of solid information. At the 2021 SDCC presentation, Marvel Studios revealed the previous version of the film (more on that later) would begin the culmination of the current Multiverse Saga. Although that story thread turned out more opaque than the hunt for the Infinity Stones, it at least suggests what will transpire in Doomsday.
Becoming aware of the Multiverse, the wise and fair Doom spies other realities to rule, presumably having conquered his own. As the film will also introduce the character in the Marvel Multiverse context, we will also learn what sort of Doom the heroes of the MCU will eventually face. With decades of story behind him, Doom can be, at various times, a wise ruler of Latveria — his Eastern European country — a would-be global despot, a criminal genius, a partner in crime with the likes of Kang the Conqueror, a comic foil for the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, a caring surrogate father for one of the Richards’ children, the Sorcerer Supreme and — currently in the comics — king of the world.
Also, he’ll look almost exactly like the MCU’s Tony Stark.
But that still leaves plenty of questions. Is he the Doom from the reality that will be introduced in this summer’s Fantastic Four: First Steps? Is he already the sworn enemy of that Earth’s Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal)? Is his knowledge of the Multiverse a product of some scientific curiosity, an examination of the mystical arts, or both? Will he speak with a Latverian accent?
All of this will be revealed in the fullness of time and through the duration of the film, which we also imagine will see Doom overrunning (and possibly destroying) realities until he finds one that truly captures his imagination: the MCU itself.
There is another possibility. The eventual Doomsday sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, takes its name from two comic book stories, the latter of which is a 2015-2016 tale that saw Doom become the unquestioned ruler of the single reality resulting from the collapse of the Multiverse. Is it possible this is his true aim, taking the Sacred Timeline of the MCU as his bedrock reality? We imagine a lot of people will be mad about that.
The setting of the film takes us pretty much anywhere from Hell’s Kitchen of the MCU to a Doomstadt (the capital city of Latveria) in a far-off reality, to an Earth populated by Mutants who first made their presence known in the year 2000. We also expect to see the TVA again, Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) throne room at the nexus of all realities, the laboratory of Reed Richards, and at least two very recognizable buildings in the New York skyline.
As Deadpool & Wolverine proved, one of the most thrilling things about the Multiverse as a concept is the way it can remix the familiar into something funny or startling, from the Calverine (Henry Cavill) to a foul-mouthed Johnny Storm (Chris Evans). Although, we imagine Doomsday will play those variant settings in a far more serious tone than Wade Wilson’s (Ryan Reynolds) most recent burst of chaos.
As mentioned above, March 26, 2025 saw the reveal of an expansive Doomsday cast. Confronting Downey’s Doom are Pascal, Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Letitia Wright, Wyatt Russell, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Kelsey Grammer, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Joseph Quinn, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, and Channing Tatum.
It’s an interesting collection of names. Chief among them are the Fantastic Four themselves (Pascal, Kirby, Quinn, and Moss-Bachrach). We imagine they will follow Doom into the Multiverse and, perhaps, even rally the other teams they encounter along the way, like the Thunderbolts. With Pugh, Stan, Russell, Pullman, Harbour, and John-Kamen reprising their roles from the film due out this May, we wouldn’t be surprised if the that team earns themselves a shot to replace the Avengers. Well, at least until Doom squashes them under his armored foot.
Presuming the Thunderbolts are the same ones from the MCU, we think Doom’s first stop in the film will be the reality where the X-Men of the 20th Century Fox films reside. With Stewart, Marsden, McKellen, Grammer, and Romijn reprising their roles, we bet another last stand for the Mutants is in the offing. Oh, but what a surprise to see Cumming among that group of actors. We’ll be happy to hear him recall his days on the Berlin stage once again.
Also, we’re quite happy to see Tatum return as Gambit, though we imagine his accent will be reined in a little this time.
The remaining group represent an eclectic mix of MCU characters. Hemsworth’s Thor seems like a reasonable choice for inclusion — Loki has to reach out to him at some point as the Multiversal crisis reaches a fevered pitch. But Shuri (Wright), M’Baku (Duke), Shang-Chi (Liu), and Namor (Mejia) represent a number of underutilized characters. Maybe they will prove to be Sam Wilson’s (Mackie) choices for a truly international Avengers team, a la the All New All Different X-Men. Although, isn’t it strange the younger heroes are absent from this cast list?
And what what of Rudd’s Ant-Man? Will he finally use the oft-memed tactic he never employed against Thanos (Josh Brolin)?
Of course, the confirmed cast aren’t the only names we’ve heard connected to Doomsday. In the months after the film received its new name, Evans, Hayley Atwell, Jeremy Renner, and Tom Holland were said to be returning. That could still be true even if Marvel has yet to put out chairs for them. Similarly, Benedict Cumberbatch was quoted as saying he would appear in the “next” Avengers film, though he has been unclear on whether that is Doomsday or Secret Wars.
The studio is teasing further cast reveals, so we’ll update as more names come to light.
In its previous existence as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the film was meant to be directed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’Destin Daniel Cretton from a script by Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness. Creative upheavals, the poor response to Kang in Quantumania, and the legal situation regarding the actor who played him, led to a complete rethink of the film and, for a time, its name simply becoming Avengers 5.
But then Marvel Studios surprised their audience at the 2024 SDCC panel by announcing the return of Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo. Although the duo admitted to creative burnout after making four Marvel films essentially back-to-back from Captain America: The Winter Solider to Endgame, they’ve seemingly been recharged after making films at Netflix and for their own production company. They’ve also said the pitch to introduce Downey as Doom ultimately excited them.
Providing the script is Stephen McFeely, perhaps best known for co-writing Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. His other Marvel credits include Captain America: The First Avenger and The Winter Solider, and Thor: The Dark World. He also contributed to the three Chronicles of Narnia films and Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain with previous writing partner Christopher Markus (who also co-wrote McFeely’s other Marvel films).
Other key department heads, like the director of photography and production designer, have yet to be announced, although frequent Marvel movie editor Jeffrey Ford will reportedly return to edit Doomsday. Composer Alan Silvestri will also likely take on scoring duties. And with production underway, we expect the rest of these names to emerge soon. Filming is expected to continue though August.
Avengers: Doomsday is currently scheduled for release on May 1, 2026. Following that, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will go into a relative pause with the fourth MCU Spider-Man film and a handful of Disney+ series and specials filling the gap until Doom returns for Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.
Avengers: Doomsday(2026) is scheduled for release on May 7, 2027.
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