The Avengers are reassembling! Phase 6 kicked off with a successful Fantastic Four reboot and the excellent Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but it's all leading towards the next mainline Avengers movie: Avengers: Doomsday. Here's everything we know about the first MCU-wide crossover since 2019's Endgame.
It's safe to say that Marvel Studios' Multiverse Saga has had a bit of trouble getting casual moviegoers (and even some die-hard fans) to care about what's next. Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels, and even the Secret Invasion series crashed and burned so hard that we wondered if 'Marvel mania' had run its course.
It's not all bad, though. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was excellent, Deadpool & Wolverine was good fun, Thunderbolts* was a surprisingly spirited outing for Marvel's misfits, The Fantastic Four: First Steps finally gave us a First Family worth caring about, and the latest Spidey outing crushed expectations. But outside of that, in recent years, what have we had? Captain America: Brave New World, a movie we've already forgotten the plot of.
Ever since Phase 4 began in the aftermath of Endgame, the MCU has felt scattered and disconnected. Without a major throughline to hold on to, audiences have struggled to find a reason to care. Now, all hopes rest on Avengers: Doomsday to reignite that spark. Is it too late, or will the MCU rise from the ashes once again? We don’t have a Time Stone, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Need to catch up ahead of everything coming to the MCU in 2026 and beyond? Our list of the Marvel movies in order is what you want. And if you are a bit of a gamer, make sure you've played all the best Marvel games of all time.
October 16, 2026: Updated to add all of the latest trailers, plot rumours, and cast members.
When is the Avengers: Doomsday release date?
Avengers: Doomsday will release in theaters on December 18, 2026.
The movie was previously set to arrive on May 1, 2026. Considering The Mandalorian & Grogu was set to hit later that month — and mixing Marvel and Star Wars in the same month didn't work out for the latter in 2018 — the powers that be at Disney decided to push the Avengers into the Christmas slot, where it now goes up against Dune: Part 3.
Post-production concerns probably also factored into the decision, given the tight timeframe and massive scope of the movie.
What is the plot of Avengers: Doomsday?
The plot of Avengers: Doomsday is, unsurprisingly, being kept hidden away in a high-security SHIELD base. We can, however, make some educated guesses, based on the trailers and general direction of the Multiverse Saga so far, about the larger picture.
First, the concept of incursions appears to be a big deal as we wander into Doomsday and Secret Wars. Basically, after the huge multiverse-shaking events that went down in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Loki, the Sacred Timeline (Earth-616, the main MCU one) ain't that special or as protected as before. Other realities are seeping into each other, and the whole thing could lead to another Multiversal War.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels also highlighted some of the dangers threatening otherwise peaceful universes and even teased a rather strong X-Men presence elsewhere (now confirmed to be a major part of the story). Stephen Strange and Carol Danvers, among others, are nowhere to be seen in the trailers, though.
With the Council of Kangs subplot seemingly dropped after Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania's flop and Kang actor Jonathan Majors getting into real-life trouble, it's Doctor Doom's time to take over an entire Avengers movie, and he's played by... Robert Downey Jr. because the multiverse is funny like that (and also because, let's admit it, Disney and Marvel are a bit desperate). According to Sue Storm’s description of the person behind the mask, he was once a friend, but something turned him into a truly terrible menace.
This new Doctor Doom has appeared in The Fantastic Four: First Steps' mid-credits scene – which is set in another universe, by the way – before making his big Avengers entrance. Meanwhile, we don't know who the New Avengers are yet (in spite of Thunderbolts* seemingly introducing a new team) or how it all leads into the much larger, multiverse-shattering Secret Wars. We'll begin to learn things soon enough, though, so stay tuned.
For now, four short Avengers Doomsday teasers have revealed more about key players.
We know that Steve Rogers will come out of retirement for this event and is now a dad back in his timeline. Thor is also dealing with paternity and recovering his more serious side after Love & Thunder. The X-Men (from the original Fox timeline) apparently aren’t having a good time, and Cyclops is finally sporting his beloved ‘90s animated series look.
Last but not least, it appears the Wakandans are the first major group the Fantastic Four will encounter upon arriving on Earth-616.
Are there any Avengers: Doomsday trailers?
Avengers: Doomsday’s marketing campaign has been a peculiar one. December 2025 and January 2026 brought us four teasers showing Steve Roger and Thor’s return, the debut of the classic X-Men, and Wakanda dealing with major trouble as they meet the Fantastic Four.
It wasn’t until July 20, 2026, that we got a full trailer that introduced the main conflict and showed us the many heroes of different universes clashing, all while Doctor Doom is hyped up as a massive threat unlike anything the Avengers have ever faced before.
Less than a month later, on August 15, a ‘special look’ for D23 served as the movie’s second trailer.
It had a much bigger focus on Doom and who he is, even if we still don’t know what exactly he’s after. Chances are most of the actual plot will be saved for the movie, but we’re still expecting at least one more major trailer before December.
Who is in the Avengers: Doomsday cast?
So far, the confirmed cast members for Avengers: Doomsday are:
- Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic
- Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm aka Invisible Woman
- Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm aka Human Torch
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm aka The Thing
- Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson aka Captain America
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier
- Letitia Wright as Shuri aka Black Panther
- Paul Rudd as Scott Lang aka Ant-Man
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker aka U.S. Agent
- Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
- Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy aka Beast
- Lewis Pullman as Robert 'Bob' Reynolds aka Sentry
- Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres aka Falcon
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian
- Winston Duke as M'Baku
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr aka Ghost
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier aka Professor X
- Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto
- Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler
- Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme aka Mystique
- James Marsden as Scott Summers aka Cyclops
- Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau aka Gambit
- Chris Evans as Steve Rogers aka Captain America
There are some notable missing names from that list (despite its impressive size). We’re fully expecting Marvel to be saving big surprises for the movie’s release, but at this point, it really seems that veterans like Tom Holland (Peter Parker aka Spider-Man) or Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner aka Hulk) will be sitting this one out. The same goes for Brie Larson (Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel).
Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange aka Doctor Strange) or Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch) are proper question marks, though. As revealed by marketing materials, Doom has access to powerful magic and is backed by a group of masked witches (and maybe even one sorcerer), so we have to wonder who’s hiding under those masks...
The Guardians of the Galaxy (new and former) don’t appear to be part of this equation either. But we’re far more optimistic about Hugh Jackman (Logan aka Wolverine) and Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson aka Deadpool) after a cheeky tease at this year’s D23.
Avengers: Doomsday directors, writers, and crew
Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame) took over directing duties after Shang-Chi captain Destin Daniel Cretton left the event movie (back when it was called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) to focus on several other projects, including Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Stephen McFeely, who also worked with the Russos on their past Marvel hits, is penning the script, though the return of Christopher Markus (the other half of the veteran writing duo) is off the table as he's chosen to focus on other projects. Loki writer Michael Waldron, who also penned the second Doctor Strange movie, is still attached to Doomsday and Secret Wars as co-writer.
In any case, the new creative team arrives after both Jeff Loveness (Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania) and Waldron himself explored possibilities with the Kang storyline that's ultimately been pushed aside.
