Avengers: Doomsday

Avengers: Doomsday is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. It is produced by Marvel Studios and will be shown in theaters by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The movie is meant to be the sequel to Avengers: Endgame from 2019 and will be the 39th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also called the MCU.

The story brings together many heroes, including the Avengers, Wakandans, New Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. They all come together from different universes to face a big challenge: a character named Doom. The film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Michael Waldron, Stephen McFeely, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers. The main actor, Robert Downey Jr., plays the role of the new villain, Doctor Doom.

Filming for the movie happened from April to September 2025 at Pinewood Studios in England, with some scenes shot in England and Bahrain. The movie will be released in the United States on December 18, 2026, as part of Phase Six of the MCU. After this film, another one called Avengers: Secret Wars will come out on December 17, 2027.

Premise

Fourteen months after the events of Thunderbolts*, heroes from three different universes come together. These include the Avengers, the Wakandans, and the New Avengers from one universe, the Fantastic Four from another, and the X-Men from a third. They all unite to face a big danger caused by Doctor Doom, who threatens the multiverse.

Cast

The film features many heroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Robert Downey Jr. plays Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo said Doom is a very complex character, and they thought Downey was the perfect actor for the role.

Other actors returning include Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Captain America; Chris Hemsworth as Thor, the god of thunder; and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, also known as Ant-Man. New faces include Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four, and Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, a skilled martial artist. Many other heroes from past films will also appear, including members of the Avengers and the X-Men teams.

Production

Main article: Production of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars

After directing the big team-up movies Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the Russo brothers wanted to make a movie about Secret Wars. This story brings many Marvel heroes together on a planet called Battleworld.

At a big comic book event in July 2022, Marvel announced two new team-up movies: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. These movies were planned to finish a big story called "The Multiverse Saga," which includes many movies from different groups of Marvel films.

In March 2025, Marvel announced the cast for Avengers: Doomsday, including Robert Downey Jr.. Many actors from earlier Marvel movies returned for this film. By September 2026, more actors were announced, but the full cast was not yet known. The movie brings together heroes from different universes to face a new challenge.

The movie will be filmed at studios in England and other locations. Production started in April 2025 and finished in September 2025. The movie is now set to be released on December 18, 2026.

Music

In April 2024, Alan Silvestri said he might create the music for an upcoming movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He had previously worked on films like Infinity War and Endgame. By July, it was confirmed that he would compose the music for both Doomsday and Secret Wars.

Marketing

Main article: Marketing of Avengers: Doomsday

When the film was announced in July 2024, Marvel used many fun and creative ways to share news with fans. In March 2025, they had a very long, nearly five-and-a-half-hour livestream where many cast members were introduced. This became one of the most watched online events ever. Before the movie Avatar: Fire and Ash came out in 2025, four short teasers were shown in theaters. One of these teasers showed an actor returning as a popular character. Although these teasers were accidentally shared online early, Marvel planned for this and officially put them online later. The first full trailer was shown in April 2026 and got mixed reviews when it was released online in July. A special trailer focusing on a main character got more positive reviews after it was shown at big events in August.

A podcast called Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday started on August 27, 2026. It was hosted by Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, and a podcaster named Frank Alvarez. The podcast talked about important moments from earlier Avengers movies, covering The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Infinity War, and Endgame. The last episode matched the re-release of Endgame in September, called Avengers Endgame: Encore.

Release

Avengers: Doomsday will be released in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2026, and in the United States on December 18. Originally planned for May 2025, its release was moved to May 2026 because of a strike, and then again to December 2026 to finish production. It will be part of Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In early 2026, it was announced that Doomsday would not be shown in IMAX theaters in the United States for at least three weeks because another film, Dune: Part Three, had exclusive use of those theaters at the same time. However, Doomsday will be shown in IMAX in some other countries and will also be available in special theater formats such as Dolby Vision, ScreenX, D-Box, and 4DX. Disney plans to make sure the film is shown in as many special theaters around the world as possible. Later, Disney announced that Doomsday would receive the Infinity Vision certification, meaning it will be shown in the best, brightest, and most exciting ways possible in these special theaters.

Box office projections

Early predictions for the movie Avengers: Doomsday suggested it might be the highest-grossing film of 2026. Even though Marvel Studios had some challenges recently, their big team-up movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine did very well. People in the movie business were very excited for Doomsday because its predecessor, Avengers: Endgame, broke many records. There was also excitement about it being released close to another big movie, Dune: Part Three, which could make for one of the biggest weekends ever in theaters.

The film made $16.5 million from special ticket sales in just one day when tickets first went on sale in July 2026. This was more than double what Deadpool & Wolverine made, and it didn’t even include special large-screen IMAX tickets yet. Many theaters sold out their shows for December 17 and 18 and planned to add more shows around Christmas. By August, the film had sold $35 million in advance tickets, and experts thought it could make between $260–300 million in its first weekend. Just 100 days before the movie came out, advance sales hit $50 million, a first for any film. Disney reported that 70 percent of these early tickets were for special Infinity Vision showings.

Sequel

Further information: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Six § Avengers: Secret Wars (2027)

Another movie called Avengers: Secret Wars is planned to come out on December 17, 2027. The same writers and directors are working on this film, which will finish Phase Six and the Multiverse Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.