Avengers: Doomsday is still a ways away... but with Avengers: Endgame Encore finally here, the hype is just as wild as ever. The Marvel movie sees the Fantastic Four, OG X-Men, and the New Avengers unite with the original Avengers... though some new leaked footage from Encore seems to spell out a dark end for one of these teams.
Below, we have casting news, trailer breakdowns, and more in our complete guide to the Marvel Phase 6 movie. We break down all of this and more below, and get into those aforementioned leaks. Don't worry: we'll label spoilers where appropriate.
For more, check out our guide to Avengers: Secret Wars and the Marvel X-Men movie for a hint at what's to come next.
Avengers: Doomsday release date
The Avengers: Doomsday release date is December 18, 2026.
We will get an exclusive special look at the movie during the release of Avengers: Endgame Encore too, which arrives on September 25, 2026.
Avengers: Doomsday cast
The big cast news is that Robert Downey Jr. is coming back to the MCU as Doctor Doom. This is obviously a big shock and has tons of timeline implications, as Downey Jr. famously played Iron Man until the character's death in Avengers: Endgame (aka one of the best Marvel movies of all time).
We also know a decent chunk of stars who will be popping up with the ex-Tony Stark. It was revealed during a special announcement event that the casts of Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the Thunderbolts* (Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and more) would be part of Avengers 5.
Since that unveiling, some more names have been added. Most notably, it was revealed Chris Evans is back as Steve Rogers, alongside Hayley Atwell's Peggy Carter.
Here is the complete cast list:
- Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Chris Evans as Steve Rogers
- Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
- Anthony Mackie as Captain America
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
- Letitia Wright as Black Panther
- Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker
- Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Thing
- Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Kelsey Grammer as Beast
- Lewis Pullman as Sentry
- Danny Ramirez as Falcon
- Joseph Quinn as Human Torch
- David Harbour as Red Guardian
- Winston Duke as M’Baku
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier
- Ian McKellen as Magneto
- Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
- Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
- James Marsden as Cyclops
- Channing Tatum as Gambit
- Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic
- Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang
- Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
It's worth noting though that there are some pretty huge MCU omissions in this list.
Benedict Cumberbatch may also be a surprise addition to look out for. The star has said he wouldn't be in the movie, then later said he would be. Simu Liu may have spoiled Tom Holland's involvement, and we're still wondering is Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will appear as Deadpool and Wolverine.
Avengers: Doomsday plot
The official Avengers: Doomsday synopsis doesn't reveal too much. This reads: "In Avengers: Doomsday, beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered."
However, based on the new trailers and latest looks, we do have a bit of an idea about what the movie will focus on. The best insight yet came from the latest trailer which saw Victor Von Doom speaking to the Avengers as having "stolen lives". We also get some insight that he has history with the Fantastic Four cast.
"Victor was always the smartest guy in every room, he used to be different, he used to be kind, he used to be caring," Sue Storm says in the voiceover. "And then everything he loved was taken from him. I knew he was lost but I did not realise he was broken." At another point in the trailer, Reed Richards asks him desperately, "Victor, did you do this?"
It seems that Doom will have a pretty tragic backstory that he blames the Avengers for. Could he be coming after them for revenge? It seems that way. The other trailer teased how this will be their biggest threat yet and the entire cast of MCU characters will have to team up to try and stop him.
We also know that Doom's likeness to Tony Stark will be addressed in the movie. Joe Russo previously teased that it will "all make sense" when the film is released. Beyond this, we're going to get a sneak peek at the movie in Avengers: Endgame Encore, which has already changed a key bit of dialogue. Could that explain more about the upcoming movie's plot? We'll have to wait and see.
Warning: Spoilers incoming! Some new footage from Avengers: Endgame Encore seems to imply a terrible end for our pre-MCU, Fox-owned X-Men. One of the Avengers: Endgame Encore post-credits scenes sees Loki season 2's very own Morbius and Ouroboros as they look out at an incursion between Earth-10005 (the Fox X-Men universe) and Earth-1127 (a world that hasn't been introduced yet in the MCU). By the end of the post-credits scene, there are 3,000 incursions, which means the multiverse is indeed collapsing. This means that the MCU is indeed adapting the Jonathan Hickman Avengers comic book storyline... and we won't tell you what happens at the end of that.
Avengers: Doomsday trailer
There are two main Avengers: Doomsday trailers now out. You can watch the first for yourself above. In the teaser, we see a ton of characters. There are X-Men, people from Wakanda, and the Fantastic Four (just to name a few). In fact, most of the MCU is in the trailer, including Steve Rogers, who ends the teaser by holding Thor's hammer. Not much of the plot was revealed, but at least we know the whole gang is getting together.
At D23 in August 2026, Marvel Studios released another special look, which can be viewed below, that truly highlights the danger and darkness that's about to come. "All of you have lived stolen lives," Doom tells the Avengers. "But now, you must give it back." We also see an army of giant sentinels behind him (and if you've seen X-Men '97, you know how lethal those things are).
And that's everything we know about Avengers: Doomsday. For much more action check out our guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and all the upcoming movies heading our way this year.
