Avengers: Doomsday is arriving this year, which means we're closer than ever to seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes on our screens once more. The new Marvel movie is shaping up to be absolutely epic, with superheroes from across the decades joining forces.
Three new trailers have arrived, one starring Chris Evans' Captain America, one giving us our first look at Chris Hemsworth's return as Thor, and another teasing the return of the X-Men. Anticipation is rising for the Marvel Phase 6 movie, which also features the likes of Anthony Mackie's Captain America, Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, and more.
Avengers 5 release date
Currently, Avengers 5 (aka Doomsday) has a release date of December 18, 2026.
This is the second delay the film has faced, as it was recently scheduled to release on May 1, 2026. However, according to Deadline, the team has chosen to push back the flick due to the "gargantuan vision" of the production. There has been no explanation on how "big" we are actually talking about here (is it story-based, special effects-related, or something else). But now our expectations are sky high for this flick.
Filming has now wrapped, though The Hollywood Reporter indicates that "Kevin Feige and the Russo Bros. will be tinkering as they prepare for a healthy dose of additional photography down the road." While much has been made of the movie shooting without a finished script, X-Men star Alan Cumming revealed that the cast did, eventually, see a finished screenplay. "We eventually saw a script. It took a while, but we had a script," Cumming told ET.
It's been a long wait between Avengers: Endgame and Avengers 5 for sure. But that is partly due to Marvel's focus on Disney Plus content over the last few years. Now that the Avengers are a focus once again, hopefully, we don't see any more changes to Marvel's Phase 6 line-up.
Avengers 5 cast
Thanks to a surprise casting reveal during SDCC 2024, we know 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).
The first significant look at Doctor Doom's costume in Doomsday arrived in September 2025, thanks to a Disney light show in Shanghai. The Marvel villain was seen with an in-depth look at his mask, outfit, and potentially some MCU Easter eggs.
For now, we also know a decent chunk of stars who will be popping up with the ex-Tony Stark. It was also revealed during the 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. The first look at the cast and their costumes came on crew merch, which you can see below.
New crew merch for ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’(📸: giponci | IG) pic.twitter.com/cttWSbcb7PSeptember 21, 2025
More of the heroic cast of Avengers Doomsday was revealed during a surprise livestream from Marvel Studios on March 26, 2025. You can read the current confirmed cast list below:
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- 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 US Agent
- 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
We expect more names to be added to this massive list as well. Thanks to the comics, we know that more people are involved in the Doomsday plot, such as She-Hulk. So stay tuned for more updates. Andrew Garfield, meanwhile, has made it very clear he won't be part of the cast.
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. Expect the unexpected at all times.
Avengers 5 plot
Plot details for Avengers: Doomsday are currently in flux. As we mentioned above, Robert Downey Jr's casting as Doctor Doom means some multiverse antics need to be explained. So, we will likely see the TVA from Loki fame make an appearance at some point.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps was the film that many fans thought would reveal a lot of details about the new big bad. As many comic book fans know, Doctor Doom made his first appearance in the Fantastic Four comics back in the '60s. Since then, he has been their greatest foe. However, Doctor Doom only makes the smallest appearances during The Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credit scenes.
In the post-credits scene of the new movie, we see Reed and Sue's son, Franklin, talking to Doom. We know that Franklin has crazy powers that even Galactus was after, so seeing the villain getting chatty with the kid can't be a good sign. It'll also no doubt be part of a grand scheme that future movies before Avengers 5 will hint at. Robert Downey Jr. also posted a cryptic Instagram post that could point to Doom's future plans for Franklin.
The actor posted a video of himself listening to a song titled 'Change of Scenery' by his son, Indio Downey, before showing us a table with the comic Secret Wars #1 by Jim Shooter as well as Iron Man: Legacy of Doom by Bob Layton and David Michelinie.
West Coast Avengers #35, involves not Doctor Doom himself, but instead his adopted son and heir as ruler of Latveria, Kristoff Vernard. In the story Kristoff impersonates Doom in order to trick the West Coast Avengers into doing his bidding. So could Doom have his sights set on making Franklin his successor and son? Or, prehaps he wants to harness Franklin's powers in order to save the Multiverse, the same way he uses the powers of the Molecule Man in the 2015 Secret Wars comic?
Interestingly, the Russo brothers' production company posted a TikTok featuring costumes for Sue Storm, Franklin, and Doom clustered together. Is that a hint? Maybe...
Plus, the Russo brothers shared a frustratingly vague first look of Doomsday, which seems to show Reed Richards' chalkboard. Marvel's First Family are going to be very important to the film, it seems.
While we aren't totally sold on the above plot theories, we do know that Avengers 5 will likely have to address the Kang plotline that Marvel has seemingly chosen to abandon for now. Throughout Marvel Phase 4 and Marvel Phase 5, Kang was set up as the next Thanos figure in the MCU. He made an appearance in Ant-Man: Quantumania and has been a steady presence in the Disney Plus series Loki. So yeah, Marvel Studios needs to clear up that massive character drop before they leave Kang in the Void for good.
Recently, we also got some set photos leaked that show some superhero teams joining up on what looks like a spaceship. In the post (shared on X via the user MCU News and Rumors), we can see Danny Ramirez's Falcon, Wyatt Russell's John Walker, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Ben Grimm standing together.
⌚️ Danny Ramirez, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Wyatt Russell behind the scenes of 'AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY'.📲 https://t.co/Enm4ekuO6V pic.twitter.com/gfGdzkQMk5July 8, 2025
It's interesting to see the Thunderbolts together with the new squad formed during Sam Wilson's Captain America's latest outing, since it was teased that the two would have some kind of conflict previously. Perhaps we'll see how the two groups can work through their tension in the new Avengers plot. It also hints again at that West Coast Avengers #35 plot theory, as it seems like two Avengers teams are going to be clashing.
Another fight might be brewing, too. A hint from the set shared by the Russos might indicate that the X-Men and the Avengers could come to blow, which Nightcrawler actor Alan Cumming has previously hinted at, too.
And, as you can expect, the movie is shaping up to be a crowd pleaser. "[Marvel] set a bar for themselves every movie and they beat it every single movie. As I was reading I was like, 'No, how are they going to do this?!' You're just not ready… It's gonna make your brains ooze out of your ears," Channing Tatum has told ET Online.
"I mean, there are just so many actors in it, and getting to work with those people as peers is really incredible because I grew up watching so many of them," Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu has also said, speaking to Screen Rant. "It feels, in a lot of ways, like a love letter to the entire genre of superhero movies. And I think there's something really fun about that."
We'll keep you updated as more plot details come our way. For now, you can also check out our guide on how to watch all the Marvel movies in order.
Avengers 5 director and writer
SDCC 2024 announced that the Russo brothers will be directing both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The two are Marvel legends, since they helmed Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, so it's welcomed news to see their return.
"Joe and I truly believed Endgame was the end of the road for us," Anthony Russo said during the event. "In the time since, through a special story, we have come to potentially see a road to take with you all."
Initially, Shang-Chi mastermind Deston Daniel Crettin was down to direct the next Avengers movie. However, in November 2023, it was confirmed that he was stepping down to focus on other Marvel projects, including Wonder Man.
In November 2022, it was confirmed that Michael Waldron will be penning the script, taking over from Jeff Loveness. Waldron, known for his work on Loki and Doctor Strange 2, was already down to write Avengers: Secret Wars.
Avengers 5 trailer
A trailer is finally here... and it was definitely worth the wait. In short: Cap is back. And we're not talking Anthony Mackie (though we will absolutely see him in the film). Steve Rogers is back... somehow. No one ever really dies in Marvel, and the brief clip sees him gently cradling a newborn baby. It then cuts to a title screen that reads, "Steve Rogers will return in Avengers: Doomsday." Why has he returned? I guess we'll find out in a year.
A second teaser was released in December 2025, this time starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The short clip shows Thor walking through a forest and imploring his father, Odin, for help. He's done away with the longer locks we saw in Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder and has a closer crop like he did in Avengers: Infinity War. We also get our first look at Love for the first time since 2022's Love and Thunder, the young girl he adopted after her father Gorr the God Butcher died at the end of that movie.
"Father, all my life I have answered every call. To honor, duty, to war. But now fate has given me something I never sought. A child, a life untouched by the storm," the God of Thunder says, before we see him tenderly kissing Love on the forehead.
The third Avengers: Doomsday trailer arrived on the internet on January 6, and this one focuses on the X-Men. In it, we see Professor X and Magneto join hands over a friendly game of chess in the X-Mansion. Then, ominously, Cyclops drops to his knees and screams, unleashing his powers, in what appears to be the ruins of the X-Men as a huge being walks behind him (potentially a Sentinel?). Watch it above.
And that's everything we know about Avengers 5. For much more action check out our guides to all the upcoming superhero movies and all the upcoming movies heading our way this year.
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