In 2026, the Avengers will return to the big screen with Avengers: Doomsday, reuniting the original MCU superhero team for the first time since Avengers: Endgame. While concrete story details are limited so far, the Russo Brothers’ return to the MCU with Avengers: Doomsday promises to be a crossover event of unprecedented magnitude, with potentially hundreds of extremely powerful villains facing off against the biggest hero line-up ever united in the MCU timeline within one project. There can be no doubt that blood will be spilled.

However, complications for Avengers: Doomsday arose based on Jonathan Majors’ legal matters, as Majors was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault on December 18, 2023. Shortly after, reports came in that the MCU had cut ties with the actor going forward, and that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty would henceforth be Avengers 5 for the time being, with its new title of Avengers: Doomsday being announced months later.

Avengers: Doomsday Latest News

One Avenger Will Not Be Returning

It was originally thought that Doctor Strange would play a significant role in the film, given how closely tied his character is to the multiverse, but Benedict Cumberbatch recently confirmed he would not be in Avengers: Doomsday, stating that he would play a significant role in Avengers: Secret Wars, and that Jonathan Majors not coming back as Kang stating Doctor Strange wouldn’t be there due to “the character not aligning with this part of the story.”

Avengers: Doomsday Release Date

Getting Closer Every Year

While it was originally set for release on May 2, 2025, Marvel shifted the Avengers: Doomsday release date to May 1, 2026. Based on the story focusing on that of iconic Fantastic Four nemesis Doctor Doom, it seems the film will follow on directly from The Fantastic Four‘s debut at the start of the MCU’s Phase 6, though it’s possible that another film could fill in the gap in late 2025, given that Blade was removed from Marvel Studios’ release schedule.

Avengers: Doomsday Cast Info

Promised To Be A Massive Cast

So far, Avengers: Doomsday has a major confirmed figure in the form of Doctor Doom, who at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con was announced to be part of the upcoming movie, hence its title. Doctor Doom’s casting was also announced, with the iconic MCU Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. set to return to the cinematic universe in this new role. Bringing in Doctor Doom is seemingly a great lead-in to the Secret Wars storyline, as he’s also been an antagonist in one of the comic iterations of this narrative.

The 2024 San Diego Comic-Con also saw announcements that The Fantastic Four will appear in the Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast and The Fantastic Four: First Steps appears to be the film where Doctor Doom will also debut. The Marvel panel also saw confirmation that the Thunderbolts* cast will be part of Avengers: Doomsday, adding Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes to the MCU movie roster, among others.

Alongside the two superhero teams and Downey Jr. as Doomsday, a handful of characters from the MCU are set to return so far, including Chris Evans, in an unknown role, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, and Anthony Mackie’s Captain America. It was originally thought Benedict Cumberbatch would return as Doctor Strange, but that is no longer the case.

In an interview with Nerdbunker, Anthony Mackie jokingly talked about Robert Downey Jr. playing Doctor Doom and what that meant for whoever might be joining that film from previous MCU movies, sharing the following:

Robert Downey Jr. has had his ass-kick coming for a long time, and I’m very proud to say he [is] going to get it!

Of course, given the scale of what to expect from Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, there are most likely going to be numerous MCU characters returning. Though nothing has been officially confirmed, characters like Thor, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Hulk, Shang-Chi, and Ant-Man could, and most likely will, return. Given the multiversal scale of the upcoming films, it’s possible that any former MCU character could return for Avengers: Doomsday, even if they haven’t been seen in a while or only appear in a project or two.

Confimed Characters For Avengers: Doomsday

Avengers: Doomsday Story Details

It Will Conclude The Multiverse Saga

Custom Image by Kevin Erdmann

Strictly speaking, Avengers: Doomsday should be the culmination of the Multiverse Saga, alongside Avengers: Secret Wars, bringing the threads established in various MCU multiverse storylines together for a huge showdown with Doctor Doom that can hopefully bring several factions of the MCU together based on the confirmed cast for the upcoming film. The announcement of Secret Wars – and the original comic book arc’s connection to the multiverse and incursions – should mean that Avengers 5 actually isn’t an ending, but rather an escalation that presumably sets up the villain (or villains) of Avengers 6.

It’s been made clear that the fabric of the multiverse is easy to accidentally or intentionally harm, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home appear to show the beginnings of the main MCU world sustaining some damage. As such, it’s likely Doctor Doom’s threat will combine his own imposing presence and that of universe-ending Incursions – either setting up for Avengers: Secret Wars to fully capitalize on these concepts or using them to wreak havoc on the fabric of reality and thus force the MCU’s main heroes into conflict with Doctor Doom from there.

Given what Benedict Cumberbatch recently said about Doctor Strange not being in Avengers: Doomsday due to the MCU shifting away from Jonathan Majors and Kang, it’s unclear exactly how much of the story was changed by going for Doctor Doom as the villain instead of Kang the Conqueror. The multiverse aspect will still be there, but it’s a mystery why Doctor Strange wouldn’t anymore.

Similarly, with the main cast of Thunderbolts* confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, the plot of the impending installment is sure to also have its impact on the next Avengers movie.

It’s also worth noting that the main setup for Avengers: Doomsday appears to be coming shortly with some of the MCU’s upcoming releases. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the most clear of these – seemingly being the prime place to introduce Doctor Doom or at least tease more information about him, and either way, bringing in a new hero team who will no doubt prove vital to the story. Similarly, with the main cast of Thunderbolts* confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, the plot of the impending installment is sure to also have its impact on the next Avengers movie.

While Deadpool & Wolverine sets up a hopeful precedent for any universal injury by suggesting that universes can heal from certain types of threats since it’s not yet clear what type of danger Avengers: Doomsday will put the primary world in, it’s not clear what kind of risk is being posed to the roster of iconic heroes. However, what is clear is that whatever the team faces, it will pose new and truly deadly challenges for them.

How Avengers: Doomsday Fits Into The MCU

Beginning Of The End

Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released just five years after the Multiverse Saga kicked off with WandaVision in 2021, which is about half the amount of time it took for the MCU’s Infinity Saga to build up to Avengers: Infinity War after releasing Iron Man in 2008. Much like Infinity War to Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Doomsday looks to be the first of a double-whammy of Avengers films, with the second part coming in 2027 with Avengers: Secret Wars.

The Multiverse Saga has seen its share of ups and downs throughout, but Doomsday and Secret Wars have the chance to close out the second major MCU Saga in spectacular fashion, really utilizing the multiverse concept to bring in the biggest cast of characters the MCU has ever seen, from decades of adaptations. While being the end of the Multiverse Saga, it’s likely that Avengers: Doomsday will help to start laying the groundwork for where the MCU goes after that

Every MCU Release You’ll NEED To Watch Before Avengers: Doomsday

Loki Seasons 1 and 2
WandaVision
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Deadpool & Wolverine
Thunderbolts*
The Fantastic Four

Assuming you don’t want to rewatch the entire MCU before Avengers: Doomsday, the good news is that Avengers 5 has (so far) the least homework of any MCU crossover movie, at least in terms of the story. Despite multiple promises, the MCU has never actually tied the multiverse into all of its releases in any really substantial way, with contradicting starting points and questionable pull-through in the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which didn’t really add anything to the overarching narrative.

That Spider-Man crossover works as a companion piece to the real Multiverse Saga (and so does Ms. Marvel), but skipping it seemingly wouldn’t change anything about the overarching story. Similarly, Robert Downey Jr’s casting as Doctor Doom may make watching the Iron Man movies again pertinent for Avengers: Doomsday given his prior casting as Tony Stark, but since this story seemingly won’t continue directly on from Iron Man’s own, this doesn’t appear to be a strictly necessary act for those wanting to be up-to-date as quickly as possibly.

On the other hand, the sheer number of potential characters in Avengers: Doomsday and the entirely new Avengers team might make you enthusiastic about watching every individual set-up release to see each Avenger’s journey to the team. That would require considerably more of an MCU rewatch, depending on what the eventual fully confirmed Avengers: Doomsday cast looks like.