The Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it’s currently known, could be on the verge of major change. The next big blockbuster, Avengers: Doomsday, promises a fresh chapter for beloved heroes, with a powerful new villain on the rise.
Doctor Doom, typically the antagonist of the Fantastic Four, is now set to face entire teams of Avengers – and the X-Men – as a new, magical threat to be dealt with. As one part of a new Avengers duology, the aptly-titled Doomsday will likely spell disaster and mayhem for the heroes of Marvel, paving the way for next steps – and possibly even a major reboot.
We already know a lot about what’s to come in Avengers: Doomsday, but there’s an equal amount of questions, too. How will it deal with the legacy of the MCU? What’s up with Doctor Doom sharing a face with Tony Stark? Will the real Avengers please stand up?
To break down all of this, and more, here’s everything you need to know about Avengers: Doomsday.
Avengers: Doomsday – quick links
Avengers: Doomsday release date and launch platform
Avengers: Doomsday is set to release worldwide on 18 December.
In Australia, the film will actually release on 17 December, so we’ll be among the first countries to be able to watch it.
Doomsday will be a cinema exclusive, and is unlikely to be available on streaming platforms for at least the first three months following its launch. We can likely expect more news about a streaming debut around February or March 2027.
All the trailers for so far
To kick off the hype cycle for Avengers: Doomsday, we got a handful of trailers revealing a few key heroes who are set to appear during the film – including a returning Thor, Steve Rogers and the Fantastic Four. Here are all trailers released so far.
First up, a standalone trailer confirmed that Thor will be returning, as one of the founding Avengers.
A trailer also confirmed the return of Steve Rogers, a founding Avenger who retired and passed the mantle onto his companion, Sam Wilson.
Another trailer confirmed an array of additional heroes set to appear, including members of the Fantastic Four, Black Panther and King M’Baku of Wakanda.
The last major trailer confirmed the return of the X-Men, who are making their major MCU debut following an appearance by Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Channing Tatum’s Gambit in the wild, silly and wonderful Deadpool & Wolverine.
Who is in Avengers: Doomsday?
As suggested by the trailers and early concept art, there are a lot of major players appearing in Avengers: Doomsday – including some MCU newcomers. Unfortunately, that also means plenty of required film-watching to even understand a little bit of what’s going on, but we’ll get to that.
Here are all the major factions and characters making an appearance in this upcoming film, and for simplicity, we’ll refer only to their current hero names:
- The New Avengers / Thunderbolts: White Widow, Winter Soldier, Red Guardian, Ghost, US Agent, The Sentry / The Void
- The (Original) Avengers: Thor, Steve Rogers (and Loki)
- The Avengers (B-Team): Captain America, The Falcon, Shang-Chi, Ant-Man
- The Fantastic Four: Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, Human Torch
- The X-Men: Professor X, Magneto, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Mystique, Beast
- Wakandans: Black Panther, M’Baku
- Atlanteans: Namor, Attuma, Namora
And of course, the film will also feature Robert Downey Jr as the villainous Doctor Doom, the all-powerful technology and magic wielder from Latveria.
Reported but not confirmed to appear are Cassie Lang, Peggy Carter, Dr. Strange, Hawkeye and Spider-Man. Presumably, we’ll also see characters like Valeria and Franklin Richards (the children of Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman), but this hasn’t been officially confirmed.
Why is Robert Downey Jr playing Doctor Doom?
Perhaps the strangest part of Avengers: Doomsday is that Robert Downey Jr, who previously and quite famously played Tony Stark/Iron Man, will now play Doctor Doom.
Doctor Doom and Tony Stark are completely unrelated in the comics, and rarely interact outside of major, world-ending crossover events. So what’s going on?
The cynical and perhaps correct answer is that Marvel Studios needs a box office slam dunk for its next Avengers film, given how much they cost to make. A way to guarantee that is to reunite the original Avengers cast, and lean into Robert Downey Jr’s stardom.
For story reasons, his appearance as Doctor Doom remains confusing, and we likely won’t get clarity until more of the film’s plot is revealed.
Currently, rumours are that this version of Doctor Doom is an alternate universe variant of Tony Stark who’s been corrupted by power or that he’s a version who embraces a secret, previously unknown heritage. For now, this is one of the key mysteries of the film.
What do you need to watch before Avengers: Doomsday?
As you’d expect from the sheer array of characters involved, there are a lot of movies you’ll need to watch if you want to know the backstory of every individual hero and why they’re in Avengers: Doomsday.
It might even be best to follow the path of each character that appears to watch every film they appear in, although you’re likely in for hundreds of hours of films and TV shows for thoroughness.
Alternatively, you can consider being strategic and only watch the following:
- Thunderbolts* – This introduces The New Avengers, illuminating one of the key factions in the film and their place in the world.
- The Fantastic Four – This introduces the latest Fantastic Four team, who’ll play a key part in the action, particularly given it’ll be defined by one of their key villains.
- X-Men 2 – This film will give you an introduction to all of the key X-Men players involved in Avengers: Doomsday, including Nightcrawler.
- Deadpool & Wolverine – This will give an introduction to Gambit, but also give a sense of the multiversal shenanigans currently going on in the Marvel Universe, and how messy they can get.
- Loki (TV series) – This will further outline those multiversal shenanigans, while making clear why Loki is around and what’s going on with the franchise timeline.
The actual answer here is you need to watch everything connected to the MCU, as well as the X-Men films from 20th Century Fox, but the selected films above will give you a pretty good rundown of the action.
How does Avengers: Doomsday connect to Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
For now, Marvel is playing coy about whether Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will appear during Avengers: Doomsday, likely because the events of that film will tie into Doomsday somehow.
It’s believed White Widow, aka Yelena Belova, who is played by Florence Pugh, will appear in this film, so it’s likely there are direct ties between Brand New Day and Doomsday, regardless of everyone forgetting Peter Parker was ever in the Avengers, per the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Even without a concept art appearance, we should consider Spider-Man will be a part of the action, in some form.
What is Avengers: Doomsday about?
With all of these key players, you might be wondering what exactly Avengers: Doomsday is really about. Well, unfortunately so are we.
Marvel has stayed very tight-lipped about what to expect of Avengers: Doomsday beyond its announced cast. There are certainly assumptions to be made but that’s all they are for now.
Doctor Doom will be a major player, and he’s become a ‘big bad’ wielding science, technology, magic and his impressive intellect in more modern comics. We expect all of the factions of the MCU – The New Avengers, The Avengers, The X-Men, The Wakandans, The Fantastic Four and The Atlanteans – will need to gather together to take down Doctor Doom as he threatens the balance of power in the multiverse.
For what else might happen, there are some other rumours floating around. It’s rumoured White Widow and Mystique have a major battle, as well as Nightcrawler and The Fantastic Four. It’s also rumoured that Doctor Doom will have a villainous cohort, potentially including multiversal version of himself – and Hydra Captain America is also rumoured to be part of this group. Some rumours also flag The Void – the barren multiversal realm introduced in Loki – will be a major setting, with some battles taking place there.
For now, that’s about all we know, but it’s worth noting there are plenty of other rumours out there, many of them fuelled by AI mockups and false insight from ‘industry insider’ pretenders. We won’t know much more until official details are confirmed by Marvel.
Will Avengers: Doomsday reboot the MCU?
It’s currently assumed Avengers: Doomsday will be a reboot point for the MCU. It’s not only because many of the original Avengers are now gone and their actors are aging out of action-heavy roles, but also because the film is a two-parter with The Avengers: Secret Wars.
Secret Wars, in the world of Marvel Comics, was a major event that brought together multiple different Marvel team factions, who were all transported to a realm known as Battleworld, where they fought for the pride of their homes. Following the events of Secret World, many heroes came away changed, and it was a significant reset for the status quo.
Should it function similarly in the world of the MCU, it could lead to the creation of a new dimension, or a reset for an array of heroes who find themselves stuck at a crossroads in the film universe.
Another reboot clue is in the reported presence of Franklin Richards, a powerful character who is most known for ‘rebooting’ the Marvel Comics universe by creating an alternative ‘pocket’ universe where heroes were reborn and reimagined.
This could be a solid excuse for re-writing Marvel history, rebooting the MCU, and providing a new generation of film-watchers with a new world, new characters and new actors, without the baggage of decades of film and TV tie-ins.
What was the original plan for the next Avengers film?
It’s fair to say the development of Avengers: Doomsday has been scattershot. This is public knowledge. The original version of the film was meant to be released in May 2025, and it was meant to be called Kang Dynasty.
As suggested, Kang the Conqueror – played by Jonathan Majors, as seen in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – was intended to be the primary villain. He would presumably have been using his time-travelling skills to have multiple versions of himself (Rama-Tut, Immortus, Victor Timely, and others) facing off with The Avengers.
This version of the next Avengers film was scrapped after serious allegations were levelled against Majors, and his continued importance in the MCU was then downplayed (although his appearance in Quantumania also suggested Kang was an unworthy threat). Without a major villain, plans for the film were reworked, with Doctor Doom stepping into the role, played by a returning Robert Downey Jr.
We don’t know how much of the original script survived this major change, but it’s believed writers were required to start over, with much shorter thrift. There’s hope the new plan remains cohesive, but it’s worth noting there’s plenty working against it. A grain of hope and love for this cast of characters may go far as Avengers: Doomsday dawns.
