Avengers: Doomsday: Release Date, Cast, And Other Things We Know

It has been years since we saw the greatest heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe fight together, but the wait will be over soon upon the release of Avengers: Doomsday. However, the upcoming Marvel movie is not just bringing back the usual favorites.

Because this 39th installment of the long-running franchise of acclaimed superhero movies is finally bringing in one of the most feared villains in comic book history, Kevin Feige and co. is assembling a team unlike anything the MCU has seen before, combining familiar faces, newcomers, and even a few people from other corners of the Marvel multiverse. Let’s get into who is avenging this time and what else we know about the upcoming superhero movie in the following guide to Avengers: Doomsday.

What Is The Avengers: Doomsday Release Date?

Currently, Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2026. Also, as of March 2025, we know that the MCU’s fifth epic crossover film is now in production.

Avengers: Doomsday is one of only two Marvel movies scheduled to arrive in 2026, the other being an upcoming Spider-Man movie, the currently untitled Spider-Man 4 with Tom Holland, which will play on the big screen two months later. However, the MCU has already had a big year with the 2025 movie schedule so far, with the release of Captain America: Brave New World, and on the 2025 TV premiere schedule too, with new Marvel TV shows on Disney+ like Daredevil: Brave New World. This year will also see Thunderbolts* hitting theaters in May and The Fantastic Four: First Steps debuting in July.

What Avengers: Doomsday Is About

As per usual, very little regarding the plot of Avengers: Doomsday has been revealed, save that the main villain of the story is Victor von Doom, otherwise known as Doctor Doom. Going to war against the ruthless Latverian monarch will not be just one team of vigilantes, but a supergroup, if you will, comprised of several veterans from the Avengers, a few established MCU characters who have never officially fought with team, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and members of the Thunderbolts.

So, the characters involved are the only concrete details we can speak of at the moment, but directors Joe and Anthony Russo did share with TechRadar that they are taking inspiration from Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars arcs, including one published in the 1980s and another from the 2010s. Previously, the plot of the fifth Avengers film was intended to revolve around a different “big bad” and was going to be called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty before Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors was dropped by Marvel in 2023 following high-profile legal troubles.

The Avengers: Doomsday Cast

Fans received the first, and easily the most shocking, announcement regarding who would be in the Avengers: Doomsday cast in Summer 2024 at San Diego Comic Con. The Hall H crowd erupted into a roar of excitement and confusion when it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU, but not as Iron Man. Instead, the Academy Award winner (for his supporting role in Oppenheimer) is the one putting the “doom” in Avengers: Doomsday by starring as Doctor Doom.

In March of this year, Marvel Studios revealed who would be taking on the dastardly foe with a live-streamed video on X (formerly Twitter), which is now available on YouTube, lasting more than five hours, in which foldout chairs bearing the actors’ names were placed next to each other, one by one, every 15 minutes. In addition to established veterans of the franchise, the previewed ensemble also includes the stars of upcoming flicks Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, as well as a few who are making their MCU debuts but not their Marvel debuts, having previously starred in the live-action X-Men movies.

Check out the full Avengers: Doomsday cast, complete with character names, below:

• Chris Hemsworth (Thor)
• Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm / Invisible Woman)
• Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson / Captain America)
• Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes)
• Letitia Wright (Shuri / Black Panther)
• Paul Rudd (Scott Lang / Ant-Man)
• Wyatt Russell (John Walker / U.S. Agent)
• Tenoch Huerta (Namor)
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm / The Thing)
• Simu Liu (Xu Shang-Chi)
• Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova)
• Kelsey Grammer (Hank McCoy / Beast)
• Lewis Pullman (Bob / Sentry)
• Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres / Falcon)
• Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm / Human Torch)
• David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian)
• Winston Duke (M'Baku)
• Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr / Ghost)
• Tom Hiddleston (Loki)
• Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier / Professor X)
• Ian McKellen (Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto)
• Alan Cumming (Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler)
• Rebecca Romijn (Raven Darkhölme / Mystique)
• James Marsden (Scott Summers / Cyclops)
• Channing Tatum (Remy LeBeau / Gambit)
• Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic)
• Robert Downey Jr. (Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom)

Avengers: Secret Wars Has Also Been Announced

Joe and Anthony Russo revealed to Omelete that, while Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were two halves of a finale to the MCU’s first saga, Avengers: Doomsday will be the first half of a new beginning for the franchise. Avengers: Secret Wars (currently set to release in May 2027) will be the finale to Phase Six and the Multiverse Saga overall.

The sixth Avengers movie shares its name with the aforementioned comic book arc, which ran for 12 issues from 1984 to 1985, in which an omnipotent being called the Beyonder brings various heroes and villains (including Doctor Doom) to the planet Battleworld and pits them against each other like gladiators. I can only assume (or hope) that the MCU actors who were not named in the casting announcement (such as Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, Hawkeye’s Jeremy Renner, or Elizabeth Olsen of Scarlet Witch fame) will be involved in that story. I wonder if we will also see any unnamed stars of the Fox-era X-Men movies, such as Halle Berry as Storm or Ryan Reynolds, who made his MCU debut alongside Hugh Jackman in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.

Joe And Anthony Russo Are Directing Avengers: Doomsday

Some of the titles considered to be the absolute best Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame – all of which are directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. The brotherly duo previously claimed they would be walking away from the franchise for good after their 2019 smash, but it looks like you should never say never. The Russos are directing both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which, according to Variety, was a top condition for Robert Downey Jr.’s return.

After most recently working with the Russos as the co-writer for their Netflix original movies, The Gray Man and The Electric State, Stephen McFeely is reteaming with them to pen Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. He had previously written several classic MCU movies, including Endgame, with his frequent partner, Christopher Markus, but this will be his first solo effort with the franchise. Loki creator Michael Waldron was previously serving as the screenwriter when Daniel Destin Cretton was still on board as the director.

How To Watch All The Previous Avengers Movies

You still have plenty of time to catch up on or revisit all of the Marvel movies in order before Avengers: Doomsday is released. However, if you are only in the mood to see the installment in which the team comes together, all you need is a Disney+ subscription. Of course, there are also other ways to watch The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, as seen below:

I was already pretty jazzed by the idea of Robert Downey Jr. coming back to the MCU as Doctor Doom, but now that the Fox-era X-Men will be joining in on the fun, I could not be more excited. And this is only the beginning of what we have to learn about Avengers: Doomsday.